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GRADY COUNTY PROGRESS. CAIRO. Ufcurtum.
Author iif
"THE OCCA-
SIONAL OF-
FENDER.” THE
WIRE TAP-
PERS/' "GUN
RUNNERS,"ETC.
NovelizeJ from
THE PATHE
PHOTO PLAY
OF THE
SAME NAME
t+r**. Ill) * AjrrHUR ITffihCM
Lcgar laugnod as ha confronted hla
onomlns.
"Do you want to tako mo allyo?’
“Allvo or dead, I'm going to take
you
• Then tako this lirst," crlod I.ogar.
At tlio sumu moment that ho Bpoke
I lie left hand In which ho still held
what seemed to ho a black motal
watch case swung forward. And as
that object which bo closely resembled
u bluck watch hurtled through the air,
the mysterious realms Into which
the aforementioned white sheet had
whisked him, Legar promptly and
wrathfully decided to tako the mutter
Into his own hands, He would lav
On Windward Island Palidorl intrlgueo
Mrs. Golden Into an appearance of evil
Golden to capture and tor-
iure theJtallan by branding his face unil for Jules Logar himself,
ciush'ng his. hnnd._ ..•nihipri floods the Is- Now O no-Lamp Louis gave no prom
ise of either active or passive Inter
posed the stalwart body of a certain
One-Lamp Louie, long known among thls Ghost, ho nnnouncod, or.something
Ills associates as an habituo of the wou,(1 go smash In the process.
Owl’s Nest and an underground agent 1 Hut ho had no Intention of approach-
land and kidnaps Golden’s little daughter
IVIargi-ry. Twelve years later In Now York
n Masked One rescues Murgory from Le
ila r and takes her to her father’s homo,
•vvhenco slu* Is recaptured. Margery’s
mother fruitlessly implores Golden to find
their daughter. The Laughing Mask
again takes Margery awuy from I^egar.
-Logar sc“ ’ ‘ ~ ’*
dnmnml
Windward Island. Margery meets her
mother. The chart Is lost In a fight be
tween Manley and one of Lcgar’s hench
men, but is recovered by the laughing
Mask. Count Da Espares figures In a
dubious attempt to entrap Logar and
claims to have killed him. Golden’s house
la dynamited during a masked hall. Le-
gnr escapes but Da Espares Is crushed in
th<- ruins. Margery rescues the Laughing
Mask from the police. Manley finds Mar
gery not IndltTorent to his love. He saves
her from Maukc's poisoned arrows.
TENTH EPISODE
THE LIVING DEAD
"I’m opposed to your plan, sir,"
Knoch Golden declared with heat, "and
X always will no opposed to It!”
David Munloy, ns ho stared across
the table at the ruffled old millionaire,
tried to control himself to paticnco.
"But you acknowledge that you are
equally opposed to Legar's Intrusions
Into this houso, to having his secret
agents planted about at your elbows.
But when I work out a plan that, offers
a reasonable promise of trapping Le
gal- and bis men, you stop the whole
business by declaring it's lacking in
dignify!”
"Dignity is something which depart
ed from this house tlio day Legal- lirst
forced his way Into 111” was Golden’s
bitter retort.
"Precisely!” cried young Manley.
“Bis whole campaign lias beon ono of
Intimidation, of throats and assaults
and reprisals. They have been try
ing to fight us with terror. So my
contention is, why not give them a
dare of their medicine? Why not
fi,;ht thorn with tlietr own weapons,
n in doing so, perhaps go them ono
>■ vr?”
• t I can only repeat my convlc-
. that your plan can’t succeed!"
’■•>•-. icd tlio troraulous-volced old
fir-aucler.
'Why not leavo Hint to mo?” cut In
young Manley, with Ills first touch of
Impatience.
‘T’vo left a good many tilings to you,
Davy; but I don’t oncourago men to
plan their own funerals!"
