Marietta Monitor. (Marietta, Okla.), Vol. 22, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, March 10, 1916 Page: 2 of 8
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THE MARIETTA MONITOR
ItopmcH HU If WiUlMI HlRtlim
SYNOPSIS
On tha day of tho eruption of Mount
Palaa Capt John Hardin of l ha steamer
Princaaa rescue five-yaar-old Annetta
liinirton from an open boat but la f oread
to leave behind her father and hla com
panto na llinyton la aaaaulted by Her-
nandos and Ponto In a vain attempt to
Vet papers which llinston has managed
to aend aboard the Prince with his
daughter papers proving his title to and
telling the whereabouts of the lost island
of Cinnabar llington's injury cause hia
mind to become a blank Thirteen years
tapes Hernandes now an opium smug-
gler with Ponto Ines a female accom-
plice aod tbs mtndleas brut that once
was Illngton come to Seaport where the
widow of Captain Hardin is living with
her son Neal and Annette Illngton and
plot to steal the papers left to Annetts
by her father Neal tries for admiasioa
to the Naval academy but through the
treachery of Joey Welcher Is defeated by
Joey and disgraced Neal enlists In ths
navy Ines sets a trap for Josy and ths
coneplratoss get him In their power la
a struggle for possession of the map Her-
nandea Annetts and Neal each secure a
portion Annette aalls on ths Coronado lit
arch of her father In Martinique An-
nette and Neal are captured but are res-
cued by a sponge diver Ines forges iden-
tification papers for herself as Annetts
la an insurrection Neal and Annette are
acain captured carried to the Sun City
and Annette is offered as a ssertfle to
the sun god They are rescued by ma-
rines from the Albany Landed In Tortu-
ga Annette and Neal are captured and
xposed to yellow fever Infection by Her-
nandos but are rescued by sailors from
the Albany Ines tries to rob Annetts
and escapea On her war to ChantfUo An-
nette is captured Neal is promoted and
leads a party of transferred men toward
Chantillo but Is caught In a train wreck
on the way Hernandes and Ines present
the false Identification papers to Brother
Anseimo at Santa Maria mission Ponto
it caught and killed in hia own trap set
for Aanetta
TWELFTH INSTALLMENT
“BACKED BYJTHE U S N"
CHAPTER LI I
A Thorn In th Flah
It tu late at night when Hernandez
and hla two companions Senorita Ines
Castro and the Brute crept to the out-
skirts of the Tillage of Santa Marla
and stealthily approached the ram-
shackle old hotel For two days they
had kept carefully out of sight
They had left th dead Ponto to hla
fata Ha had now become a cipher
Mo was food for the Jackals and they
left him to the Jackals
"Then said Inex “it shall be Pota-
to's share for mine
Hernandez leered at her “What
does It matter" he returned “what la
mine Is yours fair Inez — Inez nine
own"
She crept to him resting her shoul-
der against his breast
“Too mean that Hernandez?" she
Queried a Jealous note tinging her
to fie “There is no one — there never
shall he one— save Inez?"
Hernandez leered again "Time
and time hare 1 not told you so?"
he answered "We ere one— as In the
past — so In the prsent — so In the fu-
turj" a liemandex brushed her gently to
one side and rose to his feet “War
first— lore afterwards" he ssld “Busi-
ness now— and later happiness A
whirl of happiness — of world-wide
happiness 'When I am king of a prin-
cipality — and you are queen Come
let us on"
Softly he crept to a secluded door-
way of the hotel and knocked cautious-
ly upon It It was opened in due
course The frowsted head of a serv-
ant thrust Itself forth
"Ah" whispered Hernandez “my
good friend"
He slipped a goodly coin into the
hand of hla good friend — and the good
friend became at once a better friend
“The Americanos?" queried Hernan-
dez “Have they gone?"
