Newspaper Page Text
« THERED
ONE TRAIL
®3
Crittenden
Marriott
Copyi'i gkt -=S^I
SYNOPSIS
CII t PTE ? T ;—Thrown from his ‘
In <^ a New Yoik tillage, auto
( ? d “"conscious into a man is car
Miss Edith Grant. the home of a
he A doctor discovers
has been shot, fatally. Conscious
n| S A.orbach, \in l= v Ur , lins '’ *? ian S’ 1 '’ 65 * his name
as . i and babbies of ‘‘millions ” \
He begs that Henry Archman, million- :
f^ e re f ldC ‘ IU ? f t,le vicinity, be sent
for, declaring a l he v has . an important
sage for him. Archman mes- •
cannot be !
reached by phone, but word is sent
that his secretary is on the way. A
man secretary, announcing Akin, himself as Archman’s
Morbaeh, and leaves arrives, talks with
he gives him. with a package
j
CHAPTER II.—Morbaeh dies. Arch- I
veals mans arrival, with his secretary re¬
that the man posing as Akin is
an impostor and has escaped with the
papers Morbaeh carried. Arehman de- |
nounces Edith Grant as a girl endeavor¬
ing to snare his son Harry.
CHAPTER III—Archman, his mil¬
lions made in Chicago, lias yielded to i
the importunities of his family—his i
•wife, daughters Nellie and Bessie (sev¬
enteen ye irs old), and son Harry-- and
moved to New York in an endeavor to i
gain recognition by the Pour Hundred 1
They have not succeeded. Mrs Arch¬
man is bitter over her failure, particu- !
larly mourning the fact that she has
not been "taken up” by a Airs Vail
Kull.
CHAPTER TV.—Arehman orders Nel¬
lie to get ready for a long journey with
him, "starting In an hour.” lie refuses
to reveal their destination to his wife,
declaring tells Bess it she is "not his secret.” Nellie
is in love with James
Carr, a youth working on Archman's
ship, El Rio. She gives Bess a message
for him. Arehman and Nellie depart.
CHAPTER V.—Harry tells Bess of
Ms determination to marry Edith Grant.
Mrs. Arehman receives a map, with the
explanation that it was among Alor
bach’s papers, and suggesting she for¬
ward it to Mr. Arehman. Lord George
Caruthers, traveling Englishman, ar¬
rives at the Arehman home, by invi¬
tation.
CHAPTER VI—The Arehman family,
with Lord George, visit the El Rio.
Bess meets Carr and tells him of her
eister's departure. She learns from him
that “Edith Grant” is his sister. Mrs.
Arehman decides to take Bess and
Harry and sail with Captain Bunker
on the El Rio to meet her husband.
Caruthers accompanies them. Bunker
has sealed orders.
CHAPTER VII.—A Miss Denslow, en¬
gaged as governess for Bess, and Akin,
sail with the party. Miss Denslow and
Caruthers, it appears, keep have met before.
They decide to it a Secret.
CHAPTER VIII If
Without Lights.
The morning of the fifth-|day saw
the El Rio approaching latitude 1ft,
longitude 64, the spot at which Cap¬
tain Bunker was to open the envelope
inclosing his instructions and was pre¬
sumably, to ascertain the exact place
where he was to find Mr. Arehman.
Naturally, all on board were agog to
learn what the envelope contained.
Bess was especially and admittedly
excited.
A little before noon she had a sur¬
prise. She had torn herself reluctant¬
ly away from the deck and had gone
below to get one of her lesson books.
She found the book, but she also found,
lying on top of it, a folded paper ad¬
dressed to herself in a handwriting
that she did not recognize. It ran as
follows:
“Warn Captain Bunker to keep spe¬
cial watch over his instructions. An
effort is likely to be made to find them
out in advance, probably today.”
The note bore no signature. Bess
read the words again. Then she sat
down and stared at the paper. Was
it a hoax? she asked herself. Why
should any one want to learn the
contents of the instructions in advance
of their formal opening? , Who could
want to do such a thing?