“Yet I’ve thought tills out, sir, and
I maintain that it's worth a try. You
know as well 113 I do that these men
who work with Legal- aro ail ignorant
and Illiterate lot. Tlicy'ro not afraid
of furce. But when you confront them
with the supernatural, you got them
faco to face with Eomotliing they can’t
understand. And wliat they can’t un
derstand they aro going to bo afraid
ofi”
‘‘And you think you’re going to
frighten .’cm away with a casket!”
“I'm going to make them believe that
David Manley, having departed tlila
life becai'.so of an attack on his per
son by one Mauki, with poisoned ar
rows, lo about to bo duly interred in
tho Golden mausoleum, and—
"But you couldn’t oven get a wax
figure! that would fool a five-year-old
child! You couldn't—”
“I’vo already got the figure, inter
rupted Mauley. “And it strikes me U3
being an exceptionally perfect one.”
“But what’s all this funeral business
to lead to?” demanded tbo old finan
cier. •-
“it leads to tho fact that Logar and
Ills men will bo duly informed of my
death,.for I want all the servants In
Jh-3 houso to paS3 before tho casket
undksee mo In it. And Legar's spy
will be one of them. So Lcgar, you
jnc.v ho cure, will get the facts as soon
fcs they arc known. IIo will be tipped
off no to the day and hour of tho
funeral. Ho will also be.told that the
cortege, cay of three carriages, Is to
proceed to tho Golden mausoleum, and
that Alargory Golden is to go In ono
uf the carriages. And that lonely spot
•will strike him as precisely the right
spot for making a coup.”
"And what do wo gain by that?”
“We'll fill our big thirty-thousand
dollar mausoleum with thirty big police-,
men, and round, up tho gang betoro
Lcgar can even smell a rat.”
B.'.t r.noch Golden remained uncon-
vlntad.
“•’.Veil, !t may be a brilliant plan,
but you r an please leave me out of It,”
be finally announced.
I “That’s just what I’ve been asking
’ explained Manley. “All I want Is
to be allowed to conduct it In my own
•way.”
David Manley, however, did not con
duct that strange funeral altogether
111 his own way. Carefully as every
detail had been planned, there were
one or two minor features which at
the time escaped his attention.
Tho most inconspicuous and yet the
forcnce with theso duly appointed mor
tuary exercises until the city Itself
had been left well behind. Then,
.. . awakening to tho fact that they were
Ho 1 , 8 a° portion* ^versing » desirably sequestered
stretch of road, he watched Intently
for cortuin prearranged signals from
his one-armed accomplice. Immediate
ly after the discovery of those looked-
for signs tho spirited team driven by
One-Lamp Louie Bliowod unexpected
yet unmistakable evidences of restive-
ness.
But there was a limit to what that
team of spirited blacks would endure.
And they suddenly, to all Intents and
purposes, determined to follow their
own lino of travel at their own rate
of speed, for, as the driver sot on tho
box apparently, sawing on tlio rolnn,
that exasperated toara plunged sud
denly forward, swerved across tho
road, and went galloping down a tree-
screened bypath which was little more
than a cart trail winding In and out
through slopea of greensward and
ehrubbory.
Half a mile deeper in that shrub
bery this runaway team would surely
have reached the spot where a black
limousine stood bidden away in tbo
shadow of laurel-copse, had not still
another aud an equally unheralded fac
tor entered Into tho situation. This
factor took tho form of a high-power
roadster in which was Bcatod a man
wearing a yellow mask. His Irrup
tion into that orderly little procession,
indeed, proved as abrupt as One-Lamp
Louie's eruption from it. And he
seemed plainly suspicious of both
Louie's motives and movements, for
ho lost no time I11 swinging from the
highway and plunging recklesnly after
the runaway carriage.
As his car approached the runaway
cab that mysterious stranger, known
ns the Laughing Mask, stepped to the
running-board of his roadster, leaning
far out as the two swerving vehicles
drew together. One-Lamp Louie, what
ever ho may have thought of that ap
proach, hnd little means of evading
It. To swing off what narrow road re
mained hofore him seemed frankly
suicidal. To lash his team to greater
effort was already out of the question.
