Newspapers / The Sun (Rutherfordton, N.C.) / Dec. 9, 1915, edition 1 / Page 2
Part of The Sun (Rutherfordton, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
THE SUN. THURSBAY, DECEMBER 9, J9J5 0y Or lr. Al CARDBLL Copyright. 1913. by W& M McCardril A novellzation of the photo play selected & the boot in over 19,000 sub mitted to tho ocenarlo department of tho ChioaflOvTHbuno In a $10,000 prize oontest during Docombor and January. Tho manueeripto In thia competition came from many oectiono in tho United Qtateo and Canada. Authore of note well as thousands of amateurs took part. up rock and rubble, and strained SYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING CHAP TERS. A feud has existed between ColoneJ Ar thur Stanlev and his cousin. Judge Lamar Stanley, ever an heirloom, the diamond ffW mlnor scratches and bruises, but rrom the sKy. rouna in a iniieii ueww , . . . . i tha ar ancestor. Also, the succession to the la the bottom of the cavity lay the Stanley earldom In England may come to I bulky form of Luke Lovell, stark and aa American. When a daughter is Dora ; 8tM. lifted at the van. Soon the van was raised from over the cavity its very overturning had made. There was Esther and Ha gar, trembling but unhurt save for a to the colonel and the mother dies, the colnnl buys a gypsy boy and substitutes htm. Three 'years later the gy psy mother, having had no part In this bargain, steals the girl, being reared in secret, ajid leaves her son undetected as the heir. The gyp sy has obtained possession of the diamond Jrom the eky. and a document with the Stanley secret. When Esther la grown a beautiful young girl. Hagar, now gypsy queen, returns to Virginia with her. Dr. Lee, the late Colonel Stanley's friend, adopts Esther, but demands that Hagar turn over to him the diamond from the ally. Arthur 3tanley, son of Hagar. falls hi love with Esther and so does his com panion and coueln. Blair Stanley, rightful male heir of Stanley. In stealing the dia mond Blair causes the death of the doc tor. Outside is Arthur serenading Esther. Btair. escaping, infers that he has left Esther's room. Arthur forces htm to' fight a duel in which Blair is only stunned. He tries, with the aid of hie mother, to place the blame for the murder of Dr. Lee upon Arthur, who now has the diamond. The sheriff attempts to take Arthur, but he eludes his pursuers and joins Hagar, who reveals his identity and upbraids him for his wild life. Needing money, he. pawns the diamond in Ilic-h-mond. Blair is in Richmond, and he, too, la forced to visit the pawnshop. At a ball, at which a supposed New York belle is the guest of honor, they are stunned to And the diamond on the visitor. She is an adventuress who has borrowed It. While Hagar is telling the 'belies" for tune Luke Lovell, Hasans gypsy guard, steals the diamond and to avoid detection Orops it into a mail box. A sheriff tries to arrest Arthur on the murder charge. He escapes from Richmond on a freight train. The diamond passes into a mail bag, picked up by Quabba, organ grinder Quabba's monkey steals the diamond and leaves It in a nest In a trea. Arthur seeks work at a farm. Hagar takes Esther to live at Stanley hall. An old time tournament is held. Arthur at tends in disguise, proves himself the best knight, defeating Blair, but is betrayed by the latter to the sheriff. By using daring horsemanship Arthur escapes. Lat er he leaves the farm. Tom Blake, a de tective hired by Hagar. produces finger prints proving Blair guilty of the death of Dr Lee. Hagar proposes silence to Mrs. Stanley as the price of Hagar's and Esther's being received In Fairfax society Blair strikes down Hagar and steals the fingerprints, and money from his mother. The diamond is found by a negro boy and is taken by a tramp. The latter ia mur dered by Hung LI It le stolen just s a elumming party enters Hung Li's den Hagar, mentally unbalanced by Blair's blow, is again with Esther among the gypsies. Marmaduke Smythe, lawyer, ar rives to announce Arthur is heir to the deceased Earl of Stanley. Learning Ar thur is a fugitive he seeks Bialr instead To win Vivian. Blair steals the diamond. later marrying her and leaving for the weet. Arthur tries in vain to warn their train of impending robbery. Luke revolts against Hagnr and is driven from camp. He leads tramps against the camp, and Quabba, to save E3ther and Hagar, loos ens an avalanche on the camp. CHAPTER XIX. Old Foes With New Face. AFFLICTED as he was with his deformity. Quabba, the bunch i back he of the sunny face and happy