SYNOPSIS.
, Ltwmct Blakeley. lawyer, goes to
Pittsburg with the forged note* In the
Bronaon case to gat the deposition of
John GUmora, millionaire. In the latter's
hone he is Attracted by a picture of a
young girl, whom the millionaire explain*
fa hla granddaughter A lady requests
Blakeley to buy her a Pullman ticket. He
gives her lower eleven and retains lower
tsn. He finds a drunken man In lower
ten and retires In lower nine. He awa
kens In lower seven and find* his clothes
aad bag missing. The man In lower ten
Is found murdered. Circumstantial evi
dence points to both Blakeley and the
unknown man who had exchanged clothea
with him. Blakeley becomee Interested
In a girl In blue. The train Is wrecked.
Blakeley Is rescued from the burning car
by the girl In blue. Hla arm la broken.
They go to the Carter place ror break
fast. The girl provea to be Allaon West,
hla partner'a sweetheart. Her peculiar
actions mystify the lawyer. She drops
her gold bag and Blaxeley puts It In hla
pocket. Blakeley returna home. He find*
that he Is under surveillance. Moving
pictures of the train tak~n Just before the
wreck reveal to BU'-nlcy a man leaping
from the train with his stolen grip.
Blakeley learns that a man named Sul
livan leaped from the I rain near M —-
and sprained his ankle. He stayed some
time at the Carter place. W bile making
Inquiries at Carter's. Blakeley finds All
son and kisses her. Mrs. Conway, the
woman for whom Blakeley bought the
Pullman ticket, tries to make a bargain
with him for the forged notos, not know
• Ing that they are missing.
CHAPTER XXI.
MeKnlght's Theory.
I confess I was staggered. The
people at the surrounding tables, after
glancing curiously in my direction,
looked away again.
I got my hat and went out in a very
uncomfortable frame of mind. That
•he would Inform the police at once
of what she knew I never doubted, un
less possibly she would give a day or
two's grace in the hope that I would
change my mind.
I reviewed the situation aa I waited
for a car. Two passed me going in
the opposite direction and on the first
one I saw Bronson, his hat over his
eyes. His arms folded, looking moodily
ahead. Was It Imagination? or was
the small man huddled in the corner
of the rear seat Hotchkiss?
As the car rolled on I found myse'f
smiling. The alert little man wns for
mil the world like a terrier, ever on the
acent, and scouring about in every di
rection.
I found McKnight at the Incubator,
wtthjria coat olf-working jrlth snthu
slasm and a manicure file over the
horn of hla auto.
'lt's the worst horn I ever ran
across," he groaned, without looking
up, as I came in. "The blankety
blank thing won't blow."
He punched it savagely, finally elic
iting a faipt throaty croak.
"Sounds like croup," I suggested.
"My sister-in-law uses camphor and
goose gfeaee for It; or how about a
•pic* poultice?"
But McKnight never sees any Jokes
but his own. He flung the horn clat
teriog into a corner and collapsed
•ulkily Into a chair.
"Now," I said, "if you're through
manicuring that horn, 111 tell you
•bout my talk with the lady In black."
"What'a wrong?" aaked McKnight.
languidly. "Police watching her, too?"
"Not exactly. The fact la, Rich,
there's the mischief to pay."
Stogie came In, bringing a few addi
tions to our comfort. When he went
out I told my story.
"You must remember," I said, "that
I had seen this woman before the
morning of the wreck. She wag buy
ing her Pullman ticket when I did.
Then the nei[t morning, when the mur
der was dls«jvered. she grew hyster
ical and I gave her some whisky. The
third and last time I saw her, until
to-night, was when she crouched be
side the road, after the wreck."
McKnight slid down In his chair un
til his weight rested on the small of
his back and put bis feet on the big
reading table.
"It's rather a facer." he said. "It's
really too good a siUra'.icn for a com
monplace lawyer. It ought to be
_ You cant asrree. of
•couine; and by refuting you run the
•chance of Jail, at !ea«t, and of having
Alison brought into publicity, which is
out of the question. You say she wan
at the Pullman window when you
■ware?"
"Yes; I bought her ticket for her.
Oave her lower ole*er "
"And you tbok ten?"
"Lower ten."
McKnight straightened up and
' looked at me.
"Then she thought you were in
lower ten."
