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THE PERKINS JOURNAL
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The Trey O’ Hearts
'«nla of the ff-*1— Pidan Dm ef tW hi Nil
rnimni by too UnJr.nl Film Co.
r«/“TTk.
By LOUIS JOSEPH VANCE
■ Ih* Pieter* I
V    SYNOPSIS.
Tho I of Heart* Is the “death elan" em-
ployed by Seeeoe Trine In the private war
W vongoewc* which, through the aaency
at hla daughter Judith, a woman of vlo-
Eat _ pailona like hi* own. he wages
« Alan Lew. son of the man (now
___ whom Trine held reeponalbl* for
aactdent which rendered him a help-
cripple. Aten la In love with Roe*,
dh’s twin and double, but In all ell
oppoolt*. Judith vowi to oompaas
1*0 death, but under dramatic clrcum-
ws be eavM her life and *0, unwlt-
t, wine tear lore. Thereafter Judith
’ turn* worked upon by the old ha-
tha mw love, and Jealouay of her
CHAPTER XXII.
The House Divided.
Alone In that strange place of si-
lence end ahadowe—that den of the
rfevil's livery, crimson and black—
chained to the invalid chair wherein,
day In, day out, for years on end, he
had suffered the Promethean tormenta
of the life that would not die out of
hta wretched, wrecked carcass, though
without ceaalng sharp-beaked envy,
hatred, malice and all uncharitable-
ness peeked insatiably at hla vitals:
Seneca Trlno aat waiting, with the Im-
passivity of a graven figure waiting
on the imminent hour of ultimate
avengement for the wrong that had
made him what be waa.
“Another hour! ... In sixty
minutes more they will be here, Judith
end Marrophat and Rose—poor fool!
—and him! ... In sixty minutes
more they will put him down before
me, bound and helpless, If not dead
M
e e •
A slight pause prefaced words that
were e whimpered prayer: "God send
that he bq not dead! Have I lingered
Hose Turned on Her Passionately.
here In anguish all these weary years
for the fulfillment of my revenge only
to be cheated at the end by Death?
God grant that Alan Law may be laid
down still living here at my feet!
. . Then . .
A bitter smile twisted hla tortured,
feature*: "Then shall my will be done
to him! And then, when 1 have seen
him die as hla father died—then—Ah,
God!—then at last I too may diet
M
tea
There waa a long alienee, then a
groan of exasperated protest:    "Why
do they not come? Why does Judith
delay, when she knows how I suffer ?
Why have I been put off from day to
day with her telegrams that begged
for more time and promised every-
thing—but told nothing!—until yester-
day. . . . Where are those mes-
sages she sent me yesterday?"
Hla one sound hand groped out like
a claw and sought a mass of papers
»u the desk beelde him, sorting out
from among them two yellow forms.
Painfully he blinked over these and
•lowly bis pain-bent Upa conned their
wording;
“ ‘Alan and Rose safe with me—will
bring both home tomorrow night with-
out fell,’" he read the first aloud; and
then the second:    “ ‘Have motorcar
waiting tor me tomorrow morning
from three o'clock till called for New
Bedford waterfront—Judith.’ “
“No!" he affirmed with the fervor
ef one persuaded by hla own dealrea:
"I muat not doubt the girl! She has
promised, she has performed:
80 etlU was he, Indeed, that he
•earned to sleep, but bo deceptive was
that semblance that he was alert for
Jm least sound. The girl entered soft-
ly, as if fearful of disturbing hla slum-
bers; hut she found him with head
erect end eyes a-blese.
"Judith!” he cried, hla gr^t voles
vibrating like e bresen bell. "At lest!
Where Is he? You. have brought him?
Where Is her’
With no more answer then a elgh,
the girl drooped her heed and let her
hands hang limply with palms ex-
posed.
After an Instant of Incredulous dis-
appointment the man shot a single,
(rigid question at her:
"You have failed*’’
"I have felled," she confessed.
"Why?"
