The Edmond Enterprise (Edmond, Okla.), Vol. 8, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 20, 1908 Page: 4 of 8
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SERIAL
STORY
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BLINDFOLDED
A Mystery Story
of Sun Francisco
EARLE ASHLEY WALCOTT
*
(Cu|>y right 1V0A, the Hobb* Mt-rrill Co.)
SYNOPSIS.
Oiles Dudley arrived In Sun Francisco
In Join his friend and distant relative
Uenry Wilton, whom he was to assist
In an Important and mysterious task, anil
who accompanied Dudley on the
ferry boat trip into the city. The re-
markable resemblance of the two men
Is noted and commented on by passcn-
Kers on the ferry. They see a man with
snake eyes, which sends a thrill through
Dudley. Wilton postpones an explanation
of the strange errand Dudley Is to per-
form, but occurrences cause him to
know it Is one of no ordinary meaning.
Dudley Is summoned to the morgue and
there tlnds the dead body of his friend,
Henry Wilton. And thus Wilton dies
without ever explaining to Dudley the
mizzling work he was to perform In San
Francisco. In order to discover the se-
cret mission his friend had entrusted to
him, Dudley continues his disguise and
permits himself to be known as Henry
Wilton. He learns that there Is a boy
whom he is charged with secreting and
protecting Dudley, mistaken for Wil-
ton, Is employed by Knapp to assist
In a stock brokerage deal. Giles Dudley
finds himself closeted in a room with
Mother Itnrton who makes a confidant
of him. He can learn nothing about the
mysterious boy further than tDat it is
Tim Terrill and Dai by Meeker who are
after him. Dudley visits the home of
Knapp arid Is stricken by tile beauty of
1,nolia, his daughter. Slumming tour
through Chinatown Is planned. The trip
to Cmnatown. Giles Dudley learns that
the party is being shadowed by Terrill.
l.uelia and Dudley are cut off from
the rest of the party and Imprison-
ed in a hallway behind an iron-bound
door. Three Chinese ruffians approach the
Imprisoned couple. A battle ensues. One
is Knocked down. Giles begins tiring. Tim
Terrill Is seen in the mob. A newly form-
ed mob Is checked by shots from Giles
revolver. Policeman Corson breaks down
the door with an ax and the couple is
rescued. Luella thanks Giles Dudley for
saving her life. Knapp appears at the
office with no traces of the previous
night's debauch. Following his instruc-
tions Dudley has a notable day In the
Stock Exchange, selling Crown Diamond
and buying Omega, the object being to
crush Decker, Knapp's hated rival.^ lind-
ley discovers that lie loves Luella Knapp.
Motiier Horton tells Giles 1 >udley that
"they've discovered where 'the boy' Is.
Tin' mysterious unknown woman employ-
er of budlev meets him by appointment
with "tile hoy" who is turned over to
Dudley with his guards and they drive
with him to the ferry boat to take a train
out of the city. Dudley and his faithful
guards convey "the bo>'" by train to the
village of l.ivcrmore, as per the written
instructions. The party Is followed. Soon
after the party is quartered in the hotel
a special train arrives in Uvermore. The
"gang" including Darby Meeker and Tim
Terrill, lay siege to the hotel and en-
deavor to capture "the boy." who coines
forward to see the light. "Tricked
again," cries Tim Terrill. when lie sees
the youngster's face. "It's the wrong
boy."
CHAPTER XXIV.
On the Road.
The wrong boy!
For a moment I could not under-
stand nor believe; antPwhen the mean-
ing of the words came to me 1 groped
in mental darkness. But there was no
time for speculation. Half in a daze I
heard a roar of curses, orders, a crash
of glass as the lamp was extinguished,
and over all came the prolonged growl
of a wolf-voice, hoarse and shaken
with anger. There was a vision of a
wolf-head rising above the outline of
faces a few yards away, dark, dis-
torted, fierce, with eyes that blazed
threats, and in an instant I found my-
self in the center of a struggling,
shouting, swearing mass of savago
men, fighting with naught but the in
stinct of blind rage. I doubt not that
I was as crazy as the rest. But in
my madness there was one idea strong
in my mind. It was to reach the eveil
face and snake-eyes of Tom Terrill.
and stamp the life out of him. With
desperate rage I shouldered and
fought till his white face with its
venomous hatred was next to mine,
till the fingers of my left hand gripped
his throat, and my right hand tried
to beat out his brains with a six-
shooter.
