Show the egrel i n e mardo i uras P my ar steave y by he H BEDFORD JONES C capritti Co by r DOUBLEDAY PACE AND COMPANY A CARNIVAL JOKE during the height of the now new orleans carnival season jacyln fell wealthy though somewhat mysterious citizen and dr ansley are discussing a series of robberies by an individual known us as the midnight who invariably attired as an aviator his has long defied the police joseph malllard malliard wealthy banker Is giving a tall ball that night tit at which the has threatened to appear and rob the guests fell and ansley on their way to the affair meet a girl dressed as columbine seemingly known to fell but masked who accompanies them to the ball I 1 laible cle ledanois Led anoll recently the ward tt 0 aher her uncle joseph halliard Wa Illard to Is the columbine at abi the ball bob malllard maillard son of 0 the banker again proposes to her and Is refused ile he offers to buy some of her property properly A franciscan monk interests her ile he turns out to be prince gramont in his library joseph maillard halliard and a croup gr p of his friends are held up and rubbed robbed by the midnight lucle lucie ledanois Leoa Leda the last 0 of an old family Is in straitened circumstances cum stances joseph Mail lards handling 0 of f her funds has h been dunate fell Is an old friend of her parents parent and deeply interested in the girl henry gramont really the prince princ do de gramont Is enamored of lucle lucie lucle lucie talks NN with ith fell about her affairs and the masked gramonte Gra monts chauffeur hammond sergeant in the A E F lives with him he was the original midnight masque r and tile gramont had bad assumed the role where hammond had been a robber for financial rain gramont of course Is not ile ho arranges to return the loot to those whom lie he has robbed gramont and hammond put the jewels and money in individual packages to be returned the next day an am explanation Is in each CHAPTER VI continued hammond stood staring after the swaggering figure tor for once he was speechless the jaunty words had sent bent terror thrilling into him ne ile started impulsively to pursue that impudent ac coster then he be checked himself had the man guessed something una the man known something or had those words been only a bit of 0 meaningless impertinence a chance shaft which had bad accidentally flown home the last conjecture impressed itself on hammond Harn mond as being the truth and his bis momentary fright died out ile he concluded that the incident was not worth mentioning to gramont who surely burely had troubles enough of his own at this juncture As for den ben chacherie Chac Cha lierre cherre he sauntered from the alley a careless whistle upon his bis lips once out of hammonds tight sight however lie he quickened his pace turning into a side street he directed his step toward that part of the old quarter which in the days before prohibition hibi tion had been given over to low cabarets and dives of various sorts coming to one of them which abich appeared more dirty and desolate than the rest chacherie Cha cherre opened a side door and nd vanished ile he entered what had bad once been the bed cat cabaret at a table in the halt balf darkened main room sat two men one ode of them who was the proprietor jerked hl big chin in an invitation to join him A man famous in the underworld circles a man whose renown rested on curious feats and facts this proprietor few bev crooks in the country had riot cot heard the name of memphis izzy gumberts Gum berta he was a grizzled old bear now but in times past he be had been the head of a far flung organization which on each pay day covered every ormy irmy post in the country and diverted own pockets about two thirds of uncle sams payroll a feat still related in criminal circles as the ne plus ultra of success those palmy dons das were mere gone but memphis izzy who had bad never been mugged bugged mug ged in any gallery lal lery sat in his deserted cabaret and nd still did not lack for power and influence the man maa at ills his side was apparently not anxious to linger for lie he rose and made hs farewells as Chac Cha lierre elierre approached pro ached we have about eighteen cars left he be sold gold to gumberts charley Cli arley the boog can attend to them and the place Is safe enough up to you im drifting buck back to CIA drift along alone and gumberts nodded a leer in ills his eyes ills his face was broad heavy jo aled filled with a keen and forceful craft its a cinch that nobody in tills this state sate Is goin eoln to inter filter fore re with us about them cars from texas any news tie sent orders to bring brine em in next bit week cumberto Cum berts nodded again and the ninn departed into the chair which lie ile lind had vacated dropped den con cha cli cherre erre and took from ills his pocket the money lie had obtained at the bank lie he laid it on the table before gumberts there you are he said amounts you want and all the boss says to gamme a receipt trust you eh ehl jeered G gumberts um berts why the boss leave tile afy come out of the tak ins bey geyr wanted to keep separate accounts sald aid 1 humberts aum berts nodded and produced two to large sealed envelopes which lie he pushed across the table theres a takeoff for week before last he announced last week will be the big business gudgin from early reports chacherie Cha Chae cherre berre pocketed the envelopes lighted a cigarette and leaned forward say izzy I 1 you got to send a new man down to the bayou latouche right away lafarge labarge was there you know a shot him yesterday the threatened to squeal unless he got his money back lafarge was it fool and know how to handle him the boss says to shoot a new man down there also he says better watch out about sp spread ln the lottery into texas and alabama account of the government rules the heavy features of gumberts Gum borts closed in a scowl you tell your boss he said that when it comes to steer ln clear of federal men I 1 dont want no instructions from nobody I 1 we jot got every man in this state spotted every one that can be fixed Is fixed and that goes for the legislators ind and politicians clear up the line 1 tell your boss to handle the local govoent gov ment as well as I 1 handle other things lings ti and hell do all necessary what hed ought to attend to for one thing Is this liere guy who calls himself the midnight ive told him before that this guy was aas playing h 1 1 with anith my system this gets no protection see the quicker fell goes after him the better for all concerned chacherie Cha cherre lierre laughed