She shrugged slightly. "Who knows
why one fells? I did my beet: he was
too much for me, outwitted me at
every turn. Time end again I thought
1 had him, but always he escaped,
either by hie own wit end oourage or
with another’s aid. Only yesterday
night they were ell three In the hol-
low of my hands—but now I bring yon
only Rose."
She faltered, owed by the glare of
his Infuriated eyes. "Let me explain.”
she begged.
He snapped her abort: "You cannot
explain. The thing Is impossible, that
you should have failed. There la some-
thing beneath this, something you
will not tell me.”
She endeavored to speak, but be en-
forced alienee with a sonorous "No!”
Hla hand sought the row of buttons
on the desk and pressed one long.'
Almost Instantly a servant gilded
noiselessly Into the room.
“My daughter Rose—have her
brought here to me at once!”
In another moment the replica of
his daughter Judith was ushered Into
his presence.
Upon thU one he loosed the light-
nings of his wrath without ruth.
Rose suffered him In silence. Hla
moat galling recrimination educed no
retort from this one.
In n lull in Trine’s tirade, Judith
chose to Interject:    "Don’t be bo hard
on the silly fool: she’s not responsible;
she’s sick with love for that good-look-
ing simpleton!"
"And you!”. Rose turned on her
passionately—"what about you? If 1
love Alan Law, at least I love him
openly. I am not ashamed to own It—
and I don’t pursue him, aa you do, pre-
tending 1 mean to sacrifice him to *a
wicked family feud, and then spare
him every time I meet him, to lead
him to believe I haven't the heart to
Injure him—aa you do, hoping ao to
work upon his sympathies and earn
a kindly word and a pat on the head
from hla hand!”
Fiercely she leveled a denunciatory
arm at her sister. “ThereI" she cried
to her father—"If you need to know—
there stands the daughter who has
betrayed your faith—as 1 have not,
who have never even pretended to
approve your villainy 1"
“I think,” Trine announced In a
voice of Ice—“I have learned now
what I needed to know.”
Hla fingers sought the row of but.
tons; and when a servant responded,
he Inquired:
“Mr. Marrophat haa returned?"
"He Is In the waiting room, air.”
“Conduct Miss Judith to him and
tell him I hold him personally respon-
sible for her safe-keeping. He will
understand.”
And for a long time thereafter the
father, alone with the daughter who
had been estranged from him alnce
birth by every Instinct of her nature,
essayed In vain to break down her
mutinous silence.
At last Trine summoned two of hla
creatures and had her led weeping
from the rooms to be held prisoner in
her bedchamber on the topmost Boor
of the house.
telegraph Barcas as well—send him
e hundred for expenses, end tell him
to join me here In New York ns quick
as he can!”
"Your friend’s address?" Dlgby In-
quired, mildly ironic aa he set down
at the desk end fumbled with the sup-
ply of stationery-
"New Bedford Jail, of course!" Alan
chuckled—but cut his laugh In two aa
something fluttered from the peck of
envelopes which Dlgby had disturbed
end fell to the floor between the two
men.
Face np. It grinned sardonic mock-
ery of Alan’s confidence: It was a trey
of hearts,
"Now will yon believe?" Dlgby de-
manded huskily.
"In whet? A simple coincidence?"
Alan flouted. "Not II Who knows I’m
In New York—or that the Arthur Law-
rence tor whom your agent engaged
these rooms wee Alan Law. No, my
friend: It’s a bit too thick for me. Take
my word for it, this la nothing more
nor less then e souvenir of n poker-
party held by yesterday's tenant of
this suite.”
"Perhaps—perhaps!" Dlgby assent-
ed, stroking tremulous Upe. "But I’m
afraid for you, my boy. Who knows
that Trine’s spies were not watching
my man when he made this reserva-
tion? Who known but that ‘Arthur
Lawrence’ waa too thin a disguise for
Alan Law ? I telf you, I’m frightened
to the marrow of my old bones! Do
me this favor at least, my boy: now
that you've been warned, whether by
accident or design—we won’t argue
that—do leave town—go incognito to
some quiet place near by and wait
there for the sailing of the next trans-
atlantic steamer. Oh, surely you can’t
deny me this one wish of my fond old
heart, my boy!"