“Warn Captain Bunker,” said the
note. But should she do it? Would
she not make herself ridiculous by do¬
ing it? Would the writer be watching
to laugh at her? Such a note seemed
like Harry’s idea of fun.
After a while she decided to go on
deck and see if she could find any
clew in the expressions of her fellow
passengers. As she passed Harry’s
stateroom the sound of a man’s and
a woman’s voice within it, engaged in
earnest though low-j)itched discussion,
came to her ears. She paid little at¬
tention to them, supposing that Harry
was giving instructions to the maid
about sewing on a button or some
such trifle. After a brief pause in
her mother’s stateroom, she went on
deck and met Harry. She made some
reference to his visitor. Harry start¬
ed and stared at her, half angrily, half
suspiciously. “What are you trying to
start now, Bess?” he asked. “I’ll bite.
What’s the joke?”
Bess stared. “No joke,” she said.
“I certainly heard voices in your state¬
room and—”
“Not inline! You’re daffy, Bess/’
Bess shrugged her shoulders. “Oh,
well! Never mind. Maybe It was
somewhere else,” she granted. “It’s
of no importance, anyway. I wonder
what Captain Bunker’s instructions
will say?”
Harry shrugged his shoulders indif¬
ferently. “Search me,” he replied.
In vain Bess made other remarks,
both to Harry and to the other pas¬
sengers, attempting to obtain some an¬
swer that would help her suspicions
to settle. None of them disclosed any¬
thing, and it was not until the sun had
crossed the meridian and Captain
Bunker, with his sextant under Ills
arm, passed by on his way to work
out the noon observation and deter¬
mine the position of the ship that she
got her chance.
“Are we there, captain?” she de¬
manded eagerly.
Captain Bunker shook his head.
“Not yet," lie sa>id; “but we shall be
soon. When I’ve worked out the ob¬
servation, I’ll be able to tell you just
how soon,”
“Oh, isn’t it thrilling, captain!
You’ll let Lord George and me open
the Instructions, won’t you?” Bess
glanced at the Englishman as she
spoke.
Captain Bunker shook his head.
“Can’t do that, Miss Bess,” he de¬
clared. “I’ll have to do it myself, and
I’ll have to seek the seclusion that my
cabin grants before I do it.”
Bess turned to the Englishman.
“You hear. Lord George?” she ex¬
claimed. “lie wants to keep all the
mystery to himself.”
Lord George nodded comfortably.
“He jolly well better had keep It to
himself,” he declared. “Mr. Arehman
would court-martial him If he didn’t.
What!”
Bess drew a long breath. Clearly,
she decided, Lord George was not es¬
pecially interested in the instructions.
“Well, I call It mean,” she said. “Be¬
ware, captain, or when you come to
open your instructions you’ll find I’ve
got ahead of you and read them first.”
“Not you, miss—unless you wheedle
the combination of my safe out of me,”
laughed the captain, as ho vunislied
into the chart house.
Bess said wothing more. She had
warned the captain in a way, without
betraying the fact .that she had re¬
ceived the note, which she more than
ever believed was a home. A little
later, when Captain Bunker announced
that he would open the envelope at
five o'clock that afternoon, she decid¬
ed that nobody could possibly manage
to steal the Instructions out of a
locked safe In less than four hours,
and that, therefore, she would say
nothing.
The tasks of the day had been fin¬
ished and, the weather being good,
there was little for the crew—except
those In the engine room—to do. Of
all on board, only Lord George was
busy; he had borrowed a light rifls
from Captain Bunker and was amus¬
ing himself by shooting at floating ob¬
jects.
Eight bells struck. Bess sat up in
her steamer chair, throwing hack the
light rug that covered her feet, and
looked about her. As she did so, Lord
George raised his rifle and fired at
something directly aft. Bess rose and
stared curiously across the taffrail.