To tako his liandB from the reins,
even, along that uncertain road, was
oqunlly foolhardy. So the strange race
went on, tho swaying and bounding
cab with a white-faced girl tossed
about under Its hood, the leaping and
lurching roadster, every second draw
ing closer down on its quarry yet
evory second threatening to turn tur-.
tie over ono of the grassy embank
ments above which It shuddered and
slewed.
It was the Laughing Mask, leaning
far out from Ills running-hoard, who
threw open tl|e cab-door and called
sharply to tlio atartled girl,
"Quick” I10 commanded.
For ono moment sho hesitated.
Then sho reached out for the unsteady
band groping for her.
Tho next moment she found herself
dttlng back, n little breathless, in tho
leather-upholstered seat of tho road
ster and tho man In the Laughing
Mask smiling down at her.
Tho Black Watch.
A number of things had happened
and were happening to disconcert, If
not to discourage, the redoubtable Lp-
gar. That astuto young adventuress,
Betsy Le Marsh, alias Williamsburg
Elsie, who. with tho aid of divers
forged recommendations, had Installed,
herself In tho Golden household, re
peatedly and stubbornly reported that
David Manley was dead.
Williamsburg Elsie also expressed
a strong desire to migrate from tho
house In which she found herself so
inquisitive a maid, since that housed
site declared, waB too full of "queer
things” for her comfort.
When, at Legar’s suggestion, ehe
had tried to “pump a needleful o’
dopo" into her altogether unsuspecting
mistress, a dead man's face had sud
denly rpneared between her and the
bedroom door. And on two different
occasions, after midnight, when she
had ventured down to the housekeep
er’s telephone to send in a secret mes
sage to Legar himself, she had found
herself confronted by a ghost in white.
Nor was Betsy Lo Marsh the only
malcontent. Even Red Egan himself,
one of the best "cold-steel” men in
all tbo group that clustered about the
Owl’s Nest, had of late shown unmis
takable signs of mental disturbance.
A dead man’s ghost, he declared, had
looked in through one of the head
quarters’ windows. Red Egan, It is
true, had promptly emptied his six-
shooter at that phantasmal intruder,
but with nothing more to show for It
than a shattered window-sash and six
Qotden mausoleum and verify the con-'
tonts of tho mysterious casket there
deposited, Red Egan had returned with
tho preposterous Btory of a white sheet
suddenly descending out of tho black
ness of thn vault and whisking Olio-
Lamp Ijoule out of reach and also out
of sight. Aud since the once valiant
Red Egan showed so craven a spirit
that nothing short of a quart of three-
star brandy could tranqullizc Ills shak
en nerves, and since One-Lump Louie „
showed no signs of returning from Lcgar Hung himself flat on hlB face
" along 1 ho vault flooring. Then the
black watch struck.
Tlio next moment tlio walls of that
ponderous structure of marble und
sandstone seemingly built to defy timo
Itself, lifted bodily in tlio nlr, like tbo
h till of a torpedoed dreadnought.
Then, following tho roar and rumble
of that vast detonation, camo the mo
mentary catastrophic silence which
so strangely and yot bo Inevitably sue-
ceods a calamity too gigantic and too
abrupt to bo understood.
That ominous sllonce, however, last
ed only for a few seconds. Out of it
aroso muffled calls and thin cries for
help, followed by answering shouts
from many different points in tho
darkness ns rescuing hands sot to
work on tlio ruins.
And out of those ruins, while this
work was going on, emerged two
bruised and tattorod figures strangely
divergent in appearances. Tho first
figure, worming its way out through
the interstices of crumbled rock and
cement, as cautiously and as silently
as a wounded blacksnake might crawl
from a rave, bore ail iron claw at tho
end of its right arm and betrayed an
tnkablo desire to creep away til
ing that intimidating mausoloum with
out due ami do(Jnito preparation. With
him ho took a powerful pocket flash
light, a Colt automatic pistol and a
couplo af extra clips of cartridges,
nut the Instrument on which ho re
posed tho most confldonco was a gun-
motal disk little bigger than a pocket
anoroid, Borne threo inches In dlamo-
tor and 110 thicker than a man’s hand.