heart was as agile and sinewy as the monkey Clarence, his companion on his way through the world. But now the hunchback is neither sunny of face nor happy of heart. A wild tremor of fear, anxiety and remorse shakes him in an ague of terror and confusion. Sending the rocking stone, pried from the perch where it had swayed for cen turies, had only meant death for all be low, thought Quabba. instead of saving his young and old mistress and his gypsy friends from the raid of desperate tramps led by Luke Lovell, Quabba now deemed that he had destroyed those he had loved, as well as their enemies. But as be rau panting down the mountain side Quabba saw that some of the gypsies, warned by the clatter and roar of the landslide the massive, bounding, loosened rocking stone had started, had fled to safety. He saw some half score of gypsy men and women toiling rapidly up the oppo site slope of the valley from the de stroyed gypsy camp. Through the dust that was settling in a cloud over the debris and rubble where the camp had stood the straining eyes of Quabba could mark the ragged figures of some of the assaulting tramps limping away from the scene of destruction, as boot Jess as they had come. Then as he neared the scene the an guished Quabba could mark that the fleeing gypsies had paused halfway up the opposite slope and had nerved themselves to return to their submerg ed, annihilated camp. With an aching heart and a great burning sense of re proach for his rash deed that had worked such ill when be had meant but good, Quabba could sec that Esther and Hagar were not among the hys terical gypsies returning to the scene of. destruction. When Quabba reached the heaps of stone and wreckage that bad beeu the camp site he found the gypsies already gathered In a group to where the van of Hagar lay overturned and half covered by a mass of rocks and earth Then his heart beat again with joy as he heard the voice of Esther, tremu lous, yet brave for all that, issue from beneath the van. "If you are friends. HTt MS," was Esther's cry. Strong waiiaghadj tore at the heaped Mtfea as even her husband, the rin. Kindly hands drew Hagar and Es ther out and Quabba fell at their feet, uttering incoherent self accusations mingled with equally incoherent thanksgivings. A kindly hand threw a coat across the Inanimate face and form of the gyspy outlaw. Then comedy succeeded tragedy. The shrill, chattering cries of Clarence, the taonkey, were heard voicing his simian fright and indignation from within the van. The mercurial gypsies turned from sighs to laughter, and even the wan lips of Esther were wreathed in a smile as Quabba cried excitedly, "I am coming, Clarence, my son!" and so say log he wrenched open the shattered window of the van and the frightened monkey leaped into his master's arms and began chattering his thanks and Joy. The saving of gypsy lives was due to the providential fact that the onslaught of the marauding tramps led by Lovell had driven the gypsies from the danger zone where the avalanche of stones and earth had struck the camp. How many of the invaders lay buried beneath the settled landslide the philo sophical gypsies neither cared nor sought to ascertain. It was later found that Luke Lovell evidently had been only stunned and not killed, as was at first supposed. For when the gypsies returned, after making rude shelter tents away from the rubble of the landslide for Esther, Hagar and their children and women folk, no trace of Lovell could be found. He had recovered consciousness, it was evident, and had stolen away, fearful of the vengeance of his former Romany associates. Quabba deemed It Ut to keep secret the fact that be had been the genius of the landslide. It had been a fatal success. He affected the philosophy of the gypsiea in the matter and agreed with them that somehow good had come out of theS general destruction, even If it were only their riddance of the unscrupulous Luke Lovell and his ruffian rabble, the tramps. Acknowledged as their princess and reigning over them as regent for the afflicted Hagar, Esther appointed a head man from the gypsies In the place of the deposed and banished Lovell and returned with Hagar and Quabba to Stanley hall, which was still held by Hagar on the terms of lease she had taken from the receiver in bankruptcy for the fugitive Arthur Stanley, still fleeing from justice, wrongfully under the onus of being the murderer of Dr. Lee. Luke Lovell. when he recovered con sciousness, drew himself from the hol low beside the now righted van. He bad