- "Damn you!" he gasped, striking
fiercely at me. "I've been waiting for
you!"
1 thightened my grip and spoke no
word. He writhed and turned, striv-
ing to free himself. I had knocked his
revolver from his hand, and he tried
in vain to reach it. A trace of fear
stole into the venomous anger of the
one eye that was unobscured, as he
strove without success to guard him-
self from my blows. But he gave a
sudden thrust, and with a sinuous
writhe he was free, while I was car-
lied back by the rush of men with the
vague impression that something was
amiss with me. Then a great light
flamed up before me in which the
struggling mob, the close hall and
room, and the universe itself melted
away, and I was alone.
The next impression that came to
me was that of a voice from an Im-
measurable distance.
"He's coming to," is said; and then
beside it I heard a strange wailing
cry.
"What is it?" I asked, trying to sit
up. My voice seemed to coine from
miles away and to belong to some
other man.
"That's it, you're all right," said
the voice encouragingly, and about
the half of Niagara fell on my face.
Then the mists before my eyes
cleared away, and I found that I was
on the floor of the inner bedroom and
Wainwright had emptied a water jug
over me. The light of a small kero-
sene lamp gave a gloomy illumination
to the place. Lockhart and Fitzhugh
leaned against the door, and Wilson
bent with Wainwright over me. The
boy was sitting on the bed, crying
shrilly over the melancholy situation.
"What is it?" I asked, gathering my
scattered wits. "W'jat has happened?"
"We've been licked," said Wain-
wright regretfully. "The rest of the
boys got took, but we got In here.
Fitz and me seen the nasty knock you
got, and dragged you back, and when
we got you here the parlor was full
of the hounds, and Porter and Abrams
and Brown was missing. We found
you was cut, and we've tried to fix
you up."
I looked at my bandged arm, and
put one more count in the indictment
against Terrill. He had tried to stab
me over the heart at the time he had
wrenched free, but he had merely
slashed my arm. It was not a severe
wound, but it gave me pain.
"Only a scratch," said Wainwright.
I envied the philosophic calm with
which he regarded it.
"It'll heal," I returned shortly.
"Where is the other gang? Are they
gone?"
"No; there's half a dozen of 'em
out in the parlor, I reckon."
"You'd better tell him," said Fitz-
hugh, shifting an unpleasant task.
"Well," said Wainwright, "we heard
orders given to shoot the first man
that comes out before morning, but
before all to kill you if you sticks your
nose outside before sun-up."
The amiable intentions of the vic-
tors set me to thinking. If it was im-
portant to keep here till morning, it
must be important to me to get out.
There was no duty to keep here, for I
need fear no attack on the boy who
was with us. I looked at my watch,
and found it was near I o'clock.
"Tie those blankets together," I or-
dered, as soon as I was able to get
my feet.
The men obeyed me in silence, while
Wainwright vainly tried to quiet the
child. I was satisfied to have him
cry, for the more noise he made the
less our movements would be heard. 1
had a plan that I thought might be
carried out.
While the others were at work, 1
cautiously raised the window and
peered through t|ie shutters. The
rain was falling briskly, and the wind
still blew a gale. I thought I dis-
tinguished the dark figure of a man
on guard within a few feet of the
building, and my heart sank.
"How many are in the parlor, Wil-
son?" I asked.
Wilson applied his eye to the key-
hole.
"Can't see anybody but that one-
eyed fellow, Broderick, but there
might be more."
A flash of memory came to me, and
I felt in my pocket for Mother Bor-
ton's mysterious scrawl. "Give that to a
one-eyed man," she had said. It was
a forlorn hope, but worth the trying.
"Hand this to Broderick," I said, "as
soon as you can do it without any-
one's seeing you."
Wilson did not like the task, but
he took the envolope and silently
brought the door ajar. His first in-
vestigations were evidently reassur-
ing, for he soon had half his body out-
side.
"He's got it," he said on reappear-
ing.
