Marietta Monitor. (Marietta, Okla.), Vol. 21, No. 16, Ed. 1 Friday, May 21, 1915 Page: 3 of 8
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THE MARIETTA MONITOR
E PHILIPS OPPENHEIM
copwiomt if on r wwoo
Novallsad from th Thoto Play of the Bam Name Produced by th Cnlvaraal
Film Manufacturing Company
SYNOPSIS
Hanford Queat master crlmlnoloxlat of
tha world Hilda that In hrlnaln to Jus-
tice Maodouanl tha murdorar of Cord
Aahlalah'a dnuahlar ha haa but )uat le-
f un a life-arid -death alruads with a mya-
arloua niaalar criminal In a hlddan hut
In Profaaair AalilclKh'a anrdan ha haa
aan an aninroimld apa skeleton and a II v
Ina Inhuman creature half monkey half
man destroyed by lira In hla room bava
appeared from nowhara blank boxes ona
containing dlamonda torn from a lovely
throat by a pair of armless thraatnln
lianda both with aarcaatln threatening
nutaa alanad by tha Inacrutabla handa Ha
la arraatad for tha murdar of hla valat
Hoaa Urown and a Mlaa Qutaa In hla
rooma Laura and Lanora hla aaalatanta
auapact Crala tha profeaaora valat Ia-
nora la abduetad by tha threatentns
handa but la raacuad Quaat claara him
aalt of tha murdar chars a but falla to
trap Craig In hla rooma anothar black
boa appm ra In tha rlflad aafa and return-
ln tha dlamonda a second tlma tha ao-
acompanylna nota tella him ha haa no
chance against tha Inliarltad cunning of
agea t
SEVENTH INSTALLMENT
THI HOUtC OP MYSTERY
CHAPTER XVI
Something In th nttnr of con
ferenct wag proceeding In Queat’a
atudy The profeaaor waa there Bett-
ed In the moat comfortable easy-
chair amoklng without rellah one of
hla hoat’a beat clgara watching with
nerroua Impatience the cloeed door
Laura and Lenora were seated at the
table dreaaed for the street They
had the air of being prepared for
some excursion Queat realizing the
professor1! highly strung atate had
left him alone for a few momenta
and waa atudylng a map of New York
The latter however waa too 111 at
case to keep silent for long
"Our friend French” he remarked
"gave you no clue I euppoae as to the
direction in which hla Investigations
are leading him?"
Quest glanced up from the map
"None at alL I know however that
the house In which Lenora here waa
confined la being watched closely"
The profeaaor glanced across to
ward the table before which Lenora
waa seated
"It seems strange" he continued
"that the yousg lady should have so
little to tell us about her Incarcera-
tion" Lenora shivered for a moment
"What could there be to tell" she
asked "except that It was all horrible
and that I felt thing— felt dangers—
which I couldn't describe"
The professor gave vent to an Im-
patient little exclamation
"I am not speaking for fancies" he
persisted "You had food brought to
you for Instance Could you never
see the hand which placed It Inside
your room? Could you hear nothing
of the footsteps of the person who
brought It? Could you not even sur-
mise whether It were a man or a
woman?"
