Casper Daily Tribune Newspaper, January 29, 1917, Page 2

THE CASPER DAILY TRIBUNE GLORIAS * RDOMANCE- Oy Tic and Mrs. Rupert Hughes Picture Play of the oyna, 1910, by Adelade M. Hughes SYNOPSIS. Pierpont Gloria Doctor j Becoming le into the hands of t Gloria falls in love with her re neau. Five ye and meets Fre forgotten C€ suades her t t in the and I an ally. Fr She sees from upon him ia a de letter, co but her te cidentally » neau repor: to find the murderer of her lover. Royce | tells what he k of Freneau to Mr Stafford y ent scandal to pre from enve Gloria accuses them of conspiracy ag Gloria sets about to run dc derer. Royce warns Mulry to te nothing. ria calls on Mulry and also worried used. Royce enc difficulty she f sees Lois suspicions are a ors to show her the She meets Mulry wh sists on going to sees Mu 1 North. 8 captor, tt her that It rescuer at t court; she sees Mulry tramp who attacked Freneau. Freeman releases him. She f up me dance hall ¢ and is s his part- , follows her he attempts a rescue, calls down a riot on their, heads. The hall ts raided and the crowd, including Gloria p, are arrested and taken before The news rs feature Rep surround the with the “child jopt. She or wife to the af She follows Trask and lands to hear him accused of She confronts him; he ties him up and she arrives at imir nised arr! to ford home. on a houseboat Freneau's murder imprisons her, but she y sta, Yacht oria and the men pursue t parge. Trask fires on them as they near him, SEVENTEENTH EPISODE The Tell-Tale Envelope. Shots that are fired from guns do not often hit the people they are fired at. The coolest target puncturer grow: | excited when his target is a man, and | more excited when it is a woman. Gid- eon Trask was not an expert with the rifle. He had been crazy enough to tuke the life of Dick Freneau—to wring it out of him with his hands. He thought he had escaped detection un- til, with an appalling abruptness, Glo- ugh he did not know 1 him with the mur- had ria Stafford her der and d him commit He | ume—e 1 that she before her ver seen d not been quite crazy enough or quite wise enough to kill her then | and there when she was alone and ut nis mercy Ile thought to repair the consequences of his delay by shooting her down she reap “d with an armed f » at her back. So he fired at Gloria where she stood in front of the pilothouse demanding | his surrender. They told Gloria afterwards she was brave as a veteran and faced the as- sassin coolly. But she told the truth when she id that she was paralyzed with fenr, so frightened that she could not even show her fright. When the muzzle of Trask’s rifle spat at her, she heard the bullet sing | past her . SMe was already won- dering whether she were dead or alive, now name by George Kleine. ‘/ at full speed. | while |of the pilot jin wounding a same strike thwack. ; “He whether whe | The | got 1 She forgot Trask and whirled round ;to see the pilot fall across his own wheel. The yacht wavered and swerved in its course. Gloria was the u to the She had b | pupil of the pilot only a few minutes the next + she heard the first one lot grunted and mumble on pilothouse. ,-| before, She ran to him, lifted him 1- | uside and d the wheel by its pro Jecting spokes, Just in time to ke the yacht from crashing into the barge he made a sharp turn, the yacht swerved and ground along the side of the barge. Gloria mean- was alarmed more for the life than her own. She t gan to call “Stephen! Doctor Ryce But Doctor Royce was too busy to hear her call, His immediate Inter- est was not in a wounded man, but man. When he saw that Trask was alming his rifle ut Gloria again, his whole being thrilled with a ferocity unknown to him be- fore. To save Gloria from being hurt he would have massacred a hundred leaped aboard the canal barge before the deckhunds could make it fust. He sprang at Track and seized the rifle he held. He twisted it out of Trask's hands before he could fire a second shot. But he was pounced upon at once by Jed, who pinioned his flung him to the deck. captain of the yacht, following after Royce, laid hold of Jed and dragged him away before he could harm Royc But he left Royce supine on the deck, with Trask’s fatal clutch on his throat. arms and close Gloria, wondering at Royce's not an- swering her call, clung to the wheel ull she saw the cable fast, then she ran forward to the edge of the up- k and suw why he falled her. in the baleful clutch of Tras! , looking for a weapon of re: could find nothing but a life pre- server tied to a rope. She began to swing it about her head in circles of increasing diameter, like a lasso, It was revolving at a violent rate when it reached Trask. It sinote him side and dazed him into loosening his grip for just a moment. This long enough for Royce to shake fre and regain his feet. He hurled hi self at Trask, but Trask, seeing his victim erect and menacing, lost cour- e and ran, At the edge of the barge he slipped and sprawled. He would have fallen between the yacht and the barge into the river if the yacht had not swung alongside in time to catch him. It held him up, but it held him as in a giant lemon squeezer, and it squeezed his bone and flesh with drecdful force, Gloria saw the agony In Trask’s face und the sight was horrible. saw the yacht swing free ag Trask’s body dropped into the Wa-} ter. Now the life served as a weapon original purpose. Gloria threw it to Trask. Suffering as he was, he seized it automatically and hooked his elbow through it. Now Royce also reverted to his pur- pose as he knelt down and clutched at Trask's collar as Gloria hauled him in like a great fish. One of the deck- hands fended off the barge and the yacht and kept them from closing in aguin like scissors blades. Another preserver that had returned to its | however, deckhand nelped Royce drag Trask to the deck. He was heavy, and his agony seemed to increase upon him when the desperate necessity of swimming was over. He fainted the moment his drip- ping body was stretched out, and Doc- tor Royce had, as