The Butler Weekly Times Newspaper, December 3, 1914, Page 8

TheMillion Dollar Mystery By HAROLD MAC GRATH » Mtustrated from Scenes in the Photo Drama of the E: Same Name by the Thanhouser Film Company (Copyright, 1914, by Harold MacGrath) and they've kidnaped her right ander your nose! Renee fe eae of | Something has happened to her wires; that car?” | tampered with, possibly.” “Cut out that line of talk, young fel- ; So long as we know they are at sea, lah; I know my business. They had | we can remedy the evil. They will not the proper documents.” | be able to land at a single port. I have “But you hadn't brains enough to in- sent ten cables. They can’t get away quire whether they were genuine or from the wire. If I could only get hold of the names of those damnable doc- not! You wait!” shrilled the chauf- 5 feur. “I'll have you broken for this jeune Ag ugned rat document: Ly en work.” He wheeled and ran back to! ‘Y ¥' 7 Jones bent his head in his hands, his car, to find Susan and the countess | in a great state of agitation. “They , and Norton tramped the floor till the got her, they got her! And I swore | S0Und of his footsteps threatened to on the book that they never should, so | one the moaning Sus into bye; 1 i es. tong as I drove the car.” | “It is only a matter of a few days.” Susan wept, and the countess tried “But ane the child stand rae vane in vain to console her. | on “uy : And when Jones was informed he | Torey) sauestioned Jones: Who kiows frightened even the countess with the Beene mayenotreally arlveinen in: oa eee Tee cee: Ne | On board the George Washington fee 4 ‘2 In ie all, ord Ai 8 every one felt extremely sorry for this at, and was gone. Not a word of re-| heautiful girl. It was a frightful mis- fortune to be so stricken at her age. “She is certainly insane,” said one | of the passengers, who had known- Hargreave slightly through some bank- | ing business. “Hargreave wasn't mar- | ried. He lived alone.” After- the second day out Florence | Was permitted to wander about the | ship as she pleased. | A good many of the passengers were | mightily worried when they learned that the wireless had in some mysteri- | ous way been tampered with after the ; boat had made the open sea. It was | impossible to put about. The appara- tus must be fixed at sea. And when finally Norton's wireless caught the wires of the George Wash- ington he was gravely informed that the young lady referred to had leaped the rail oit the Banks ..: night and had been drowned. She had not’ been missed till the following morning. proach did he offer to the chauffeur. CHAPTER X, The Past a Blank. It was "perfectly true that Florence had cast herself into the sea. It had not been an act of despair, however. | On the contrary, hope and courage had | erompted her to leap. The night was He understood that no one is infallible, | Clear, with only a moderate sea run- He found the blundering policeman, |2itg. At the time the great ship was who now realized that he stood in for ; Passing the banks, and almost within a whiff of the commissioner's carpet. | bail she saw a fishing schooner riding All_he could do was to give a good de- | gracefully at anchor. She quite read- scription of the man and woman. Word | lly believed that if she remained on was sent broadcast through the city. | board the George Washington she was The police had to be informed this.| lost. She naturally forgot the marvel time. | pf wireless telegraphy. No longer may Late in the day an officer whose beat |4 man hide at sea. included the ferry landing at Hoboken | So, with that quick thought which said he had seen the three. Everything |was a part of her inheritance, she had looked all right.to him. It was | seized the life buoy, climbed the rail the motherly face of the one and the | and leaped far out. As the great, dark, benign countenance of the ogher that | tossing sea swooped up to meet her had blinded him. | she noted a block of wood bobbing up At midnight Jones, haggard and ;and down. She tried to avoid it, but with the air of one beaten, returned | could not, and struck it head on. De- home. |spite the blow and the shoc': of the “No wireless yet?” asked Norton. |chill water she instinctively clung tc “The George Washington of the |the buoy, The wash from the mighty North German Lloyd does not answer. | Propellers tossed her about, hither ‘The Million Dollar Mystery’ Braine and the Countess. and yon, from one swirl to another, «ike a chip of wood. ‘Then everything grew blank. (Fortunately for her the master of the fishing schooner was at the time standing on his quarterdeck by the wheel, squinting through his glass at the liner and envying the ease and comfort of those on board her. The mate, sitting on the steps and smok- ing his turning-in pipe, saw the mas- ter lean forward suddenly, lower the glaes, then raise it again. “Lord a’mighty!” “What's the matter, cap’n?” “Jake, in God’s name, come ‘ere an’ take a peek through this glass. I’m dreamin’!” The mate jumped and took the glass. “Where away, sir?” “A p'int off th’ sta’board bow. somethin’ white bobbin’ up?” “Yessir! Looks like some one dropped a bolster 'r a piller over- board. . . . Cod's whiskers!” he broke off. ea See packed away in salt, the muahook raised, and the schooner Betty set her sails for the