Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, August 18, 1922, Page 2

Aarge envelope; sealed. The Masquer | .velopg, and crushed It into his pocket. “alrptane motor! IRy CHAPTER L—During the height of the New Orleans carnival season Jachin Fell, ve»lmy gh somewhat mysterious cit? . _Ansley, are disc g 2 of robberies by an individual known nt’n Midnight Masquer, who, invariably attired as an-aviator, has long defi police. Joseph Maillard, “amxy bankez, _giving a ball that night, at which the asquer has threatened fo appear and u guests. Fell and Ansley, on their to.the affalr, meet a girl dressed as cbm-nbsne. maske eemingly known to Fell, but ¢d, who accompanies them to the - CHAPTER ILLiicle Lodanols, recent- 150e ward of her uncle, Joseph Mail- i 1. the. Columbine. CKAPTER TL—Io his library Joseph Maiilard and a group of friends are held yp-and, robbed by the Midnight Masquer. : CHARTER IV.—Lucie Ledanois, the last jof an ojd family, is in straitened circum- stances. Joseph Malllard'a handling of ber funds has been unfortunate. Fell is .an- 6ld friend of her parents and deeply int amd in the girl. Henry Gramont, the ‘prince de Gramont, son of S'Franch father and an American mother, sut who spurns the title of prince, is enamored of Lucie and belleves himself .& mot unfavored suitor. (Cobtinued from last issue) T “You'money trickster! Do you think 3 svould'spare such a man as you? You your rents from the poor and titute, your mortgages cover half he parishes in the state, and In your | "HeArt s ‘nelther compassion nor pity | for man: or woman. Bah! I could lfluo( you down without a qualm!” . An his volce was so deadly a menace at Majllard trembled. ¥ here Is nothing of mine in that sife,” he snid, his ‘voice a'low growl. 4T'hdve given it to my son to use. He Dot ‘here.” . “That" sald the Masquer calmly, ‘43 exactly why L desire you to open Your son must make his -contri- ?'ntlon, “for I Keenly regret his absence. you'are a criminal,” he is worse! You;Toh-and steal under shelter of flm l-w. but you have certain limita- tiops, certain’bounds of an almost out- grown onor. ‘He has none, that-son ' of.yours. Why, he would not hesitate to'-turn - your- own tricks back upon you, tp ‘rob you, if -he could! Open that safe or -take the consequences; uq miore talk, now!” 5 The, command cracked out.like a wmplnsh With a shrug of helpless- ‘ness -the banker turned and Xumbled‘ with’ the protruding knob,of the safe. ' With _one exception all eyes were fas- | tened: upon this amazing Masquer. The exception was Jachin Fell, who, | isuddenly * alert and watchful, had | ‘furtied: his attention to Maillard and, the late, a keen speeulation in his | 'gaze as ‘though he were wonderlngl whnt that steel vault would produce. | ;All were sllent. There was lame-‘ thlng sahout this Midnight Masquer | (thidt ‘held them intently. Perhaps| some ‘were inclined to think him a «Jedter, one of the party masquerading | ‘under ‘the famous bandit's guise; if! :80, his. last words to Maillard had re- moved nll' such thought. That indiet- | thent had’ beph deadly and terrible— and true, as they knew. Bob Maillard ‘was not “greatly -admired by those ‘among ~his: father's friends who best Kkbew. him:.- * +.Now the door of the safe swung ‘open. . The compartments appenred empty. . ! “Take ‘out the drawers nnd turn them up over the table,” commanded ‘the Masquer. * Malillard obtyed From the last| drawer there fell out on the table a | Jeaned forward, seized upon this en- . “Thank you,” he observed. 