Lenora answered him with an evi-
dent effort She had barely as yet
recovered from the shock of those
awful houra
"The person who brought me the
food" she said "came at night — never
In the daytime I never heard any-
thing The most I ever aaw waa once
—I happened to be looking toward
the door and I aaw a pair of hands—
nothing more — setting down a tray 1
shrieked and called out I think that
I almost fainted When I found cour-
age enough to look there waa nothing
there but the tray upon the floor"
The professor sighed as he turned
away
“It Is evident I am afraid" he said
"that Miss Lenora's evidence will help
no one Aa an expert In these affairs
Mr Quest does it not eeem to you
that her Imprisonment was just a lit-
tle purposeless? There aeema to have
been no attempt to harm her In any
way"
"Whoever took the risk of abduct-
ing her” Quest pointed out grimly
"did It for a purpose That purpose
would probably have been devel-
oped In course of time However we
look at It Mr Ashlelgh there waa
only one man who must have been
anxious to get her out of the way and
that man waa Craig Here comes our
friend French I have an’idea that he
has something to tell us"
They glanced expectantly towards
the door aa French entered The In-
spector who waa looking very apruce
and well brushed wished them a gen-
eral good morning Hla eyes’ rested
last and longest upon Laura who
seemed however unconscious of hla
presence
“Now then French" Quest began
as h6 returned hla greeting "take a
cigar make yourself comfortable In
that chair and let us have your news
As you ace we have obeyed orders
We are all ready to follow you any-
where" "It won’t be to the end of the world
anyway" the Inspector remarked aa
he lit hla cigar "I am going to pro-
pose a little excursion down Oayson
avenue way”
' "Back to that house?” Lenora ex-
claimed with a grimace
The Inspector nodded
"We have had those hoys at Um
station " he went on "and w have
questioned them carefully It seems
that after they had picked up tb ball
a man came out of the aide entrance
of the house saw them reading Mias
Lenora's message and shouted after
them The boys had sente gnough
to aooot The man ran after them
but had to give It up Hera la their
description of him"
Th Inspector took a piece of pa-
per from hla pocket They all waited
breathlessly
"Had to drag thta out of th boys
bit by bit” the Inspector proceeded
"but boiled d9wn and put Into reason-
able languyte this la what it coigns
to: A man of medium height rather
thin pine and arter running a
short Istance he put hla band to
hla heart as though out of breath
Ona of the boys thought hla nos waa
a little hooked and they both re-
marked upon th fact that although
he shouted after them he used no
wear words but simply tried to In-
duce them to atop This description
auggeat anything to you gentlemen?"
"Craig" Lenora said firmly
"It la a very accurate discretion of
Craig" Sanford Queat agreed
The profeaaor looked troubled also
a little perplexed Ha said nothing
however
"Under these circumstances the
Inspector continued "I have had the
house watched and I propose that wo
now search It ayatematlcally It la
very possible that something may
tranaplra to help ua Of course my
men went through It roughly when
we brought Mlaa Lenora away but
that wasn’t anything of a search to
count If the place really has become
a haunt of criminals"
"What about the ownership of the
houeB?' Quest asked aa he took up
hla hat
The Inspector nodded approvingly
"I am making a few Inquiries In
that direction" be announced "I ex-
pect to have something to report very
hortly”
The profegsor stood drawing on
hla gloves The vague look of trouble
still lingered In ha face
"Tell me again he begged "the
tm of the avenue' la wkt:k rtu res-
idence Is situated?"
"Gayjon avenue" the Inspector re-
plied "It’a a hit but of the way hat
It's not a bad neighborhood”
The profeaaor repeated the address
to himself softly For a moment be
stood quite etllL Hla manner showed
signs of growing anxiety He seemed
to be trying to remember something
"The name" he admitted finally as
they moved towards the door "sug-
gests to me I must confess — we are
going to see the house Inspector ?''