"I suppose she did, if she thought
at all."
"But listen, man" McKnight was
Crowing excited. " What do you figure !
out of this? The Conway woman {
knows you have taken the notes to j
Pittsburg. The probabilities are that
•he follows you tbf-re, on the chance I
of an opportunity to get them, either j
tor B roc son or herself.
"Nothing doing during the trjp over j
or during the day In Pittsburg; but j
ahe learns the number of your berth
•s you buy It at the Pullman ticket i
office in Pittsburg and ah* thinks she !
sees her chance. No one could have !
foreseen that that drunken fellow j
would have crawled into your berth.
"Now, I figure It out this way: She •
wanted those notes desperately—does j
■Oil —not for BroßMfi, but to hold over •
MAN
LOWERTEN
RINEHAK?
corv*.KiHr \gr ©oftfvs - Merrill COMPANy
his h«ad for some purpose. In the
night, when everything is quiet, ah*
slips behind the curtains of lower ten,
where the- man's breathing shows he
Is asleep. Didn't you ssy he snored?"
"He did." I affirmed. "But I tell
you— *
"Now keep still and listen. She
gropes cautiously around In the dark
ness. finally discovering the wallet un
der the pillow. Cant you m— It your
self?"
He was leaning forward, excitedly,
and I could almost see the grewsome
tragedy he was depicting.
"She draws out the wallet. Then,
perhaps she remembers the alligator
bag and on the possibility thst the
notes are there, instead of in tha
pocketbook, she gropes around for It.
Suddenly, the man awakes and clutch
es at the nearest object, perhaps her
neck chain, which breaks.
"It is all in silence; the man Is still
stupidly drunk. But he holds her in
a tight grip. Then the tragedy. She
must get away; in a minute the car
will be aroused. Such a woman, on
such an errand, does not go without
some sort of a weapon, in this cai.o
a dagger, which, unlike a revolver, U
noiseless.
"With a quick thrust—she's a bi&
woman and a bold one—she strike*.
Possibly Hotchkiss Is right about tin
left-hand blow.*"'Harrington may have
held her right hand, or perhaps she
held the dirk in her left hand as she
groped with her right. Then, as the
man falls back and his Rrasp relaxes,
she straightens and attempts to get
away. The swaying of the car throws
her almost into your berth, and, trem
bling with terror. Bhe crouches behind
j the curtains of lower ten until every
i thing Is still. Thon sue goes noise
lessly back to ber berth."
I nodded.
"It seems to fit ; artly, at least," I
said. "In the mor-.i.-i;: when she found
that the crime hsd been not only fruit
less. but that sbe had searched the
I wrong berth and killed the wrong
i man; when she saw me emerge, un
j hurt, Just as obe wan bracing nerself
; for the discovery of my dead body.
; then ebe went inn. hysterics. You re
' uember, I gave her some whisky.
"It really seems a tenable theory
; Rut. like the Sul'lvan theory, there arc
: one or two thl. Ks that don't agree,
with the rest. For one thing, how did
j the remainder of that chain get lnu)
Alison West's poK&ession?"
"Bhe may bave picked It up on the
Boor."
"We'll admit that," I said; "and I'm
sure I hope so. Thon how did the mur
dered man's pocketbook get Into the
sealskin bag? And the dirk, how ac
count for that, and the blood stains?"
"Now what's the use," asked Mc-
Knight aggrlevedly. "of my building
up beautiful theories for you to pull
down? We'll take it to Hotchkiss.
Maybe he can tell from the blood
stains if the murderer's finger nails
were square or pointed."
"Hotchkiss Is no fool," I said warm
ly. "Under all his theories there's a
good, hard layer of common sense.
And we must remember. Rich, that
neither of our theories includes the
woman at Doctor Van Kirk's hospital,
that the charming picture you have
Just drawn does not account for All
son West's connection with the case,
or for the bits of telegram in the Sul
livan fellow's pajamas pocket. You
are like the man who put the clock to
gether; you've got half of tfttf* works
left over."
"Oh, go home," said McKnight, dis
gustedly. "I'm no Edgar Allan Poe.
What's the use of coming here and
"Suddenly th* Man Awakes and ClutchM at the Nearest Object.'*
asking me things If you're so particu
lar?"
With one of his quick changes of
mood he picked up hta guitar.