There’s nothing on earth I would
not do for you,” he said: "you’ve been
a father and a mother to me ever since
I can remember, even If we were sepa-
rated, most of the time, by three thou-
CHAPTER XXIII.
A Sporting Offer.
Some two hours later, that same
evening, Mr. Alan Law, very much
alive and, In spite of a complete new
outfit of ready-made clothing, looking
much more like himself than he had
In a fortnight, Issued forth from the
Grand Central atatlon, hailed a taxi
cab, and had himself conveyed to the
Hotel Monolith.
But if he looked hla proper self once
more, It speedily wee demonstrated
that hla wish wee otherwise: tor after
learning from the room-clerk of the
Monolith that e suite was being held
in the name of Arthur Lawrence, that
waa the nemo Mr. Lew Inscribed on
the register.
On the other bend. It was his true
name that he gave to the person whom
be celled upon the telephone Immedi-
ately after being shown to hte rooms.
But then be was speaking to his old
friend and man of business, Mr. Dlgby.
Within another ten minutes this lest
wee In conference with hla employer:
“1 think you must be out of your
head," he tnalated nervously, once
their first greetings were over. "You
might juet aa sensibly throw yourself
from the top of the Metropolitan tower
aa come to New York while Trine lives
and knows you’re this side the water."
"Nonsense 1” Alan laughed. "Remem-
ber this le New York—not the back-
woods of Maine!”
Alan paused end smote hte palm
with e remorseful fist. "By the Ster-
nal, I'm forgetting Barcusl"
"Barcus?"
"Chap whose boat I chartered In
Portland—sheer luck on my part: he's
one of the salt of the srth. First,
something muet be done for the boy.
You've got Influence of some sort In
New Bedford, surely?"
Dlgby reflected:    "Some. There's
George Blaine, Justice of the peace—”
“The very man. Telegraph him In
Barcus’ Interests Immediately. And
borhood of the Riverside drive home 01
bis mortal enemy, n grim white hones
that towered, stark and tall, upon •
corner.
His preliminary reoonnolsanoe pro-
vided little more then comfortless ex-
ercise Huge still. Its well bathed In
the milk and Ink of moonlight and
shadow, all Its windows dark hut
one—end that one to the topmost tier,
showed only e feeble glimmer, so slight
that Alan almost overlooked It
He believed with small doubt that
Hose was a prisoner within those
wells; that Judith most have no*
veyed her there with all speed.
And, this being the presumptive case
that smell, high window of the light
might well be here.
Directly serose the street from the
Trine residence, on the opposite cor-
ner, e colossal apartment structure
stood half-finished, stonework to Its
second story, gaunt Iron skeleton rear-
ing above.
To his infinite disgust, Alan found
the guardian very wide awake, very
much on the Job: no chance here to
steal unaeen Into the building.
This In Itself might have been
deemed a suspicious circumstance:
not for nothing does an honest ntght
watchman so deny the lews of nature
and the tenets of hla craft But Alan
merely praised the roan while cursing
the very fact of hla existence; and, ac-
costing, overcame with bank-notea
what seemed an uncommonly stubborn
reluctance, and got his way.
He could not know that another
skulked behind a barrier of lime bar-
rels and overheard all that passed and,
when Alan had ducked smartly Into
the unfinished building, rose and stole
after him with footsteps as noiselesB
as a cat’s and a face that had the sav-
agery of a tiger’s when it was tran-
siently revealed In a shaft of moon-
light
At length Alan gained the gridiron
of girders on a plane with the lighted
window across the way, and crept
With n sharp, startled mi
Alan swung himself bodily about, no
that, seated again astride the girder,
he faced the assassin who aat ap
straddling the girder, hie feet hooked
beneath It e stiletto poised la hie
right hand to etrlka
Bnt oven now Alan waa la little or
no better cnee than before. If ho faced
the thug, he faced him with no arms
other than hie bare hands. He had not
even a pen-knife la his pockets.
With a low cry of desperation Ahto
snatched off his hot, a soft and shape-
less felt affair, end flung It squarely In
the fellow’s tees.
