The Crowder City Guardian (Crowder, Oklahoma), Vol. 6, No. 27, Ed. 1 Friday, March 31, 1911 Page: 3 of 8
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SYNOPSIS.
At the expense of a nolle 1 ,1! Itobert
Orme hsmh frum arrest a k;r 1 :i :t black
touring car who In. aused a tr 'ti ' Jam
on State street lie buys a nt v\ i at tntd
In given In c. ng . live d 11.ir bill with:
"Remember the person you pay 111 -* to,"
nrltten on It. A &■■<• >nU tint- Ii ■ helps the
idy in the black ar. and learns that In
Torn an.1 It- -s.e W.tllingham the\ have
mutual frb nds, but g.v.i.s ti. f -ttlier lint
of her ldenti:> S- ;.ir f'nritoi Si.uth
American, calls, and claims I . e rked
bill. Orir.e refuses, and a tight ens - In
which Porltol is o1. ■ r onie. tie ■ :■!'.- In
penor Ah atrante, minister from his < ouit-
try. to vouch f<>r him Ormo still refuses
to give up the bill. Orme g'cs for ti walk
• nil sees two Japs attack Al'-atrante. lie
rescues him. Heturnin: t' bis i inn is
Ormo Is attacked by two .lai n who f-
feet a forcible ixc inge of ti." marked
bill for at. her. tttute finds the girl "f
the black tar waiting for hint. Kite also
wants the bill, (irttie tells his slorv
recognizes one of tie Japs is 1 r father s
butl'-r. Maku. A second Inscription on
the bill Is the key to the hiding place of
Important papers stolen from her father.
Iloth .laps and South Atm rl.ans want lite
papers. Orme and the "Girl" start out In
the black car In quest of the papers. In
the university grounds In Kvanston the
hiding place Is located. Maku and an-
other Jap are there. Orme fells Maku
end the oilier Jap cscapei Orme finds In
Maku's pocket u folded slip of pale r. II'1
takes the girl, whose name is still un-
known to hlrn, to the home of a friend la
tlvanston. Returning to the university
grounds ornte g- ts in conversation with a
guard at the life-saving station. They
hoar a motor boat In trouble in the dark
Cess on the lake. They find the crlppl'd
oat. In It tire the Jap with the papers
and "Girl." She Jumps Into Orme's boat;
but the Jap eludes put -1 ' Orme llntls
on the paper he took from Maku the
address, "311 N. Parker street." He goes
there and tlnds Arima, teach'r of Jiu-
jitsu Is on the third liner. He calls on
Alia, clairvoyant, on the fourth lloor,
descends by the fire-escape and conceals
himself under a r lble in Arlma's room.
Alcatrante. Porltol and lhe Jap minister
enter Orme finds the papers In a drawer
under the table and substitutes mining
prospectuses for them. He learns that
(he papers are of international Impor-
tance with a lime limit for signatures of
that night midnight. The substitution Is
discovered. The girl appears and leaves
again after being told that the American
hss the paper- Orme attempts to g"t
away, Is discovered and set upon by
Arinia and Maku. lie eludes them and
Is hidden In a closet by the clairvoyant.
Orme escapes during a seance given by
Alio. On the sidewalk he encounters Al-
catrante. Orme goes to find Tom Wal-
ilngham. Alcatrante hangs on and tries
to get the papers During the excitement
caused by one of Alcatrante's tricks to
delay Orme, the latter sees the girl and
follows her back to Walllngham's oft! e.
lie and the girl are looked In a giant
•peclmen refrigerator by Alcatrante.
CHAPTER XIV—Continued.
He reached out and found her band,
and she did not withdraw It from hia
clasp.
"The rascal has locked ua In," he
laid. "I'm afraid we shall have a long
wait."
"Will It do any Rood to shout?"
"No one could Ijoar us through these
walls. No, there's nothing to do but
remain quiet. But you needn't stand,
Qlrl."
