the Photo Drama of 0M
Film CQmpamy
\
CHAPTER V. '
Tho Problem of the 8oal?d Box.
"Gone!"
Jones kept Baling to himself that be
roust ctrlvo to be calm, to think, toink.
Despite all bla warnings, the warning*
of Norton, a he had tricked them and
run away. It was maddening, tie
wanted to rave, tear hla hair, break
things. He tramped the hall. It would
be wasting time to send for the pollcc.
They would only putter about fruit
lessly. The Black Hundred knew how
to arrango these abductions.
How had they succeeded In doing It?
No one had entered the house that day
without his being present. There had
been no telopbono call he had not
heard the gist of. nor any letters' he
bad not first glanced oyer. How had
ttjey done It? Suddenly Into bla mind
Hashed tho remembrance of the candle
light under Florence's door the night
before. In a dozen bounds he waa In
h?r room, searching drawers, , paper
boxes, baskets. He found nothing. He
returned in despair to Suaan. who.
during all this turmoil, bad sat aa It
frozen In her chair.
"Speak!" be cried. "For Gods aake.
tay something, think sonethlng! Those
devils ore likely to torture her. hurt
lief I" He leaned against- tho wall, his
head on hts arm.
When he turned again he was calm.
He walked with bent head toward the
" dcor, opened It and stood upon the
threshold for a space. Across the
i -.red a shadow stirred, hut Jones did
not see It. Hla gate waa attracted by
something which shone dimly white on
the walk Just beyond the steps.. He
ran to' It. A crumpled letter, unsd
dressed. He carried It back to ths
house, smoothed it out and read its
contents. Flcrenco In her haste had
dropped the letter.
Ho clutched at his hat, put It on afcd |
ran to Susan.
"Here!" be cried, holding out an an> I
tbmatlc# "If anyone comes in that J da
don't know, shootl Don't ask quea, |
tlona, shoot!" . .
Trvr'ra'.d!" She breathed with dlf-|
Amity. ,
"Afraid?" he roared it her. He put I
!hs weapon In her band, ft slipped |
and thudded to the floor. He stooped |
for It nnd slammed It Into "bar lap.
"You lovo your life and honor. You'll
know how lb shoot whet> the time
comes. Now,, nttenfl to me. If i'm
not back here by ten o'clock turn this
nets crrer to the police. If ivo can't
do that, then God help us *11!" Aad
with that ha ran from the house <
Susan eyed the revolver with grow
ing terror. For what h>|d ahe left the
peace arfl quiet of Miss Farlow's; SS-.
aasalnatloo, robbery, thieves and kid-.'
nspera? She wanted tb shriek, but
her threat was as dry as paoer. Gin
gerly the touched the pistol. The cold
steel seat a thrill of fear over her. He
hadn't told Mr how. to shoot it I
Two Mocks down the street, up en
alief. Wis I he garage wherein Har
greavu bad been wmitto keep hls oar.
Toward tile Jones rtn'wlth the speed
of a track athlete. THere Wight be
half a dozen taxlcabe about, but he
would not run the risk of engaging
any one of them Tho Black Handrad
was capable of anticipating bis every
movement. - ....
The shadow across the stre?t etood
undecided. At length he concluded to
glvo Jones ten minutes In which to re
turn. If he did not return within that
time, the watcher would go up to the
drag store and telephone tor Instruc
tions.
But Jones did not come back.
Where's Howard?" be demanded.
"Hallo, Jones; what's upr v '
-Howard, get that car out at once."
"Out abe comes. Walt till I give her
. .-adlator a bucket ot water. ,Oeel"
whispered Howard, whom tiargree*'
often used aa his chao??nr. "get on q>
' his nibs! Flrwt time I ever sew him
awake. I wonder what* doing? Too
never know what's beck of these
mammy-facet beadwalters.
rtsht, Jones!" ?? I
The chauffeur Jumpef Into the car |
and Jones took the seat f ? '?*- "
-Where to?" . .