“Gee! That looks exciting,” she re¬
marked casually.
Lord George looked up at her. “It’s
jolly good practice, you know',” he
said. “It’s the shooting season at
home now', and everybody there Is pop¬
ping aw'ay. It’s lots of fun, It is real¬
ly. Excuse me.” He turned and sent
a' bullet at a shark’s triangular fin
that cut the water off the starboard
quarter. The fin disappeared and he
turned back to Bess. “I’m not much
of a shot,” he explained. “The best
bag I ever made was sixty brace.”
“Sixty brace! One hundred and
twenty 1"
Lord George did not answer. He
swung his rifle up. Bess had just
time to see that he was aiming at
something that looked like a bottle
with a small flag stuck into its neck,
when the piece exploded and the bottle
disappeared. “Good gracious!” she
exclaimed. “Where did that bottle
come from?”
“Bottle?" Lord George looked sur¬
prised. “Where is It?”
“It’s at the bottom of the sea, now,"
exclaimed Bess. “You blew It to
pieces. Didn’t you know what you
were aiming at?”
Lord Georg e’s expr essio n of surpris e
THE PELHAM JOURNAL
was obvious. “Really, now, really,
Miss Bess,” fie mumbled, “are you
sure it was a bottle?”
“Of course, I’m sure. I’ve got eyes,
haven’t I? It looked like a message,
too. It had a flag in it. Maybe it was
a message from some poor ship¬
wrecked mariner. And you’ve de¬
stroyed it. Good Lord 1”
Lord George had fired again, and at
another bottle, which flew in frag*
ments like the first.
Bess stared at the water. Then she
stared at Lord George. But that gen¬
tleman kept his eye fixed on the water,
either failing or refusing to meet her
eyes. “Oh 1” she breathed significantly.
The rudder chains leading along the
rail began to rattle, and the wake of
the El Rio began to change its direc¬
tion. The sun, which had been on the
girl’s left, shifted behind her. For a
moment Bess did not understand; then
she realized that the El Rio had
changed its course from south to west.
Bess glanced up at the bridge where
Captain Bunker’s form was outlined
against the sunset. Then she turned
back to Lord George, as if to speak.
But tlve Englishman anticipated her.
“That really was a bottle now 1” he
cried. “It was, ’pon my word. Did
you see it?”
“Yes; I saw it.” Bess spoke short¬
ly. Her vague suspicions suddenly
flattened.
“Jolly good shot. What?”
“Yes; it was a good shot. Where
do you suppose tiiose bottles came
from?”
“Where? Oh, I fancy somebody
tossed them overboard up forward
somewhere. Er—Captain Bunker must
have opened his instructions. What?”
Bess started. Undoubtedly that was
the explanation of the change, of
course. “I’ll go see 1” she cried, and
raced forward.
Captain Bunker was on the bridge.
If he saw Bess ascending the ladder
to his perch, he showed no signs of
his perception. His broad back and
indeed his whole attitude was re¬
pellent. Almost Bess hesitated.
Almost, hut not quite. Curiosity
drove her on. “Captain I” she said
timidly.
Captain Bunker turned. His face
was forbidding. “Miss Arehman,” lie
said coldly, “can I do anything for
you?” Suppressed anger thrilled In
his tones.
Bess faltered. “No—nothing,” she
stammered. “I only wanted to ask—
ask whether you had opened the in¬
structions yet?” She tried to make
her tones- light, hut failed lamentably.
What could be the matter? she won¬
dered.
“Yes; I have opened them." Cap¬
tain Bunker’s face grew grimmer. Ab¬
ruptly lie turned upon the girl. “Miss
Arehman,” he said, “when you threat¬
ened to see those instructions before
1 did, I thought you were joking. I
did not dream that you would attempt
to carry out so dishonorable a threat,
or that you could succeed even if you
did attempt it.”
“Why 1 I—I—I—Good gracious 1 I
was joking, of course.” Bess’ face
lengthened with dismay. “How dare
you speak this way to me?” site burst
out.