This Innocent-looking disk, which
could ho slipped Into a vest* pocket as
easily as a timepiece, was known lo
the habitues of tho Owl's Nost a3 tho
Black Watch.
While actually nothing -more than
a small-sized hand gronado, Its claim
to distinction lay In the tremendous
oxploslvo power which stood com
pressed botween its slender metal
walls.
Lcgar was not a coward. Yet us I10 '
stood In tho clammy midnight uir of tho
Golden mausoloum and qulctlyremovcd : to the darkness before being observed.
tho screws that held tho top on tho j
black casket besldo him. bo found that!
combination of silence and gloom and I
unsavory surroundings a little more of j
a strain on his nerves than ho had j
anticipated. Yot us ho lifted back the 1
sablo cover of tbo casket ho did so ;
with a hand that was still steady.
The second man, who, on recovering
consciousness found himself oncaged
between two fallen pillars of marble
topped by one of tlio roof slabs, expert- j as hurriedly acted on them. Slinking
All this Legar might have done, and
might have done without groat diffi
culty, had not a trace of Ills older ob
session of hate Impinged on hlB clear
ly outlined course of action.
He was once more himself, by this
tlmo, walking with a limp that was
scarcely discernible. But aa be stole
down from' the higher ground and
made his way hack towards the Wost-
Ingham chimney flares he became
once more conscious of the whiter
glare along the roadside he was so
cautiously skirting. ThiB, he remem
bered, as he stole nearer, came from
tho headlights of a stalled limousine.
Then he made a second and a more
startling discovery. Ho knew, oven
before he caught sight of Train work
ing over Ills helpless car, that it be
longed to Enoch Golden. But what
actually drew him closer to the spot
was a glimpse of Margery Golden her
self, in a gray fur motor coat, as she
stepped from the body of the car and
came full Into tho glare of the head
lights, closer beside her stooping
chauffeur,
“Are wo stalled?" he could hear the
girl ask.
“We’ll bo off again In a minute or
two, Miss Margery,” was Train’s pre
occupied reply.
“But I can’t Btnnd here helpless,"
protested the girl. ”1 can’t wait. I
must know what has happened to Da
vid Manley."
“Whatever it, was, it’s over and
done by this time.”
"But lie may bo dead. Ho may he
lying crushed undor thoso fallen pil
lars. 1 must go on. Tell father I
couldn’t wait, tlmt I’ve gone ahead
on foot!”
Logar, crouching back In the slmw-
ows, heard these hurried words aud
meed no little difficulty In emerging
to tlio open, so closely wore theso pro-
L'cLing pillars wedged about him.
But as bo worked his bruised body
When She Tried to “Pump a Needleful 0’ Dope” Into Her Mistress,
Dead Man’s Face Appeared,
Thence ho took up his flashlight, and
pressing close to the coffin's' side,
stood studying the pallid face that lay
surrounded by its oven more pallid
drapery of white satin.
He stared at that pallid face long
and intently. Ho atared at It with stu-
through that Giant's Causeway of bro
ken rock, he felt grateful enough, re
membering wliat lind happened, to bo
still alive. And sore as lie was in
body, he wns even more bruised in
spirit at tlio memory of tlio fact that
bia onorny, Jules Logar, had at tlio
.. , - **— juiea jjuaar, nuu at 1110
dious and narrowing eyes. Then he last moment escaped from I1I3 clutch,
did a strango and an lnoxplicablo
thing.
Lifting his maimed, right arm that
ended in its shank of stool, he brought
it down with a crash on tho glass
cover of tho casket. Then, as though
Infuriated by some unreasoning hatred
for tho pallid face still staring so ini-
’ The Lake of Fire.