"Listen to thta," he aald. "It Is a
Hawaiian song about a fat lady, oh,
ignorant one! and how ahe fell off her
mule."
But for all the lightness of the
Words, the voice that followed me
down the stairs was anything but
cheery.
There waa a Kanaka in Balu did dwell,
Who had for his daughter a monstrous
fat girl
he sang in a clear tenor. I paused on
the lower floor and listened. He had
■topped singing as abruptly as he had
■begun.
CHAPTER XXII.
At tha Boarding Housa.
I had not been home for 36 hours,
| i'nee the morning of the preceding
j di*y. Johnson was not in sight and I
: let myself in quietly with my latch
! key. It was almost midnight and I
| h&d hardly settled myself In the
; 'lbfary when the boll rang and I was
j surprised to find Hotchklss, tnuch out
I,of breath. In the vestibule,
j "Why. come In, Mr. Hotchklss," I
> said. "I thoughfeyou were going home
• to go to bed."
"So I was, so I was." He dropped
; into a chair beside my reading lamp
' and mopped his face. "And here it is
i almost midnight and I'm wider awake
j than ever. I've seen Sullivan, Mr.
I Blakeley."
! "You have!" •'
j "I have," ho said, Impressively.
"You were following Bronson at
i eight o'clock. Was that when It hap-
I pened?"
I "Something of the sort. When I left
you at the door of the restaurant I
and almost ran Into a plain
clothes man from the central office.
\l know him pretty well; once or twice
he has taken me with him on interest
' ing bits of work. He knows my hobby,
j "You know him, too, probably. It
| was the man Arnold, the detective
; whom the state's attorney has had
watching Bronson."
Johnson being otherwise occupied,
t! had asked for Arnold myself.
| I nodded.
. "Well, he stopped me at once; said
( he'd been on the fellow's tracks since
early morning and had had no time
for luncheon. Bronson. It seems. Isn't
eating much these days. I at once
; Jotted down the fact, tjecause it ar
' gued that he was being bothered by
I the man with tho notes."
' It might point to other things," I
| suggested. "Indigestion, you know."
j Hotchkiss Ignored me. "Well, Ar
nold had some reason for thinking
that Bronson prould try to give him
the slip that night, so he asked me to
utay around the private entrance there
while he ran across the afreet and
get something to eat. It seemed a fair
• presumption that; as he had gone
1 there with a lady they would dine lei
surely and Arnold would have plenty
of time to get back."
1 "What about your own dinner?" I
; asked, curiously.
| "Sir," ho said, pompously, "I have
: Uen you a wrong estimate of Wilson
3udd Hotchkiss if you think that a
question of dinner would even obtrude
itself on his mind at such a time as
this."
He was a frail little ihan and to
night be looked pale with heat and
overexertion.
"Did you have any luncheon?" I
asked.
He waa somewhat embarrassed at
that ♦
"I—really, Mr. Blakeley, the events
of the day were ao engrossing—"
"Well," 1 said, "I'm not going to
you drop on the floor from exhaus
tion. Juat wait a minute."
I went back to the pantry, only to
be confronted with, rows of locked
doors and empty diahes. Downstairs,
In the basement kitchen, however, I
found two unattractivo looking cold
chops, soma dry bread and a piece of
cake, wrapped In a napkin, and from
its surreptitious and generally hang
dog appearance destined for the coach
man in the atable at the rear. Trays j
there were qgne —everything but the j
chairs and tables seemed under lock I
and key and there was neither napkin, j
knife nor fork to be found.
The luncheon was not attractive In I
aD»'>arance. but Hotchklss ate his cold
chops and gnawed at his crusts as j
though ho had been famished, whllo |
he told his story.
"I had been there only a few mln- |
utes," he said, with a chop In ono
hand nnd the cake in the other, "when |
Bronson rushed out and cut across the j
street. He's a tall man, Mr. Blake
tey, and I had hard work keeping j
dose. It was a relief when ho Jumped
on a passing car, although being well |
behind, it was a hard run for me to j
catch him. He had left the lady.
"Once on the car, we simply rode j
from one end of the line to the other j
and back again. I suppose he was
passing the time, for ho looked at |
his watch now and then and when 1
did once get a look at his face It made
me- er—uncomfortable. He could j
have crushed me like a fly,-61r."
