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Show Hi ' 1 I j ii till, jjO JN Cj AilM Ob U N dLii, SAM i H' . , Copyright, 1919. by Tho Wheoln Syndicate, Inc. s III, r, - . ! MANY Or THE MAJOR OPERATIONS OF THE WORLD WAR HAVE NEVER DEEM VRITTEN MANY OF THEM, i ' HAVE NEVER EVEN DEEN HINTED AT FOR THE REASON THAT THEY WERE UNDERTAKEN BY THE SECRET OP- ' J ERATIVES OF THE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS OF THE GOVERNMENT. ' ' poR THE PAST TWO YEARS A FORCE INCLUDING HUNDREDS OF MEN AND WOMEN HAS BEEN WORKING DAY - ( AND NIGHT, ROUNDING UP THE ENEMIES WITHIN JUST AS THE GOVERNMENTAL AGENTS ARE ALWAYS KEPT ' EUSY 3Y THH FORCES OF THE UNDERWORLD WHO CONSIDER UNCLE SAM FAIR PREY. SMUGGLERS, COUNTER-' COUNTER-' FEITERS, MAIL THIEVES AND MOONSHINERS NEVER APPEAR TO TIRE OF TRYINC TO GET MONEY WITHOUT WORK- , I ' ING FOR IT. I VIL--THE SECRET STILL I. ' , ft ULT nrat." said Bill Qulnn, for-' for-' t B merly of the fccret Service, as J ( - lie appropriately reached for o bottle containing a very roft drink, "by no means marked the beginning of the i Government's troubles In connection , with the illicit manufacture ot liquor. I ( "Of course, there's been a whole lot In the papers since the Thirst of July j ( about people having private stills in jj their cellars, making drinks with a kick i 'Hit of grape Juice and a piece o yeast j j and all that r.ort of thins:. One concern , j in Pittsburgh. 1 understand, has also j noted a tremendous and absolutely ab-I' ab-I' normal increase In the demand for Its ! hot-water heating plants the copper I I olls of which m.il;c an ideal substitute j for a still but I doubt very much if ' there's going to be a real movement in 1 1 rho direction of the private manufac-!' manufac-!' turc of alcoholic beverages. The Inter-Ill Inter-Ill na Revenue Department is too In-i In-i ! finally watchful and Its agents too fflclpnt for much of that to pet by. "When you get right down to it. I there's no section in the country wher-J, wher-J, the art of making 'licker' llonrisher to jj' such an extent as It does In eastern I Tennessee and western North Carolina II Moonshine ther,r is not only a re.-ng-I r.Ised article of trade, but Its minufac-'l minufac-'l , ure is looked upon as nn inalienable . I right. It's lough sledding for an v ( revenue ofllcer who isn't mighty quick ' j on the trigger and even then as.Iimmv 'ij Reynolds discovered a fw years back they'ro likely to get him unless h mixes brains with his shooting ability.-i' ability.-i' ..... !l 1 Reynolds conMnued Qulnn, easlnc j his Injured leg into a more comfortable I position was as valuable a man as an) ! ' whose name ever appeared on th Gov-i. Gov-i. ornmcnt Blue Book. lie's 'eft the Bureau now and settled down to a life 1 1 I "f comparative eae as AJ:ptant Dls- J trict Attorney of some m'dtllf; weafrn ,L city. I've forgotten whVh on?, bur j i t there was a good reason for his not caring to remain in ihe East. The i i climata west of the Mississippi is far i ' more healthy for Jimmy these days. j j At thr? time of the Stil-M en;", Jin) J was about CP, straight ai an arrow and ' with a bull-dog tracif that just wouldnt permit of bis Wtirg go nf a , , problem until the solution was Tiled In the official pigeon holes wh'ch answer I'l to the names of archives. "t was this jl trait which led r'h.imbrs. fh"n Com-I Com-I missioner of Internal Revenue. Jo send i for him, after receipt of a mpsag? thnt , ito of his best meji D'v.ig'nss an Wood. T think their names werf lnd i bpen brought back to Mnymoad. Tenn.. with bullet holes neatly drilled through ' their hearts. "Jim." said th CommissiO'-er, "this ' case has gont1 just far enough. ' It's o-ie ' I thing for the inmintaiaerrs o Tennes3"f' I to make moonshine, whiskey and defy :t the laws of thr" Unitetl tates. D'.U when they deliberately murder two nf j my best men and p"in a rudely scrlbbWl , j note to 'Bfwair of this country" on the frpnt of their shirts, that' going en-1 en-1 lirely tro fcr. I'm going to clean out I I tV.