“I fancy you know why." Bitter¬
ness rang in Captain Bunker’s tones.
“I do not know how you got into my
safe, Miss Arehman," he said. “True,
it was old-fashioned. But I compli¬
ment you on your extraordinary skill
in opening it But I cunnot compli¬
ment you on your respect for your
father's wishes or on your carefulness
in hiding your tracks.” The captain
plunged his hand into his pocket and
drew out a bit of cambric. "Permit
me to return your handkerchief, Miss
Arehman,” he said. “Yon left it is
the broken drawer in the safe.”
Bess took the handkerchief. Her
lips had grown quite white. Silently,
she scanned it, identifying it by the
mark in the corner. Then she lifted
her eyes to Captain Bunker. “Tills is
my handkerchief, Captain Bunker,”
she said. She was very young and her
heart was beating furiously, but she
spoke with dignity. “It is mine,” she
repeated, “but I have no idea how it
got into your safe. Certainly I did not
leave it there. I did not open your
safe. I didn’t even see your safe. I
never dreamed of violating my father’s
wishes. I had reason to believe that
some one else might try to get at
those instructions and I tried to warn
you. I seem to have failed.”
“Good heavens!” Captain Bunker
stared. “But—but—the handkerchief 1"
he protested.
“Whoever broke in evidently left It
there accidentally or in order to make
you suspect me. Plainly, he suc¬
ceeded.”
Captain Bunker Ignored the in¬
nuendo. “But,” he protested again,
“you suspected that—What do you
mean? Whom did you suspect?”
“I don’t know."
“You don’t know whom you sus¬
pected?”
“No; I don’t. Some one—I don’t
know who—left a note in rny state¬
room asking me to warn you to be
careful, that an attempt might be
made to get at the papers. I thought
is was a hoax, but I warned you nev¬
ertheless. But my warning failed."
“But who wrote the note?”
“I don’t know. I found it PM the
dresser in my stateroom.”
“But who left it there? You must
have some suspicion."
Bess shook her head. “I haven’t an
idea,” she said. “At first I thought it
might be Harry trying to play a joke
on me. Now I don’t know what to
think.”
“But you must think! Listen to me.
I opened the safe this afternoon. I
unlocked the inner drawer and looked
at the packet. It was secure, just as
It was when I put it there three days
ago. I locked it up again. I locked
the safe. I will swear to it. Half an
hour ago I opened it again. The lock
of the inner drawer was broken. The
packet had been opened and sealed up
again neatly. Your handkerchief lay
beneath it. If It had not been for the
broken lock, I might not have noticed
that the sufe had been entered and
might not have thought anything of
your handkerchief being there. But
the lock spoke for itself. I opened
the envelope and read the Instructions.
They were explicit. They ordered me
to go to a certain island. They warned
me that I should probably be followed
by one o>’ more ships. They told me
to evade them at all hazards—that it
was a matter of life and death. Life
and death, you understand. And here
—here—I’ve simply got to find out
who’s on board spying for them, be¬
fore It is too late. And you’ve got to
help me. Consider n moment. Who
could have gotten into your stateroom?
Did you leave it locked?"
“No.”
"Then anybody who could have come
aft could have gone in. We may take it
that it wasn’t your or your mother or
your brother. How about Miss Dens¬
low?”
“Miss Denslow 1” Bess cried out the
word. “Oh, it couldn’t have been Miss
Denslow 1 We haven’t known her very
long, but slie came to us from Miss
Van Kull. Of course, It couldn’t have
been she.”
“Humph 1” Captain Bunker seemed
only half satisfied. “I’m glad. Miss
Denslow seems a very pleasant lady
and I’d bate to think her guilty of
such treachery. How about Lord
George? I suppose he is a genuine
nobleman?”
"Genuine! Good gracious! Mother
would have a duck fit if he wasn’t.