8 all” + “D—n you!” cried Maillard, shaking | a'fist. “Youw'd try blackmail, would you?” The bandit regarded him a moment, then laughed. " ¢If you knew what was in that en- velope, my ‘dear financier, you might | not speak so hastily. If I knew what was in it, I might answer you. But I don’t know. I only suspect—and hope. And now, my friends—au revoir!” } " The Masquer sprang backward'into | the :hall. The door slammed, the key clicked. He was gone! Maillrd. was the first to wake into | voice and action. “The other- door!” | he cried. - “Into the dining room—" He . flung 'open a second dopr' and | dashed .into the dining room, followed by the other men. Here the windows, .glving upon the garden, were open. Then Maillard came to a sudden halt, .and after him the others; through “That ‘the night was pulsating, with great distinctness, the throbbing roar of an € From Maillard broke -a bitter cry: * #The detectives—I'll get the fools| Rére! “ You gentlemen search the “‘house:.” That xellow,can‘t possibly Haxe: esciped—' “'They hastily separated. Mnmnrd) way to summon the detec— ‘also” to get other men to ald the search. JThe.' resnlt was vain. | of the Midnight Masquer had been| | “Few men carry so. bard a pencil, | sie” i smiled. | the paper in your pocket; if'it did not, | Vi been seen To enter OF 1eave tne NOLSE, | and certainly there had been no alr—g plane about. The Masquer had not appeared except in the library, nnd‘ now he was most indubitably not in the house. By all testimony, he had | nelther entered it nor left it! ‘ “Well, I'm d—d!” said Maillard, | helplessly, to Judge Forestew, whenx the search was concluded. ‘“Not n‘ trace of the scoundrel! Here, Fell— | can't you help us out? Haven't you | discovered a thing?" “Nothing,” responded calmly. At this instant Bob Maillard rushed up. He had just learmed of the; Masquer’s visit. In response to his | excited questioning his father de-| scribed the scene in the library, lnd added: “I trust there was nothing lmpolk tant among those papers of yours, Robert?” “No,” said the younger man. Nothing. valuable at all.” Henry Gramont was passing. Bo caught the words and paused, his gaze | resting for an instant upon the group. A faint smile rested upon his rather harshly drawn features, “I just found this,” he announced. holding out a paper. “It was pinned to the outside of the library door. I| presume that your late visitor left it as a memento?”’ Jachin Fell took the paper, the other men crowding around him, “Ah, Maillard! The same hand- writing as that of your letter!” | Upon the paper was penciled a! single hasty line: v K “My compliments to_ Robert Mull—K lard—and my thanks.” Bob Maillard sprang forward, nn-‘ grily inspecting the paper. When he relinquished it, Fell calmly claimed lt.{ . “Confound the rogue!” muttered the | banker’s son, turning away. His fea- | tures were pale, perhaps with anger. “There was nothing but stock certifi . cates in that envelope—and they can be reissued.” The festivities were not hroken up.: News of the robbery -gradually leaked out among the guests; the generally accepted verdict was that the Masquer | had appeared, only“to be frightened away before he could secure any loot. | It was nearly two .in the morning when Jachin Fell, who was leaving, | encountered ‘Henry Gramont at the| head of the wide stairway. He halted | and’ turned to the younger man. i “Ah—have you a pencil, if you| please?” | “I think so, Mr. Fell.” Gramont felt beneath his Franciscan's robe, and ex- tended a pencil. | Jachin Fell examined it, brought a| paper from beneath his domino, and | wrote down a word. The paper was that on which the farewell message Jachin Fell, | N written. “A hard lead, a very hard point in- deed!” said Fell. He pocketed the paper again and regarded Gramont steadily as he retyrned the pencil. | “You're quite rlght" and Gramont “I borrowed this from Bob Maillard only a moient ago. Its hard-| ness surprised me.” “Do you know, thing—" “Yes?” prompted Gramont, his eyes| intent upon the little gray man, “That paper you brought us—the paper which you found pinned to the | library door,” said Fell, apologetically. “Do you know, Mr. Gramont, that oddly enough there were no pin holes in that paper?” Gramont smiled faintly, as though he were' inwardly amused over the re- mark. “Not at all curious,” he said, his volce level. “It was pinned rather, stoutly—I tore off the portion bearing| the message. Tl wager that you'll ' find the end of the paper still on the ' door downstairs. You might muke certain that its torn edge fits that of a most curlous: | | | i then the fact would be curfous!’ Iam | most happy to have met you, Mr. Fell, |1 trust we shall meet again, often” ' With a smile, he extended: his:hand, | which Mr. Fell #hook cordially. '/ Upon znlnln: the lower hall Fell | glanced at the door of ‘the library. | There, still pinned to the wood where | it had been unregarded by the pass- | ers-by, was a small scrap of paper. Mr. Fell glanced at it again, then shook his head and slowly turned away, as though resisting a temptation. | “No,” he muttered. “No. It would be sure to fit the paper in my pocket. | { It would be sure to fit, confound him!” A little later he. left the house,| striding briskly down the avenue. When he approached the first street | | light he came to a pause, and began § IS e S AR - 'THE BEMIDJ1 Eut s this™ — A siight rustle of paper, as he | walked along, nad attracted his atten- | tlon. He passed his hands over the | loose, open domino that cloaked him; | | he detected a scrap of paper pinned to it In the rear. He loosened the paper, and under the street lighf\man- | aged to decipher the writing which it bore. A faint smile crept to his.lips as he | read the penciled words: “I do not love you, Jachin The reason why, I cannot tel But this I know, and know full “ll 1 do not love you, Jachin Fell!"” “Certainly. the fellow has wit,.if not | originality,” muttered Mr.-Fell, as he | .carefully stowed away 'the paper.| "i‘he writing upon it was in'the hmd of '|'the Midnight Masquer. CHAPTER IV. _ Callers. The house in which Lucie Ledanols lived had been her mother’s; the fur- niture and other things in it had been her mother’s; the two negro servants, | who spoke only the Creole French pa- tols, had been her mother's. It was a small house, but very beautiful inside. | | The exterior betrayed a lack of paint or the money with which to have painting done. The Ledarois family, nlmonxh dis- tantly connected with others such as the Maillards, had sent forth its final i bud of fruition in the girl Lucie, Her | mother. had died while she was yet an | infant, and through the years she had | companioned her father, an invalid, ! ! during.the latter days. -He had never | been a man to _count dollars or costs, and to.a large extent he had outworn himself and the family fortunes in a vain search for health. With Lucie he had been in Europe | at the outbreak of war, and had come | | home to America only to die shortly afterward. Once deprived of his fine recklessness, the girl had found her | affairs in a bad tangle. guardianship of Maillard the tangle | had been somewhat resolved and sim- | plified, but even Maillard would ap- pear to have made mistakes, and of ! Iate Lucle had against her will sus-: | pected something amiss in the matter | of these mistakes. It was natural,.then, that she should take Jachin Fell into her confidence. Maillard had” been her guardian, but | it was to Fell that she had always come with her girlish cares and troubles, during even the lifetime of her ‘father. At precisely three o’clock of the: Sunday afternoon Jachin Fell rang the doorbell and Lucie herself ndnflt-} ted him. “Tell me quickly, Uncle Jachin!” eagerly exclalmed the girl. “Did You Actually See the Midnight Masquer Last Night?” actunily see the Midnight Masquer 1ast night? I didn’t know until after- werd that he had really been down-) stairs and had robbed—" “I saw him, my dear,” and the little gray man smiled. There.was more warmth to his smile than usual just now. Perhaps it was a reflection from the eager vitality which so shone in the eyes of Lucie. “I saw him, yes.” A restful face was hers—not beau- tiful at first glance; a little too strong for beauty, one would say. The deep gray eyes were level and quiet and wide apart, and on most