-. -rinrt UK,-.:. if Cl 1-.1. j j rest of my natural life and every man B in the bureau! HJ 1 j "More than that, I'll demand help H 1 from the War Department, if nrces- , sarj'! By Gad, I'll ;r-ach 'eml" and the H Ink well on the Commissioner's desk leaped into the air as Chambers' fist H registered determination, fl Reynolds reached for n frnsh clgur H' from the supply that always reposed B . In the. upper drawer of the Commls- I1 sloner's desk and waited until it was ! well lighted before he replied. "All well and good. Chief," he com- H f njentcd. -"but how would the army help B, you any? You could turn oO.OOO men in H uniform loose in those mountains and j the odds are thay wouldn't locate the Wi bunch you're after. Fire isn't th H weapon to fight those mountaineers '1 with. They're loo wise. What you H need is brains." H r. "Possibly you can supply that dc- B , Dclency." retorted the Commissioner, a 1 little nettled. H. y ."Oh. L didn't mean thai ycu.. person- H ally, -needed the brainst" laughed Rey- H I r.olds, "The pronoun was used flgura- H. 1 tiveiy " and collectively. At .that. I v wpiiid like to have a whirl at the case -i if you've nothing better for me to H- ; "There lf."'t anythinx: better for any- H one to do tu the present time," Cham- H l)ei"s interrupted. "That's why I senl ' for you. We Ijnow that whiskey ia H: I1 being privately distilled In large quan- H', titles somewhere in the mountains nol H' far. from Maymead. RJsht there out H I1 information ends. . Our men have trie: H all . sorts of dodges to land the crowr H , behind the stills but the - only thin; H j. they've been able to learn Is that a mar named Stiles Is one of the ruling spirits H His cabin is well up in th- ino.iiitnln; H" and lt was while they were prospecting H ' round that part of the country thai H ' Douglass and Wood were 3hot. Nov H i what's your idea of handling the case;' B, I, "The first thing that I want. Chief H I la to be allowed to work on this abso H j lutely alone and that not a soul, In th H , Bureau or out of It, la to know wha I'm doin." H "Easy enough to arrango that," as exited the Commissioner, but " H' "There isn't any TJuf." Ileyonlds cu H In. "You've tried putting a number o H men to work on this and they've failed H j. Now trj' letting one handle it. For th H P past two years I've had a plan in th H '.' back of my head that I've been waitini 'he' right opportunity to use. So far a H, I can see it's foolproof and I'm willim H' to take all the responsibility in connec tion with it." H "Care to outline it 7". inquired Cham "Not right at the moment," wa H Reynolds' reply, "because it would see: loo wild and scatter-brained. 1 don't mind telling you. though, that for the next six wce'ks my address will be In care of the warden of the penitentiary at Morgantovn, West Virginia, if you wish to reach rat" "Morgantown?" echoed the Commissioner. Commis-sioner. "What in heaven's name axe you going to do ther.e?" "Lay the stage setting for the first act." smiled Jimmy "Likewise collect what authors refer to as local color material that's essential to what I trust will be the happy ending of this drama happy, at least, from the Government's Govern-ment's point of view. But. while you know that I'm at Morgantown. I don't want anyone else to know it and I'd much prefer that you didn't communicate communi-cate with we there unless it's absolutely abso-lutely necessary." "All right. I won't. You're handling the case from now on." "Alone?" "Entirely If you wish it." "Yes, Chief, I do wish It. I can promise you one of two things within the next three months! Either you'll have all the evidence you want about the secret still and the men behind it or well, yon know where to ship my remains!" With that, and a qujck hand-shake, he was gone. During the weeks that followed, people repeatedly asked the Commts-loner: Commts-loner: 'What's become of Jimmy Reynolds? Haven't seen bin "round here for a nonth of Sundays." But the Commissioner would assume in air of blank ignorance, mutter something somet-hing about "He's out of town somewhere." some-where." and rapidly change the subject. About six weeks or so later a buzzard which wax flaapping Its lazy way arross the mountains which divide Tennessee from Xorth Carolina s.