-Number 7? . . and the rest of 1
It trailed away, smothered In the vlo- 1
lent thundor of the big stile i _
During the car's Sight several potto*- 1
men balled It without sucoeee. Down I
this street, up that, round this corner, I
M miles en boar; and all tho while |
JoSMS ohouted: "Faster, faster I "
< Within twolvo m la u tee treat the time |
It left (he garage, the oar stowed op* I
. poslte No. 73 Orov< street, Md lease |
got out,
?Ws't here. Howurd. If eereral I
come rushing cat, or I ?dtlt an ,
within fee mien tee. fit* ?|
couple ot tlmee tor the poUee. >f
went them If W? f
.They'd only I
? 'All right, Mr. J
fear. He had. If
an boor, i
respect for th? I
*;gular feCAw, ;
.ivns.
? l.Aa ^oaea i
place la .discovered. Bamove It to a
more secret .pot at one?. 8. H."? He
laughed and *hook hi. heed. ' I'm
aftald that wlll'nerar do." ? .I'd
"It she read. It. J one* win. Tfca maa
with the opera llluw may. see ?o tee
thing There', a chance Jaoee might
become worried." ,
"Well, well lire It adbsoaoe."
It -waa midnight whsa ha made Ha
..ung V.mTOae-?niUl.TOnlUThehia
not dreamed existed In her .11m body.
"Florence, I am Jonea!"
She stopped. recognised him, and
without a woM r/a across the .treat
to the automobile and climbed Into the
tonneau. Jonea followed Immediately.
"Homo!"
. The car .hot op the dimly lighted
street, shone palely for a second under
the comer lamp, and vanished.
"Ah, child, child!" groaned the man
at her side, all the tenseness gdne
from his body. He waa Jopes again.
Still she did not speak but stared
ahead with unseeing eyes.
Nq further reproach fell from the
butler'e lips, it was enough that Ood
had guided him to her at the appointed
moment. Ho felt assured that never
again would ehe be drawn into any
trap. Poor child! What had they said
to her. done to her? How, in Ood's
nainoi ha<f she escaped from tbam who
never let anybody escape? Presently
she would become normal, and then
she woyld tell him.
"I found the lying not*. You dropped
'*?" r *
"Horrible, horrible!" ahe said Vmost
inaudlbly.
. "What did they do to you?" .
"He said he waa pny father. . . .
He put bis arms around me. . . .
And 1 knew!"
"Knew what?"
"That he lied. 1 can't explain.*' "V
, "Don't try!"
Suddenly she laid her head against
the butler's shoulder and cried. It
waa terrible to hear youth weep In1
this faahlon. Jones put his arm about
her, and tried to console her.
"Horrible!" she murmured between
the' violent hiccoughs. "I was wrong,
wrong! forgive me!"
Unconsciously the arm sustaining
h^r drew her closer.
"Never mind," he consoled. "T?U no
onq-what has happened. Go about aa
usual. Don't let even 8usan know.
Whatever your poor father did was for
your sake. He wanted you to be
happy, without a car* In the world."
.,"1 promise." And gradually the sobs
ceased. "But I feel ao old. Jonea, so
vary old. I threw over the lamp. I.
threw a chair through the window.
They thought that It wa? I r ho hktf
jumped out That gave me the oeoee
ttdry time. I don't underetand how I
did it I wasn't- frightened at all till
I gained the street"
They found Susan atflt aeated In the
chair, the automatic In her lcp. She
had not moved in: all this time!
Bralne paced the apturtment ol the
Princess Prrlgolf. From the living
room.to the boudoir and back, fully
twenty times. From the divan Olga
watched blm nervously. He waa like
a User, fresh fn captivity. All at oooe
he paused in front of hor.
"Do you realise wbatathat 'men chit
didr V.
-1 do."
"Planned to tha minute. Wa !"ad
her; aeven of us; doors locked, and
all that No weeping, no -vailing; I
oould pot U'.dernurid then, but f da
Bow. It'e In, the blood. Hargreave waa
aa peaceful aa a St. Bernard dog, till
yoc cornered him. and then he was a
lion, O, the devil! Hipped out of our
fingers like an e?l. And across tha
street. Jones In ? racer! I never paid
*ny particular attAtlon to Jonea, but
ftom now on I shall. Tha girl nay or
may ooi know when the money la, but
Jonea does. Jonea does! Two men
ahali watch. Felton on the street and
Orloff frohi tha windows of tha in
serted house, with opera gl.ms ha
will be able to Uke note of all.ttat
happens ia tbe house during tho day.