.She met him—Oh, of course. What
was 1 thinking about! The British
ambassador introduced him to Mrs.
Paxton, and Mrs. Paxton hi traduced
him to mother.”
“How about your innld?”
“We’ve bad her for years and years.
Besides, I know her writing, and this
wasn’t a bit like it.”
“That settles the passengers.” Cap¬
tain Bunker tugged at his heard. “I’ve
had my officers for years, and can
trust them. That leaves only the
crew. Only the steward is allowed
aft. He’s new to me. Have you no¬
ticed him?”
Bess nodded. “Yes,” she said.
“That is, I’ve noticed him casually.
He looks rather nbove a steward’s
place. But—”
“I guess lie’s the thief. I’ll attend
to him, all right.” Captain Bunker’s
jaws set themselves grimly. “But
I’m afraid it’s too late to stop him
from sending word to bis employers!”
“His employers?"
“Yes. Of course, lie’s not working
for himself. He’s working for the peo¬
ple who murdered that man Morbaeh
and who stole (he map. When they
found that it didn’t tell where the is¬
ifflmm'Simam 89
AUTO TOPS i
I I
We make auto tops for ail g
makes of cars. We also repair
tops, curtains and cushions.
Our prices are RIGHT.
W. R. BELK AUTO CO.
NOTICE!
I have several thousand Cantaloupe
Crates — (Flats) — for sale. Will sell
cheap. See or Phone J. L. Pilcher, Meigs,
Ga. B. E. SINGLETARY,
Ochlocknec, Ga.
land was, they sent it to your mother
and then managed to follow her.
There isn’t a doubt of it. And—
and—”
Captain Bunker turned on his heel
and pointed toward the northern hori¬
zon, now. dark with the shadows of
coming night. “Look,” he said. “Prob¬
ably you can’t see it. but that smoke
yonder comes from a boat that has
been hanging on my heels ever since
we left New York. It is swift, amaz¬
ingly swift, and silent, amazingly si¬
lent. . It conies without lights. But
once in so often a flash of sparks from
ils funnel betrays its presence. Tt’s
following us, trying to find out where
we are going. And some scoundrelly
spy on board of us Is helping it. And—*
and” — Captain Bunker choked—“no
doubt lie’s sent the information long
ago.”
Bess’ face wrinkled with perplexity,
“But how could he send it?” she ques¬
tioned.
"Probably In a bottle with a flag and
with Its cork rubbed with phosphorus.
If he tossed enough of them over¬
board his masters would find one."
Bess’ face cleared. "Don’t worry
about bottles, captain,” she said con¬
solingly. “Lord George lms been sit¬
ting at the stern all afternoon, break¬
ing them with rifle bullets.”
CONTINUED NEXT WEEK i
ALL OUT OF SORTS?
So Was This Peiham Woman Who
Tells Her Experience.
All too often women accept th it
pains and aches as natural to th t
sex. They fail to realize that we.,,
kidneys ate often to blame for U .t
backache, those headaches, dizzy spe•■ =
and that tired, depressed Teel i?
Thousands have found new health a ul
strength by helping the weaken J
kidneys with Doan’s Pills— a sti i
ulant diuretic. This Pelham case is
one of many:
Mrs. J. C. Raji-tty, Bear Ave., saj s:
“Sharp pains shot wercss my back and
I could hardly get around. My ft d
bloated and my kidneys didn’t a I
right. I had dizzy headaches. Doan’s
Pills from the King Drug Co. cured
me.”
60c, at all dealers. Foster-Milbu, o
Co., Mfrs., Buffalo, N. Y.
John B. Gordon
Lodge No’ 163
K. of P.
Meets each Monday
night. Visitors are
welcome.
R. L. Durden, C. C.
1). II. Cheves, KR&S
❖
INSURANCE. ■>
<s>
i AUTOMOBILE, FIRE, TORNADO- <»
i Reliable Companies. <»
❖
| C. J. KING. ♦ ❖
*