-yv. far below a -tra.nge sig'rt. A man, haggard ind forlorn, his fpec covered witlv a half-ir.ch half-ir.ch of stubble, hts cheeks sunken, his clothing torn by brambles and blea. hed by the sun and rain until it was almost impossible to tell its original toxture, stumbled along with hlo eyes fixod always al-ways on the crest of a hill ynme distance dis-tance orf. It was as if hv were making a last desperate effort to reach his goal before the sun wen; down. Had the buu.;rd been so minded, his keen eyes mlgh' have noted the fact that the man's clothes were marked by horizontal strip?:, while his head wai covered with hair the same length all over, as if he had bjen shaved recently and the. unkempt thatch had sprouted during the last ten days. Painfully, but prrslslcntly. the map .ii i-umicis c:uiiies prusseu lorwarc. When, the sun was a iittlc more than half way across the heavens lie glimpsed a cabin, tucked away, on the side ju' a mountain spur not far away. At ihc siKhL.. he pressed forward with renewed vigor. iju distances are deceptive de-ceptive in thai pari of the country and It wa,s not until nearly dark that ht-managed ht-managed to reach his destination. In facL the tiles family wjis Just aitting down to what parses for Hupinr in that part of the world fat-bacon and corn-bread, mostly when there was the sound of a man's footstep some fifty feet. away. " Instantly, the houn' dog rose from his accustomed place under the table and crouched, ready to repel invaders O'.d Man Stiles his wife called him Joe, but to. the entire countryside, he was just "Old Man tiles" reached for his rifle with a muttered Imprecation about "Rev'nue officers who never let a body be " But the mountaineer had hardly risen from his scat when there was a sound as of a heavy body falling against the door and then silence. . Stllt-s looked inquiringly at his wife and then at Ruth, their adopted daughter. None of them spoke for an appreciable, time, but the hound continued, con-tinued, to v.-hlno and finally backed off Into a corner. "Gums TU have i,o seo what et Is," drawled the master of the cabin; holding hold-ing his, rifle vwJy tor action. Slowly he moved toward the door and cautiously, cry cautiously, he lifted the , bolt that aecured it. Even If were a , revenue officer, he argued to himself, his conscience was clear and his prem-. prem-. Ises could stand the formality of a , search because, save for a certain spot . known to himeelf alone, there was , nothing that could be considered in-. in-. criminating. . As the door swung back, the body of . a man fell into the room a man whose I clothing was tattered and whose fea-I fea-I tures were concealed under a week's - growth of stubbly beard. Right into the cabin he fell, for the door had supported sup-ported his body and, onco that support , was removed, he lay as one dead. . In fact, is wasn't until at least five I minutes had elapsed that Stiles carao to the conclusion that the intruder was ro-lly alive after all. During that time he had worked over him in the rough . mountain fashion, punching and pulling ; and man-handling him in an effort to I necuro some sign of life. Finally the newcomer's eyes opened and he made . an effort to sit up. ""Walt a minute, rtrangor," directed t Stiles, motioning hla wife toward a t cloHct In the corner of the ropm Mrs. i. Stiles or "Ma", as she was known lp a that part of the country understood e tho movement. Without a word she pr opened tho cupboard and 4ook down a flask filled with a clear golden-yellow 5 liquid, oome of this she poured into a cracked cup on the table and handed It to hr-.