He will be able to see the 4Jrt'a room.
And that's the Important point It waa
a good pUn, little woman; and It
would have, beep plain soiling' If oniy
we had remembered that U>? girl waa
Hargreare'a daughter. Be
ful hereafter whan you
night Ilka this will have ..
pictous of every one. Our
#tth yon. Anything on your
"Tea. Why not Insert1*
tha Herald?" She draw
papar toward her and
or course,- I'lorence re?0 Uie "per
sons! " 3Uo took the nsyspaper at
onco to Jones, who smiled grimly.
"You nee, I trust you."
"Aiid io long a* you continue to
trust mo uo barm will befsll you. You
were left In m / care by your faihsr. I
am to guard you at tiie expense ol toy
life. Loot night's affair was a miracle.
Tbe next time you will sot and It so
cosy to eecape."
Nor did she.
"Thare will be no next time," grave
ly. "But 1 am going to aak you a di
rect question. U my lather a lite?"
The butler's brow puckered. "1 bave
promised to aay nothing, one way or
tbe otber."
She laughed.
"Wby do you laugh?"
"1 laugh bccailae If be were dead
there would be 4o earthly reason for
yotir not saying so at once. But I hato
money, tbe name of It, the sound of It,
the sight of It. It.la ?( tbe bottom of
sU wars and chmes. 1 despise It!"
"The root of all evil. Yet It per
forms many noble deads. But never
mind the money. Let us give our at
tention to tb|s personal. Doubtless It
originated la the same ralnd wblch
conceived the letter. Your father
would never have Inserted such a per
sonal What! Give his enemies a
chance to learn his secret? No. On
the other band I want you to show this
personal to all you meet today, Susan,
the reporter, to everybody. Talk about
It. Say that yob wonder what you
ahall do. Trust no one with your real
tboughta."
"Not even you, Mr. Jones," thought
the girl as ebe qoddod.
"And tell them that you showed It
to me and that I appeared worried."
That night there waa a meeting of
the organization called the Black Hun
dred. Bralne naked If anyone knew
what the Hargreave butler looked like.
"I bad a glimpse of h'm the other
night; but being unprepared. I might
not recogtflce him again."
Vroon described Jbnea minutely.
Bralne could almost see the portrait
"Vroon, that memory of yours la
worth a lot of money," ^ was bis only
comment
"I hope It will be worth more soon."
"I believe lU be able to recognise
Mr. Jones If 1 aee him. Who Is he and
what is he?" ?' v
"He has been with Hargreavo for 14
yean. There was a homicidal caae In
wblch tare* waa acthre. Hatgreave
saved him. He 1*' faithful and uncom
municative. Mosey Will not touch him.
If he does know where that 'million 1?,
hot irons could not make him own up
to It. The only way la to w^cb him,
follow him, welt for the moment when
(hell grow careleea. No man la always
on hla mettle) he lets up sooner q x
later."
"He la being watched, as you know."
vrpon nodded approvingly. ,,Th? cap
tain of the trrunp steamer Orient, by
tbe way, was eeen with ? foil pt
money. He Was Is ons of ths water
front saloons, bragging bow he had
hoodwinked some one."
"Did he say where he'd. got the
cash?" asked Bralne.
"They tried to pump him on that,
but be abut qp. Well, we have sftreed
that Felton shall watch from tbe street
and Orloff from tbe windov, Orloff
will whistle If be sees Jones removing
anything from any of the rooms. The
rest will be left to Felton."
-And.' Felton. my friend,"' sold
Bralnn Siftly? he al-vaym spoke softly
when he was In a deadly humor? "Fel
ton, you slept on duty the other bight.
Hargreare (tote up, connuUed Jones,
sod sot away after knocking me doi!n.
Tlx next failure wll) mopn abort shift.