A little later there was a gentle tap
at the door, and the head of the one-
eyed man was thrust in.
"It's as much as my life's worth,"
he whispered. "What do you want me
to do?"
"How many men are in the street
below here?"
"There's one, but more are in call."
"Well, I want him got out of the
way."
"That's easy," said Broderick, with
a diabolical wink of his one eye. "I'll
have him change places with me."
"Good! How many men are here?"
"You don't need to know that.
There's enough to bury you."
"Have Meeker and Terrill gone?"
"Tom? He's in the next room here,
and can count it a mercy of the saints
if he gits out in a week. Meeker's
gone with the old man. Well, I can't
stay a-gabbin' any longer, or I'll be
caught, and then the divil himself
couldn't save me."
I shuddered at the thought of the
"old man," and the shadow of Dodd-
ridge Knapp weighed on my spirits.
"Are you ready for an excursion,
Fitzhugh?" 1 whispered.
He nooded assent.
"Well, we'll be out of here in a
minute or two. Take that overcoat.
I've got one. Now tie that blanket to
the bedpost. No, it won't be long
enough. You'll have to hold it for us,
boys."
1 heard the change of guards below,
and, giving directions to Wainwright,
with funds to settle our account with
the house, I blew out the lamp, quietly
swung open the shutter and leaned
over the sill.
"Hold onto the blanket, boys. Fol-
low, Fitz," I whispered, and climbed
out. The strain on my injured arm as
I swung off gave me a burning pain,
but I got to the ground in safety, and
the improvised rope was drawn up.
"Where now?" whispered Fitzhugh.
"To the stable."
Ab we slipped along to the corner a
man stepped out before us.
"Don't shoot," he said; "it's me—
Broderick. Tell Mother Borton I
wouldn't have done it for anybody but
her."
"I'm obliged to you just the same,"
I said. "And here's a bit of drink
money. Now, where are my men?"
"Don't know. In the lockup, I reck-
on."
"How's that?"
"Why, you see. Meeker tells the
fellows here he has a warrant for you
—that you're the gang of burglars
that's wanted for the Parrott murder.
And he had to show the constable and
the landlord and some others the war-
rant, too."
"How many were hurt?"
"Six or seven. Two of your fellows
looked pretty bad when they were
carried out."
We turned down a by-street, but as
soon as the guard had disappeared we
retraced our steps and hastened to
the Thatcher stables.
The rain was whipped into our faces
as we bent against the wind, and the
whish and roar of the gale among the
trees and the rattle of loose boards
and tins, as they were tossed and
shaken behind the houses, gave a mel-
ancholy accompaniment to our hasty
march.
We nearly missed the stable in the
darkness, and it was several minutes
before we roused Thatcher to a state
i
s TTOMTtrart m* rtaa? *djjD .fonrr no hrmn
in which he could put together the
two Ideas that we wanted to get in,
and that it was his place to get up and
let us in.
"Horses to-night?" he gasped, throw-
ing up his hands. "Holy Moses! I
couldn't think of letting the worst
plug of the lot out in this storm."
"Well, I want your best."
"You'll have to do it, Dick," said
Fitzhugh with a few words of expla-
nation. "He'll make it all right for
you."
"Where are you going?" asked
Thatcher.
"Oakland."
He threw up his hands once more.
"Great Scott! you can't do it. The
horses can't travel 50 miles at night
and in this weather. You'd best wait
for the morning train. The express
will be through here before 5."
"I hesitated a moment, but the
chances of being stopped were too
great.
"I must go," I said decidedly. "I
can't wait here."
"I have it," said Thatcher. "By
hard riding you can get to Niles in
time to catch the freight as it goes
up from San Jose. It will get down
in time for the first boat, if that's
what you want."
"Good! How far is it?"
"We call it 18 miles—it's over that
by the road. There's only one nasty
bit. That's in the canyon."
"I think we shall need the pleasure
of your company," I said.
"It's a bad job, but if you must, you
must," he groaned. And he soon bad
three horses under the saddle.
I eyed the beasts with some dis-
favor. They were evidently half-mus-
tang, and I thought undersized for
such a journey. But I was to learn
before the night was out the virtues
of strength and endurance that lie in
the blood of the Indian horse.