no intention of endeavoring to rejoin such of the tramps who had attacked the camp with him and might have escaped unhurt from Quabba 's landslide. Luke stole away unobserved, and bis one thought was to make his fortune from his knowledge of the Stanley secret the knowledge he had gained from a glimpse at the document in Ha ars strong bos. Luke Lovell realized at last the source of the dead Matt Harding's gypsy wealth that now was Hagar's, and which since Hagar's sud den affliction no one knew the biding place of. One thing Lovell felt sure of was that this wealth had not decreased under Hagar's stewardship whiie sane. Wherever the treasure was it was not it Hagar's brass bound chest. Only documents were in that chest, but they were treasures of themselves. For 6he of these old papers especial ly had set forth plainly the fact that Hagar's long dead husband, the greedy Matt Harding, had trafficked with the great folks of Fairfax in his own flesh and blood. Here was a for tune to be obtained by himself, as it had been obtained by Matt Harding, Lake Lovell thought And he limped away unseen from the destroyed gypsy camp and trudged resolutely to Fairfax, some eight or ten miles away There was no one at Stanley ball to pay him for keeping or telling the Stan ley secret, but Luke Lovell knew enough of the Stanleys and their feuds to realize his best market would be with Blair Stanley's mother, if Arthur Stanley, so called, was Hagar's son, a gypsy changeling, then Blair Stanley was the real heir to the Stanley earl dom, to which, according to the old family tradition, the heir was com manded to carry the diamond from the sky. But at the portals of the home of Blair Stanley's mother the proud, cold widow would hold no traffic with the sinister gypsy who clamored at her threshold with a secret to sell. She or dered him to be gone and professed no interest hi the ware he hinted he bad for sale. Ellen Stanley was. In her austere w if. as unscrupulous in her family am colcl Judge Xamar Stanley, had Been. But she would have no traffic with such as Luke Lovell. She realized only too well that once such a creature had her in his power, even as a confidant, his dominion wouid be, as is always the dominion of the ignorant, brutal and Intolerable. So Blair's mother dismissed the cha grined gypsy in cold disdain. She would be no confederate and yet the victim of the exactions that she instinctively knew would follow any association with any secret with him. "If you have any secret to sell take it to some other market," said the Widow Stanley with cold hauteur. "Unless you leave my premises this instant 1 shall have you arrested and committed for attempted blackmail! Shout your secret from the .housetops if you please. I am not concerned."' RtejaSHL nHHKSs If you have any secret to sell take it to some other market!" But Luke Lovell, thwarted and dis couraged though he was in his first bold bid for the fortune he had be lieved was within his grasp, had no in dention of shouting his secret from the housetops. He realized its only value was in his keeping it and being paid, and heavily, to keep it. He must tiud some one who would pay this some one would be Blair Stanley, he did not doubt But If Blair Stanley's mother had re fused to traffic with the sinister gypsy she was shrewd enough to surmise the secret that had become a living thing again after lying dormant for eighteen years. ! Why had her husband set off alone to meet his death in the mountains the day after Colonel Stanley had died, eighteen years ago? Why had Dr. Lee adopted the gypsy woman's daughter a few months since? Why had this gypsy woman returned after all these years, in the guise of a woman of means, and taken Stanley hall? Why had she come with proofs of Blair's guilt of the murder of Dr. Lee and proffered her silence in exchange for social recognition by the proud fam ilies of Fairfax for this girl? And now that this gypsy woman was crazed and all fear of her son's guilt being known had vanished for the tune being at least. .Mrs. Stanley resolved to take advantage of these situations as she suspicioned them. If this girl was the real heir, the missing heir of Stan ley hall, of which there had been vague whispers for years, why not prepare for and fortify against any possible disgrace that might Threaten through her sou's rash and dreadful deed the murder of Dr Lee? CHAPTER XX. Wealth From the Desert. MRS. STANLEY resolved to make friends with Hagar's supposed daughter. If Arthur Stanley, so called, was not the rightful