1 had brought Mr. HotchkiE3 a glans j
of Wine and ho waa looking better.
He stopped to finish It, declining with j
a wave of his hand to have it refilled,
and continued:
"About nine o'clock or a little later I
he got oft somewhere near Washing- j
ton circle. He went along one of the )
residence streets there, turned to his
left a square or two. nnd rang a bell.
He had been admitted when I got j
there, but I guessed from the appear-1
ance of the place that it was a board
ing house.
"I waited n few minutes and rang
the bell. When sr.nld answered it, I
1 asked for Mr. ? :"'vßn. Of eourao j
there was no Mr, there.
"1 said I was sorr •; that the man I j
was looking for wat> a new boarder, j
C-'he was sure tier" was no such '
Niarder In the huure: the only new ar- j
rival was a mar en the third floor— |
she thought his namo was Stuart.
"'My friend Ha? a cousin by that |
name,' I said. Til go up and see.'
"She wanted to show me* up. bifvi
i- rid ttwus uah* carary. So after telhu
j inn mo It was the V'Oroom and sitting- |
room on the third lloor front, I went J
up.
"I met a couple of men on the ;
sta'.rs, but neither of them paid any j
attention to me. A boarding house Is j
tho easiest place In the world to en- !
ter."
"They're not always so easy to
leave," I put In, to his evident Irrita
tion.
"When I got to t*io third story I
took out a bunch of and po.sted
myself by a door rs.ir the ones the
klt! had ind'eftted * , - o"tld hear voices I
in one of the fron'. rooms, but could I
not understand wruf they said.
"There was no "lo'ent dlsuute, but
a steady hum. Then Bronson Jerked
the door open. If he had stopped Into
the hall he would have eeen inf. fitting
a key into the door iiefore me. But
lie spoke before he came out.
" 'You're acting !i!;o a maniac,' he
Sftid, 'You know I car. get those
some way: I'm' not going to
threaten you. It ica * necessary. You
know me.'
" 'lt would be no the other man
! 1 tell you I liAvea'Oseen tha. 4
j r.'.i as for ten day-'
j "'But you will, 1 JironsOn said, sav
i sjcjy. 'You're striding in your own
•> ay, that's all. If you're holding out j
j o.oectlng me to ral.se my figure you're j
making a mistake. It's my last offer.' {
"'I. couldn't take It if it was for a '
million,' said tho man inside the room. **
'l'd do it, I expect, if I could. Tho j
best of us have our price.'
"Bronson slammed the door then
and flung past me down the hall.
"After a couple of minutes I
knocked at tho door and a tail man
about your size, Mr Biakelcy. opened j
it. He was very blond, with a smooth i
face and blue eyes—what I think you !
would call a handsome man.
"'I beg your pardon for disturbing
you,' I said. 'Can you tel! mo which
Is Mr. Johnson's room? Mr. Francis
Johnson?' 4
"'I cannot say,' he answered, civ
illy. 'l've only been here a few days.'
"I thanked him ard left, but I bad
hsd a good look at b!m nnd I thlnfc
I'd know him readily any place."
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
A High Jumper,
Horscban —You d&n't mean to eay
you came off at that bit of a
fence? s
Recumbent Friend—Fence? Qr-at
Scott, man, no! I csught in the
Graph wires—Tit-Bits.
i
DEFEATTHROUGH
DRUNKENNESS
SaJij Scfcoel Lsuoa far Mar. 19, 1911
Specially Arranged for ThU Paper
LESSON TEXT—II Kings 4:8-17. Mem
ory vara* 13.
OOLDEN TEXT—"It la not for king*
to drink win*; nor for princes strong
drink."—Prov. Sl:4.
TlME—This leaaon belongs between Lee*
sons VIII and IX, during the latter part
of Elljah'a mission.
PLACE—'The Syrian kingdom, with lta
oapltal at Damascus, adjoined laraal on
tha north. At thla period, not long before
till revived Assyrian power and aggres
sion tame in contact with laraal, Syria
under Benhadad II was tha moat powerful
nation on the Mediterranean coast, ant
waa normally a bitter enemy of northern
larael. It was always a group of related,
but not united, petty or trlbea.