"Hist! What's that?" said Fitz-
hugh. extinguishing the light.
The voices of the storm and the un-
easy champing of the horses were the
only sounds that rewarded a minute's
listening.
"We must chance it," said I. after
looking cautiously into the darkness
and finding no signs of a foe.
And in a moment more we were
galloping down the street, the hoof-
beats scarcely sounding in the soft-
ened earth of the roadway. Not a
word was spoken after the start as we
turned through the side streets t3
avoid the approaches to the hotel.
Thatcher suddenly turned to the west,
and in another minute we wer« on
the open highray, with the steady
beat of the horses' hoofs splashing
a wild rhythm on the muddy road.
With the town once behind us, I felt
my spirits rise with every stroke of
the horse's hoofs beneath me. The
rain and the wind were friends rather
than foes. Yet my arm pained me
sharply, and 1 was forced to carry
the reins in the whip hand. Here the
road was broader, and we rode three
abreast, silent, watchful, each busy
with his own thought, and all alert
for the signs of chase behind.
"There!" said Thatcher, suddenly
pulling his horse up to a walk. "We're
five miles out, and they've got a big
piece to make up if they're on our
track. We'll breathe the horses a
bit."
The beasts were panting a little, but
chafed at the bits as we walked them
and tossed their heads uneasily to
the pelting of the storm.
"Hark!" 1 cried. "Did you hear
that?" I was almost certain that the
sound of a faint halloo came from be-
hind us. I was not alone in the
thought.
"The dern fools!" said Fitzhugh.
"They want a long chase, I guess, to
go through the country yelling like a
pack of wild Injuns."
"I reckon 'twas an owl," said Thatch-
er; "but we might as well be moving.
We needn't take no chances while
we've got a good set of heels under
us. Get up, boys."
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
MADE WHILE YOU WAIT.
Truth and
Quality
Appeal to the Well-informed in every
walk of life and are essential to permanent
Buccess and creditable standing. Accor-
ingly, it is not claimed that Syrup of Figs
and Elixir of Senna is the only remedy of
known value, but one of many reasons
why it is the best of personal and family
laxatives is the fact that it cleanses,
sweetens and relieves the internal organs
on which it acts without any debilitating
after effects and without having to increaso
the quantity from time to time.
It acts pleasantly and naturally and
truly as a laxative, and its component
parts are known to and approved by
physicians, as it is free from all objection-
able substances. To get its beneficial
effects always purchase the genuine—
manufactured by the California Fig Syrup
Co., only, and for sale by all leading drug-
gists.
Autograph Fiend an Easy Mark for
the Unscrupulous.
W. E. Collett, secretary of the Col- j
orado Prison association, was talking j
in Denver about 50 autograph letters J
from widows that he recently received [
wherein each widow offered gladly to j
marry one of Mr. Collett's proteges, a
reformed convict in search of a wife. 1
"I shall keep most of those widows'
autographs," said Mr. Collett. "They j
are very interesting. A collection of \
autographs of such a character would j
be worth having, wouldn't it? Differ- I
ent from the usual dull collections of ;
mere signatures, eh?"
He smiled and went on:
"An autograph fiend who collects
mere signatures is rather a fool, and
he is very easily taken in. Whenever J
I think of him, I think of a little story I
about him.
"According to this story, an auto- 1
graph fiend walked into an old curi-
osity shop and said:
"'You advertise that you have au-
tographs of Washington and Shake- j
speare for sale. If your terms are I
reasonable, I should like to purchase ;
specimens of each of those auto- |
graphs.'
"The proprietor bowed politely, j
Then he went to the back of the shop |
and said to a man who was painting j
a large canvas on an easel:
" 'Put away that Rembrandt for the |
present, Jim, and write me out an au-
tograph of Washington and one of
Shakespeare. Gentleman waiting out-
side.' "
OF COURSE HE WOULDN'T.
"You certainly wouldn't marry a girl
for her money, would you, Tom?"
"Of course not; neither would I have
the heart to let her become an old
maid because she happened to be well
off."
GOOD THING TO LEAVE ALONE.
Physicians Advice to Those Who Are
Fond of Mushrooms.