He led her to the wall. Removing
bis coat, he folded It and piaced It on
the floor for a cushion, and she seated
herself upon It He remalt.ed standing
oear by.
"The papers," he said, "are In that
coat you are sitting on."
He laughed, with a consciousness of
the grim and terrible humor of their
situation—which he hoped she had not
realized. Here they were, the hard-
sought papers in their possession, yet
; they were helpless even to save their
own Uve9.
"I wish you would shout," she said.
"Very well," he said, and going over
to the door, ho called out several
times with the full power of his lungs.
■The sound, pent in that narrow room,
fairly crashed in their ears, but there
• was no answer Irom without.
"Don't do It again." she said at last.
Then she sighed "Ob, the irony of it!"
lhe exclaimed
"1 know." Hs laughed. "But don't
give up, Girl. We'll deliver those pa-
pers yet."
"I will not give up," she said, grave-
jy. "Hut tell we, how did you get the
papers?"
Orme began the story of the after-
non's adventures.
"Why don't jou sit down?" she
asked.
"Why"—he stammered—"1—"
He had been so conscious of his
feeling toward her, so conscious of
the fact that the one woman in all the
world was locked In here alone with
him, that sUice he arranged her seat
he had not '.rusted himself to be near
her. And she did not seem to under-
stand.
She wished him to sit beside her, not
knowing that he felt the almost over-
powering impulse to take her In his
arms and crush her close to him. That
desire would hc.ve been more easily
controlled, had he not begun to believe
that she In some degree returned his
feeling for her. If they escaped from
this black prison, he would rest happy
In the faith that her affection for him,
BOW, as he supposed so largely friend-
ly, would ripen into a glorious and
compelling love. But It would not be
right for him to presume—to take ad-
vantage of a moment In which she
might think that she cared for him more
than she actually did Then, too, he
already foresaw vaguely the possible
necessity for an act which would make
it best that she should not hold him
too dear. So long ho stood silent that
ahe spoke again.
'Do sit down," she said. "I will
jive you part of your coat."
There was a tremulous note In her
laugh, but as he seated himself, she
■puke with great seriousness. "When
two persons understand each other as
well as you and I," she said, "and are
as near death us you and I, they need
Dot be embarrassed by e«nvtutlou«."
e never have bean very con-
ventional with ench other," he replied,
shakily. Her shoulder was against
his. He could hear her breathing.
"Now tell mo the rest of the story."
"First I must change your notion
that we are near death."
He could feel that she was looking
at him In the blackness. "Don't you
think I know?" she whispered. "They
will not find us until tomorrow. There
Isn't air enough to last. I have known
It from the first."
"Some one will open the door," he
replied. "Wo may have to stay here
quite a while, but—"
"No, my friend. There I? no likeli-
hood that it will be opened. The
clerks are leaving for tho night."
Ho was silent.
"So tinish the story," she went on.
"Finish tho story!" That was all
that he could do.
"Finish the story!" Ills story and
hers—only just begun, aud now to end
thero In the dark.
Hut with a calmness as great as her
own, he proceeded to tell all lhat had
happened to him since he boarded tho
electric car at Evanstoa and saw Maku
sitting within. She pressed his hand
gently when he described the trick by
which the Japanese had brought the
pursuit to an end. She laughed when
he came to the meeting with the de-
tective In his apartment The episode
with Madam Alia he passed over
lightly, for part of it rankled now. Not
that he blamed himself foolishly; but
he w Islied that it had not happened.
"That woman did a line thing," said
the girl.
He went on to describe his efforts
to get free from Alcatrante.
"And you were under the table In
Arlma's room," she exclaimed, when
he had finished.
"I was there; but I couldn't see
you, Girl. And you seemed to doubt
me."
"To doubt you?"