Henhadad, the Syrian king, fathered
together the 32 kings of the smaller
tribes allied to his kingdom and made
an overpowering raid upon Israel, d»
straying villages and farms and or
chards, paralysing business, ravaging
the homes and driving the people to
the more strongly fortified towns.
They were like "a tempest of hail, a
destroying storm, a flood of mighty
I waters overflowing, an overwhelming
| scourge." These epithets describe in
vivid speech the irresistible violence,
the devastating force with which the
i Syrians were about to overwhelm
| them. It is almost Impossible for us
to realize the devastating power of
| such half-savage hordes who lived
I upon the country, who ravaged vll
| luges, who murdered women and chil
dren, who had an unrestrained power.
They were worse than the ten plagues
j of Kgypt.
What the invaders sought was the
j wealth, the harvests and all kinds of
I valuables, without paying for them,
and entirely without regard to the wel
| fare of the people. Into ojr goodly
I country Intemperance, from drinking
! alcoholic liquors, has come «,nd is do
ing our country more damage, to its
I people, to its wealth and prosperity,
| than the Syrian# did to Palestine, the
Promised Land, by their invasion,
j King Alcohol comes with an array of
tributaries and allies, such as the 240,-
j 000 saloons, the distilleries, breweries,
I hotel's, clubs, personal Invitations to
drink, advertisements In magazines
and papers, cocaine and opium habits.
I All invading us for the sake of their
own persona] gain at the expense of
I the community.
When the headers had reached the
| capital with their army and horses
I and chartots"in an unresisted march,
Benhadad sent messengers to Ahab
| demanding that he yield up Ills throne,
! which is Implied in his Imperious con
j celt of power; Thy silver and thy gold
! la mine; thy wives also and thy chll
| dren, even the goodliest, are mine. And
| Ahab was so overwhelmed at the
j power backing the demand that he
j basely yielded and replied: My lord,
| O king, according to thy saying, I am
[ thine, and all that I have. Such are
[ the demands of King Alcohol!
The cost of liquors each year In thla
; country is nearly. $1,400,000,000. The
! drink bill in England in 1908 was over
j $800,000,000. Take the national liquor
! bill and divide it by the number of
! saloons and $5,945 becomes the aver-
I age cost to the people of each saloon.
4 On the average the saloon payß back
] for nation, state and city taxes SSOO.
This SSOO is eagerly taken from a
j grateful country in lieu of $5,945. Thus
) King Alcohol demands our homes, our
j wives, our husbands, our sliver and
| gold. And we have yielded too easily
i to Its demanda.
Henhadad then sent word that his
j officers were coming and would search
j Ahab's house for every pleasant thing
J he had and would take it away. And
• not. only Ahab's house, but the houses
' of his officers and leaders. This caused
a revolt. The king summoned his
) leading people to a conference and
j they decided not to yield tosne de
| mauds of Benhadad. The Ahab
declared that for himself he would
j yield all he had promised, but he must
deny the Increased demand.
King Alcohol became so greedy In
his demands, the results of his evil
; work became so great, that the people
| were aroused in indignation against
him. At first it was agreed to allow
wine and beer and moderate drinking,
but to resist the ravages of the more
i fiery drinks. But this was a failure.
Temperance societies were formed.
J. Loutl and state prohibition were in
augurated. Investigations made.
' Pledges taken.
In their great distress a prophet
i came to King Ahab, with a message
from Jehovah: Hast thou seen all this
! great multitude? I will deliver it into
thine hand this day. Why? And thou
''Walt know I am the Lord. The vie-'
i tory was wrought to bring them back
j to the true God, to obedience and wor-
I ship; which was vastly more impor
j tant to their, true welfare than the
loss of all their property could have
been.
And Ahab said, By whom? And he
said. Thus saith the Lord, by the
young men of the princes of the prov
inces. Who shall order the battle?
And he answered, thou—the king, the
head of the nation. He numbered,
mustered, 232 of the young princes.
God, the true religion, is the one
source of victory over the power of
intemperance. Religious motives and
inspiration, love of God and love to
man, the spirit of service, loyalty to
the coming of the kingdom of God—
these are thf( sources of salvation
from the curse of strong drink. The
leader, Jesus Christ the ever-living,
transforming power of the Holy
Spirit, the Great aim of the
Christian, the transformation of this
world into the kingdom of God—these
arc and always have been the source
of victory over all the principalities
and powers of evil.