Before he could recover—haters,
that is. It dropped sway end cleared
hte vision, Alan had bent forward end
grasped the wrist of the bend that
held the knife.
He snatched simultaneously at the
other hand, but It eluded him.
1 Alan had this advantage, as long ns
the knife might not strike—that hie
right arm wee free, while the assassin
had only hla left. With this he strove
persistently to reach hla knife-hand
end possess himself of tke weapon.
As persistently Alan foiled hla purpose
by dragging the knife-hand toward him
and swinging It far out to one side. At
the same time he struck repeatedly
with hte clenched right flat at the oth-
er’s face. His blows did little dam-
age beyond disconcerting the other;
but this proved a very considerable
factor In the duel. In the end, they
served together with tbat steady, re-
sistless downward and outward drag,
to break the grip of the man’s locked
lege.
Abruptly he pitched forward on hie
face along the girder, kicking wildly,
grasping at the air. The stiletto fell
from an instinctively relaxed grasp,
and disappeared. And before Alan
could release hte hold, or eaee the
■train upon the right arm of the as-
sassin, this last had slipped bodily
from the girder and hung helpless In
space, dangling at the end of Alan’s
arm—with no more than the grip of
five fingers between him and death.
The ehock of that unpreeaged turn
brought Alan forward and flat on bis
stomach. And the strain on his left
arm was terrific. He doubted If he
could maintain It for another minute
Nor waa there any reason why he
should retain it The end he had de-
signed for his victim was merely bis
juet desert
And yet Alan could not let him go.
Thus the battle began anew—but
now It wae a battle with a man half-
erased and struggling eo madly tbat
he well-nigh frustrated the efforts of
his rescuer.
In the upshot the assassin lay like a
limp rag across the girder, head and
arms dangling on one side, legs and
feet on the other, spent with his ter-
rific exertions and physically sick with
terror.
And In this state Alan left blm: be
had done enough; let the man shift
for himself from this time on.
Alan’s Appearance at the Hotel Monolith.
■and miles of salt water. But this
thing—I can’t do it. even for you. I
can’t do it even for myself. Rose
Trine le here In New York, In the
hands and at the mercy of her father
and sister: and you may judge what
their mercy will be when you learn
all that she has done for me. I won’t
go and I can't go until I find her and
take her with me. And that Is final.”
"Then," Dlgby struck in, grasping
wildly st a straw of hope, "I have your
word you'll go, providing I find and re-
store Rose to you?"
"You have my word to that, unques-
tionably. Bring Rose to me. and I’ll
gladly shake the dust of New York-
from my shoes, and never return till
Trine Is put sway comfortably In bis
grave.”
“It shall be done," Dlgby promised.
"It must!”
“You believe that?”
"In twelve hours Roes shell be re-
stored to you."
"WM1 you make a book on It? I'll
bet you something happens—and hope
I lose Into the bargain. If you believe
you can carry out your promise, wire
the White Star line to reserve the
best available suite on the Oceenlo,
selling tomorrow morning at ten—
end make arrangements for a mar-
riage before the boat sails."
"I’ll go you,” Dlgby agreed: "and if
I fall, I forfeit the coet of the reser-
vation. But about thle marriage—"
He hesitated.
"You'll have to have e license In
this state—end can’t get one except
by applying In person with your bride-
to-be. There won’t bo time—’’
"Then we’ll marry In Jersey 1” Alan
Insisted. "Dig up some clergyman over
there. If you don’t know one your-
self—"
"Oh, I’m well acquainted with the
very man!”
CHAPTER XXIV.
The Time o’ Night.
Not 111-pleaaed to be left to hla own
devices (whose proposed character
Dlgby would never have approved had
he so much as suspected them) Alan
none the lose deterred action until
after midnight.
And espionage wae all he feared-
save end except always, of course, fail-
ure to find hie Roes.
It wae about one In the morning
when he arrived Inconspicuously (but
not eo much eo as to seem deserving
of polios surveillance) la the neigh-
along one of these, gingerly on bis
hands and knees, until he came to its
end and might, if he cared to, look
down a hundred feet to the sidewalks.