occasions were quite inscrutable. They were 'now filled with a quick eagerness as’ |they rested upon Jachin Fell. Lucie { called him uncle, but not as she called | Joseph Malillard uncle; here was no "relationship, no formal affectation of relationship, but a purely ablding | | trust and friendship. Jachin Fell had done more for Lucle | than she herselt knew or would know; | without her knowledge he had quietly | taken care of her finances to an ap- | preciable ‘extent. Between them' lay an affection that was very real. Lucie, | better than most, knéw the extraordl- rary éapabilities of this, little gray | man; yet-not even Lucle guessed a tenth ‘of the character that.lay be- | neath his surface. To herihe was:| never reserved or secretive. Nonethe- less, she touched sometimes an im- penetrable wall that seemed ever present within him. “You saw him?” repeated the girl, quickly. “What was he like? Do you know who he is?” “Certainly . I know,” replied Fell, | still smiling at her. “Oh! Then who is he?” “Softly, softly, young lady! I know | Under the | “Dld you | LEKTTAE SOIICRNI R (9 Y aRpee e DAILY PIONEER “The bandit did not enter the house during the evening, nor did he leave, nor was he found in the house after- ward,” he went on, tonelessly. . “So, incredible as it may appear, he was | one of the guests. This Mr. X. came to the dance wearing the avigtor’s cos- | tume, or most of it, underneath his masquerade costume. When he was ready to, act; he doffed his outer cos- tume, appeared as the Midnight Masquer, effected his purpose, then calmly..donned his outer"‘Zostume dgidin and resumed his place.smong the- guests. 'You understand? “Well, then! "Maillard yesterday re- celved u moté from the Masquer, bra- zenly stating that he Intended to eall during the evening. I have that note. |'It “was written with an 'extremely, ! 'hard pencil, such as few:men carry, because it does not easily make very legible writing. Last night I asked Mr. X, for a pencil, and he produced ! one with an extra hard lead—men- tioning that he had borrowed it from Bob Maillard, as indeed he had.” “What! Surely you don't mean—" “Of course I don't. Mr. X. is very | clever, that’s all. Here is what took place last night. ing that he had found it pinned to the library door. As a matter of fact, | he had written it on a leaf torn from | his notebook. I took the note from him, observing at the time that the Mr. X. saw that there was something amiss; he presently went back down- leaf from his notehook, gnd pinned it to the door. A little later I met him and mentioned the lack ‘of pin holes; he calmly referred me to the piece on the door, saying that he had merely ! tarn off the note without removing | the pins. You follow me?” “Ot course,” murmured the girl, her | | eyes wide in fascinated interest. “And | he knew that you guessed him to be the Masquer?” “He suspected me, I think” nld i Fell, mildly. - “It Is understood that ! you will mot go about tracing these little clues?” | “Don't be. silly, Uncle Jachin!” she broke in. “You know I'll do nothln‘ | ot the sort.. Go on, please! Did yon | find the airplane?” “Yes.” Jachin Fell smiled dryly. “! ] was thinking of that as I left the house and came to the line of waiting | automobiles. - A word with one of the outside detectives showed me that one of the cars in the street had been test- | | ing its engine about midnight. I found | that the car belonged to Mr. X. | “How 'simple, Lucle, and how very clever! { erful ‘motor' with a muffler cutout at | about: the .time Mr. X., inside the | house, was making his appearance. .It w scarcely sounded like an airplane mo- ; tor, yet frightened and startled, people | would imagine that it .did. Thus arose ' » the legend that the Midnight Masquer _;cameuflmedbymunlotdr-' plane—a’ thebry aided ingenfously by or ‘suspect, iy “dear Lucie! now—" “Now, I nppone,” ‘said the glfl. thoughtfully, “you’ll put that awful Creole of yours on the track of Mr. X.? Ben Chach 18’8 good " chauffeur, and he's amusing enough—but he's a bloodhound! ‘T don't wonder that he used to be criminal.