Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, September 1, 1922, Page 2

. — 1 +- | THE BEMIDJI DAILY PIONEER SYNOPSIS | W CHAPTER 1.—During the helght ot the New Orleans carnival season Jachin Fell, Wealthy though somcwhat mysterious cit- Zen, and Dr. Ansley, are discussing & seriés of robberies by an individugl known 25 the Midnight Masquer, who, invariably attired as an aviator, has long defied the olice. Joseph Malllard, wealthy bankez, s giving & vaJl that Dight, at which the | Masquer has threatened fo appear and | rob the guests. Fell-and Ansley, on their | Way to the affair, meet a girl dressed as | Cotambine, seemingly known to Fell, but maaked, who accompanies them to the | ball. | Joseph Mall- 1 ~ Gramont’s brain worked fast. ! By overcoming this guttersnipe he might have the whole place at his mercy-—but that was not what he wanted. He suddenly realized that he hadl other and more important fish to fry .in’ New Orleans. Gumberts was there. . Fell was there. "What he must do demanded time, and his best play was to gain all the time possible, and to prevemt this gang from suspecting him ip’any way. “Did ;you see Ben Chacherre?” he CHAPTER 1L—Lucle Ledanols, recent- | counter ed. 1y the ward of her uncle, lard, is the Columbine. CHAPTER IIL—In his_library Josepn | Maillard and a group of friends are held up and robbed by the Midnight Masquer. CHAPTER 1V.—Lucle Ledanols, the last of an old family, is in straitened clrcum- stances. Joseph Malllard’s handling of her funds bas been unfortunate. an.old. friend of her parents and deeply | interested in the girl. Henry Gramont, really the prince de Grament ' son of a Fronch father and an American mother, but who spurns the title of prince, is | enamored of Lucie and belleves himself & not unfavored suitor. CHAPTBR V.—Gramont's chauffeur, sergeant in the American Gramont, lives with him. He was the | original Midnight Masquer, and Gramont, for"a particular purpose, after discover- munammow‘a activities, assumes the role. Where Hammond had been a rob. ber -for financial gain, Gramont, of caurse, Is not He arranges to return the “loot” to those whom he has robbed. The jewels and money, irindividual pack- ages, are got ready for delivery next day to their original owners. That night they are stolen from Gramont's auto. CHAPTER VI1—Ben €acherre, an In- dividual of unsavory character, appears to be associated with Jachin Fell ~He has a peculiar mterview with one Mem- | phis Izzy Gumberts, notorinus Influential Crook, fn which there (s significant refer- ence to.a mysterious ‘“bose.” CHAPTER VIL—Lucle summons Gra- mont ‘to her home and shows him the packages from his auto. He admits he 1s- the Midnight Masquer, but cofivinces her tpat he had no thought of robbery. He’ refuses, however, to explain his pur- pose. The packages are return to their owners. .JAPTER VIIL—7Tnst evening Fell, Gramont, and Dr. Ansley, at the Krewe | of "Cotnus ball, are accosted by an in- toxicated masked individual whom they | recognize as Bob Malllard. He invites thém to.a convivial party in a private | room. ~They refuse, and Gramont leaves the building. Joseph Maillard sceks his son, fearing public_scandal as a result of | Bob's condition. With Fell and Ansley | they find the room where the revels are | going on. Entering they discover an in- | dmfiunl. attired as an aviator, in the act of robbing the intoxicated youths. I a struggle that ensues Malllard is shot and killed. The *Masquer” escapes. [ IX.—Gramont, with Ham- mond, visits Terrebonne, a wild section of the country, to inspect Luclo Ledanols’ | 1and, which he belleves contains oil. He nds. Indications of apparently almost un- beligvable quantities of the stuff. While stooping over a pool of water which { Hammond. Fell 1s | He figgers on gettin’ Hammond on ac- | “Uh-hyk—seen him just after he come. Glumberts will be out day after tomorrow,; he said. The boss is framin” some sort of deal on a guy that he wants laid away—some guy name o Chacherre is running it. count of sonwva car that’s bein’ hunted up—" Gramont lavighed suddenly, for there was a grim hunor about the thing. So | Jachin Fell wamted to “get