- husband. - j "Hsre," ilrected ':e mountaineer, j Throw yo' haid back an drink this. s j Et's good fur what alls ycr." n Tho rromcnt after he hail followed In- structjons, the stranger gulped, gurgled and gasped as the moonshine whiskey burnt, his way down his throat. The man-sized drink, taken on a totally mpty stomach, almost nauseated him. Then it put new life In his veins and ho tried to struggle to his feet. Ruth Stiles was beside him in an Instant In-stant and, with her father's help as sistcd him to a chair at the table. "stranger," said Stiles, stepping aside and eyeing tho intruder critically, "I don't know who or what you are. but I do know that yo' look plumb tuckered out. Nobody's goiu' hungry In my house, so fall to an' we'll discuss other matters later." Whereupon he laid his rifle In Its accustomed ac-customed place, motioned to his wife and daughter to resume their places at the table and dragged up another chair for himself. Beyond a word or two of encouragement encourage-ment to eat all he wanted of the very plain fare, none of tho trio addressed the newcomer during tho remainder ot the meal All three of them had noted tho almost-obliterated stripes that encircled en-circled his clothing and their slgnifi-ance slgnifi-ance was unmistable. Rut Ftllcs hlm--elf was far from being convinced. He had heard too much of the tricks of government agents to be misled by what might prove, after all," only a clever disguise. Therefore, when the women folk had Scared away the suppsi things and the two men had the room lo themselves, "ho mountaineer offered his guest a pipeful of lobacco and saw to it thai ie look a seat before file fire where the Ight would play directly upon his. features. Then he opened fire. "Stranger," ho inquired, ".what might yo' name be?" "Patterson," said the other. . "Jim Patterson." "Whar you come from?" "Charlesown first an' rMorgaptown second. Second up for t,wolvo years for manslaughter raiL-oaded at that," was 1'u.itorson's laconic reply. "How'd you get away?" At that the convict laughed, but there was more of a snarl than humor In his. lono as he answered: "Climbed th wall when th' guards weren't lookin. They took a coupla pot shots at me, but nono of them came within 'a mile. Then' T beat it south, travelih' by night an" hidin' by day. Stolo what I could to eat, but this country ain't overly well tilled with farms. Hadn't had a bite for two days, 'ccpt some berries, when I saw your cabin an' came up here." Stiles puffed away in silence for a moment. T,hen he rose as if to fetch something from the oth r side of the room. Once behind Patterrjr hcvevor, he reached forward ..nd, seizing t the stubblo that covered his fice. ;anked it as hard as he could, "What th' - yelled lh convict, springing to his feet and invo1 "ntarlly raising his clenched hand. BUT UNCLE SAM'S ARM IS LONG AND HIS MEMORY RETENTIVE. SOONER OR LATER HE NAILS THE MAN t WHO BREAKS HIS LAWS, THOUGH IT OFTEN ENTAIi-S MONTHS OF WORK AND FEATS OF DETECTIVE. GENIUS WHICH FAR OUTSTRIP THOSE OF FICTION. , THOUGH WRITTEN IN NARRATIVE FORM, THE ARTICLES IN THIS SERIES ARE ALL BASED ON FACT FACTS, I IN MANY CASES, AVAILABLE ONLY SINCE THE CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES. NAMES AND LOCATIONS HAVE HAD TO BE ALTERED, BUT A FULL REPORT OF EACH CASE WOULD BE FOUND IN THE ARCHIVES OF THE DIFFERENT DE. PARTMENTS IF THEY WERE THROWN OPEN TO PUBLIC INSPECTION, FOR THESE ARE BUT A FEW OF THE IN- STANCES IN WHICH THE LONG ARM OF UNCLE SAM HAS REACHED TO SEIZE THE MEN WHO BREAK HIS LAWS. "Ca'm yo'self, stranger, ca'm yo'self." j directed the mountaineer, with a half-smile, half-smile, "Jes wanted to see for myself ef that beard was real, that's all. Thought you might be a rcv'nuo agent In disguise." "A rcv'nuo agent?" queried Patterson, Patter-son, and then as If the thought had Just struck him that he was In the heart of the moonshinlng district, he added: "That's rich! Me, just out of th' pen an' you think I'm a bull. That's great! "Hero," reaching Into (he recesses re-cesses of his frayed shirt, "here's something some-thing that may convlnCo you." And he handed over a tattered newspaper, news-paper, more than a week old, and pointed to an article on the first page. "There, read that!" "Ruth docs all th' reading for this fam'ly," was utiles' muttered rejoinder. "Ruth! Oh, Ruth! Como hero a minute min-ute an read scmethln' to yo' pappy!' Patterson had not failed to note, during dur-ing supper, that Ruth Stiles came close to being a perfect specimen of a mountain moun-tain flower, rough and