- Even if you have rescued him from a life of crime, you haven't improved his looks.” “Exactly—Ben is at work,” asserted | Jachin: Fell. “The gentleman under auspldon is very prominent. To ac- cuse him_ without proof would be | | utter folly. To catch him in flagrante | | delicto will be- difficult. - So I am in ™ | no haste. Besides, I can as yet dis- "cover no motive for-his crimes, since ! i he is quite well off financially. Well, ro matter! Now. that I have fully | turn.” “All right, Uncle Jachin.” Lucle | took a large moroéco case from the chair beside. her, .and - extended ft. “You lent me these things to wear last night, and I—" { “No, no,” intervened Fell. ‘T gave them to you, my dear—in fact, I kept them until now! You have worn them; they -are yours, and you be- come them better than even did poor | Queen Horténse! So say mno more.” Laucie leaned forward asd imprinted a kiss upon- the cheek -of the little gray man. = “There! that is all the thanks I can give you, dear uncle; the gift makes me very happy, and I'll not pretend otherwise. Only, f feel as though I had no right to wear them— | they're so wonderful!” “Nonsense! But all this isn’t why you summoned me here, you bundle of mystery! What bothered you last night, or, nther. who?” Lucle laughed. “There was a Fran- ciscan who tried to be very mysteri- | ous, and to read my mind. He talked | about oil, about a grasping, hard man, and mentioned- you as my friend. Then he me against & pro- posal that Bob might make; and sure | enough, Bob did propose to buy what .lnnd is left to me on - Terre- bonne, saying he'd persuade ‘his’.ofl company that fl:m ‘was' ofl on 1t; . and that they'd hiuy o lease i£.' X told him flg. \The Franciscan, afterward, nrogd to. !.be Henry Gramont; lwondezed yo! bad mentioned—" i ek “Heaven | forbid!" e:dllmtd (Mr. Fell, piously. - “I néver even met Gra- mont until last night! Do you like ! him?* “Very much.” The.girl's his frankly. “Do you?” “Very much,” sald Jachin Fell. Lucle’s gray eyes narrowed, searched his face. “I'm almost able to tell when you're - lying,” she . observed ‘calmly. “You said that a trifie too eyes met softly to pat his person as though him, but even.to you .I dare not ! hastily. Uncle Jachin. Why don't you searching for .something. ‘ “T told you that you'd pay for knowing too much about me, yonngl breathe his nawe until I obtain some | direct evidence. Let us call him Mr. X, after the approved methods of ro- No one hnd""““ " he sald, softly. “What's this, | mance, and I shall expound what T like him?” Fell laughed, amused. “Perhaps I have a prejudice against foreign nobles. Lncie. _Qur_own aristocracy WAR PN Ny Mr. X. brought us | another note from the Masquer, say-, paper had no pin holes. Probably | stairs, took the remainder of the torn ! The’ chauffeur worked a pow- | bis costyme. Well, that is all I know X And is bag enough, but—""" """ ~ “He’s discarded all that. He was never French except: in name.” “You speak as though you'd, known him for some. time. ‘ Have ynn bad secrets from mE?Y” “I have!” lm'lhter dimpled in the girl's face. | “For years. and years! When I was Jjn New York with father. before: the wiar, we met bim ; he was visiting in | Newport with college friends. Then, you know that father and I were i France when the war broke out—father was ill and almost’ helpless at the time, yon .remember. Gramont came to Paris to_serve with his.regiment, and M us lhcre He helfiql us get away, vrncnred ml money us, got us passage to-New York. “He knm lots' of our. friends, and I've always been deeply grateful: to him for his assistance then. - - “We've corresponded 'quite frequent- ly during the war,” she pursued. “I mentioned him several times after we | got home from France, but you:prob- ably failed to notice the name. It's only since he came