Adair County Republican. (Stilwell, Okla.), Vol. 14, No. 50, Ed. 1 Friday, December 4, 1914 Page: 2 of 10
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Oklahoma Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Gateway to Oklahoma History by the Oklahoma Historical Society.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
vyttMMyi
STILWELL OKLA REPUBLICAN
-I-
y
I
I 4
Hie Million Dollar Mystery
By HAROLD
Ittiutratad from Semes An the Photo Drama of thm
Soma Name tat the Thanhouser Film Company
tPtrright ISM t7
6YN0P8I8
Stanley HtrtrMV millionaire after
mlraculoue escape from tbe den of
the ran of brilliant thieves known as
the Blaek Hundred lives tbe Ufa of a
recluse for eighteen years Ilargreave
one night enters a Broadway restau-
rant and there comes face to face with
the gang's leader Ursine
After the meeting during which nei-
ther man apparently recognises the
other Hargreave hurries to his mag-
nificent Rlverdala home and lays plans
for making his escape from tbe coun-
try He writes a letter to the glrle'
school In New Jersey where eighteen
years befors hs bad mysteriously left
on the doorstep his baby daughter
Florence Gray Ha also pays a visit
to the hangar of a daredevil aviator
Bralne and members of his band sur-
round Hargreaves home at night but
as they enter the house the watnhers
outside see a balloon leave the roof
The safe Is found empty — the million
which Hargreave was known to have
drawn that day was gone Then some
one announced the balloon bad been
punctured and dropped Into the sea
Floreqcs Hargreaves arrives from
the girls' school Prlnoess Olga
Bralne's companion visits her and
claims to be a relative Two bogus de-
tectives ceil but their plot la foiled
by Norton a newspaper man
By bribing the captain of the Orient
Norton lays a trap for Bralne and his
gang Princess Olga also visits the
Orient's captain and she easily falls
Into the reporter's snare The plan
proves abortive through Bralne's good
proves abortive through Bralne's good
luck and only hirelings fall Into the
hands of the police
After falling In their flrst attempt
the Black Hundred trap Florence They
ask her for money but shs escapes
again foiling them
CHAPTER V— Continued
It wag mldntght when he made hi
departure Ae he stepped Into tbe
street he glanced about cautiously
On the corner he saw a policeman
winging hla night stick Otherwise
Che street was deserted Bralne pro-
ceeded Jauntily down the street
And yet from the darkened doors of
the house across the way tbe figure of
a man emerged and stood contemplat-
ing tbe windows of the PerlgoS apart-
ment Suddenly the lights went out
The watcher made no effort to follow
Bralne The knowledge he was after
lid not necessitate any such procedure
Of course Florence read the "per-
sonal" She took the newspaper at
anca to Jones who smiled grimly
"You see I trust you"
"And so tong as you continue to
trust me no barm will befall you You
were left In my care by your father I
tm to guard yon at tha expense of my
life Last night’s affair was a miracle
Tha next time yon will not find It so
assy to escape”
Nor did she
"There will he no next time" grave-
ly "But I am going to ask you a di-
rect question Is my father alive T"
The butler’s brow puckered "I have
promised to eay nothing one way or
the otherC
She laughed
"Why do you laugh?"
"I laugh- because If he were dead
there would be no earthly reason for
your not saying ao at once But I hate
money the name of It the sound of it
the sight of It It la at the bottom of
all wars and crimes 1 despise It!"
"Tha root of all evil Yet It per-
forms many noble deeds But never
mind the money Let us give our at-
tention to this personal Doubtless It
originated In the same mind which
conceived tbe letter Your father
would never have inserted such a per-
sonal What! 'Give hla enemies a
chance to learn his secret? No On
the other hand I want you to show this
personal to all you meet today Susan
the reporter tqf everybody Talk about
It Say that you wonder what you
shall do Trust no one with your real
thoughts"
"Not even you Mr Joftea" thought
the girl ae she nodded
"And tell them that yon showed It
to me and that I appeared worried"
That night there was a meeting of
the organisation called the Black Hun-
dred Bralne asked if anyone knew
what the Hargreave butler looked like
"I had a glimpse of him the other
xtight but being unprepared I might
not recognize him again"
Vroon described Jones minutely
Bralne could almost see the portrait
"Vroon that memory of yours la
worth a lot of money" was hla only
comment
"I hope It will be worth more soon"
"I believe I'll he able to recognize
Mr Jones if I see him Who la be and
what Is be?"