"We arc on our way there now air
— that la If the young ladles are will-
ing?" he added glancing at Laura
"We've been waiting here with our
hata on for the last half hour" Laura
replied promptly "You've stretched
your ten minutes out some Mr
French" -
The Inspector maneuvered to let the
others pass on and descended the
stalra by Laura's aide r
"Couldn't help it" be - confided
lowering his tone a little "Had some
informstlon In about that hous I
couldn’t quite size up You're looking
well this morning Mlaa Laura”
"Say who are you guying!" she re-
plied "I mean It" the inspector persisted
"That hat seems to suit you"
Laura laughed at the top of her
voice
"Sav Ud” - ah exclaimed to Le-
Bora "the Inspector here'! setting up
a Judge of millinery I"
Lenora turned and looked at them
both with an sir of blank astonish-
ment Tb Inspector was a little em-
barrassed "No need to give me sway Ilk that”
hs muttered as they reached tb halL
"Now then ladles and gentlemen If
you are ready"
They took their places In th au-
tomobile and drove off As tbsy
neared the vicinity of Oayson avenue
the professor began to show signs of
renewed uneasiness When they drew
up at last outside the house be gave
a little exclamation Ills face was
grave almost haggard
"Mr Quest" he said "Inspector
French I deeply regret that I have
a statement to make"
They both turned quickly toward
him Th Inspector smiled In a con-
fidential manner at Laura It was
obvious that be knew what was com-
ing "Soma years mo" th ' professor
continued "I bought this bouse and
mads a present of It to—"
"To whom?" Queat asked quickly
"To my servant Craig" tb profes-
sor admitted with a groan
Lenora gave a little cry She turned
triumphantly towards th Inspector
‘AU recollection as to Its locality
had escaped me" the professor con-
tinued sorrowfully "I remember that
It waa on the anniversary of hla hav-
ing been with me for nom fifteen
yearn that I decided to show him
some substantial mark of my appre-
ciation 1 knew that h waa looking
for e domicils for hla father and
mother who are since both dead
and I requested a houee agent to send
me In a list of suitable residence
Thin alas! was the one I purchased"
Quest glanced around the place-
"I think" he aald "that the profes-
sor's statement now remove any
doubt ns to Craig's guilt You are
sure the bouse has been closely
watched Inspector?"
"Since I received certain Inform
tlou" French replied "I have had
half n doxen of my best men In the
vicinity I can assure you that no
one has entered or left It during the
last twenty-four hours"
They inade their way to the plaxza
steps and entered by the front door
The house was an -ordinary frame-
work one of moderate size In poor re-
pair and showing signs of great neg-
lect' The rooma were barely fur-
nished and their first cursory search
revealed no traces of habitation
There was still the broken skylight
In the room which Lenora had occu-
pied and the bed upon which she had
slept was still crumpled French
who had been tapping the walla down-
stairs called to them They trooped
down Into the halL The Inspector
waa standing before what appeared to
be an ordinary panel
"Look here" he said glancing out
of the corner of hla eye to be sure
that Laura waa there "let me show
Ton whatJ‘rvv® Just discovered"
He felt with hla thumb for a spring
In a moment or two a portion of the
wall about two feet In extent slowly
revolved ' disclosing a small cup-
board fitted with a telephone Instru-
ment "A telephone" the Inspector re-
marked pointing to It "In an unoccu-
pied house and a concealed cup-
board What do you think of that?"
The professor shook hla head
"Don't ask me" he groaned
French took the receiver from Its
rest and called up the exchange
"Inspector French speaking" he
announced "Kindly tell me what Is
the number of the telephone from
which I am speaking and who la the
subscriber?"
He listened to the reply and asked
another question “
"Can you tell me when this Instru-
ment was last used? When?
Thank yon!"
The Inspector hung up the receiver
“The subscriber's name" he told
them dryly “la Brown The number
la not entered In the book by re-
quest The telephone waa used an
hour ago from a call office end con-
nection was established That la to
say that someone spoke from this
telephone"
“Then If your men have maintained
their search properly that someone”
Queat aald slowly "must be In the
house at the present moment"
“Without a doubt" the Inspector
agreed
"I am going to search the front
room on the first floor before we do
anything else" said Quest "I think
that If you wait here I may be able to
ahow you something directly"
Quest ascended the stairs and en-
tered a wholly unfurnished room on
the left-hand aide He looked for a
minute contemplatively at a large but
rather shallow cupboard the door of
which stood open and tapped lightly
wHth hla forefinger upon the back part
of It Then he withdrew a few feet
and drawing out hla revolver delib-
erately fired Into the floor a few
Inches inside There was a half-
stifled cry The falae back suddenly
swung open and a man rushed out
Quest's revolver covered- him but
there wad no necessity for Its use
Craig smothered with dust hla face
white as a piece of marble even bis
jaw shaking with fear waa wholly
unarmed He seemed In fact Incap-
able of any form of resistance
“Walk out of the room" Quest or-
dered “In front of me--so! Now
turn to the right and go down the
Btalra”
- They all gave a little cry aa they
saw him appear a trembling pitiful
creature glancing around like a
trapped animal He commenced to
descend the stairs holding tightly
to the banisters Queat remained on
the landing above hie revolver In hla
He Was Wearing
hand French waited In the hall be-
low also armed Laura gripped Le
nora'a arm In excitement
"They've got him now I" she ex-
claimed ‘Oot him sure!’’