"Don't you remember? You Bald
that no American had Lbe papers; but
you added, 'unless—' "
"Unless Walsh, tho burglar, had
played a trick on Poritol and held the
true papers back. I went straight
from Arlma's to the jail and had an-
other talk with Walsh. lie convinced
me that he knew nothing at all about
the papers. He seemed to think that
they were letters which Poritol wanted
for his own purposes."
"Then you did not doubt me." Glad
relief was in his voice.
"I have never doubted you," she
said, simply.
There was silence. Only their breath-
ing and the ticking of Orme'a watch
broke the stillness.
"1 don't believe that Alcatrante knew
that this place was unven'llated," she
remarked at last.
"No; and he didn't know that you
were here."
"He thinks that you will be released
In the morning, and that you will think
it wiser to make no charges. What
do you suppose hla conscience will say
when hev learns—"
"Girl, I simply can't believe that
there is no hope for us."
"What possible chance Is there?"
Her voice was steady. "The clerks
must a", have gone by this time. We
can 1 make ourselves heard."
"Still, I feel as though I should be
fighting with the door."
"You can't open It."
'Hut some one of the clerks going
out may have seen that It was bolted.
Wouldn't he have pushed the bolt
back? I'm going to see."
He groped to the door and tugged at
the handle. The door, for all the ef-
fect his effort had on It, might have
been a section of solid wall.
"Come back," she called.
He felt his way until his foot touched
the coat. As he let himself down be-
side her, his hand brushed over her
hair, and unconsciously she leaned
toward him. He felt the pressure of
her shoulder against his side, and the
I touch sent a thrill through him. He
j leaned back against the wall and
S stared Into the blackness with eyes
j (hat saw only visions of the happiness
that might have been.
| "We mustn't make any effort to
| break out," she said. "It la useless,
j And every time we move about and
tug at the door, it makes ua breathe
I that much faster."
"Yes," he sighed, "1 suppose we can
only sit here and wait."
"Do you know," she said softly, "I
am wonderlf? why our situation does
not seem more terrible to me It
should, shouldn't It?"
"I hardly think so," he replied.
"The relative Importance of our
worldly affairs," she went on dream-
ily, "appears to change when one sees
that they are all to stop at once. They
recede into the background of the
mind What counts then Is, oh, 1 don't
want to think of It! My father—he—"
Her shoulders shook for a moment un-
der the stress of 11 don grief, but
she quickly regained her control,
j - There, now," she whispered, "I wou't
! do that."
' For a lime they sat in silence, His
own whirling thoughts *ere of a sort
that he could not fathom; they pos-
sesi J him comp:ctely, they i :stroyed.
seeming )', all power of analysis, they
made him dumb; and they were tan-
gled Inextricably In the blended Im-
i iiresslo"' of possession and <Oss.
W
Y Y Y Y
&ANNIJTERMERWIN
Tixx'JTitATicrxir nx-
RAY WAUERJ1
COPVarOMT 1909 ^rf DODRMO/VD COKfAKy"
"Try to Take a Different View, Girl."
"Hut you," she said at last "la your
father living?"
. "No," ho replied.
"And your mother?" she faltered.
"She has been dead many years.
And I have no brothers or sisters."
"My mother died when I was a lit-
tle child," she mused. "Death seemed
to me much more awful then than It
does now."
"It Is always more awful to those
who are left than 10 those who go," he
said "Hut don't think of that yet."
"We must think of it," she Insisted.
He did not answer.
"Oh!" she cried, suddenly. "To think
that 1 have brought you to this! That
what you thought would be a little fa-
vor to me has brought you to death."
She began to sob convulsively.
It was as though for the first time
she realized her responsibility for his
life; as though her confidence In her
complete understanding of him had
disappeared und he was again a stran-
ger to her—a stranger whom she had
coolly led to the edge of life with
her.
"Don't, Girl—dont!" he commanded.
Her self-blame was terrible to him.
Hut she could not chock her grief, and
finally, hardly knowing what he did, he
put bis arm around her and drew her
closer to him. Her tear-wet cheek
touched his. She removed her hat, and
her hair brushed his forehead.