“Gone" returned the servant “to-
day they went Enter senor"
Hernandez alert but satisfied of
temporary safety beckoned to his two
companions and the three crowded
into the dingy little closet of the por-
ter He turned back to the porter “Tell
us" be commanded “the best route
to San Pedro and Los Angeles Our
way lies north"
Many hours later at Los Angeles a
coterie of Americans sat around a
broad table In an unused courtroom
In the post office building In Los An-
geles Spread upon the table were a num-
ber of documents — a trinket or two
Among them was a locket Among them
were a patebed-together parchment
map and a Spanish grant
The admiral leaned towaid the
United States district attorney— the
latter bad come down from Ban Fran-
cisco to place the seal of his depart-
ment's approval upon the matter now
In hand
"Are you satisfied?" queried the ad-
mini
“Absolutely" said the district at-
torney “the paper title la at present
unassailable and as much to be rec-
ognized as though"— be bowed to An-
nette — "as though our fair daughter
here were a sister republic It re-
mains for you sir"— bis glance bent
upon the commander of the battle-
ship Missouri— "to find out who may
be in possession — and to oust- them
In favor of this paper title"
T wonder whom we’ll find?" mused
Annette her eyes glowing
“Probably no one" returned the admiral
He returned the documentary evi-
dence end the trinkets to his port-
folio "These" he said to ths district
attorney "I take with me"
"Exactly" said the other “we have
photographs of all of them The In-
vestigation haa been of Interest — a
curious situation"
The district attorney placed before
Annette a bulky document
"You will be compensated for this
Lost Island" he said "and the gov-
ernment stands ready now to make
you e substantial advance of money
upon the algning of this paper"
Annette signed— end sighed with re-
lief "That's done" she exclaimed
The admiral bowed All rose “You
are rendering our country e greet
service Miss Illngton" he said "and
your country will do ita level best to
protect you Csn we do more?"
Neal saluted “1 understand sir"
“he said that 1 am to command the
expedition"
"Tea" Interposed the commander
"we've arranged all that with the
captain of a steamer He agrees that
what you say shall go — and you’ll
say It I feel sure"
“Ill say anything and do anything
returned Neal “tor my country and
my — and Miss Annette Hlngton"
He said a good deal to her on the
way back to her Los Angeles hotel
—end kept on saying it
"But" ha added at parting “care-
ful now Don't take risks This man
Hernsndes is a wonder I take my
hat off to him He never knows when
he's beaten"
"He's beaten now" returned An-
nette “particularly If he knows all
that haa transpired"
He left her— still gravely worried
He would have been more than wor-
ried had he known that within e quar-
ter of a mile of Annette’s hostelry
in a secluded cafe sat Hernandez
with his two companlona the Brute
and Ines Castro He would have
been more than worried had he known
that with them was another Individual
— Joe Welcher his own foster broth-
er and Annette's Welcher was there
—depressed fearful nervous — but
drinking heavily And he was still
the model shrinking tool the cate-
pew "And whst" queried Hernandez
“about the battleship Missouri?"
Joe produced ao extra— Ita head-
lines devoted to the navy and the Im-
pending Allemanlan war
“The Missouri" hs announced re-
ferring to the paper “steams away
tomorrow"
"Where does she steam?"
"To San Francisco”
“Friend Welcher" went on Hernan-
dez “does this Neal — does he talk-
do you get Inside Information?”