undeveloped, but with 'more than a trace of real beauty, both in her face and figure. Standing in front of the fire, with its flickering light casting a sort of halo around her. she was almost beautiful despite her homespun dress and shapeless shoes. Without a word tho convict Iv.nded her the paper and indicated ihc article he had pointed out a moment before. I "Reward Offered For Convict's Arrest." Ar-rest." she read. "James Patterson, loing time for murder, breaks out of Morgantown. Flvo hundred dollars for vipturc. Prisoner scaled wall and cs-aped cs-aped In face of guards' fire." Then followed an account of the escape, the first of its kind in soveral years. "Even if you can't read." said Patterson, Pat-terson, "there's my picture under the headline the picture they took for the rogues' gallery," and he pointed to a fairly distinct photograph" which adorned the page. Stiles took the paper closer to the fire to secure a better look, glanced keenly at the conviot and extended his hand. "Guess that's right, stranger." he admitted. ad-mitted. "You're no rev'nue agent." Later, in the evening, as sho lay awake, thinking about the man who had shattered the monotony of their mountain moun-tain life. Ruth Stiles wondered if Patterson Pat-terson had not given vent to what sounded suspiciously like a nigh of relief re-lief at that moment. But she was too sleepy to give much thought to it and, besides, what if he had. . . . In the other half of the cabin, divided from the women's room only by a cjr-tain cjr-tain of discolored calico, slept Patterson and Stiles the former utterly exhausted by his travels, the latter resting with keen hair trigger consciousness of dancer dan-cer always only a short distance awaj'. y'tJ lng happened, however, to disturb th. reace of tho Stiles domicile. Even th' ou"d slept quietly until th: rosy tint of the eastern sky announced another an-other day. After breakfast, at which the fat-back fat-back and corn-bread were augmented by a brownish liquid which passed for coffee. Stiles informed his guest that he "reckoned he'd better stick close to th' houso fer a few days," as there was no telling whether somebody might not be on his trail. Patterson agreed that this was the proper courso and put In his time helping help-ing with the various chores, incidentally becoming a littlo better acquualntcd with Ruth Stiles. That night he lay awake for several hours, but nothing broke the stillness save a few Indications Indica-tions of animal Ufo outside the cabin and the labored breathing of the mountaineer moun-taineer in the bunk below him. For three nights nothing occurred. But on the fourth night, faturdny, supper sup-per was served a little earlier than usual and Patterson noted just n suspicion sus-picion of something almost electrical In the air. lie gave no Indication of what he had observed, however, and retired to his bunk In tho usual manner. After an hour or more had elapsed he heard Stiles slip quietly off hi3 mattress and a moment later there was the guarded scratch of a match as a lantern was lighted. . uspecting what would follow, Patterson Pat-terson closed his eyes and continued his deep, regular breathing. But ho could sonco the fact that the lantern had been swung up to a level with his bunk and he could almost feel tho mountnincer'3 eyes as Stiles made certain that he was asleep. Stilling an impulse to snore or do something to convince his h03t that ho wasn't awake, Patterson lay perfectly per-fectly still until he heard the door close. Then he raised himself guardedly guard-edly on one elbow and attempted to look through the window besido the bunk. But a freshly-applied coat of whitewash prevented that, so he had to content himself with listening. j "Late In the night so late that it was almost morning he heard the sounds of men conversing In whispers outside the cabin, but he could catch nothing beyond be-yond his own name. Soon Stiles reentered re-entered the room, slipped into bed and was asleep Instantly. So things went for nearly three weeks. Tho man who had escaped from prison made himself very useful around tho cabin