not without a swagger weve attended to till all that izza izz weve eve dropped on him and settled 11 i 1 weve attended to all that izzy weve dropped on him and settled hima him the guy was doln doin it for a carnival joke all his loot Is all goin back to the owners today it worry you anyhow I 1 there was much to it jewelry that be disposed of for the most part we take chances on that sort 0 junk 1 I should say not gumberts regarded him with a scowl youve got the stuff the boss has look here izzy I 1 want you to use a little influence with headquarters on this deal the boss want to sho whis hand there and leaning forward ben chacherie Cha cherre spoke in a low tone then gumberts heard him out chuckled and nodded assent at two that afternoon henry gramont was summoned to the telephone ile he was greeted by a voice which he be did not recognize but which announced itself promptly tills this Is mr gramont police headquarters sp ipe aklu eakin you laid a charge this morning against a fellow named bained chacherie Cha cherre yes answered gramont Grani ont must ha ba been some mistake then canie came the response we thought the prints fitted but found later they we looked up the chacherie Cha cherre guy and found he was steady and strictly 0 K more to the point lie he proved up a dead sure alibi alib for the other night ohl said gramont then theres nothing to be donel done not yet were on it and maybe well have sonae some news later goodby brumont Grani ont hung lip p the receiver a puzzled frown creasing his bis brow but after a minute lie he laughed softly a trace of anger in the laugh ahl lie he murmured 1 I congratulate you on your efficiency sir mr rell fell I 1 but now wait a little lind and well me meet et again I 1 think im getting somewhere where at last and ill ime hae a surprise for you one of these days dayal I 1 CHAPTER vii in the open in new orleans tile lie carnival season Is always opened by the ball ut 01 lie 1 b night revelers soon after cht christinas and la Is closed by that of tile the brewe of comus on mardi gros gras night upon this evening of 0 fat tuesday indeed both rex and comus hold bold forth rex res Is the popular ball the affair of the people and Is held in the athenaeum from here about midnight the king and queen proceed to comus ball comus Is an assembly of such rigid that even the tickets to the gallery are considered social p prizes the personae of the brewe on this particular year as in all previous ones would remain unknown there Is no unmasking at camua this institution a tremendous social power and potentially a financial power also during decades of the cites life Is held absolutely above any taint of favoritism or commercialism even the families of those concerned might not always be certain whether their sons and brothers belonged to the brewe of comus henry gramont did not attend the ball of protons proteus on monday night instead lie he sat in his own room while abile through the streets of the french quarter outside was ra ing the carnival at its height before him were maps and reports upon the gas and oil fields about bayou terrebonne fields where great domes doines of natural gas were already located and in use and where oil was being found in some quantity early on wednesday morning gramont intended to set forth to ills his lie had been engaged to make a report to bob Mail lards company and lie he would make it then lie he would resign ills his advisory job rind and be free A smile curled ills his lips as lie he thought of young maillard and tile the company the young gentleman will be sadly surprised to discover that ive gotten out from under and that ills his respected father holds my stock lie he reflected that was it a good deal I 1 lost ft a thousand to old maillard in order to have the balance of thirty thousand I 1 A knock tit at ills his door interrupted the thread of ills thought gramont opened to find the concierge with a a note which had been left at the door below by it masked harlequin who had then disappeared without awaiting any reply gramont Grain ont recognized the writing on the envelope and hastened to the note inside ills face changed however as he read it please call promptly at eleven tomorrow morning I 1 wish to see you upon a matter of business LUCIE LEDANOIS gramont gazed long fit at this note his brows drawn down into a harsh line it was not like lucle lucie in its tone somehow he sensed something amiss something vaguely but mostly decidedly out of tune eleven tomorrow morning eh he murmured queer too for ashes to be at the proteus ball tonight most girls would not be conducting business affairs at eleven in the morning after being up all night at proteus it must be something important besides ashes not in ft a class with anyone else ashes a rare girl no nonsense in her full of a deep strong sense of things ile he forced himself from thoughts of lucle lucie forced himself from her personality sona lity and returned to his reports with an effort of concentration when gr gramont mont went to bed that night it was with a startling and audacious scheme well defined in his bain a scheme whose first conception seemed ludicrous and impossible yet which on second consideration appeared in a very different light it deserved serious thought and gramont had made his decision before lie he went to sleep the following day was tuesday mardi gras shrove tuesday the last day before lent began and the final culminating day of carnival henry gramont however was destined to find little in its beginning of much personal pl pleasure ensure at eleven in the morning hammond drove him to tile the ledanois Leda Ledan home where gramont Grain ont was as admitted by one of the colored servants and shown into the parlor A moment later lucle lucie herself appeared at first glance her smiling greeting removed the half sensed apprehensions of bf gramont almost immediately afterward however lie he noted a perceptible change in her manner as she led him toward the rear of the room and gestured toward a mahogany tilt top table which stood in a corner come over here please I 1 have something which I 1 wish to show you she needed to say no more gra mont following her found himself staring blankly down at the symbol of consternation which overwhelmed him for upon that table lay all those boxes which he be himself had packed with the loot of the midnight the identical boxes boies apparently unopened which had been stolen from his automobile by the supposed thief Clia cherrel tell me henry gramont what mad impulse bra brought ight you to a al 1 this il IF OIL hi aja W |