“There's none to get" said Joe “If
there was any I'd get It"
Hernandez waved his hand “When
does the Missouri sail?" he queried
“This afternoon" said Joe
“When she sails” went on Hernan-
des “we’ll get this girl We need her
We wat her evidence — but we want
her too — in til — until we have no fur-
ther need of her What we shall run
Into at Lost Isle no man knows I
want her with us there Listen Wel-
cher You must arrange it Our paths
must cross this afternoon"
Welcher fumed “I do all the dirty
work” be said "I'm through”
Hemandet poured him another
drink and banded It to him with a
glance that ate into Joe's soul
The drink had Just the wrong ef-
fect Joe became angry — noisy — un-
manageable “I'll be damned if I do your bidding
any more" snarled Joe
Hernandez darted a glance toward
Inez She returned It
“Leave him with me" she ssld
Hernandez did as be wae bid He
left her alone with Joe And In the
next fifteen minutes Ines Castro made
love to Joe es she never had before
She overwhelmed him with enchant-
ment “Tonight" ebe whispered to him
“tonight Americano But breathe not
a word to him — he win kill ua both"
Half an hour later Annette swung
out of the hotel grounds mounted on
a wiry little pony
She spied Joe and drew In her steed
She noted that Joe wee unduly ex-
cited “Joe" she exclaimed “tell mother
111 be safe"
Under certain Influences Joe's mind
acted with unusual rapidity Drink
and the dark eyes of Ines Castro bad
set blm well on edge Without a mo-
ment's thought he stooped by the road-
side and plucked a thorny burr He
straightened up again with the thorny
burr concealed within his hand lie
did not answer Annette at first but
approached her and her steed
“Good cow pony!" he exclaimed He
stroked the horse's nose Its neck Its
flanks And then be did another thing
“Safe as they make 'em" be con-
tinued And then he did the trick His
right hand stole gentlj np across the
horse’s back behind Annette— stolo to
the saddle
Swiftly— end unnoticed — he pushed
the thorny burr ahder the saddle wext
to the pony's skin The he slouched
way in the general direction of the
bar
CHAPTER LIIL
A Dangerous Connection
There are few drivers of a high-
power car who permit themeelvea re-
straint upon an open road But the
machine that crept along tho avenue
In this sparsely settled portion of sub-
urban Loa Angeles seemed almost
crippled Everything passed It— even
horse-drawn vehicles
And one horse in particular kept al-
ways on ahead This horse was An-
nette llington's
There were four people In this car —
and three of them were watting for
the Inevitable to happen They crept
on and on— always two hundred yards
behind
“Ah!" exclaimed Hernsndes finally
“It eats In"
He was quite right Suddenly the
horse ahead swerved sharply to one
Ida violently shook Its head and neck
—leaped frantically Into the air and
then with a violent burst of speed
tore down tho road like fire
Hernsndes Increased his speed to
twenty mile — to twenty-five— but the
horse tore on before him Annette
wee riding like the wind — but she had
lost control
Joe in the car behind leaped to
hts feet and tried to force his way
from the car "Let me out" he cried
struggling “I got her into this and
111 get her out"
Hernsndes turned to the Brute
"Hold him" he commanded And the
Brute obeyed '
Ines Castro now was on her feet
“Look — look— look" she cried "the
horse le mad— he ll kill her— look—
ah— ah— "
It was all over In one final bunt
of frenzy the hone had leaped high
In the air and come down on all fours
not on the solid road but In the ditch
Annette was flung violently from her
steed— and struck the ground with a
thud The hone freed of bis burden
sped on — up the road — sped on
Hernsndes stopped his car Joe
leaped out and ran to Annette
"She's killed" he said
Hernandez followed him “If so we
cannot help it" he returned calmly
"If she's killed I did it you black-
guard" cried Joe remorsefully
Ines bent over the girl "She's not
dead" she said "she's very much
alive She's only stunned"
Hernsndes motioned to the Brute
"Carry her to the car" he commanded
And the Brute again obeyed
"Now slowly" commanded Ines of
Hernandez "until I revive the glrL"
They were In open country now—
the community was but sparsely set-
tled Hernandez glanced warily from
side to side
“We must make haste" he mused
taking a grass-grown road to the
right
He stopped the car before a house
It wee an ordinary dwelling There
was no eign of life about It The
grass In the dooryard was a foot high
Everything appeared nnkempt But
In the parlor window was a sign: To
let furnished Hernsndes stepped In-
to the dooryard and peered Into the
windows ’
"Well let It furnished — free— for a
short time" he ssld
He forced the door end entered
“A11 the comforts of home" he said
smiling "fetch In the glrL"
Back In the city NesL off duty once
again sought Annette at her hotel
"She's gone again — alone" said Mrs
Hardin "she would go She's so rest-
less she couldn't sit still"
Neal smiled He was not worried
He got a saddle horse end started
off In the direction taken by Annette
He 8sized a Chair and
Back In the deserted furnished
house Hernsndes still looked about
him
"We csn hide here till doomsday"
he laughed "running water too Look
here Everything but food — every-
thing Look — yonder on the mantel-
even pen and Ink This place was
meant for us" He bowed low “Ah
my charming friend Senorlta I ling-
ton" he said to Annette who had re-
covered consciousness and was star-
ing about her In astonishment "you
have bad a long sleep— and pleasant
dreams 1 hope"
He drew down the shades and
witched on the light
“See" he added "you here slept
till evening — pretty sluggard And
how Is your good health No bones
broken That la welL"
Annette did not answer Suddenly
be leaped to her feet
“Joe" she cried “Joe Welcher — you
here?”