"Hp has been with Hargreave for 14
years There was a homicidal case In
which Jones waa active Hargreave
saved him He la faithful and uncom-
municative Money will not touch him
If he doea know where that million la
hot Irons could not make him own up
to It The only way Is to watch him
follow him wait for the moment when
he'll grow careless No men is always
on hla mettle he leta up sooner or
later"
"He Is being watched as yon know"
Vroon nodded approvingly "The cap-
tain of the tramp steamer Orient by
the way waa seen with a roll of
money He waa in one of the water
front saloons bragging how he had
hoodwinked some one"
"Did he say where he'd got the
eaah?" asked Bralne
"They tried to pump him on that
but ha shut up Well we have agreed
that Fallen shall watch from the street
MAG GRATH
BtnM McOrth)
and Orloff from the window Orloff
will whistle if he Bees Jones removing
anything from any of the rooms Tbe
rest will be left to Felton”
"And Felton my friend” said
Bralne softly — he always spoke softly
when he waa In a deadly humor — “Fel-
ton you slept on duty the other night
Hargreave stole up consulted Jones
and got away after knocking me down
The next failure will mean short shift
Be warned!"
"I saw only you air So help me I
was not asleep I saw yon run down
the street after the taxicab I did not
aee anyone else"
Bralne shrugged "Remember what
I aid"'
Felton bowed respectfully and made
hie exit He wished In his soul that be
might some day catch the master mind
free of his eternal mask It was an
Iron hand which ruled them and there
were friends of his (Felton's) who had
mysteriously vanished after a brief
period of rebellion The boss was a
swell probably belonged to clubs and
society which he adroitly pilfered The
organization always had money When-
ever there was a desperate Job to be
undertaken Vroon simply poured out
the money necessary to promote it
Whenever Bralne and Vroon became
engaged in earnest conversation they
talked Slav Bralne was never called
by name here the boss simply that
Well ten per cent of a million was a
hundred thousand This would bs
equally divided between tbe second
ten of the Black Hundred Another ten
per cent would go to 80 members the
balance would be divided between
Vroon and the hose But his soul re-
belled at being ordered about like eo
much dirt under another man's feet
He would take his ten thousand and
make tbe grand getaway
The next afternoon tha princess
called upon Florence Nothing was
said about tbe adventure and this fact
created a vague unrest In the schem-
ing woman's mind She realized that
she must play her cards more care-
fully than ever Not the least distrust
must be permitted to enter the child’s
bead Once that happened good-by to
the wonderful emeralds Was It that
she really craved the stone? Was It
not rather a venom acquired from the
knowledge that this child's mother had
won what she herself with all her
cleverness was not sure of — Bralne's
love? Dtd he really care for her or
was she only tbe catspaw to pluck hla
hot chestnuts from the fire?
When Florence showed her the “per-
sonal” her vague doubts become in-
stantly dissipated The child would
Florence Liked Him
not have shown her the newspaper
had there been any distrust on her
part
"My child your father Is alive
then?" animatedly
"We don’t know" sadly
"Why I should say that this proves
It"
"On the contrary It proves nothing
ef the soil since I have yet to dis-
cover a treasure In this houee I have
hunted In every nook drawer I've
searched for panels looked in trunks
for false bottoms Nothing nothing!
Ah If I could only find it!"
"And what would you do with It?"