southwest. Barnes real ized that to save the girl she must have a doctor who knew his business. Mrs. Barnes would know how to care for the girl, once she knew what the tfouble was. There would be some news in the papers. A young and beautiful woman did not jump from a big Atlantic liner without the newspa- pers getting hold of the facts. A fair'wind carried the Betty into her haven, and shortly after Florence was sleeping peacefully in a feather bed, ancient, it is true, but none the less soft and inviting. In all this time she had not spoken a single word. “The poor young thing!” murmured the motherly Mrs. Barnes, “What beautiful hair! O, John, I wish you would give up the sea. I hate it. It is terrible. I am always watching you in my mind’s eye, in calm weath- er, in storms. Pieces of wrecks come ashore, and I always wonder over the «| enward and the next heading for the “Then I ain’t really seein’ things,” cried the master. “Hi, y’ lubbers!” he yelled to the crew; “lower th’ dory. They’s a woman in th’ water out there. death and terror back of them.” “Don't y’ worry none about me Betty. I-mever take no chances. Now I’m goin’ int’ th’ village an’ bring I seen her leap th’ rail. Look alive! | pack th’ sawbones. He’ll‘tell us what Sharp's th’ word! Mate, you go| ¢' do.” ‘long.” “The viliage doctor shook his grizzled The crew dropped their tasks and | head gravely. sprang for the davits, and the star- board dory was lowered in shipshape style, It takes a good bit of seamanship to haul a body out of the sea, into a dancing bobtailed dory, when one moment it is climbing frantically heav- “She's been hurt and shocked at the same time. It will be many days be- fére she comes around to herself. Just let her do' as she pleases. Only keep an eye on her so that she doesn’t wan- der off and get lost. I'll watch the newspapers and if I come across any- thing which bears upon the case I'll notify you.” .: But he searched the newspapers in bottomless pit. They were very ten- der with her. They laid her out in the bottom of the boat, with the life buoy as a pillow, and pulled energetically for the schooner. She was alive, be- cause she breathed; but she did not stir so much as an eyelid. It was a stiff bit of work, too, to land her aboard without adding to her injuries. The not think to glance over the old ones. The village took a good deal of in- terest in the affair. They gossiped about it and strolled out to the Barnes’ cottage to satisfy their curiosity. One thing was certain to their simple cloths, fish, kerosene, an’ punk t’bac- co.” by. He was told that he would find I buy buy your own. none.” and gingerly ran his hand over the girl’s head. they’s a bump as big’s a cork on th’ master ordered the men to put her in his own bunk, where he nearly stran- gled her by forcing raw brandy down her throat. “Well, she's alive, anyhow.” When Florence finally opened her eyes the gray of dawn lay on the sea, dotted here and there by the schooners of the fleet, which seemed to be hang-| ;hout, Ordinary conversation she ing in midair, as at the moment there | seamed to understands but whenever was visible to the eye no horizon. the past was broached she would “Don’t seem t’ recognize nothin’.” shake her head with frowning eyes. “Mebbe she’s got a fever,” suggested | |!er main diversion consisted of sitting the mate, rubbing his bristly chin. on the sand dunes and gazing out at “Fever nothin’! Not after bein’ in | sea. th’ water half an hour, Mebbe she hit} One day a stranger came to town. thindg: some day Barnes would get a great sum of money for his kindness. They had read’ about such things in the family story paper. She. was a rich man’s daughter; the ring on the un- known’s finger would have fitted out a Meet. = Florence was soon able to walk vain, for the simple fact that he did |" entiy recovered he returned to the ie d sought () > railway station, vhere the Western (nion had its of: ae want to send a code message to my firm.. Do you think you can fol- low it?” “I can try,” said the operator. The code was really Slav; and when the lorig message. was signed it was signed bx the name Vroon. The day after the news camé that Florence had jumped oyerboard off the banks, Vrcon with a dozen other men had started out to comb all the fishing villages along the New Eng- land coast. Somewhere along the way he felt confident that he would learn whether the girl was dead or~alive. If she was dead then the game was a draw, but if she was alive there was still a fighting chance for the Black Hundred. He had had some idea of re-_ maining in the village and accomplish- ing the work himself; but after delib- eration he concluded that it was im- portant enough for Braine himself to Braine Took Florence Aboard the Chartered Yacht. take a hand in. So the following night he departed for Boston, from there to one o’ them wooden floats we left.