Be warned!"
"1 aaw cply jou. air. So balp me. I
Vaa not asFsapt 1 raw you run down
the street alter the taxlcab- ( did not
*<M anyonn else." N
Bralne abrugged. "Remember what
I said."
Fdtcg bowed respectfully and made
his exit. Hs wished In hU soul tbat be
might some day catch tbs master mind
tios of bla sternal mask. It WM an
Iron hand which ruled them and there
ware friends of bis (Feltoo's) who Iip.i1
mysteriously ' Ttalshed tdtltr a brief
Nrtod of rebslllpa. TU boss was a
swell; probably belonged to clubs and
eoclPty which he adroitly pilfered. The
organisation always had moss?. When
?rsr there was a desperate lob tb.be
undertaken, Vroon simply poured out
the. money necessary to prompt* fit.
Wbeu?*er Bralne <anS Vroon became
engaged In sarnest conversation they
talked 81st. Bralne was nerer called
by name here; the boss, stmplr thai
?WaU, ten per cent of a minion was a
hundred thousand. This would he
equally dlrUted between the second
ten of the ? Hundred. Another ten
baa there been' any d'atrult 06 Tjii
paitv - ?. -
-My child, your father la alive
than?" animatedly.
"We don't koow." sadly.- r
"Why. I nhodld aay that thla provet
-On the contrary, It prove* nothlnx
of the sort, since 1 have yet to di?
cover a treasure la tble houee. I tor
V*fy^" ; Florence Gray.
hunted la STory nook, diawtir; I've
xearcbed for pedis. looked In trunks
for* falsa bottoms. -Nothing, nothing!
Ah. If 1 coulAonljr And It!"
. "And whei WC^id you do with lit"
"Take (t at oroe to some bank and
offer t ho whole of It toy the cafe re
turn of m? father, every penny of It,
1 don't know what to do, which way
to turn," tears gaiherlns In her eyes
and' they were genuine tear*, too.
"Ttiere are millions In stocks and
bonds and I cannot touch a penny or It
because thu legal documents hare not
been found. I can't even prove that I
am his daughter, except for half an old
bracelet, and my father'* lawyers eay
that that would not hold In any
court."
'Tou were born In 8t Petersburg,
my dear. Have the embassy there look
up the )>lrtb registers."
'"that would not put me Into
slon. Nothing bnt the return of my
father will avail roe. And there's a hor
rible thought always of my not being
his -real 'daughter."
"There's no doubt In my mind. I
have only ti?, recall .tCatrlna'a facto to
know whose child you are; But what
will yon lire onf" Hate wss.a (jar
greater mlxup than she had calculated
upon. Supposing after all It was only
a resemblance, that. the. child was not
Hargreaie'a, a substitute just to blind
the Black Hundred? To keen them
away <rom th? tree daughter? "Her
mind g*iw bewildered over such pos
sibilities The single and oply way to
settle all doubts w'i? to make this
ehlld a prisoner. . If she yu Har
grcavrr true daughter be would coma
out of his biding. .
She heard Flortn-e answering her
question: , "There is a oum of ten or
twelve thousand In tho Jllvcrdale bank,
under. the' ioatrol of my father's but
ler. After that is gene, 1 don't know
wjjat will happen to ui. Susan and
bKU* . .'At ,^'.T{?/|
"Tfce door of , Miss Fsrlow's -sin al
ways be open tu you, Florence." . re
plied rimsn. with loro In ber eyes.'
This Interesting conversation wee
Interrupted by the advent of Norton.
He was alwaya dropping in daring the
late afternoon hours. Florence "llkod
him tor two reasons. ' One waa that
Jonee trusted hi* to a certain extent
and the other was tfctt . . that
sbe liked hln>. Sko finished this sen
tence la her heart deOantl^.
Today be brought her n Vyr of beao'
tlful roses, and at the sight tC them
tUe princess entiled faintly. Bet. the
#U?a in th.it quarter? She could have
itnghed. lleiv was "jtrr revenue afcalnst
this meddler who took no particular
notice of ber. vrtil'.e Florence Was in
tbt room. Site would encourage Ulro.
poor grubbing newvpapor writer, with
his beggarly pKtanfce! What Chance
had he of marrying 0?U girt . with mil
iums within reach o I btr hand?.