"Take It at once to some bank and
offer the whole of It for the safe re-
turn of my father every penny of It
I don’t know what to do which way
to turn" tears gathering in her eyes
and they were genuine tears too
"There are millions in stocks and
bonds and 1 cannot touch a penny of it
because the legal document have not
been found I can't even prove that I
am hla daughter except for half an old
bracelet and my father’s lawyers say
that that would not hold In any
court"
“Von were born In 8t Petersburg
my dear Have the embassy there look
up the birth registers"
"That would not put me Into posses-
sion Nothing but tha return of my
father will avail me And there’s a hor-
rible thought always of my not being
bis real daughter"
"There's no doubt In my mind I
have only to recall Katrlna’a face to
know whose child you are But what
will you live on?" Here wee a far
greater mlxup than she had calculated
upon Supposing after all tt waa only
a resemblance that the child was not
Hargreave's a substitute Just to blind
the Black Hundred? To keep them
away from tbe true daughter? Her
mind grew bewildered over such pos-
sibilities Tbe single and only way to
ettle all doubts waa to make this
child a prisoner If she was Har-
greave'a true daughter he would come
out of his hiding
Shs heard Florence answering her
question: "There Is a sum of ten or
twelve thousand In the Rlverdale bank
under- tha control of my father's but-
ler After that la gone I don't know
what will happen to ue Susan and
me"
"The door of Miss Fariow's will al-
ways he open to you Florence” re-
plied Susan with love In her eyes
This Interesting conversation waa
Interrupted by the advent of Norton
He was always dropping In during the'
late afternoon hours Florence liked
him for two reasons One was that
Jones trusted him to a certain extent
and tbe other was that - that
she liked him She finished this sen-
tence In her heart defiantly
Today he brought her a box of beau-
tiful roses and at the eight of them
the princees smiled faintly Set the
wind in that quarter? She could have
laughed Here was her revenge against
this meddler who took no particular
notice of her while Florence wae In
the room She would encourage him
poor grubbing newspaper writer with
hla beggarly pittance! What chance
had he of marrying this girl frith mil-
lions within reach of her hand?
The peculiar thing about this was
that Norton waa entertaining the same
thought at the same time: what earth-
ly chance had he?
In the second story window of the
house over the way there was a wor-
ried man But when his glasses
brought In range the true contents of
the box he laughed sardonically
"This watching la getting my goat
I smell a rat every time I see a
shadow” He wiped the lenses of his
opera glasses and proceeded to roll a
cigarette
When the princess and Norton went
away Jones stole quietly up to Flor-
ence's room and threw up the curtain
Two round points of light flashed from
the watcher's window hut the saturn-
ine smile on Jones' Ups was not ob-
served He went to the door opened
It cautiously a hand to hla ear Then
he closed tbe door turned back the
rug and removed a section of the floor-
ing Out of this cavity he raised a box
There was lettering on the lid In fact
the name of Its owner Stanley Har-
greave Jones replaced the flooring
tucked the box under hla arm and
made hie exit
The man lounging In the shadow
heard a faint whistle It was the sig-
nal agreed upon The man Felton ran
acrosa the street and boldly rang the
bell It waa only then that Florence
missed the ever present butler She
hesitated then sent Susan to the door
"I must see Mr Jones npon vitally
important business" k
"He has gone out" said Susan and
very sensibly closed the door before
Felton's foot succeeded in getting In-
side It was time to act He ran around
to tbe rear The ladder convinced him
that Jones had tricked him He waa
wild with rage He was over the wall
In an Instant Away down the hack
street hla eye discovered hie man In
full flight He gave chase As he
came to the flrst corner he waa nearly
knocked over by a man coming the
other way
"Who are you bumping Into?"
growled Felton
"Not so fast Felton!" I
"Who the devil are you?”
Tbe stranger made a sign which Fel-
ton Instantly recognised
“Quick! What has haprpened?”
"Jones has tha million and la mak-
ing hla getaway See biro biking to-
ward the water front?”
The two men began to run
There followed a thrilling chase
Jones engaged a motorboat and It waa
speeding seaward when the two pur-
suers arrived They were not laggard
There waa another boat and they made
for It
"A hundred If you overtake that
boat" aald Felton's strange companion
Felton eyed him thoughtfully There
was something familiar about that
voice
Great plumes of water shot up into
tha air It did not prove a short race
by any means It took hair an hour
for the pursuer to overhaul tbe pur-
sued "le that Jonee?"