Legar, lucky ns his escape had been,
knew that Ills margin of safety was
still too narrow for much immediate
comfort of either mind or body. So
ho crawled away ns best he could
passively up at .him, he struck again.' nurs!lls llls strength when lie came to
mv 1- , • ■■ . . . .. * rnvnr nnrl nrilnn’ nn , q(n tnhnn nnmn
This timo tho blow foil directly on tho
head between tlio white satin swath-
lnga. But that flailing arm, instead of
striking a human head of flesh and
bone, crashed down through a thin
shell of fiber and tinted wax.
Legar, focusing his light on that
shattered mask, omitted a short bark
of triumph as tho meaning of it all
came homo to him. IIo loaned for
several minutes over tho violated cas
ket, staring at It with insolent yet ab
stracted eyes, pondering just what
cover and going on again when some
passing light Bhowed that cover to be
none too dense. But I10 did not give
up until ho had reacliod higher
ground. Thero he was able to hide
lilmself in a thicket and rest for an
hour or two.
But to remain in that neighborhood
until morning, I10 know, would be out
of the question. About that whole
suspected area, he felt, tlio polico
would surely throw a. cordon, and the
resource of disguise was no longor at
Ills disposal. Already from where he
move could lie beyond so intrioately en-; , ho couIl , Eee dozena of movi
glneered a subterfuge. And the an-
swer to that quostion camo
promptly and more directly lh*n ho
had anticipated.
i lnmp3 of 1 workers about the mauso-
moro leum ruins. Ho could also see the
r,; , I S' ow of a powerful pair of headlights,
“ au “-‘““twiuu. For as ho stood apparoll tiy 0 „ a motor car threading
there turning a piece of the wax-cov- | Ua way t0 tUn scono Gf t;i0 losion .
ered tissue meditatively over in his ■ .. .. ... -- ^
.. , And to tho north ho could even more
ngers, the electric bulbs that strung j distinctly sco the fiery tongues of the
te mausoleum roof broke into sudden . cblmndy flares above the Westingham
ligh . From different quarters of that foum ,ry, wlloro hundreds of toilers,
shadowy building, at the same timo, j tul . ;;inE nlEllt int0 dny , worked abo „ t
stopped a group of hidden offleors,
headed by David Manley himself.
So quickly and so quietly did that
transformation tako place, iudood,
that tho man loaning over tho caskot
had neither time nor chance to change
ills position. Ho merely blinked a lit
tle stupidly at tho revolver which
glimmered in Manloy’s hand. Then,
with a gesture that scorned equally
stupid, ho reached for hia watch and
the great blast furnaces and cauldrons
of molten motal.
In a foundry such ns that, ho sud
denly remembered, lay his best
chance for escape. Disheveled as ha
was, ho could pass unnoticed among
thoso sooty workers. And when the
night shift, went off, ho told himself,
he could slip away In their midst, un
noticed and unchallenged. And it tlio
worst camo to tho worst ho could
held tho heavy gun-mctal case medl- crawl into hiding somewhero about
most vital of these was, perhaps, the 1 panes of broken glass,
personality of tho driver of the third When the master-criminal, to put
Carriage in that small cortege which an end to all such absurdities, had by
•wended its way so decorously from the j the force of many dire threats and
Golden home. For under the funereal' oaths compelled both One-Lamp Louie
outflt of this placid eyed driver re- and Red Egan himself to repair to the
tatively between his lingers.
"Stick 'em up!” Manley was at tho
samo lime commanding with n curt
head movement towards Legar’s
hands. “It may have taken Borne
work, but this is the time wo gather
you lr'" . . .
the tangle of machinery undor that
foundry roof Itself, and thero lay up
until ho know tho coast was clear
agnln, with tho chance of stealing a
puddler's "jumper” for a disguise and
n dinner pail or two full of food for a
meal.
back through tho bushes, he swung
about and followed the girl through
tho darkness.
Yet It was not until the girl had
passed well out of hailing distance
of the headllghtcd car that Legar
circled oven more hurriedly forward
and swung in again to intercept her.
She was trudging, a little breath
lessly. up a sandy slope, with her
straining eye3 still fixed on tho mov
ing lanterns about the ruined mauso
leum.