to New Orleans that I really kept any secrets from you; this time I wanted to find out it you liked him.” Jachin nodded slowly. His face was quite innocent of expression. “Yes, yes,” he sald. “Yes—of ‘course He’s a geologist or engineer, I' think?” “Both, and a good one. Well, about last night—he 'probably guessed at some .of my private affairs; Ive writ- ten or spoken rather frankly, perhaps. Also, Bob may have blabbed to him. Bob still drinks—prohibition has not hit him very hard!” “No,” agreed Fell, gravely. “Unfor- tunately, no. | Lucie, I've discovered a most important fact. Joseph Maillard | did not own ‘any stock in the Bayou Oil' company at the’ ‘timee _your land ! was sold them by him, and he had no | interest at all in the real estate con- cern that bought your . St.. Landry | swamp lands and made a fortune off them. We have really: blamed -him | most.unjustly. I do not believe that | 'he has profited in the least from you. His investments in the companies con- cerned were made afterward, and I am certaln he sold the hnds inno- cently.” Lucie drew a deep brelth. “I am glad you have said this,” she renlrned simply. “It's been hard for me to think that Uncle Joseph ‘had | taken ‘advantage of me; I think that' | he honestly likes me, as far'as he /permits himself to like anyone.” “He'd not loan you money on fit,” | said Fell. “Friendship isn't a hnglble | security with him.” . “Well, . who really did profit: by my | loss? Anyone?” Fell's pale gray eyes twinkled,. then. | cleared in _thelr ‘usnally wide inno- cence, i “My dear Lucle, is there one person in_this world to whose faults Joseph | Maillard 1s deliberately 'blind— one person to whom he would refuse noth- ing, in whom he:would pardon every- thing, of whom' he would never believe | any-evil report?’ “You mean—" Lucle drew a quick | breath—“Bob?” . “Yes, I mean Bob. That he has profited by your loss I am not yet in a position to say; but: I suspect it. When I: have finished with the Masquer, I shall take up his trail.” Jachin Fell rose. “Now I must be off, my dear. “Will you dine with us tomorrow evening, Lucie? My mother , commanded me to bring you as soon | as possible—" ____ { Continued in next issue A Apnas s Ey Ry MR DTOL D ‘ FRIDAY EVENING, AUGUST 18,1922 o wpper. Fmsol with M Kull 's is the EBwh Il linm u tes and yet I know R s nourishing! Guess I’ll_have an- other helping. Those Ktll:fi“: mhlnl, CORN FLAIC E S are uounsbmg-nlrcsl:mg-ddmous It's a long step for health and riddance of summer drowsiness and that sluggish feeling if you’ll all stop eating so much heavy, greasy foods and let Kellogg’s delicious Corn Flakes do your health a good turn! With cold milk and luscious fresh fruit, Kellogg’s are extra delightful—so crisp, and appetizing. +Kellogg’s Corn Flakes are nourishing and sup- ply all the summer energy you need; yet, they digest easily and actually rest the stomach! On such a diet you’Jl feel so much better; your mind will be keener and you’ll accomplish a. lot more, work—and help. yourself keep “cool and mppy_and chmfull . Be certain to bu xefllngg’s Corn Flakes in the RED lnd GREEN package the nature of W. K. Kellf ongl- ~nator of Corn Flakes. None are genuine without it. Bemid;ji’s Free Plnyground Dlamond Point Invites You Every Day C.unplng Groundn Picnic Gl'o\mdx Bathing Pavilion - —Electric Lighted— . SOFT DRINKS - LUNCHES " - COFFEE Sold at the Park. Plan Your Picnic. for DIAMOND POIN‘I‘ Blthm. Slfih ‘for Rent 2 IITINSS : TP ARCHIE DITTY Custodian ' | ) i | unbosomed myself, my dear, it Is your | Don’t " 'big 0 it motfey that youaresaving anythin, Don’t be \ Penny Wiseana | Pound Foolish gave them to you two years ago, and | think because you can get a of Baking Powder for little e O There’s Only One Way to Save on Bake-l)ay LUMET The Economy BAKING Pownm ..i=—It costs only “a fraction of a .cent for each baking. . - —You use less because it con- tains more than the ordinary leavening strength. Defective