"Yea” Felton fired hla revolver Into
the air In hopes of terrifying Jones’ en-
gineer hut there was flv hundred
dangling before that Individual's eyes
"Let them get a little nearer" shout-
ed the butler
The engineer let down the speed a
notch The other boat crept up within
twenty yards Jonea sought a perfect
range He would have to find this spot
again
"Surrender!" yelled Felton
In reply Jonea raised the precious
box and deliberately dropped It Into
the sea Then he turned hla auto
matic npon hla pursuers and succeeded
In setting their boat afire
All this within the space of an hour
During dinner that night (there waa
now a cook) Jonea walked about the
dining table rubbing his hands to-
gether from time to time
"Jonea" said Florence "why do you
rub your hands Ilka that?"
"Waa I rubbing my hands Mist
Florence?" ha asked Innocently
CHAPTER VI
"Did yon get the range?" asked the
countesa when late that night Bralne
recounted hla adventure
"Range!” he snarled "My girl
haven’t I Just told you that I had to
fight for my life? My boat was In
flames We had to awlm for it till
we were picked up by a Long Island
barge tug I don't know what became
of the motorman He must have
headed straight for shore And I'm
glad he did Otherwise he’d he bowl-
ing for the price of another boat
Olga for the flrst time I've bad to
let one of the boys have a look at
my face Doesn’t know the name
but one of these day he’ll stumble
across it and the result will be black-
Florence Gray
mall unless I push him off into tha
dark It waa accidental"
The countess leaned forward her
hands tightly clinched
“But the box!"
Bralne made a gesture of despair
"Leo are you using any drug these
days?"
"Don't make fun of me Olga" Im-
patiently "Did you ever see me drink
more than a pint of wine or smoke
more than two cigars In an evening?
Poor fools! What! let my brain go
Into the wastebasket for the sake of
an hour or so of exhilaration? No
and never will I! I'm keen about tbe
gray matter I've got and by tbe Lord
Harry I'm going to keep it There's
only one dope fiend In the Hundred
and he’s one of the best decoys we
have so wa let him have hla coke
whenever he really needs It But this
man Felton has seen my face Some
day he’ll Bee It again ask questions
and then
"Then what?"
"A burial at aea" he laughed i The
laughter died ewlftly aa It came
"Threw It Into eight hundred feet of
water on a har where the sands are
always shifting He’ll never find It
even If he took tbe range He could
not have got a decent one The sun
waa dropping and the shadows were
long He threw the chest Into the
water and then began pegging away
at us cool as you please and fired
our tank”
“It looks to me aa It ha had wasted
his time"
"That depends Between you and
me and the gate-post I've a sneaking
tdea that this man Jones whom no-
body has given any particular atten-
tion is a deep clever man He may
have been honestly attempting to find
a new hiding place the advertisement
In the newspaper may have drawn
him He may have thrown the box
over In pure rage at seeing himself
checkmated Again the whole thing
may have been worked Op for our
benefit a blind But If that's the
case Jones has us on the hip for we
can’t tell But we can do what In all
probability he expects we'll cease to
do — watch him Juat as shrewdly ae
before”
Olga caught his hand and drew him
down beside her “I wasn't going to
bother you tonight but it may mean
something vital"
"What?’ alertly
For reply she rose and walked over
to the light button She pressed It
and tha apartment became dark
"Coma over to the window quick!
She dragged him across the room
"Over the way the house with the
marble frontage"
A man emerged lit a cigarette and
walked leisurely down the streeL
"No!" ehe cried aa Blatna turned
to make for the door doubtless with
the Intention of finding out who this
man waa "Every night after you
leave he appears"
"Does he follow me?"
"No And that's what bothered sa
at first I believed he waa watching
some apartment above But regularly
when I turn out the lights he comes
forth So there's no doubt that he
watches you enter and takes note of
your departure"
"But doesn’t follow me That’s odd
What the devil la his Idea?"