THE HAPPY MAN.
First Lady—How very happy the
bridegroom looks! Really It Is pleoa
ant to see a young man looking so
Joyful. f, ,
Second Lady—Hush! That's not
the bridegroom; that's a gentleman
the bride jilted six months ago.
WEAK BACKS MADE BTRONQ.
Backache In moat cases Is kidnap*
ache, and usually accompanied by Ir
regularities of the urine. To remo ra
the pain and weakness you must cur*
snsMsnsss the kidneys. Do wo
with Doan's Kidney
rJJ Pills. Mrs. Perry HlU
man, Monongahela
City, Pa., says: "I
was_ so bad with
/ A\ kidney disease I
wr : despaired of relief. I
her/ bad Inflammatory
\\ rheumatism and final
ly W, ly dropsy set in. My
ankles became bloat
ed, my heart was affected and the
doctors gave me no relief. Soon after
using Doan's Kidney Pills, I grew
stronger and ere long I was able to
do my housework."
Remember the name—Doan's.
For sale by all dealers. 50 cents a
box. Foster-Mllburn Co., Buffalo, N. T.
Brought the Tears.
An unusual Incident marked a re
cent lire in New York. The lire
started in the cellar of a flve-story ten
ement and before it was extinguished
the 18 families in the building and all
the firemen were weeping copiously
from inflamed eyes. In the cellar
many bags of onions had been stored.
The chief fireman allowed the tenants
to remain In the building, assuring
them that the fire was confined to
the cellar. They did not stay, how
ever, when the onions had got well
aflre.
Dare to Be Happy.
Let us never bo afraid of Innocent
Joy; Qod is good and what he does la
well done; resign yourself to every
thing, even to happiness; ask for the
spirit of sacrifice, of detachment, of re
nunciation, and above all, for the spirit
of joy and gratitude, the genuine and
religious optimism which sees in Qod
a Father, and asks no pardon for his
benefits. We must dare to be happy
and daro to confess it, regarding our
selves always as the depositories, not
as the authors of our own joy.—Amlel.
Home and School.
Home and school are two different
• spheres and have of necessity differ
ent duties to perform- and different
work to accomplish in the training
and teaching of the child. But unless
the Ideals are the same and unless
there Is a systematic attitude of mind
between parents and teachers, the
best result cannot be achieved and
the child must suffer. —Mrs. E. L.
Franklin, Secretary Parents' National
Educational Union, England.
EDITOR BROWNE
Of The Rockford Morning Btar.
"About seven years ago I ceased
drinking coffee to give your Postum a
trial.
"I had suffered acutely from various /
forms of indlgesUpn and my stomach
had become so disordered as to repel
almost every sort of substantial food.
My general health was bad. At close
Intervals I would suffer severe attacks
which confined me in bed for a week
or more. Soon after changing from
coffee to Postum tho indigestion
abated, and in a short time ceased
entirely. I have continued the daily
us© of your excellent Food Drink and
assure you most cordially that I am
indebted to you for tho relief it has
brought me. „
"Wishing you'a continued success, I
am Yours very truly,
J. Stanley Browne,
Managing Editor."
Of course, wheu a man's health
shows ho can stand coffee without
trouble, let hlni drink It, but most
highly organized brain-workers sim
ply cannot.
The drugs natural to the coffee ber
ry affect the stomach and other organs
and thence to tho complex nervous
system, throwing it out of balance and
producing disorders in various parts
of the body. Keep up this dally pois
oning and serious disease generally
supervenes. So when man or woman
finds that coffee Is a smooth but dead
ly enemy and health is of any value
at all, there Is but one road —quit.
It is easy to find out If coffee be the
cause of the troubles, for if left off 10
days and Postum be used in its place
and the sick and diseased conditions
begin to disappear, the proof Is un
answerable.
Postum is not good If made by short
boiling. It igust be belled full 16 min
utes after boiling begins, when the
crisp flavor and the food elements are
brought out of the grains and the bev
erage is ready to fulfill its mission of
palatable opmfort and renewing the
cells and nerve centers broken down
by coffee.
"There's a Reason."
Get the little book, "The Road to
"Wellvllle," in pkgs. '
Evert rend the nkorf letterT A new
oae apponrn from time t» time. They
are grenulne, true, and fall of kiasa
tatereat.