That view, however, did not tempt;
he kept hla eyes level; and was re-
warded with a bare glimpse of a pret-
tily-papered wall, framed In the lace of
half-drawn curtains.
And of sudden—whether through
fortuity, or instinct, or the psycho-
logical attraction of hte steadfast con-
centration—the tenant of the room
came to the window and stood there
for a little, looking pensively out, alto-
gether unconscioua.of the watcher In
hla aerial coign.
Again a horrible uncertainty har-
assed him. Was the woman Rose
or Judith? That she wae one of these
he could plainly see. But which? Dared
he assume hie hopes fulfilled?
With difficulty he .detached hie
hungry vision from her, and drawing,
from hte pocket a email notebook, tore
out a blank page, placed this flat on
the girder, found a pencil, and with
the assistance of a ray or two of
moonlight scrawled a message of al
most stenographic brevity.
When he looked up from this task,
■he had vanished.
Sitting up, aetride the girder, he
took hte watch—a cheap affair he had
picked up when roclothlng himself in
the garments of civilised society, at
Providence, that morning—opened the
back of the case, and closed It upon
the folded message.
Then drawing back hie arm, he
breathed a allent prayer to the god of
all true lovers, end cast It from him
with all hla might—with such force
that It almost unseated him at the end
of the awing. But nothing less would
have served to bridge (hat yawning
chasm.
And the watch flew straight and
true, squarely through the lighted win-
dow end to the farther wmlL . . .
At that very Instant of hie exaltation
over an obstacle overcome, he heard e
sound behind him of heavy breathing.
The assassin had oome that alose
upon hte prey when Alan turned and
discovered his peril.
The same moonbeam which had
aided Alan In the composition of hts
message struck across the other’s face,
end showed It like a hideous Chinese
meek of deadly hatred, with Its eye-
balls glaring end Its lips drawn heck
from the naked blade gripped between
tin teeth—a stiletto nothing short of 0
CHAPTER XXV.
Changeling.
In the vague, chill gray of that dull
and desolate dawn, Judith stirred ab-
ruptly on the couch of a sleepless
night, and with the rapidity of one
who has arrived at a settled purpose
after a long period ef doubt and per-
plexity, rose and bathed and dressed
herself in negligee.
In the adjoining room she could hear
small, stealthy noises—the sounds
made by her sister mevlng about and
preparing against the unguessable mo-
ment when her rescue would be at-
tempted, according to the Information
conveyed in that midnight message.
For chance had conspired with her
insomnia to station Judith in the re-
cess of her darkened window. Idly
viewing the gaunt framework of the
unfinished building from an angle
which, when Alan edged out along the
girder, showed him plainly in silhou-
ette against the eky.
She had seen him throw the watch
and had heard the double thump of tte
Impact with the wall and floor of
Rose’s bedchamber.
The clock waa striking six aa the
left her room: across the etreet work-
ingmen were streaming Into the build-
ing to begin the labors of the day.
Brushing unceremoniously past the
drowsy end Indifferent guard In the
corridor outside the door to Rose’s
room. Judith turned the key that re-
mained to the lock on the outside, re-
moved It, entered, end locked the door
behind her.
- Without any surprise she found her
sister already dressed to the point of
donning her outer garments.
Rendered half-frantlo by this unex-
pected Interruption, threatening aa It
did the perilous scheme that Alan had
proposed, Rose greeted her slater with
a countenance at once aghast and
wrathful.
"I Insist that you leave this room nt
once!”
"Insist by ell mesne—and be
damned! I may leave thle room—and
I may not, dear little sister. But one
of us will never leave It alive.”
"Whet do you mean? You cannot
mean to murder me to cold blood,
Judith?”
"Not It” Judith leughod harshly.
"But, since It has pleased Destiny to
decree that we muet both love one
man—let Destiny decide between ae
end hear the blame of murder I”
"Judith!"