"Girl, Girl!" he whispered, "don't you
know?—Don't you understand? If
chance had not kept . us together, I
would have followed you until I won
you. From the moment I saw you, 1
have had no thought that was not
bound up with you."
"But think what I have done to
you!" she sobbed. "I never realized
that there was this danger. And you
—you have your own friends, your In-
terests. Oh, I—"
"My Interests are all here—with
you," he answered. "It ts I who am to
blame. I should have known what Al-
catrante would do."
"You couldn't know. There was no
way—"'
"I sent you up here to wait for me.
Then, when he and I catne In, I turned
my back on him, like a blind fool."
"No, no," she protested.
"After all," he said, "it was, per-
haps, something that neither you nor
1 could foresee. No one Is to blame
Isn't that the best view to take of It?"
Her cheek moved against his as she
inclined her head
"It may he selfish In me," he went
on. "but 1 can't feel unhappy—now."
Her sobs had ceased, and sho burled
her face In his shoulder.
"1 love you, Girl," he said, brokenly
"I don't expect you to care so much
for me—yet. Hut I must tell you w hat
I feel. Tliero Isn't—thero Isn't any-
thing I wouldn't do for you, Girl and
bp happy doing It."
She did not speak, and for a lor;,
time they sat In silence. Many emo-
tions were racing through him. Ills
happiness was almost a pain, for It
came to him In this extremity when
there was no hope ahead She had
not yielded herself, but she had not re-
sisted Ills embrace; even now her head
was 011 his shoulder. Indeed, ho had
given her no chance to confess what
she might feel for him.
Nor would he give her that chance
No, It was better that her love for him
—he knew now that In her heart she
must love him—It was better that It
should not be crystallized by definite
expression. For he had thought of a
way by which she, at least, might be
saved. With the faint possibility of
rescue for them both, ho hesitated to
take the step. And yet every moment
he was using that much more of tho
air that might keep her allvo through
the night.
It would be only right to wait until
he was reasonably sure that all the
clerks In the office had gone. That
time could not be long now. Hut al-
ready the air was beginning to seem
close; It was not so easy to breatho as
It had been.
Gently putting her from him, he
said: "The air will last longer If we lie
down. The heart does not need much
blood, then."
She did not answer, but moved from
her seat 011 his folded coat, and he
took It and arranged It as a pillow,
and, finding her hand, showed her
where It was. He heard the rustle of
her clothing as she adjusted herself on
the floor. She clung to his hand, whilo
he still sat beside her.
"Now," he said, cheerfully, "1 am
going to find out what time It Is, by
breaking the crystal of rny watch.
ILK
*
Mad* Their Way to tha Elevsto*
I've seen blind men tell the time by
feeling tho dial."
Ills watch was an old hunting-case
which had belonged to his father, lie
opened It and cracked the crystal with
his pocket knife As nearly ns he could
determine by the sense of touch It was
seven o'clock Bessie Walllngham
would be wondering by this time why
he had broken an engagement with her
for tho second time that day.
"There Is one thing more to do." he
said. "It Is seven o'clock; I don't know-
how much longer wo shall be able to
breathe easily, und I am going to write
a note which will explain matters to
tho persons who find us If we should
not happen to bo able to tell them."
Laboriously lie penciled on tho back
of an oltl envelope tho explanation of
their presence there, making a com- 1
plete and careful charge ag ilnst Alcti-
tranle lie laid the message on the
floor.
On second thought, he picked It up I
again and pilt It In Ills pocket, for If
by any chance they should be rescued,
he might forget It In that event Its
discovery would possibly bring an ex-
posure of facts which the girl nnd her
father would not euro to have dis-
closed
A faint whisper from the girl.
"What Is It?" he asked, bending
tenderly lor her answer.
"You must lie down, loo."
He began to move away, as If to
obey her.
"No," she whispered "here I want
you near me."