| !!e said he represented’a life insur- Them dinged liners keep on crowdin’ | ‘ce company and was up here from us,” growled Barnes, with a fisher-| !oston to take a little vacation. He man’s hate. for thé floating hotels. | sat on the hotel porch that evening, “Went by without a toot. See ‘er, | surrounded by an admiring audience. jes’ like th’ banker’s wife goin’ t’| The stranger had been all over the church on Sunday? A mile a minute; | world, so it seemed. He spoke famil- fog or no fog, it’s all the eame t’]| iarly of St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, them. They run us down an’ never| Shanghai. as the villagers—some of stop. What th’ tarnation we goin’| them—might have spoken of Boston. to do? She'll haff t’ stay aboard till| There were one or two old timers th’ run is over. I can’t afford t’ yank | among the audience. They had been up my mudhook this time o’ day.” to all these parts. The stranger knew “Guess she can stand three ’r four | What he was telling about. After tell- days in our company, smellin’ oil-| ing of his many voyages he asked if there was a good bathing beach near- the most suitable spot near Captain Barnes’ cottage just outside the vil- lage. “An’ say, Mister, seen anythin’ in th’ papers about a missin’ young wom- an?” asked some one. “* “Missing young woman? that?” The man told the story of Florence’s leap into the sea and her subsequent arrival at the cape. i “That’s funny,” said the stranger. “I don’t recollect reading about any young woman being lost at sea. But those big liners are always keeping such things under cover. Hoodoos the ship, they say, and turns prospective passengers to other lines. It hurts “If y' don’t like th’ kind o’ t’bacco I ain’t objectin’ The mate stepped over to the bunk “Cod’s whiskers, cap’n, F What's The sixth installment of which appears in The Times this week Will be shown in Motion Pictures at the ‘Star Theater Every Tuesday afternoon and night Harvey Strain died August 2, 1914, at Charleston, Ohio, of heart trouble, aged 78 years, 10 months and 3 days. Uncle Harvey. lived in Adrian for many years and visited friends here a Adrian Notes. From the Journal. Mr. and Mrs. ‘M..V. Carroll have returned from their visit to Plano, Texas. They enjoyed their trip and year ago. The body was fn are in good health. “Soldiers Mound” Fern Cliffe ceme- Lee Walter went to Bethay Hospit-| tery, Springfield, Ohio. al, Kansas City, Kansas, Sunday,! Dallas Nichols arrived Friday night from his home in Wenatchee, Wash., “The Poor Young Thing,” Murmured back-o’ her head! o’ them floatseall right. arnica?” maged about, finally producing an an- cient bottle and some passably clean cloth used frequently for bandages. Sometimes a man grew careless with his knife or got in the way of a pulley block. two men bound up the girl’s head, and then went about their duties. the slightest inclination to leave the bunk. She lay on her back either asleep or with her eyes staring at the beams above her head. She ate just business. What's the young girl look like?” Florence was described minutely. The stranger teetered in his chair and smoked. Finally he spoke. “She probably was insane. That’s the way. generally with insane people. They can’t see water or look off a tall building without wanting to jump. My business is insurance, and we've got the thing figured pretty close to the ground. They used to get the best of us on the suicide game. A man would take out a large policy today and tomorrow he’d blow his head off, and we'd have to pay his wife. But nowadays a policy is not worth the paper it’s written on if a man commits suicide under two years.” “You ain't tryin’ to insure anybody in town, are you?” A “Oh, no. No work for me when I'm on my vacation. Well, I'm going to-bed; and tomorrow morning I'll go out to Captain Barnes’ beach and have a good ewim. I’m no sailor, but I like water.” He honestly enjoyed swimming. Barly the next morning he was in the water, frolicking about as playfully as a boy. He had all the time in the world. Over his shoulder he saw two women wandering down toward the beach. Deeper he went, farther out. -He was a bold swimmer, but that did not prevent a sudden and violent attack Mrs. Barnes. She’s struck .one Where's th’ Barnes turned to his locker and rum- With blundering kindness the For three days Florence evinced not ard the New York. He proceeded at once to the apartment of the princess, where Braine declared that he himself would go to the obscure ‘village and claim Florence as his own child. But to insure absolute..success they would charter More's yacht and steam right up into the primitive harbor. When Vroon left the apartment Nor- ton saw him. He was a man of im- pulses, and he had found by experi- ence that first impulses afe’ generally the best. He did not know who Vroon was. Any man who called on the Princess Perigoff while Braine was with her would be worth following. On the other hand, Vroon recognized the reporter instantly and with that ever-ready and alert mind of his set about to lure the young man into a trap out of which he might not easily come, Norton decided to follow his man. He ntight be going on a wild-goose chase, he reasoned; etill his first im- pulses had hitherto served him well. He looked careworn. He was con- vinced that Florence was dead, despite the assertions of Jones to the con- trary. He had gone over all the mis- haps which had taken place and he was now absolutely convinced that his whilom friend Braine and the Princess Perigoff were directly concerned. Florence had either been going to or coming” from the apartment. And that memorable day of the abduction ‘the princess had been in the dry goods shop. Vroon took a downtown surface car, and Norton