On th fourth or fifth stair Craig
hesitated 11 suddenly saw the pro-
feasor standing below He gripped
the banisters with on hand The
other he flunk out In a threatening
gesture
"You've given me away to these
bloodhounds!" he cried— "you for
whom I have tolled and slaved whore
I have followed all over th world
whom 1 have served faithfully with
the last breath of my body and tha
last drop of blood In my veins! Ton
have brought them her— tracked me
down! You!"
The profeaaor shook bis head sor-
rowfully “Craig" be said "you he ben
th best servant man ever had If
you are innocent of theae crimes you
can clear youraelf If you are guilty
a dog'a death Is none too good for
you"
Craig seemed to sway for a moment
upon hit feet Only Lenora from the
hall eaw that he was fitting hla right
foot Into what aeemed to he a leath-
er loop hanging from the banisters
Then a wild about of surprlie broke
from the lips of all of them followed
by a moment of etupefled wonder
The whole staircase suddenly began
to revolve Craig clinging to the
banisters disappeared In a moment
or two there waa a fresh click An-
other set of stairs Identical to the
first had taken their place
"The cellar!" Quest shouted at he
ruahed down the stairs "Quick!"
They wrenched open - the wooden
door and hurried down the dark atepa
Into the gloomy unlit cellar The
place waa crowded with packing cases
and two large wine barrels stood In
the corner At the farther end was
a door Quest rushed for It and stood
guard A moment later however be
called to Laura and pressed hla re-
volver Into her hand
"Stand there" he ordered "Shoot
him If he tries to run out I'll search
In the packing cases He might be
dangerous”
The professor out of breath was
leaning agalnat one of the pillar
hla arm paased around It for support
Lenora with Queat and French
searched hastily amongst the packing
cases Suddenly there was a loud
crack the sound of falling masonry
followed by a scream from Laura
French with a roar of anger ruahed
toward her She was lying on her
aide already half covered by falling
bricks and masonry He dragged her
away juat In time
"My God ahe's fainted!" he ex-
claimed "I haven't" Laura faltered trying
to open her eyes “and I'm not going
to hut I think my arm'a broken and
my side hurts”
"The fellow's not down here any-
way” Quest declared “Let's help her
upstairs and get her out of this
devil's bouse"
They supported her np the steps
and found a chair for her In the hall
The inspector swung open the tele-
phone cupboard and called for an am-
bulance Then Quest who had been
examining the staircase suddenly
gave a little exclamation
“He’s done ua!' he cried “Look
here French this la the original stair-
case There's the leather loop I
know It because there was a crack on
the fourth stair When we rushed
down the cellar after him he swung
the thing round again' and simply
walked out of th front door Damn
It man !t‘s open!”