“Yes" returned Hernsndes again
bowing “Joe is here— he has always
been her— with as Joe le our good
friend We owe hla aech — meek"
He tamed a sneering smile oa Wel-
cher Annette uttered aa exclamation
“Joe — Joe" aha cried "le It — true?"
Joe turned away — bis chest heaving
hie eyes upon the floor “Aw l‘m no
good" be muttered
“Never mind Joe fair ona" said
Hernsndes' taking from hts pocket a
legal document already carefully pre-
pared “we 'have business at hand
This document — you should really
know what It contains It le la proper
shape 1 assure you A bit soiled per-
haps from long disuse In my breast
pocket — but well worded Look — It Is
complete It la even acknowledged
before a United States consul In Cen-
tral America— Acknowledged by you
fair one"
“It Is not" snapped Annette
“Fair Ines hereT went on Hernan-
des “signed It Annette Illngton— the
consul was quite satisfied that she
was you But— I have erased her sig-
nature — she lacks the cleverness
called forgery And your signature
may be on record somewhere — who
knows Comparisons are odious Let
us therefore be complete Take In
hand a pen my pretty Sigq your
name over this erasure— opposite this
seal"
“Ill never sign returned Annetts
“You will sign" said Hernandez
evenly “and you will hand over to us
all tho evidence you Lave upon your
person Sign"
"No" said Annetts
"Well and good" went on Hernan-
dez in honeyed accents "Beast —
hold her firm Disobey and the lash
for yours" Hernandes took from hie
coat pocket a piece of cord He tied
the ends together
Despite her struggles he fitted this
noose-like cord over Annette's head
and thrust Into it a piece of wood
Then he began to tw'st
“Tell me when you've bed enough
he said
Like a stone from a catapult Joe
Welcher burled hlmse'f across the
room and wae upon Hernsndes In a
flash Under the assault Hernsndes
retreated violently to the wall strik-
ing hie head against the manteL
“Are you crazy you — worm?" cried
Hernandes with a snarL
“I've — turned" snarled Joe In re-
turn Without waiting for breath be flung
himself once more at Hernandez
“Help!" cried Hernsndes "Inez —
tackle this mosquito"
Inez was a valuable ally She at-
tacked Joe from the rear and her as-
sault was effectual Her onslaught
was so severe that it caused Joe to re-
treat He did retreat until he faced
them both
“Now” said Hernandez And both
descended upon him Joe was ready
for them He seized a chair and
whirled It about hla bead— frenzy lend-
ing him violence and strength
"Come on!" he cried "all three of
you at once!”