something” on poor Hammiond! And Chacherre | had seized the golden opportunity that presented itsel{’ this afternoon—in- stead of “gettimg” Hammond for the theft of a car, ®Chacherre had coolly fastened murder, upon him! “Ben is one smart man; I expect he thinks the gods are working for him.” | said Gramont, thinly. “So you don't know what happened today, eh? Well, ites great nmews, but I've got nc time to talk about it. They'li tell you when they geot back—" “TWhere'd they go?’ demanded the other. “Houma. Now listen close! Cha- cherre did not know that I was in partnership with the boss, get me? I didn't want to tell all. the crowd in front of him. Between you and me, the boss isn't any too sure about Ben—" “Say, I get you there!” broke in the other, sagely. “I tells him six months ago to watch out for that Creole guy!” “Exactly. You can tell the boys about me when they come back—I don't suppose Ben will be with them. Now; I've been looking over that place next door—" “Oh!" exclaimed the other, sudden; 1y. “Sure! The boss said that one of his friends would be down to—" . “I'm the one—or one of them,” and Gramont chuckled as he reflected on the ludicrous aspects of the whole af- fair. - “I'm going to Houma now, and then back to the city. My car's over next door. Mr. Fell wanted me to cleafly ‘shows fraces of ofl on Its sur- | tworn vou to lay low on the lottery face; Gramont hears his name spoken. .CHAPTER X.—He cannot ses the ers, but the conversation ends singu- larly abruptly. Gramont does not Investi- gate.. Hammond finds & dead man in senfs woods and is charged by Ben Ca- cherrs and two other men with murder. | Gramont can do nothing. The men_take Hammond to the town of Houma. Later | Gramon! finds a bloodstained knife where he had heard the voices. He then reall that Cacherre was one of the men talk ing, and is the murderer. CHAPTER XI.—Believing himsel alone, | Grgmomt investigates buildings on the adjoining farm, which he kacws belongs to. Memphis Izzy Gumberts. He finds evidence of automobile stealing on a stupendous scale and learns from a man who discovers him and whom he outwits, that -the place is also the headquarters of the ““”"‘"’“’L,.“ lottery game and that Jachin Fell is the mysterious “boss.” CHAPTER XIL—Back In the city, Gra- mont learns of the killing of Joseph Mall- lard. He seeks further evidence against Fell. Gramont, Fell, and Lucle Ledanols ferm a company to bore (or oil on the Le. danols place. Fell tells Grantont he “plan ed” the evidence of ofl there and un- folds o _scheme to make a fortune for the girl. Gramont refuses to be a party to the project. Fell threatens to prove him the murderer of Malllard, which he seems able to do, and Gramont reluctantly agreea to foln him. business. He's got a notion that some one's been talking.” “You go tell the boss,” retorted the other in an aggrieved tone, “to keep his eye on the guys that can talk, Who'd we talk to here? Besides, we're workin' our heads off on these here boats. Memphis-Izzy is attending to the lottery—he's got the whole layout | up te the house, and we ain’t touching it, see? Tell the hoss all that.” “Tell him yourself,” - Gramont laughed, good-humoredly. i{s coming out day after tomorrow, is be? That'll be Friday. Hm! I think that I'd better bring Fell out here the same day, if I can make it. I proba- bly won't see Gumberts until then— I'm not working in with him and he doesn't know me yet—but I'll try and get out here on Fullay with Fell. Now, Il have to beat it in a hurry. Any message to send?” “Not me,” was the answer. Gramont scarcely knew how he de- parted, until he found himself scram- CHAPTER XIIL—Gramont realizes he | bling back through the underbrush of must.act quickly if he is to secure the members of the robber gang. Cacherre brings him a note from Fell, and he | stuns and binds the messenger. finding in his_pocket_evidence he helieves of value. Ledving. Cacherre bound. Gramont sets out for Terrebonne, knowing that Mem- phis Tzzy fiumberts s to be there that atternoon. {Contmued from Ias* janve) that_ Fell wis “the boss™ paralyzed bim completely. He had never dreamed of such a contingency. Fell, of all