They hurried outside French blew
his whistle One of the platn-clothes
men came running np from the ave-
nue He was looking a little sheep-
ish “What’a wrong?" French demanded-
"He's gone off” waa the unwilling
reply "I guest that chap's given ua
the sllt"
"Speak up" French Insisted
“The only place" the man went on
“we hadn't our eyes glued on was
the front door He must have come
out through that There's been a
motortruck with one or twotsqueer-
looklng chaps In it at the corner of
the avenue there for the last ten min-
utes I'd just made up my mind to
stroll round and see what It was up
to when Jim who was on the pther
aide shouted out A man Jumped up
into It and they made off at once"
The inspector’s rubicund counte-
nance was white with fury Hla head
kept turning In the direction of Laura
to whom the professor waa busy ren-
dering first aid
I “It I never take another Job on aa
Cralg'a Clothes
long aa 1 live" he declared "111 have
that fellow before I'm through!"
CHARTER XVII
The professor roused himself from
what had apparently been a very
gloomy reverie
“Well" be announced 1 moat go
home U has been very kind of you
Mr Queat to keep me bar for so
long"
Quest glanced at tha clock
"Don't burry Mr Ashlelgh" he
aid "We may get some news at any
moment French has a doaen men
out oo tb search and he has prom-
ised to ring me up Immediately be
bears anything"
The professor sighed
"A man" he declared "who for
twenty years can deceive hla master
as utterly and completely aa Craig
has done me who la capable of inch
diabolical outrages and who when
capture sure him In the face la
capable of an escape such as he mad
today J outside the laws of prob-
ability - Personally I do not believe
that I shall ever again see th face
of my servant any more than that
you Quest will entirely - solve the
myetery of these murders and tha
theft of the Rhelnholdt Jewele What
can we do agalnat men who have re-
volving staircases and trolley-loads
of river pirate waiting for them?
You may be a scientific criminologist
Queat but that fellow Craig la a
scientific criminal If aver there was
one"
Quest crosaed the room towards hla
cigar cabinet and opened It Hla little
start was apparent to both of them
Lenora laid down the hag which she
had Just lifted up The professor
leaned forward In hla chair
- “What la It QuestY’ he demanded
Quest stretched out hla hand and
picked up from the top of the clgara
a small black box! He laid it on the
table
‘‘Unless 1 am very much mistaken"
he aald "It la another communication
from our mysterious friend"
"Impossible!" the profeaaor ex-
claimed hoarsely
"How can he have been here?" Le-
nora cried
Quest removed the lid from the
box and drew ont a circular card
Around the outside edge was a very
clever pen and Ink sketch of a life-
buoy and Inside the margin were
several sentences of clear handwrit-
ing In thh middle was the signa-
ture — the clenched hands! Queat
read the message aloud:
In the great scheme of things the
8uprem Ruler of the universe di-
vided an Inheritance amongst hla
children To one he gave power to
another strength to another beauty
but to hla favorite ho gave cunning
They all looked at one another
"What does it mean?" Lenora
gasped
"A lifebuoy!" the professor mur-
mured They both stared at Quest who re-
mained silent chewing hard at tbe
end of his cigar
"Every message" he said speaking
half to himself “has had some sig-
nificance What does this mean— a
lifebuoy?"
He was silent for a moment Then
he turned suddenly to the professor
“What did you call those men In the
motortruck professor— river pirates?
And a lifebuoy! Walt"
He crossed the room towards hla
desk and returned with a list In hla
hand He ran hla finger down It
stopped and glanced at the date
"The Durham" he muttered “cargo
cotton destination Southampton sails
at high tide on the 16th Lenora ta
that calendar right?"