With one wild final ewlng he brought
the chair crashing down on Hernandez
head No not on Hernandez' head
It fell short of that but crashed on
something else — the chandelier above
Hernsndes' head
There was a ripping tearing crack-
ing sound — and then a crash Down
came the chandelier In a tangled heap
upon the floor
For one Instant there was a cessa-
tion of hostilities The shades were
down — the lights extinguished — the
room plunged Into semi-darkness
Annette watched In affright Sud-
denly a strange familiar odor assailed
her nostrils
“Stop — stop!" she cried
But none heeded her The Brute
still held her fast And Joe In his new
and ungovernable frenzy was once
more at It with the chair clearing a
Whirled It About Hie Head
pace about him on the floor driving
Ines and Hernandez before him Into
one corner after another
Ills chair whirling touched a live
wire— from which the Insulation had
been torn The wire recoiling from
the blow struck a piece of disjointed
gas pipe etui clinging to the celling'
Then— fizz — a spark— a multitude of
sparks A pause — a second's pause
And then the whole room with a
mighty roar burst itself out Into the
open air
A boneman speeding down ths
straight road beard the boom He saw
the explosion Ho spurred his horse
He reached the wayside lane
Joe Welcher hie bead cut and
bleeding was the first to revive Ills
remorseful frenzy etlll lent him
strength and energy lie sprang to
bis feet — looked for Annette He no
ticed nothing also— save that the room
was wrecked
He found Annette picked her np
and carried her wlthouL She was
stunned but practically unhurt But
Joe didn't know all this Ho M
“Up— Up" Ho Crls
killed her — ho muet bring her to life
again
With her In hts arms be started up
the lane — whither he knew not
Suddenly In the distance he saw
Neal— on horseback Welcher broke
Into a run toward his foster brother
"She — she lives” said Joe thickly
"at any rate — you can tell her — tell
mother — tell yourself — that I brought
her back— to life That pays up — pay
up— for— "
He fell prone upon the ground
Neal knelt by his side "Gone" he
aid taking off hie hat “gone An-
nette" "We'll forget everything" she an-
swered sobbing "except that he
saved me — that he died a hero — a
real hero— at the last!"
CHAPTER LIV
A Piece ef Steel
Neal's first duty was toward An-
nette— hla second toward Joe He
carried Joe tenderly to the side of
the road and left him there covered
with green boughs Then he lifted
Annette upon hie steed and eet off for
help It took time to find a surgeon
— time to get a car
Meantime things happened at the
furnished bouse — the house so swiftly
and violently unfurnished by Its In-
terloping tenants
Inside the room nothing but a mass
of wreckage was to be teen But
slowly painfully Impelled by some
unseen force this mass of wreckage
slowly rose Beneath It some giant
writhed and wriggled
Finally a head appeared— the
Brute's head
He looked about the room Noth-
ing was to be seen He peered Into
tho depths from which he had just
emerged Then suddenly he saw some-
thing Seeing— he worked awsy like mad
Inside of ten minutes Ines In a stu-
por was staring at the Brute from
one side of the room— Hernandes from
the other
Hernsndes shook the lethargy from
him He crawled to Ines
"Up — up" he cried tugging at her
"we have no time to lose Come on
you beast— come on”
Seizing them both tearing at them
frantically like mad be sped with
them toward a cluster of trees on the
other side of the road
In the midst of this dense growth he
had hidden his machine
Panting with frenzy hie glance ever
over hie shoulder be forced them
Into the car sprang to the wheel
threw In the clutch and was off
It was three days later on the high
seas that Hernandez— his other two
companions well bidden In the bold-
stole out of the companion way of a
fruit steamer bound for the southern
sees
He glanced cautiously around a cor-
ner The first figure that met hie eight
was Neal Hardin — an ensign In the
nevy
'What's he doing here?" demanded
Hernandez of himself
He watched warily What he saw
disturbed blm
Neal was giving orders to the cap-
tain of the ship
Hernandez looked about him Sud-
denly he darted forward stooped and
picked up something from the floor
“What Is It?" queried Inez
“A piece of steeL" he said
That night well muflled he stole
toward the compass end concealed hie
piece of steel where It would do the
most good — or most harm es you pre-
fer No one saw him— no one knew
But on his return turning a corner
be ran full tilt Into Ensign Neal Har-
din himself Neal sprang upon the
muffled figure and tore the enveloping
cloak from Hernandes' grasp
"You" cried NesL leaping for Her-
nandes “I've got you now"
They struggled like tigers hut Neal
took no chances This was no test
bout He wanted to make sure of his
man He called for help Help came
A dozen men pounced upon Hernan-
dez When he was safely chained Neal
rose to his feet
“We've got him" ssld Neal briefly
He gave an order “Search the ship"
he eald
The ship was searched and with-
in the next quarter of an hour Inez
and the Brute each In the dutch of
many powerful men came Into view
deck
I Tugging at Her
“Lock the woman In a cabin" com-
manded Neal “and keep guard upon
her day and night"
All night be lay chained heavily
solitary in the lasarette working out
hie own Miration — not eternaL but
msteriaL And he always came to ona
conclusion — "I'll beat them yet"
All night the pilot putsled hie head
over hie compass
As dawn broke In the crow's nest -aloft
the lookout shaded his eyes with
his hand — then with the same hand
haded hie mouth
“Land ho!" be cried “land ho!"