"I'd give a good deal to learn"
The shadow and the glowing clgar-
ette disappeared around the corner
and the lights In the apartment ware
turned on again
"He's gone You really think ha's
watching me?"
"He Is watching this apartment I
know that much"
And even at that moment the watch-
er was watching from hla vantage be-
hind the corner
"Suspicious I" he murmured tossing
the cigarette Into the gutter They’re
watching me for a change I’ll drop
out I know what I know It’s a great
world It’a fine to be alive and kicking
on top of It” He went on without
haste and took the subway train for
downtown
“Is there any way I could get near
him?” asked Bralne
"Tomorrow night you might leave
by the Janitor’s entrance I'll keep
the lights on till you’re outside Then
I’ll turn them off and you can follow
and learn who he Is"
“It’s mighty Important"
"Don’t scowl At your age a wrinkle
Is apt to remain If you once get It
started”
He laughed "Wrinkles!” She could
talk of wrinkles!
“They are more Important than you
think Every morning I rub out the
wrinkle I go to bed with”
“I wish you could rub out the gen-
eral stupidity which is wrinkling my
brain I've made three moves and
failed In each What'a come over
me?"
"Perhaps you’ve had too many suc-
cesses Tbe wheel of chance la al-
ways turning around"
"May I smoke?"
"Thanks At least it proves you still
have some consideration for me You
would smoke whether It was agreeable
or not But I like the odor of a good
cigar And it always helps you to
think"
Bralne lit the cigar and began his
customary pacing At length he
paused
“Suppose we have a real old-fashioned
coaching party out to the old
mansion we know about?"
"And what shall we do there?"
"Make tbe mansion an enchanted
castle where sometimes people who
enter can't get out Do you think you
could get her to go ?“
"I can try"
“Olga I must have that girl and I
must have her soon Sometimes I find
myself mightily puzzled over tbe
whole thing If Hargreave Is alive
why doesn't ha turn up now that it’s
practically known that hla daughter
presides over his household? I might
understand it If I didn't know that
Hargreave la really afraid of nothing
Where Is the man with the five thou-
sand picked up at sea? What was
the reason for Jones carrying that box
out in broad daylight? Who Is the !
chap watching across the street? !
Sometimes I believe in my soul— If I
have one! — that Hargreave la playing
with us playing! Well" flinging the
half consumed cigar-Into the grate
“the Black Hundred always goes for-
ward win or lose and never forgeta"
“We are a fine pair!" aald the wo-
man bitterly
"We are exactly what' fate Intended
us to he They wrote you down in the
book as a beautiful body with a
crooked mind They wrote uie dowu
a the devil doomed to roam earth a
top till I’m killed”
"Killed?"
"Why yea I'm not the kind of
chap who dies In bed surrounded by
the weeping members of the family
doctor nurse and priest I'm a
scoundrel hut It haa this saving
grace I enjoy being a scoundrel Now
I'm going up to the club There's
nothing like a game of billiards or
chess to smooth that wrinkle which
seems to worry you"
In the great newspaper office there
waa a mighty racket Midnight al-
ways ' means pandemonium in the
city room of a metropolitan ally
Copy boys were rushing to and fro
messengers and printers with sticky
galleys in their hands reporters were
hanging away at their typewriters
and intermingling you could hear tbe
ceaseless cllckety-cllck from tha tele-
graph room -
The managing editor came out of
his office and approached tbe desk of
the night city editor
"Editorial page gone down?"
"Twenty minutes ago" said the
night city editor
"1 wanted a stick on that Panama
rumpus"
"Too late”
"Where’ Jim Norton?"
"At the chamber of commerce ban-
quet The major la going to throw a
bomb Into the enemy’s camp”
"Nothing on tha Hargreave stuff?”
“No Guess I'd better put that In
the cubbyhole He’s dead”
"No will found yet?"
"Not a piece big aa a postage
stamp"
"That will leave the girl In a tough
place No will no birth certificate
and worst of all no photograph of
the old man himself I don’t see why
Jim sidestepped this affair Ha the
only man In town who knew anything
about Hargreave"
"He hasn’t given It up but he wants
to cover it on hla own turn the yarn
over when he's got It no false alarms"
"Ah I So that’s tha gama?"