. The peculiar thing atoat thU^waa
that Norton waa entertaining the seme
thought at the seme time: what estiU
ly char.ce had he?
man. .Bat when his glasses
v>'
-? "'i ' - ? ? ..
lucked Ilia box under ots arm tod
in ado hit. oxlL j 'iM-'i'
Tb? mau louollqc In lb* ,,ah?dow
heard ft lolut whistle, li was tlx olc
nal agreed upon. The ma a Kelion no,
ncrosa th? street tpd boldly rang thp
b-.-il It waa only (hen that Florcnra
missed (be ever pnaqnt butler. She
hesitated, then aont Susan to thetloqr.
'1 moat Kt llr. Jonea upon vitally
Important business."
"He hat sob* put," aald Susan, and
??ry sensibly cloecd the door befoie
Feltoq's foot succeeded In getting In
side
It waa time to act. He ran ftrpon4
to tbe rear. The ladder convinced blm
that Jonaa bad tricked him. He waa
wild with rage. Ho was oyer tbe wall
In an Instant. Away down tbe back]
"A Hundred If You Overtake Thai
Boat."
street his ?T? discovered bis nipn Is
(till (light He !>(< chase. Aa be
Ipsmc to the flrel eomer ha waa nearij
. - ? r : ^ 'T ~~~ ~
knocked ovsr Dy ft man coming thf
other wa>
"Who ere you bumping Into?'
growl* i K el ton.
."Not eo fast, Fe'tonl" , .
"Who tba devil are you?"
Tfca stranger made a sign which Pat
ton Instantly recognised.
"Quick! What lis* happened?"
"Jones ha* the million and Is mak
ing hla getaway. See him hiking to
ward the ifater front?"
The two men began to rah.
There followed a thrilling chafe.
Jones engaged a motorboat and It wae
speeding aeaward when the two pur
suer* arrived. They war* not Ucgartl
There was another boat and they made
for It.
"A,1 hundred ' If you overtake that
boat," Mid Felton'a strange companion.
Felton eyed htm thoughtfully. There
was something familiar about that
voice.
Great plumes of water shot op Into
the atX It did. not prove * short race
by any means. It^iook half an hour
for the pursuer to ovorhanl the pur
BUCd.
"Is that Jones ?
"Vea." Felton fired hi* revolver Into
toe air Ib nope* of terrifying Jones' en
gineer; bu: thorr. was Ave hundred
dangling before Inst lndlvldul'a eyes.
"Let them (ot a little nearer," shout
ed tho butler.
The engineer let down the apeed ? ?
notch. The other boat crept np within
twenty yard*. Jonas sought a perfect
range. Ua would have to find this spot
again. .1
"Surrandtrl" yelled Felton. ,
la reply J one* raised the precloua
box and deliberately dropped it Into \
tn* sea. Then he tamed hi* auto
matic upon his pursuers and succeeded
In setting their boat afire.
All this within the apaco ot an boor.
During dinner that night (there ?*?
now a cook) Jones walked about the
dining table, rnbbtng hla hand* to
gether from time to time.
"Joe as," ^ald Florence, "why do you
rob your hand* like that?"
"Was 1 rubbing my hands, Ulss
Florence V he aak^d innocently.
? (To be continued)
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TO MONEY? when the golden grain has yielded a bounti
ful glittering iSream ol cash-bring the surplus dollars to
this Bank and immediately pat them to work for you. ,
i ?
Their earning capacity begins the moment they
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and Ac Steady, silent increase increase in your *
funds will be comforting to you and youra m
? later years,
f A- V ?
WE r.IVE SPECIAL ATTENTION TO FARM
ERS' ACCOUNTS, AND OFFER THE GRFAT
P EST ACCOMMODATIONS CONSISTENT
WITH SAFE BANKING. ....
THE BANK OF FA
V-W
? m
FARMVILLE, N. C. ' 'Vi
? ? '
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pu to get