Slowly he reclined and laid his head
on tho coat. Her warm breath was on
Ills face. He felt lor her hand, and
found It held tightly to Ills.
Ills own mind was still torn with
doubls as to the best course. Should
lie put himself out of the way that she
might llvotf The sacrifice might prove
unnecessary Rescue might come when
It was too late for him, yet not too
late. If he did not hurry his own end.
And If she truly loved him and knew
that she loved him, such an act 011 his
part would leave her a terrible grief
which time would harly cure.
He tried lo analyze their situation
more clearly, to throw new light 011 his
duty. Tho clerks must eli have gone
by now. There would be a visit or two
from a night watchman, perhaps, but
there was scared J one chance In u
hundred that he would unbolt tho
door.
The air was vitiating rapidly; they
could not both llvo through tho night.
Hut—If sho loved him as he loved her.
she would be hnppler to die with him
than to llvo at the cost of his life.
lie pictured for himself again that
last look of her face; Its beauty, its
strength, lis sweet sympathy. He
seemed to sec the stray wisp of hair
that had found Its way down upon her
cheek. Her perfect lips -how well he
remembered!—were the unopeuod
buds of pure womanly passion.
After all, whether she loved him or
not, thero would still be much In life
for her
Time would cure her sorrow. Thero
would be many claims upon her, and
she would sooner or later resume her
normal activities.
Slowly he disengaged his hand from
her clinging lingers. In Ills other hand
he still held his pocketknlfe. To open
a vein In his wrist would take hut a
moment, ills life would well away,
there on the tiles.
She would think he was asleep; and
then she herself would drift away Into
unconsciousness which would be bro
ken only after tho door was opened In
the morning.
Hah! Ills mind cleared In a flash.
What a fool he was! Need he di ibt
her for an Instant? Need he question
what she would do when she found
that be was dead? And she would
know It quickly. This living pulsing
girl beside him loved him!
They were ono forever. They still
lived, anil while they lived they must
hope. And If hope failed, there still
would be love.
ills pent-up emotions broke restraint
With unthinking swiftness, he threw
his arm over her and drew her tight to
him. Ills lips found hers In a long
kiss —clung in ecstasy for another, and
unother.
Her arms went about his neck. He
felt as though her soul had passed from
her lips to his own.
"My lover!" sUo whispered. "I think
I have always cared."
"Oh. Girl, Girl!" Ho could utter no
more.
With a faint sigh she said: "I am
glad It Is to be together." Sho sat up.
still holding his hand. "If It need bo
at all." she added, a new firmness In
bor voice.
"If It need he at all!" Orme searched
his mind again for some promise of es-
cape from this prison which had been
so suddenly g'orlfled for them. The
smooth, - nbreakable walls; the thin
seam of the door; tho thermometer
Why had lie not thought of It belore?
The thermometer!
With an exclamation, he leaped to
his feet.
"What Is It?" she cried.
"A chance! A small chance—but
ttlll a chance!"
lie found bis way to tbe handle of
the door, which his first attempt at
escape bad taught him was nut con-
nected with the oj'.er knob. Then ha
located tho covering which protected
tho colls of tho thermometer.
Striking with his heel, h tried to
break tho metal grat' ig. It would not
yield Aguln and again he threw hli
weight Into tho blows, but without ef-
fect.
At Inst he remembered his pocket*
knife, rhrust Ing one end of It through
iho grating, lie prodded at tiio glass
colls within. There was a (Inkling
sound He had succeeded.
lie groped Ills way back to the girl
and seated himself beside her. With
the confession of their love, a new
hope had sprung up in them. They
might ttlll ln> freed, nnd, though th*
mi- WM becoming Mining, neither of
1 hem belli \ 11I that a Joy as great as
lltelrs could bo born to live but a few
hourr.
For the hundredth time he was say>
ing; "I can't believe that wo hav*
known each other only ono day."
"And even now," she mused, "yon
don't know my uanio. Do you waul
me to tell you?"
"Not until you nro ready."