“It's the 16th Mr Quest" she an-
swered Quest crossed the room to the tele-
phone -
"I want number one central" he
aald “Thank you! Put me through
to Mr French's office Hello
French! I’ve got an idea Can you
come round here at once and bring
an automobile? 1 want to get down
to the docks — not where the passen-
ger steamers start from — lower down
Good! We'll wait" ‘
Quest hung up the receiver
“See here professor” he continued
“that fellow wouldn’t dare to send
this message If he weren't pretty sure
of getting off He's made all hla
plana beforehand but It's my belief
we shall juat get our handa upon him
after all'
Presently the beard the automobile
atop outside and French appeared
"Anything doing?" he asked
Quest showed him the card and the
sailing list
The Inspector glanced at the dock
"Then we’ve got to make tracks"
bn declared "and pretty quick too
She’ll be starting from aomswhsro
about number twenty-eight dock a
long wny down Como nloog gsntlo-
men” -
They hurried out to the automobile
and started off for tho docks Tho
latter part of their Journey waa ac-
complished undsr difficulties for tha
tract waa packad with drays and
haavy vehicles They reached dock
number twenty-eight at last how-
ever and hurried through th abed
on to tho wharf Thera wara no signs
of a steamer there
' "Where's tha Durham r Quaat
asked on of th carters who waa Juat
getting hla team together
Tbe man pointed out to tho middle
of river where a small ataamar waa
lying
“There she la" he replied "She'll
be off In a few minutes You'll hear
tho alrena directly when they begin
to move down"
Quest led the way quickly to tho
edge of the wharf Thera waa a
small tug there tho crew of which
were Juat making her fast for the
night
"Fifty dollars If you’ll taka ua out
to the Durham aod catch bar before
bo Balia" Queat ahoutad to th maa
who aeemad to bo the captain
They clambered down tho Iron lad-
der and Jumped on to tho dock of th
tug Tho captain Mixed th wboeL
Tb two mea who formed th crow
took off their coats and waistcoats
- "Give ft-to her Jim" th formar or-
dered "Now then her goeal Wa'll
Juat mlaa tha farry"
They swung around and commenced
their Journey Queat stood with bln
watch In hla hand They war getting
np th anchor of th Durham and
from higher up th river cam tho
screech of learners beginning to
mova on thslr outward way
"We’ll make It all right" th cap-
tain assured them
They were within a hundred yards
of tha Durham when Queat gave a lit-
tle exclamation From tha other aid
of th steamer another tog shot out
away tnrakig hack towarda New
York Huddled up la the stern half
concealed ta a tarpaulin waa a maa
la a plain black suit Quaat -with a
little shout recognised th maa at
tho helm from hla long brown board
'"That's one of thoM fellow who
waa la th truck" hs declared "and
that's Craig In the aternl Ws’vt got
him this time Say captain It’athat
tug I want Never mind about tha
steamer Catch It and HI make tt a
hundred dollars!"
"We'v got her!” hs captala ex-
claimed There's tha ferry and th
first of the steamers coming down la
the middle They'll have to chuck It"
Right ahead of them biasing-with
lights a huge ferry came churning
the river up and sending waves la
their direction On the other aide
Quest Stood on Guard
unnaturally large loomed up the
great bows of an ocean going steamer
The tug waa swung round and th9y
ran up alongside The man with the
beard leaned over
"Say what's your trouble?" he de-
manded '
The inspector stepped forward
"I want that man you’ve got under
the tarpaulin" he announced
"Say you ain't the river police?"
"I'm Inspector French from head-
quarters” waa th curt reply "The
sooner you hand him over the better
for you"
"Do you hear that O’Toole?" the
other remarked turning around "Get
up you blackguard!"
A man rose from underneath the
oilskin He waa wearing Cralg’a
clothes hut hla face was the face of a-
atranger Aa quick aa lightning Quest
swung round In hla place
"He’s fooled us again!" he ex-
claimed "Head her round captain-
back to the Durham!"
The sailor shook hla head
"We’ve lost our chance guvnor"1
he pointed out "Look!”
Quest set his teeth and gripped th
Inspector's arnju The place where
the Durham had been anchored waa
empty Already half a mile down
the river with a trail of light behind
and her siren shrieking the Durham
waa standing out seawards
fTO pc CONTINUED!
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Choate, Henry Willis. Marietta Monitor. (Marietta, Okla.), Vol. 21, No. 16, Ed. 1 Friday, May 21, 1915, newspaper, May 21, 1915; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1753147/m1/3/?q=Ardmore+ok: accessed June 22, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.