heir. Blair Stanley was. But this left the girl heir to Stanley hall, and all could be conserved and all be weH if Blair might return and marry Esther. Even though Hagar recovered her faculties, she must remain silent as to Blair's guilt were he Esther's husband, thought Mrs. Stanley. As for Arthur Stanley, so called, there was slight fear of his returning. The shrewd mother of Blair Stanley guessed now the true cause of Arthur's flight and continued absence. It was because he also had learned the Stan ley secret. At Stanley hall Esther, made a worn an and resolute by all the tragic occur rences that of late had befallen her. resolved it was her duty to examine further into the documents in Hagar's brass bound box. Esther had en deavored vainly to lift the cloud from Hagar's mind by earnest inquiries and kindly beseechings. But Hagar would only moan, "My son, give me back my son, my littie babe." Then Esther read the documents The proof was plain. She was in her rightful place at Stanley hall, for she was Esther Stanley. But she resolved, through the love she bore for him she had known as Arthur Stanley, that she would take the secret to the grave. She would spare Arthur the shame she knew his proud spirit would feel. What to her were place aid position here in Fairfax among a proud people who, so far as their women folk were concerned had ignored her? Yet when we are young we have our hopes and dreams. Esther's hope and dream was the return of Arthur, the sharing of the secret with him, and his love. Then ail would be well. So it was that Esther was not wholly sur prised When Blair Stanley's mother called at Stanley hall and proffered her ; friendship and assistance. There were no confidences exchanged between them. Esther suspected that Blair's mother vaguely knew, but in her loneliness, and having no friend save the humble though devoted Quab ba. Esther was glad to accept the proffered friendship of her austere kinswoman, though neither spoke of the tie. Mrs. Stanley suggested that Hagar Le taken to Richmond for treatment for her mental a miction. She also insisted that Esther should go to Richmond and be introduced into the best circles there by Mrs. Burton Randolph. It may nave been that Mrs. Burton Randolph stood in fear of her austere kinswoman, Mrs. .Judge Stanley fear that was augmented by the fact that Blair's mother knew the true character of Vivian Marstou. It also may have been that the sweet nature and beauty of Esther and her gentle breeding appealed to Mrs. Ran dolph more than her fears of Blair's mother. It always had been Mrs. Ran dolph's pet diversion to have a protegee. At any rate. Mrs. Randoiph made Esther a welcome guest and protegee and assisted Blair's mother in securing the leading alienist of Richmond to treat Hagar for her mental infirmity. Quabba had been left behind at Stanley hall, but Quabba suspicioned that Blair's mother was an old foe with a new face of friendship. As al ways, he resolved to guard Esther and he followed her to Richmond. Mrs. Randolph had suggested to Blair's mother, when she found Mrs. Stanley de;;ired her sou's return, to consult with that astute private de tective, Tom Blake, in settling the claims that were against the reckless Blair in Richmond. Blake effected a conference between Blair's mother and Abe Bloom the Hagar and Esther Arrive Again at Stanley Hall With the Brass Bound Box. gambling house keeper, who held the bad check for $2,000 he had cashed for Blair, and who was the most pressing claimant against him. At this conference, although the ac cusation was not made. Mrs. Stanley soon surmised that Blake and Bloom knew of Blair's guilt of the murder of Dr. Lee. It was from Blake and Bloom, through the agency of the inky thumb print on the bad check, that the guilt had been established, his moth er soon inferred. She also surmised that it was from this source Hagar had obtained her proofs. In her present condition Hagar was oblivious of such matters now. The only two, then, in all the world who knew were the detective and the gam bling house keeper. It was not necessary to enter into any detailed arrangements. Mr. Bloom was sententious and explicit. "You make good this bum check of your son's," he said, "and me and Blake won't say nothing or cause your son any trouble. But there's one thing else. I've got to hnve this big stone which you aristocrats of Fairfax county call the diamond from the sky. My brother advanced money on it. and even if he hadn't that's my price for keeping my mouth shut." he added, "and I'll