and, almost against his will, found that he was falling a victim to the beauty and charm of the mountain girl. "I musn't do it," he told himself over and over again. "I can't let myself! It's bad enough to como here and ac-cepl ac-cepl tho old man's hospitality, but the glrl'sfa different p-oposltion." It was Ruth herself who solved the rlddlo some three weeks after Patterson's Patter-son's arrival. They wero wandering through tho woods together, looking for sassafras roots, whon she happened to mention that Stiles w-u; n.U her own fath' "He's only my pappy." she said, "my adopted father. My real father was killed when I was a little girl. Shot through tho head because he had threatened to tell where a still was hidden, hid-den, lie never did believe in moonshln-lng. moonshln-lng. Said it was as bad as stealln" from the Government i:"o somebody shot him and Ma Stiles took me in, 'cause she said she was sorry for me even If my Pa was crazy." "Do you believe that moonshinlng is right?" asked her companion. "Anything my Pa believed was the truth." replied tho girl, her eyes flashing. flash-ing. "Everybody round these parts knows that Pappy i tiles helps run the big still the rev'nue officers been lookin' for the past three years. Two of 'em were shot not long ngo, loo but that don't make it right. 'Specially when my Pa said It was wrong. What you smllin' at?" Patterson resisted an inclination to tell her that the smile was one of relief nnd replied that he was just watching the antics of a chipmunk a little way of. But that night he felt a thrill of Joy as he lay. listening as always, In his bunk. Things had been breaking rather fast of late. The midnight gatherings had become moro frequent and, convinced that he had nothing to fear from his guest. Stiles was not as cautious as formerly. Tie seldom took the trouble to see that the escaped prisoner was asleep and he had oven been known to leave the door unlatched as he went out into the night. That night, for example, was ono of the nights that he was careless and, j ! ill: n MtimA m I y&6ff. L - ' ' mSff-rrtSSp! AS THE DOORS SWUNG BACK THE BODY OP A MAN FELL FORWA RD INTO THE ROO.M.. 5 , as usually happens, he paid dearlv for It. Waiting until Stiles was well out of the house. Patterson slipped silently out of his bunk in his stocking feet and. , Inch by Inch, re-oponcd the door. Outside, Out-side, the moon was shining rather j brightly, but save for the retreating figure of the mountaineer outlined by the lantern he carried there was nothing noth-ing else to be seen. Very carefully Patterson "followed, treading softly so as to avoid even the chance cracking of a twig.' Up the mountainside went Stiles and. some, fifty feet behind him. crouched the convict, his faded garments blending perfectly with the underbrush. After half a mile or so of following a rude path. Stiles suddenly disappeared from vlow not as if ho had turned a corner, but suddenly, sud-denly, as If the earth had swallowed him. After a moment, Patterson determined to investigate. When he reached the spot where he had last seen Stiles he looked around and almost stumbled against the key to the entire mystery. Thcro. In the side of the mountain, was an opening, the entrance to a natural cave, and propped against It was a large wooden door, completely covered with vines. ' "Not a chance of finding It fn the 1 daytime unless you know where It was," ' I thought tho convict as ho slipped l silently into the cave. Less than thirty ', feet further was an abrupt turn and, glancing round this, Patterson saw what 6 he had been hoping for a crowd of at least a dozen mounLaincers gathered about a collection of small but ex- : tremely cfilclent stills. Ranged in rows along the sidc3 of the cave were scorei of kegs, the contents of which were ob- : ' vlous from the surroundings j; Pausing only long enough to malts -certain of his bearings, the convict r- ' .' turned to the cabin and, long before , ' Stiles came back, he was sound asleep, ' It was precisely four weeks from the ' , day when the buzzard noted the man I ' on the side of the mountain, when a companied