nien! ‘Jachin Fell the “boss” of this estab- lishment! Jachin Fell the man high- er up—the brains behind this criminal organization! It was a perfect thun- derbolt to Gramont. Now he under- stood why Chacherre was in the em- ploy of Fell—why no arrest of the man had been possible! Now he per- cefved: that Chacherre must have told the truth about coming here on busi- ness fof Fell. Reaching farther back, he ‘'saw t-at Fell must have received the loot of the Midnight Masquer, must “have turned it over to Lucle ' Ledanois— ;Did she know? “Ali right, Mr. Gramont.” The ratty 1ittle man turned to him with evident change of front. “We ain’t takin’ no chances here, y'understand. Got quite a shipm t of cars comin’ in from "Pexas, and we're tryin’ to get some o’ these boats cleaned out to make room. Bripg out any orders?’ 1 ¢ 5 the Ledanois place. ’ He rushed into the Hbuse, found the fire had died down beyond all danger, and swiftly removed the few things they had taken from the car. he had hidden the automobile. He scarcely dared to think, scarcely dared to congratulate himself on the luck i that had befallen him, until he found himself in his own car once more, and with open throttle sweeping out through the twilight toward Paradis and Houma beyond. A whirlwind of mad exultation was seething within | him—exultation as sudden and tre- | mendous as the past weeks had been ‘unevenmxl and dragging. | Gramont,' in common with many ! others, had heard much ' Indefinite rumor of an underground lottery game that was being worked among the ne- groes of the state and thé Chinese vil- | lages along the gulf coast; And now ' he knew definitely. Lotteries have never died out In | Louislana since the brave old days of the government-ordained gambles, laws and ordinances to the contrary. No laws can make the yellow man and the black man forego the get-rich- quick heritage of their fathers. On the Pacific coast lotteries obtain and | will obtain wherever there is a China- | town, In Louisiana the days of the PR ! grana 15t “Gumberts | Carry- | ing these, he stumbled back to where | have never been forgot- ten. The last two years of high wages had made every negro wealthy, | comparatively speaking. The lottery mongers. would naturally find them a ripe harvest for the picking. And who would gravitate to this harvest field it not the great Gumberts, the un- caught’ Memphis Izzy, the promoter | Hammond merely grinned again and who had never been “mugged!” Here, at one stroke, stumbling. on the thing by sheer blind accident, Gra- mont had located the nucleus of the whole business! . Gradually his brain cooled to the realization of what work lay before , him. He was through Paradis, almost withgut séeing the town, and switched on his Tights as he took the highway to H Sober reflection seized him: Not only was” this ‘crowd of crooks working a lottery, but they were also managing stupendous i} thievery of automobiles, in which cars were looted by wholesale! And the man at the head of it all, the man above Memphis Izzy and his crooks, was Jachin Fell of New Orleans. Did Lucie Ledanois dream such a ' thing? No. Gramont dismissed the question at once. Fell was not an un- | usual type of man. There were many | Jachin Fells throughout the country, | he reflected. Men who applied their brains to crooked work, who kept the work, and who profited hugely by tribute money from every crook in every crime. lived such men were patterns of all | that wealthy gentlemen should be. Sel- | dom, except perhaps in gossip of the | underworld, was their connection with crime ever suspected. And—this thought was sobering to Gramont— . never did they come within danger of retribution at the hands'of the law. Their ramifications extended too far into politics; and the governors of some Southern states have unlimited powers of pardon. “This is a big day!” reflected Gra- tion of this last thought. “A big day! | Not the least of it is the financial end | of it—the oil seepage! That little irldescent trickle of oil on the water | means that money worries are over, both for me and for Lucie. I'm sorry ! that I am mixed up with Fell; I've i enough money of