Then, swinging apparently out of
tho empty nlr about her, a circle of
steel, suddenly encompasslug her arm,
brought lior to an abrupt stop,
With 0110 quick movement Legar
tore tho motor veil from her head,
twisted it into a coil, and flung it
about her neck. And all the while, the
Iron Claw, grappllug at her arm, held
her as a steel trap might..
Sho was already dizzy with pain
when sho lieurd the sharp crack of a
revolver shot close over her shoulder.
Tills was followed by a quick shout
and a muttered oath. She felt herself
forcibly flung from Legar's arms into
the arms of another man panting
breathlessly up tho sandy slope. She
could see this man, even as he hold
her from falling, step to lovol his gun
at the fleeing figure of Legar. She
could see him shoot again, and still
again, at the samo moment that Train
nml the plunging automobile came
throbbing and panting up to the scene,
the electric lamps throwing out their
wavering, long columns of white light
as they came. Then the stranger, ar
rested by certain gasping and gur
gling sounds from tho throat of the
half-garroted girl in his arms, stooped
down and tore the constricting veil
away from the Blender, white column
of her neck. And Margery, opening
her eyes, saw that It was tho Laugh
Ing Mask bending above her.
"It was Legar!” sho gasped as
Train, followed by her father, came
panting up to whore they stood.
“And there ho goes now!” cried the
Laughing Mask, pointing down the
long lane of light columnlng out from
tho car's lamps. Across that narrow
rlvor of light they could catch a
glimpse of a tall figure skulking off
into the darkness.
"Follow that tpan with your car,”
Ihe Laughing Mask suddenly cried out
to tho chauffeur.
“No car could travel through coun
try like that!” protested Train.
“Then keep your lights on tho main
road to the west here, so as to pick
him up if he tried to break through
on that side. I’ll swing around by the
foundry yards and head him off In the
cast!”
And the next moment the man in
Ihe yellow mask had disappeared In
the darkness. Golden and his daugh
ter stood staring after him.
Two minutes later tho blackness
that had swallowed him up was
stabbed by a series of flame flashes,
followed by the repeated bark of a
revolver. From tho gloom still nearer
the shadowy piles of the Westingham
foundry came an answering aeries of
shots.
•sal
Iron. It led through mi r>r,i»u<i. t
holler room, thou on through ami./
lighted and low-roofed structure of
pulleys and lathes, and from there, to
the brighter lighted and higher rooted
motal room of tho foundry luelf.
There, beside glowing furnaces lir.lt-
naked men tolled over Incandescent
-annealing boxes and cauldrons of mol
ten metal.- There gigantic track
cranes swung bowls of liquid flro from
crucibles to mold beds.
And tbera the harried Legar, be
wildered by the sudden bright light,
ran like a pelted hound down the
sandy paths between forge and coke
oven anil cauldron crano. There, see
ing his way blocked by a group of
round-eyed Lithuanians, ho swung,
catlike, up Into the Iron network of
tbo cable bridges, with his pursuer
still close at his heels. And there,
midway across that smoko-stalncd
roof, that echoed with the tumult of
thunderous hammers and directly over
a king cauldron of molten steel, the
two men came together.
There Legar, with hte metal claw
hooked securely Into the Iron network
above his head, swung about and
faced his enemy. And there, on that
grimy bridge high above tho equally
grimy workmen who left their forges
and lathes and cauldrons to witness
the struggle, the two enemies, who
had so long and bitterly opposed each
other, found themselves faco to face
for their final struggle.
Yet the man In the yellow maBk
seemed tho cooler headed of the two,
for as Legar struck snarling at his
face he ducked low on his narrow
perch and at the samo moment
whipped his revolver from the side
pocket of his coat. Yet Legar, with
a movement equally prompt, kicked
viciously at tho fingers oluaterod about
tho gun-butt before the weapon Itself
could bo brought Into use. The next
moment that weapon fell with a hiss
and splash Into the lake of molten
metal beneath thstn.