Neal heard him and hurried to Uta
pilot's elds “Can’t be Lost Isle" ha
exclaimed
“Must he" Mid the pilot “we're
heeded straight for her — straight aa
the crow files air But I can't under-
stand it either— bleat U I—"
The sentence wak unfinished With
a terrific shock the vessel crashed Into
an unseen reef— an unknown rest for
they had ventured into uncharted sees
Neal understood the danger The
hock was too terrific to be Ignored
It meant a wreck — It would be a mat-
ter of minutes only before she filled
"Man the boats" hs cried "order
all on deck Make haste"
He rushed In person to Annette's
door and threw It open In person he
lifted Annette and her mother Into
the first boat Ines also was Included
It was lowered safely Neal turned to
bis crew “Get the lasarette prisoner"
he commanded “drag him Into thla
boat here Be about It now"
Hernandes in a frenzy of fear had
been beating with his chains upon the
barred door of the lazsrette They
dragged him forth hts face working
with fear and rage and bundled him
into the second boat — the Brute leap-
ing In behind Half way down the sldo
something happened — the gear broke
The boat dropped — Ita one end still
held to the tackle— and plunged Ita
human burden Into the sea beneath
Hernsndes heavy with his irons 4
clung to the Brute The Brute was
still a paragon of strength With both
Hernandez hands upon hla brawny
shoulder— with the dragging weight
of Hernandez' Irons upos him be
swam with even steady strokes
toward the shore — swam for an hour
tirelessly like some huge dog
Suddenly his feet touched Mnd
Neal and Annette stood upon a strip
of beach staring all about them
“This" eeid Annette “must be Lost
Isle— and the admiral was right — It la
deserted Unless we find a Robinson
Crusoe here — possibly — my father"
Neal shook hie head “I'm not sure
lt'e Lost Isle" he commented “and
I'm not sure It's deserted See that
turn In the short line— let's round the
corner and have a better look”
Around the corner some three-quarters
of a mile away a group of naked
natives clustered greedily about a fire
Above the fire something— horribly
gruesome— turned and turned upon a
slowly-revolving eplt Scattered about
upon the ground were human
skulls
One of the natives held up his arms
uttering guttural sounds and pointed
off the shore The whole crowd broke
Into a run — reached the shore and
waited
Two men staggered from the water
toward the beach
The group of natives set up a yeti
of triumph here then were
two more human skulls— two more
gruesome' forme to be turned upon a
pit over a hot fire Yes Mariners
were quite rlghL 'These were Indeed
uncharted seas— Hernandes and the
Brute were pioneers
The Brute looked straight anead
He placed hie arm about hie master's
quivering shoulders and stepped up
out of the see straight Into that dia-
bolical group of twentieth-century
anthropophagi The Brute knew no
fear The black brutes reached forth
clutching hands and touched him —
seized Hernandes The Brute
stretched forth a hand seized a sav-
age by the neck and whirled him
round and round about his head strik-
ing the black men right and
left -
Then he tossed hie captive Into
the eea leaving him to struggle out
as heat be mlghL
There was a wild cry among the na-
tives — then suddenly they prostrated
themselves before the Brute
“He has a white face — whits beard'
they told each other “down down oa
your faces He la a god— our god"
(TO BB CONTINUED)
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Choate, Henry Willis. Marietta Monitor. (Marietta, Okla.), Vol. 22, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, March 10, 1916, newspaper, March 10, 1916; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1753188/m1/2/?q=Ardmore+ok: accessed June 28, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.