my own to drill at we'll need to bring in ol on that place. Well, we'll see what turns up! My first job is to make sure Hammond is safe, and to relieve his mind. I'll have to leave him in jail, I suppose—" Why did Fell want to ‘“get some- thing” on Hammond? To this there Was no answer. He drove to Houma to find the town { abuzz with excitement, for the news of the sheriff's murder had stirred the i place wildly. Proceeding straight to | the courthouse, Gramont encountered !Ben Chacherre as he was leaving the car. - “Hello, there!” he exclaimed. “Lost my road. Where's Hammond?” Chacherre jerked his head toward | the courthouse. “In yorider. Say, are you going back to the city tonight?” “Yes” Gramont.. regarded him. “Why?” “Take me back, will,;you? I've missed | the last up train, and if you're goin’ back anyhow I won’t have to hire a car. I can drive for you, and we'll | make it In a couple of hours, before ! midnight sure.” i “Hop in,” sald Gramont, nodding { toward the cac. “T'll be back as soon {as I've had a word with Hammond. | No danger of his getting lynched, I | hope?” * | clusively. | now, and quite a bunch of ex-soldiers comin’ to stand guard. You goin’ to fight the case?” “No,” sald Gramont. “Can'’t fight a sure thing, can you? I'm sorry for him, though.” Chacherre shrugged his shoulders and got into the car. Gramont was much relieved to find that there was no danger of lynching, which had been his one fear. It was with much persuasion that he got past the guard and Into the courthouse, of deputies in charge of the situation. After conferring with them at some length, he was grudgingly taken to the The lat- ter received him with a wide grin, and cell occupied by Hammond. { “Will You Play Out the Game Hard to the End2" themselves above any actual share in | To the communities in which they | mont, dismissing the sinister sugges- | { What it will lead to, I don’t know. | least onme good well, and one is all | “Not a chance,” said the other, con- . “Six deputies up there ! where he was recelved by a number | gave no signs of the grueling ordeal i through which he had passed. “Listen, old man,” sald Gramont, earnestly. “Will you play out the | game hard to the end? Il have to ! leave you here for two days. At the | end of that time you'll be free.” 0 | 'The listening deputles sniffed, but put a hand through the bars. “Whatever you say, cap'n,” he re- Joined. “It sure looks bad—" “Don’t you think it,” sald Gramont, cheerfully. “A lot of things have hippened since I saw you last! I've get the real murderer right where I want him—but I can't have him ar- rested yet." / “It’s a gang,” said Hammond. “You watch out, capm, I heard ’em say, | somethin’ about Memphis Izzy—re- | member the guy I told you about one i day? ,Well;, this is no piker's game! | We're up against somethin’ solld—" “I know it,” and Gramont nodded. He turned to the deputies. “Gentle- | man, you have my address if you wish ! to communicate with me. I shall be back here day after tomorrow—at least, before midnight of that day. I warn you, that if anything happens to this man in the meantime, you shall be held personally responsible. He is innocent.” : i “Looks like we'd better hold you, i t00,” said one of the men. “You seem | to know a lot!” ! Gramont looked at him a moment. “I.know enough to tell you where to head in if you try any funny work here,” he sald, evenly. “Gentlemen, ! thank you for permitting the inter- | view! TiL see you later.” K | ‘ Next Jontiuey m Ise~e1 | | i [ CTTTEECRRER T T TTTYT] “ [ o Repair Work That Lasts = Plumbirg repaired by us = stays repairedbecauseous = work is thorough and ocur materials high grade. Prices reasonable, N = We have a pipe ma- = chine that cuts and 2 threads from 1 inch to 8 inch pipe. £ i RoyV.Harker £ H Samitation Engineer H £ Distributors of Kohler Ware S Phone122 1133rdSt. £ Robert J. Russell 313 Fourth Street Phones 620-W—620-R DRS. | Lairsnn&. Larson |§ SPECIALISTS EXAMINING EYES FITTING GLASSES Office, First Floor 213 Third St Office Phone 131 Res. 310 l IO, A TS Licensed Embalmer and Funeral Director PHONE 222-W RESIDENCE. 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