see that Blake here says nothing neither." "But the diamond has disappeared. We don't know where it is." said Mrs. Stanley coldly, though in her heart she raged at the presumption. "It'll turn up them big stones al ways do. It'3 one of the finest in the world, but that's my price!" retorted Mr. Abe Bloom. "If it ever turns up you Stanleys can replevin it No one can dispute your title to it. There ain't another one like it in the world. But when you Stanleys get It it comes to me 2 That's understood and agreed, eh. Blake?" There was a strange, imperturbable gleam lu the keen eyes of the detec tive, who had maintained his usual taciturnity during this strange confer ence, but he nodded his head and an swered quietly. "Yes, that's understood and agreed." Reaching Richmond, it had been no trouble for Quabba. at his old occupa tion of organ grinder, to find the house of Mrs. Burton Randolph, where he knew Esther was stopping in Rich mond. He had Just reached the house and bad just been ordered to move on by a passing policeman when a taxi cab drove up and Blake and Bloom lighted and entered the Randolph real-t denee. This visitation was such a surprise to the policeman that he readily vouch ed the information as to who these in dividuals were when Quabba inquired. "Them?" said the policeman. "Them's two of the wisest guys in Richmond Tom Blake, who runs the Blake detec j tive agency, and Abe Bloom, the big I gest gambler in this burg. Maybe they are going into society. Then, ordering Quabba to move on again, he moved on himself. Quabba with his monkey and organ moved on, but only to the side of the house. A detective and a gambling house keeper? These were strange visitors indeed, and, suspecting the mo tives of Mrs. Stanley's sudden patron age of Esther as he did, Quabba squat ted close by the low window of the reception room and listened. He over heard enough to realize that Blair Stanley's return was being arranged, and he knew this boded no good to his fair young mistress. After the detective and gambler had departed, Quabba sent his ambassador and collector of external revenue, Clar ence, the monkey, up the wistaria vines to the upper chamber, which he sur mised might be Esther's. He was right in his surmise. Esther, who. like Mrs. Randolph, had with drawn when visitors on private busi ness had been announced for Mrs. Stanley, was in her room. The chattering of the monkey on her window sill roused Esther from a rev erie of Arthur, and with a glad cry she ran to the window and hugged the affectionate little beast and waved a welcome to the smiling Quabba below. Then Quabba laid his finger to his lips as a sign of secrecy, yanked the string to recall his ambassador and departed. Beside the track in the glaring Cali fornia desert, Arthur Stanley, or, a3 he calls himself. John Powell, lay stunned after being thrown from the Overland limited, which he had board ed from horseback as the train had panted up the grade In the desert He had meant to warn the trainmen of the robbers lying In wait for them, but they had Imagined him a desper ado single uandedly attempting a hold up and had thrown him off. His horse, as all horses ie handled, loved him. The faithful and affection ate creature roused him by nosing at him. Arthur, half stunned, mounted his affectionate four tooted friend and galloped after the train. At the top of the grade the ambushed robbers halt ed the express with an obstruction on the track too great to be risked by the engineer endeavoring to pass through it. When Arthur arrived upon tho scene two robbers were in the express car and two were going through" tthe Puil mans. Another had compelled the tire men to uncouple the locomotive and. covering the engineer, had made him drive the detached machine up the trad; some distance from the standing train. Scarce knowing what he did, Arthur galloped by and, mounting ihe engine at the end of the tender from his horse's back, grappled with the lone robber covering the engineer. A desperate struggle followed by the furnace door. Seizing a largo wrench, the engineer aimed a blow at the rob ber struggling with Arthur, but the blow missed foe and hit friend, and Ar thur was stretched senseless on the firing board. The robber, with a curse, jumped from the engine and ran. re joining his companions. In one of the Pullmans Vivian Mars ton. who was now Mrs. Blair Stanley the two traveling as "Mr. and Mrs. Guy Peyton" were among those held at pistol's point. An envious woman passenger to whom Vivian had shown the diamond from the sky