by half a dozen revenue ' officers, rode clattering through May- ; Sheriff's posse from another county, ac-mead ac-mead and on In the direction of thi Stiles cabin. Before the mountaineers ' had times to gather, the posse had sur-rounded sur-rounded the hill, rifles ready for action. utiles himself met them In front of his rude home and. In response to his challenge as to what they wanted, the " hcriff replied that he had como for a ' prisoner who had escaped from Morgan-town Morgan-town a month or so before. Stiles was ' on the verge of declaring that ho had never heard of the man when, to his amazement, Patterson appeared from a the woods and surrendered. The Instant the convict had gained the shelter of the Government guns, however, a startling change took place, ' He held a moment's whispered conver-sation conver-sation with one of tho revenue officials and the latter slipped him a spare re- , volver from his holster. Then "Hands ' up!" ordered the Sheriff, and Stiles' ' hands shot above his head. Leaving three men to guard the cabin : i and keep watch over Old Man Stiles, ; whose language was scaring tho shrub- : i bery, the remainder of the posse pushed up the mountain, directed by the pseudo-convict. It took them some time . 'i to locate tho door to tho cavo but. onca inside, they found all the evidence they , wanted evidence not only directly Indl- ' catlvo of moonshining, but the two badges which had belonged to Douglas ; and Wood and which the mountaineers had kept as souvenirs of tho shooting, thus unwittingly providing a firm foundation foun-dation for the Government's case Id court. Tho next morning, when Commissioner Commis-sioner Chambers reached his office, lis found upon his desk a wire which read: "?tilcs gang rounded up without the firing of a single shot. Direct evidence of complicity in Woods- j Douglas murders. Secret still is a I secret no longer." I 1 i i : a The signature tp the telegram was i; : "James Reynolds, alias Jim Patterson." 5 "Jim Patterson," mused tho Commls- ; sioner. "Where have I heard that name. ... Of course, ho's the prls- i oner that broke out of Morgantown a , I couple of months agol Jimmy suro did ; J lay the local color on thick!" l', S , "But." I Inquired, as Qulnn paused, ; "don't you consider that rather a dirty ! J trick on Reynolds' part worming him- ; R self Into the confidence of the moun ' ? taincors and then betraying them? Be- g sides, what about the girl?" , c "Dirty trick!" snorted tho former ; 2 Secret Service agent. "Would you thin'rf about etljlcs if someone had murdered jjj two of tho men you work next to in th office? It was the same thing In this 1 ease. Jimmy knew that If ho dldn'l ;j turn up that gang they'd probably ac- ' count for a dozen of his pals to sa7 5 nothing of violating the law every day ft they lived! What else was there for fJ him to do? "The girl? Oh, Reynolds married her. iJ They sometimes do that, even In real , life, you know. As I said, they're liv- ; ing out in tho Middle West, for Ruth . declared she never wanted to see a '. fi mountain again, and both of them ad- , ji mittcd that It wouldn't be healthy to b. stick around within walking distance of i y Tennessee. That mountain bunch Is a i $ bad bunch to get riled, and it must t 3 h 'most time for Stiles and his friends to , get out of jdll. : "It's a funny thing the way th v U Government cases work out. Here wi' ': ono that took nearly three months te , jjj solve and the answer was the direct . result of hard work and careful plan- ; t nlng while the Trenton taxicab tangle, j ; for example, was Jusl the opposite!" "The taxicab tapgle?" I echoed ; "Wasn't that one of the cases that gre out of the chase after Von Ewald the- j ; one in which the clue on Shelf -15 flS ! ' 53 urcd?" "That's the one." said Qulnn. "But it ; possessed soveral unique features which ; rendered it even more interesting than j the original problem. Remind me to 1 toll you about It sometimes, It's too late now," and he was gone almost be f w fore I had time to sav "Good Night." ; V- . "The Taxicab Tangle" will bo pub igo lished next. i Si 1' b |