It may be possible that when all the
boys are dead they will quit eating
toadstools and dying in spasms there-
from. The edible and poisonous varie-
ties of these fungi are too close to-
gether in general and species for the
average youngster to differentiate
them. It continues, after many years,
to be the same old story: Eat it; if it
kills you it is a toadstool; if it agrees
with you it is a mushroom. Some
years ago the department of agricul-
ture at Washington issued an elab-
orate and beautiful set of illustrations
of mushrooms and "near" mushrooms,
labeling one set "edible" and the other
"poisonous." The story leaked out
that the printers got the labels mixed,
and that the transposition was not
discovered until the work had been
sent broadcast. The officials did some j
tall hustling In an effort to call in the J
issue. A well-known physician said j
to me the other day: "Owing to the
very great difficulty in ordinary life
of detecting the true from the false, j
my mushroom advice has usually been j
'let both kinds alone.' "—New York '
Press.
LOOKED FOR OTHER TWO.
Little One Had But One Idea of Term
"Fore-Handed."
Little Catherine has been boarding
on a farm this summer, and many of
the rural expressions are wholly un-
familiar to her. One day she chanced
to hear her country hostess praising
the good qualities of a certain thrifty
neighbor.
"He really ain't got much, com-
pared to some folks," said the farm-
er's wife, "but he makes out wonder-
ful well; he's so fore-handed."
That evening the man thus lauded
happened to drop in, and Katherine
immediately sidled up to him, with cu-
rious eyes. Slowly she revolved about
the chair in which he sat, and so per-
sistently did she gaze at him that the
farmer's wife finally noticed it.
"Well, Katherine," she said, "you
seem to find a good deal to look at in
|Mr. B ; don't you?"
"Why," replied the child, her little
forehead wrinkled in perplexity. "I
did want to see his two uvver hands,
but I can't. Is he sittin' on 'em?"
Paganini's Violin.
The famous violin of Paganini,
which was preserved in a glass case,
has been found to be rotting, and
it is certain that the wood will not
last many years longer. This dis-
covery has caused agitation as to
the means of preserving the precious
instrument. It has been decided
that to keep It a few years longer
it shall be taken out once a year
and played on for an hour by the
best pupil of the conservatoire.
Only once since the death of the
greatest violinist who ever lived has
the violin, which is a superb
Stradivarius, been touched, and that
was some years ago, by the Spanish
violinist, Pablo del Sarasate, to
whom the city during a triumphal
tour through Italy wished to offer a
signal houor.
SELF DELUSION
Many People Deceived by Coffee.
We like to defend our indulgencies
and habits even though we may be
convinced of their actual harmful-
ness.
A man can convince himself that
whisky is good for him on a cold morn-
ing, or beer on a hot summer day—
when he wants the whisky or beer.
It's the same with coffee. Thousands
of people suffer headaches and nerv-
ousness year after year but try to
persuade themselves the cause is not
coffee—because they like coffee.
"While yet a child I commenced us-
ing coffee and continued it," writes a
Wis. man, "until I was a regular cof-
fee fiend. I drank it every morning
and in consequence had a blinding
headache nearly every afternoon.
"My folks thought it was coffee that
ailed me, but I liked it and would not
admit it was the cause of my trouble,
so I stuck to coffee and the headaches
stuck to me.
"Finally, the folks stopped buying
coffee and brought home some Postum.
They made it right (directions on
pkg.) and told me to see what differ-
ence it would make with my head, and
during the first week on Postum my
old affliction did not bother me once.
From that day to this we have used
nothing but Postum in place of cof-
fee—headaches are a thing of the past
and the whole family is in fine health."
"Postum looks good, smells good,
tastes good, is good, and does good to
the whole body." "There's a Reason."
Name given by Postum Co., Battle
Creek, Mich. Read "The Road to Wall-
ville," in pkgs.
Ever read the above letter? A new
one appears from time to time. They
are genuine, true, and full of human
interest.
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Gould, C. W. The Edmond Enterprise (Edmond, Okla.), Vol. 8, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 20, 1908, newspaper, August 20, 1908; Edmond, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc140628/m1/4/: accessed April 19, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.