had betray ed the fact she possessed it. Despite her pleadings, cajolements and even curses curses that were chorused by the chagrined Blair the chuckling rob bers bore off the great gem with their other booty. Laden with a sack of valuables, and, taking also $100,000 in bank notes from the express messen ger, the robbers decamped. Within a few hours the sheriff and his posse of deputies and railroad de tectives were hot on the trail, and "John Powell," sheep herder, after be ing lionized a few brief moments, was back at his lonely occupation. Vivian, despoiled of the jewel for which she would have risked her soul, reproaches herself and her raging bridegroom tha? Fhey uul not die glori ously in defending it. In her bitter rage Vivian taunts Blair by telling him she only married him to gain tho dia mond, and. now that it Is gone, he must go and regain it or see her no more In vain he protests. She threatens to give him over to the police and deserts him at Los Angeles and wires to Abe Bloom in Richmond telling of the loss of the diamond and asking for funds. The deserted and raging Blair pawns what possessions the train robbers have left him. and under his assumed name of Peyton hides in a mean ho tel after writing to his relative, Mrs. Burton Randolph, to intercede for him with his mother. Far off in the desert fastnesses the pursuit of the posse after the train robbers is hotly on. A shot and the rearmost saddle of the fleeing outlaws is empty. But as the outlaw falls the diamond from the sky that he has clawed out from the sack of valuables flies from his now nerveless hand and lies glittering but unnoticed by a clump of cacti as the posse thunders by. Another shot goes home, and the foremost outlaw drops from his sad dle. Another shot and his riderless Like Edmond Dantos He Cries, "The World Is Mine!" horse drops dead In its tracks. As this horse falls the treasure sack with the banknotes falls half under the dy ing animal. The bulk of Its prostrate body masks the treasure sack of banknotes and hides it from view of the posse that gallops almost over the dead horse's hoofs as the pursuit of the three sur. viving desperadoes goes on. A month later John Powell, sheep herder, is sent to the desert to find a strayed flock. Beneath the skeleton of a buzzards' feast, a dead horse, ho finds the stolen treasure. In a wild frenzy of hysterical delight John Pow ell remembers "Monte Cristo," which, as the wild young master of Stanley hall, he had read with greedy eager ness. And so. like Edmond Dantos. he stands erect and cries in the burn ing desert waste. "The world is mine!" The diamond is lying near. ft gleams in the sun on the desert sand, among rattlesnakes and cacti, but John Powell, blinded with the treasure that he grasps from the bones of a molderlng horse, sees it not. And there it lies! Who will get it next? To be Continued nex week. HELP THE KIDNEYS. Rutherfordton Readers Are Learning The Way. It's the little kidney ills The lame, weak or aching back Ihe unnoticed urinary disorders That may lead to dropsy and Bright's disease. When the kidneys are weak, Help them with Doan'8 Kidney Pills, A remedy especially lor weak kidneys. Doan'shave been used in kidney trou bles for 50 years. Endorsed by 30,000 people endorsed at home. Proof in a Rutherfordton citizen's statement. F. C. Rollins, East First street. Ruth erfordton, says: "I had several attacks of kidney trouble dnr'ng the pa9t six or eight years. The first annoying symptom was pain in my back and sore ness across my loins. Doan's Kidney Pills, procured at Thompson-Watkins Co 's drug store, have never failed to re move the trouble and I have often re commeuded t!"em " Price 50 cents at all dealers. Don't simply ask for a kidney remedy get Doan's Kidney Pills the same that Mr. Rollins had Foster-Milburn Co , pro prietors, Buffalo, N. Y. Advt. Took Long to Develop Pens. In the United States the first at tempt to manufacture a gold pen was in 1835 by a watchmaker of Detroit. In 1860 an attempt was made in the United States to manufacture a foun tain pen, but it was not until 1879 that they were constructed successfully. A lazy liver leads to chronic dyppepsia and constipation weakens the wl ole system D"ts's Rpurile'c (2y per Vox) aet mildly op the livr and bowels At all drug stores irlv Vivian Stanley Leavee Her Husband. Daily Thought. Happiness seems made to be shared Corneiil 1
The Sun (Rutherfordton, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 9, 1915, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75