"Yea and Jim la tba sort ovary pa-
per needs Whan tha time comes the
story turns np if there la on Her
he la now Looks like an actor la the
fourth act of a drama Good-looking
chap though"
Norton came in through the outer
gates He was in evening clothes tog -hat
A dead clgaretta dangled bv
tween hie lips
"How much do you want?" asked the
night city editor
"Column and a half"
"Off with your glad ratal” -
"Anything good?" asked the manap
ing editor
’’The lid ha been Jammed on tight
No wine in any restaurant after one
o’clock There'll he a roundup of ev-
ery gunman in town”
"Good workl Go to It"
It waa one o’clock ' when Norton
turned in hla last sheet of copy and
started for home - Just outside the
entrance to the building a man with a
slouch hat drawn down over hla eyes
stepped forward
“Mr Norton?"
"Yes” Norton stepped hack aus-
piciously The other chuckled raised and low-
ered hi hat ewlftly
“Good Lord!" murmured the re-
porter "Will you take a ride with me In a
taxi?"
"All the way to Syracuse if you eay
o Well I’ll be tinker d— d!”
"No names please!"
What took place in that taxicab was
never generally known But at ten
o'clock the next morning Norton eur
prised the elevator hoy by going out
Norton proceeded downtown to tha
national bank' where he deposited
$5000 In hills of large denominations
The teller had some difficulty In count-
ing them They stuck together and re-
tained the sodden appearance of
money recently submerged In water
Florence was delighted at the Idea
of a coaching party Often during her
schoolgirl days she had seen the fash-
ionable coaches go careening along the
road with the sharp clear note of ttle
bugle rising about the thunder of hootle
and rattling of wheels Jones was net
enthusiastic neither was he a killjoy
"But you are to go along too" said
Florence
"I Miss Florence?"
"The countess Invited you especially
You will go with a hamper"
"Ah In my capacity aa butler very
good Miss Florence” To her he gave
no elgn of bis secret satisfaction
The hour arrived and the gay party
bowled away They wound In and out
of the streets toward the country tc
the crack of the whip and the blare of
the horn Florence's enjoyment would
have been perfect had it not been for
the absence of Norton Why hadn’t
he been invited? She did not ask be-
cause she did not care to vHsclose to
the countess her Interest In the re-
porter They were nearing the limit
of the city when the coach was forced
to take a sharp turn to avoid an auto-
mobile In trouble The man puttering
"A Hundred If You Overtaka That
Boat"
at tbe engine raised hla head It waa
Norton and Florence waved her hand
vigorously
"A coaching party" he murmured
"end your Uncle James was not Invit-
ed! Oh very well!" He laughed and
suddenly grew serious It would not
hurt to find out where that coach wa
going '
He set to work savagely located
the trouble righted it and set off for
tbe Hargreave home He found Susan
and bombarded her with question
which to Susan came with the rapidity
of rain upon the root
"So Jones went along?"
"In hla capacity of butler only"
Norton smiled "Well I'll taka
jaunt out there mysel You are sure
of the location?"
"Yea”
"Well good-by I'll go as a waiter
since they wouldn’t Invite me I’m
one of the best little waiters you ever
heard of and all things come to him
who waits"
What a pleasant affable young maa
he was! thought Susan aa she watched
him Jump into the car and go flying
up the street
Jones waa a good deal surprised
when Norton turned ' up at the old
Chilton manor
"What made you come here dressed
like this?" tbe butler demanded
"I’m a auspicious duffer maybe
that’s the reason" "
"Do you know anything?”
"Well no I can’t aay that da
But hang It I Just had to come out
here"
(TO BE CONTINUED)
i
I'i
I
I
r
j i -
- -
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View five places within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Adair County Republican. (Stilwell, Okla.), Vol. 14, No. 50, Ed. 1 Friday, December 4, 1914, newspaper, December 4, 1914; Stilwell, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1850706/m1/2/?q=War+of+the+Rebellion.: accessed June 23, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.