took the same. He sat huddled in a eorner, never suspecting that Vroon was watching him: from a corner,of his eye. Norton was not keen today. The thought of Florence kept running through his head. The car stopped and Vroon got off. He led Norton a winding course which at length ended at the door of a tene- ment building: Vroon entered. Nor- ton paused, wondefing what next to do, now that his man had reached his destination. Well, since he had fol- lowed him all this distance he must make an effort to find out who he was and what he was going to do. Cau- tiously he entered the hallway. As he was about to lay his hand on the newel post of the dilapidated stairs the floor dropped from under his feet and he was precipitated into the cellar. This tenement belonged to ‘the Black Hundred; it concealed a thou: sand doors and a hundred traps. Its history was as dark as its hallways. When Vroon and his companion, who had been waiting for him, de- scended into the cellar they found the reporter insensible. They bound, blind- folded, and gagged him quickly, “Saunders,” said Vroon, _“you® tell Corrigan that I've a sailor for him to- night, and, that I want this sailor booked for somewhefe south of the enough this time. You may or may | not come back alive. Go and bring around a taxi; some one you can trust. I'll dope the reporter while you're gone. A Long hours — afterward Norton <4 opened his aching eyes. He could harg. | ly move and his head bizzed abom. nably. What had happened? What | was the meaning of this slow rise anq 4 fall of his bed? Shanghaied? “Come out o’ that now, ye skulk. er!” roared a voice down the com. panionway. “Shanghaied!” the reporter mur. mured. He sat up aid ran through: his pockets. Not a sou-markee, not a match even; and a second glance told him that the clothes he wore were not his own. ‘“They’ve landed me this time. Shanghaied! What the devil am I going to do?” “Dye hear me?” bawled the stri- dent voice again. © Norton looked about desperately for some weapon of defense. He saw an engineer’s spanner on the floor by the bunk--across- the way, and with no small physical effort he succeeded in obtaining it. He stood up, his hand be- hind his back. , “All right, me bucko! down an’ git ye!” A pair of enormous boots began to appear down the compantonway, and there gradually rose up from them a man as wide as a church door and as deep as a well. : ‘ “Wait a moment,” said Norton, grip- ping the spanner. ‘Let us have a per- fect understanding right off the bat.” “We're going t’ have it, matey. Don’t ye worry. none.” Norton ratsed the spanner, and, dizzy as he was, faced this seafaring Hercules courageously. “I've been shanghaled, and you know it. Where are we bound?” “Copenhagen.” “Well, for a month or more you'll beat me up: whenever the opportunity offers. But I merely wish to warn you that if you do you'll find a heap of trou- ble waiting for you the next time you drop your mudhook in North Amer- TN come ‘| fea.” “Is that so?” said the giant, eying the spanner and the shaking hand that held it aloft. “It is, I'll take your orders and do the best I can, because you've got the upper hand. But, God is witness, you'll pay for every needless blow you strike. Now what do you want.me to do?” i “Lay down that spanner an’ come on deck, I'll tell ye what t’ do. i was goin’ t’ whale th’ daylights out o’ ye; t .t ye’re somethin’ av a man. Drop the spanner first.” Norton hesitated. As lithe as a tl- ger the bulk of a man sprang at him and crushed -him to the floor, wrench- ing away the spanner. Then the giant took Norton by the scruff of his neck and banged him up the. steps to the deck. "4 “I ain't goin’ t’ hurt ye. I hac t’ show ye that no spanner ever bothered Mike Bannock. Now, d’ know what a cook's galley is?” “I do,” said Norton, breathing hard. “Well, hike there an’ start in with peelin’ spuds, an’ don’t waste ‘em neither. That'll be all fer th’ present. Ye were due for a wallopin’ but I kinda like yer spunk.” So Jim stumbled down to the cook's gallery and grimly set to work at the potatoes. worse. But here he was, likely to be on the high seas for months, and no way of notifying Jones what had hap- It might have been far - pened. The outlook was anything but cheerful. But a vague hope awoke in his heart. If they were still after him sg it mot. signify that Florence ved. Meantime Braine had not been idle. According to Vroon the girl’s memory was in bad shape; so he had not the least doubt of bringing her back to New York without mishap. Once he had her there the game would begin in earnest. ceedingly well. He played his cards ex- Steaming up into the little fishing harbor with a handsome yacht in itself would allay any dis- truet. And he wore a capital disguise, too. Everything went well till he laid his hand on Florence's shoulder. She gave a startled cry and ran over to Barnes, clinging to him wildly. “No, no!” she cried. “Now what, my child?” asked the sailor. She shook her head. Her aversion was inexplicable. it. is your father?” “Come, my dear; can’t you see that Braine turned to the captain. “She has been like this for a year. Heaven knows. if she'll ever be in her right mind again,” sadly, “I was giving her an ocean voyage, with the kindest nurses pos- sible, and yet she jumped overboard. Come, Florence.” - j 5 8