Then wait. It will come In dua
form. Some one will say, 'Mr. Orme,
Miss "
The inline doesn't matter," said
Ornte "To mo you will always be Jus!
—Girl."
Tho Joyous moments rushed by.
She had crept close to him again, and
wlili her head on Ills shoulder, waa
saying: "Thero is so much for 11s to
tell ench other."
"There seems to be only ono thing to
say now." lie kissed her tenderly.
"Oh, but there Is much mora."
"Where shall wo begin?" asked
Orme.
"Well, to bo matter-of-fact do you
live In Chicago?"
"No, dear. I llvo In New York."
"I didn't even know that," sho whl
pered. "And about .no. Our family
home haB been In ono of the suburb*
hero slnco I was u small girl. For sev-
eral years I was sent east to school,
and after that I went abroad with
some friends. And slnco then—"
"It can't be so very long," he wht -
pered, "though you speak as though ti
were decades."
"It Is six years. Slnco then my
father and I have spent our winters In
the east, coming back home for tha
summers. Just think how much you
aro learning about me!"
Orme lifted her hand to his Hps.
Suddenly lhe room filled with a light
which to their expanded pupils seamed
bright as tho sun. Tbe door hud been
opened and an electric light In the r
(■option hall shone In. Framed In tha
doorway was the outline uf a man.
Orme shouted Joyfully aud Jumped
to his feet.
"Why whnt—?" the mnn began.
Orme helped the girl up, and to-
gother they went to the outer light
For a moment they could do nothing
but breathe, so good the fresh air of
the reception room seemed to them.
Then, looking nt the man again, Orma
saw It was the clerk to whom Alca-
trante had made his accusation two
hours before.
"How did you come to be In there?"
tho clerk demanded.
Orme hesitated; then he decided to
make no charges. "1 got rid of that
crazy fellow who was following ma
around," he said, "and I came back,
and Ibis young lady and I went in to
examine your refrigerator. Thn door
was ajur, and some one pushed It shut
and locked It We should hava
■mothered If you had not come."
"It whs lhe merest chance," said
tho clerk. 'My work kept me late. Aa
I was leaving, I happened to glance at
lhe thermometer dial here. It regla-
teii d below freezing. I couldn't under-
stand that, for there Is no Ice In tha
refrigerator, so I opened the door to
see."
"I broke the coll," explained Orme,
"In lhe hope that lhe night watchman
might bo Interested In the dial."
"Well," said lhe clerk, drawing a
lonf breath, "you had a close shave.
Th-.e Isn't any night watchman—at
least not In this olllce. If I bad bal-
anced my books 011 fine today, you
two would have stayed where you
were until tomorrow morning."
I will come In tomorrow to see Mr.
Wal Ingham und explain everything, f
will pay lor a new thermometer, too. If
he will let me."
"I don't think he will let you do
that," said thu clerk, "lie will b«
grateful that nothing worse happened."
"Yes, 1 believe he will," replied
Orme.
He glanced nt the clock. It was a
quarter after seven Going back Into
the chamber which had It.e-n the seen*
of both their danger and their happi-
ness, ho got his coat nnd the girl's hat
The purchment papers crackled In hla
pocket as he put lhe cuat on The girl,
meantime, adjusted her hat.
Sivy," said the clerk, holding tha
outer door open lor them to piss
through, "was that lellow's story about
your holding notes of ours—was thera
anything in it?"
- Absolutely untrue." replied Orma.
"He must have had you coii!use4
with somebody else."
"He niti't have " Orme held out hia
hand. "Many thanks to you (or saving
our lives."
Then Orme and tbe girl mad* their
way to the elevaior
(TO UK CONTIKUKIk.#
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Barrow, A. E. The Crowder City Guardian (Crowder, Oklahoma), Vol. 6, No. 27, Ed. 1 Friday, March 31, 1911, newspaper, March 31, 1911; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc273178/m1/3/: accessed April 25, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.