"One moment!” Crossing to a side
table, Judith took up a glass from a
tray that held a silver water-pitcher,
end returned with it to the table that
occupied the middle of the floor. At the
earn# time she opened a band till then
feat clenched and disclosed a email
bine bottle with a rad label shrieking
the warning "POISONI"
"Strychnine,” aha
posed*. “In eotutJoa.” And
the bottle Into the gtoafl
A measun
Rosa. "Do you aspect Is be able to
make me drink that?" aha demanded
contemptuously.
"No* 1—but Destiny, tt It will! Sso
bars." Prom e pocket of bar dressing
gown Judith produced n sealed deck ud
playing cards. "Let these declare the
will of Destiny toward us. 1 will break
the seal, shuffle the cards, and deal."
aha explained, suiting action to word.
"The ono who gets the trey of hearts
will drain that glass. la tt a ban-
g^or
"Never! Oh. now I know tbat yo«
are altogether mad!"
Whipping a small revolver from an
other pocket of her dressing-gown, J»
dlth pieced it on tbs table, ready ts
bar hand.
"You will shoot me If I do not com
sontr
"Not you—but him. If you refuse*
little slater, I will shoot Alan Law
dead when he comes to keep hie of
polntment with you."
With a shudder Rose bowed her
"Demi.” she muttered fearfully, "and
may God judge between uet"
One by one aha stripped the cards
, from the top of the deck, dealing first
to Rose, then to herself.
One by one they fluttered to the
table on either side the glass ot poison,
and fell face uppermost.
The trey of hearts fell to Juditn.
There was an Instant of silent dread,
ended by Rose, ae Judith’s hand moved
steadily toward the glass.
"Judith 1" she implored. "Don’t—I
beg of you—I didn’t mean tt—I take
back my consent—’’
Too late!’’ said Judith, lifting the
glass and eyeing its contents with a
strange smile.
"Judith! you cannot mean to drink
it?”
‘Can’t I, though?" the other laughed
mirthlessly. "Just watch me l”
With a strangled cry Roee covered
her face with her hands to shut out
the sight, stood momentarily swaying,
and dropped to the floor In a complete
faint.
Delaying only to recognize this phe-
nomena with a pitying smile for the
weakness of spirit that caused It, J»
dlth's glance darted through the win-
dow and saw that which caused her te
stay her hand an Instant longer.
On the topmost tier of girders of the
building opposite, Alan Law stood
amid a little knot of amueed and ani-
mated laborers, one foot In the great
steel hook of the hoisting tackle, both
hands clasping the chain that linked
It to the gigantic block.
And ae Judith stared, be smiled at
something said by one of those about
him, looked back, and waved a hand
to some person Invisible.
Immediately the arm began to lift,
the tackle to move slowly through the
blocks. Very gently he wee swung up
and outward. . . .
With a cry Judith flung the poleoa
heedlessly from her, leaped across the
room, and snatched up the street gar-
ments Rose had dropped at her sister**
entrance.
In another moment she was strug-
gling madly Into them.
Before the shadow of Alan, clinging
to the hook and chain, toll athwart the
"Not I—but Destiny, If It Willi*
window, she was dressed and clam-
bered out upon the allL
"Sweetheart! My bravest little
woman!"
The hook hung steadily within els
Inches of the window-ledge- Alan ex-
tended hla arm.
"Nothing to fear, except lest I hold
you too tight, deer one!"
Without a word Judith set her foot
beelde bis in the hook, surrendered ti
hie embrace, end eloeed her eyes.
Immediately they were swung awaf
frvm the window, over toward tho dp
posits sidewalk, and gently lowered to
the etreet
"Maybe this Isn’t a good scheme I"
Alan exulted In the innocence of hta
heart "But I think tt la. And those
workingmen think it s great lark—I
told them the elmnta truth, you gout
that wo wore elopMfcT
By why of answer Judith breatiwd
only a word of tend era see.
And tbat Instant the boob paused
aad Alan stopped off upon the side-
walk.
"Safa and sound—and not a soul
ever there the wiser as yet!" he de-
clared irtth a derisive nod toward the
home of Trine. "Come along. Here's
a limousine waiting. In twenty min-
utes well be at the terry, la forty over
la Jersey, within an hour married
within four hours eef* at sea!" .
VtO BE CONTINUED*)