Then the struggle became ono of
tendon against tendon, of straining
muscle against muscle, of empty-
handed mortal strength pitted against
mortal strength. There, like animals
of the wild, high In some Amazonian
eyrie, the two strangely entangled
figures fought and struggled and
clawed and struck.
In the mattor of mero physical
strength Legar seemed to have tho
advantage. And what under ordinary
circumstances - might have proved a
disability could now bo turned to his
advantage. For tho Iron claw at the
end..of his right arm, hooked securely
Into tho network of steel behind him,
held him there without effort and
without strain. Hla opponent, on the
other hand, found it no easy task to
make sure cf his perch above that,
ever-lnttmldating cauldron of molten
metal. Ills arm shook with tho ten
sion imposed on his overtaxed mus
cles. His fingers became numb with
pain, threatening to lose their pre
hensile power, and even as he fought
he weakened to a realization that he
must change his hold.
It was as he maneuvered to bring
about this shift of position that tho
ever-watchful Legar, alert for tho most
trivial advantage, saw his chance.
Swinging his body suddenly freo from
its footing on the narrow ledge of
metal where he stood, he pendulumed
towards his momentarily unstable op
ponent, throwing his feet forward and
upward, as he did so, with all tho force
of a football player kicking a double
punt.
The force of this unlooked-for Im
pact was loo much for the man In the
mask. He tottered back, caught fran
tically at a soot-covered steel bar be
side him, dropped the full length of its
diagonal course before he could make
sure of his clutch, and camo Into vio
lent collision with the heavy Iron
block of a crane ladle. There, half-
stunned by the blow, ho fell sprawling
across a polished steel cable which
drooped floorward between the block
and Us empty metal pot. He -tried to
clutch that cable as he fell, but his
speed proved too great and his over
taxed fingers were too weak. As ho
fell along Us polished surface, how
ever, it offered sufficient resistance to
carry hia limp body beyond the peril
of that open lake of molten metal,
which, his frantic brain kept telling
him, meant death. And as he dropped
weakly from the cable loop to a pile
of molding sand lying between a cast- ■-
ing box and an empty spill trough, a
score of watching men gave utterance
to a shout of relief and a score- of
waiting hands were (here '.to help him
to hts feet.
So intent were those astounded Iron
workers on watching that perilous fall,
however, that they paid scant atten
tion to the second figure climbing spi
derlike higher along tho blackened
Ironwork of the blackened roof. They
caught no glimpse of him sb he scram
bled, sooty and panting, through the
ventilating flue that opened on the
That moans he’s making for the ™ of itEelf - N()r did any eye follow
him as he crept, gorillalike, along tho
perilous slope of that roof until he
came to tho end of the building. Along
this end he found a lightning rod, run
ning from the peak of its roof to the
ground. Ho promptly tested the
strength of this wire, satisfying him
self carefully, foot by foot, by means
of ono hand and an Iron'hook which
struck and clung to the metal with tho
vicious tenacity of an eagle’s claw.
When ho reached the ground, still
breathing heavily, ho looked cautious
ly about. Then, making sure he was
not observed, he slipped Into the shad
ow of a pile of Iron ingots, once more
watted and listened, and then, crouch
ing low, crossed the foundry yard and
climbed the high board fence sur
rounding It. And a moment later the
darknesB of the night had swallowed
him up.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
foundry, sir!" cried the excited Train
as lie swung his car about.
“Then, for God’s sake, get us there,
as quick as you can," commanded
Enoch Golden as tho car lurched and
pulsod' and crawled on botween tho
broken shrubbery, In perilous search
for some open pathway.
But both Legar and his pursuer
were by this time well beyond their
line of vision. That desperate-minded
master criminal. In fact, realizing
that his enemy was pressing close at
Ills heels, mounted tv slag pile, dropped
flat, and emptied his revolver Into tho
darkness, where the Laughing Mask
should have been.
But the wary pursuer, dropping low
beside an empty pitch barrel, held his
Are and waited. Tho moment he
heard the crisp sound of footsteps
along the slag slope he once more
took up the pursuit
That pursuit led through a narrow
Jane between great pile* of structural