it were, to save his life twice, first to bring him back from the swoon of pain, and then to bring him back from the annihilation of his shattered machinery. | Meanwhile Jed was locked in a fe- | roctous -stle with the captain of Pierpont’s yacht, who called the en- gineer to his As the enginec j told Pierpont, had to knock him I conld knock any 1 Tras} who had She Began to Swing It. turned from one battle to another, tearing now at Royce and now at the captain, recovered from the stupor with which she had watched her fa- ther’s disaster and, leaping over to the | of me, sir, | as he touched the yacht, knelt by him, calling to him} with wild appeals and threatening | Royce as his slayer. Gloria came running down from the upper deck and stood gazing at the re- sult of her work with utter dismay. Trask was crushed and perhaps killed. Jed was unconscious, and Nell seemed to have gone out of her mind. Gloria felt that her head was cov- ‘d with blood guilt. The sobs of Nell were heart-breaking. Gloria for- got all her resentments against Nell and her father. She forgot that Nell had kept her prisoner. She saw only that Nell was a motherless daughter who saw her father dying. She caught the girl in her arms, held her in spite of her resistance, mur- muring: “Forgive me, you poor child! It's all my fault, but we won't let your futher die. Doctor Royce is a splendid physictan, He saved my life. He will save your father’s. You can trust him Nell also forgot all other emotions in that ene necessity for hope. She turned eyes of prayer on Doctor Rayce und beat him on the shoulder with im- ploring hands, urging him to bring her father baek. It was not Royce, but, doubtless, nature that brought Trask back to consciousness. Royce re- ceived the credit and the gratitude, when Trask’s eyes opened and his tertured lips moved. Nell and Gloria were overjoyed at the miracle, but Royce was the more alarmed the more he studied Trask’s body with fingers searching every- where and finding everywhere the hints of broken bones and internal lacerations, He pretended none the less to be confident, for the sake of all three, k and Nell and Gloria. A bucket of water restored Jed reughly to what wits he had. He came up yelling, as if the fight had not been interrupted. They had to tie him up to keep him from continuing the war. It had taken this much time for the tugboat to round upon its course and come alongside the barge. The crew had watched the scrimmage with im- patient envy. ‘They caine aboard now ready for carnage. They were armed with weapons of every sort, and with zest for blood. The yacht crew gath- ered itself to meet the onset of these re-enforcements. Now came the opportunity of Pier- pont Stafford to use some of the heay- lest artillery of battle—finance. He was too old and too little used to fi cuffs to attack roustabouts with blow for blow. He put up the shield of his pocketbook. The captain of the tug- boat led his little army forward in a wedge, demanding with tugboat em- phasis: “What kind of pirates are youse, anyhow, and what you beatin’ up the old man fur? For two cents 'd—” Pierpont answered: “That's what I want to know. What | would you do for two cents?” | “I'd trow de whole bunch of youse | into de river,” “I see," said Pierpont, “and what would you charge not to?” This stumped the captain. He could not quite make out Pierpont’s drift. As he pondered, Pierpont gave him a chance to look into the depths of a wallet full of bills of a size and num- ber that had not been seen hitherto in his circle. Pierpont kept moving the bills under the tugboat captain's very nose. They had the effect of cat- nip to a cat. The captain began to purr, also to reach out for the money. “Let us understand the transaction, said Pierpont. “This man Trask is wanted on a serious charge. He had escaped from the jurisdiction of Judge Freeman. He was probably bound for Canada, I happened to have steam up yacht, so I came after him. I'll him back and deliver him to the You tuke the ba on up the ju river and deliver it to the consignee. Is sment?” sreement, sir,” said the I'm took care of that the agr That's th “pervidin’ nut two bills. stand fo asked in only count up to for a hundred,” Pierpont vo C's will, just about take care sid the captain. As soon bill he touched his bat, called his crew back to the tug and set forth once more on his twice Interrupted cruise. Pierpont ordered Jed released to care for the barge. He asked Nell to go with him, but she pre- ferred to stay with her father, at Glo- ria’s invitation. ‘Il was sullen Gloria was neither sentful. She would have thot of Nell if she had been too ¢€ cated by her father's per: Trask was no more responsive to Royce’s ministrations. He was be- wildered with pain and terrified b his captivity. He was as little grate- ful as a lion that has been trapped and bound. To Royce he was doubly a mystery, both as a patient and as a criminal. If he were guilty of murdering Fre- neau, then his life belonged to the state, and it was Royce’s curious duty, ns a citizen physician, to save Trask’s life so that the state might take it. Royce had done what he could to keep Gloria from investigating the murder. He had lied to her, knowing that Freneau had been killed by some person from some motive unknown to Gloria, but nor re- ht less with sur rise: him. He had told Gloria that her ac- count of witnessing the murder was only a deliriun He had lost her con- fidence and her respect, and they were precious to him. He did not know that Gloria was tormented by a dual emotion toward him, one of suspicion and rancor, one of gratitude and af- fection. Gloria was helpless in the quarrel of her emotions. She could neither love nor hate Royce perfectly, neither trust nor distrust him. While Gloria was at a little distance Royce was questioning Trask in a low tone, trying to persuade him to speak the truth, warning him that he might not have a long opportunity to un- bosom himself of his crime. But Trask’s mouth, distorted with suffering, was also twisted with a sneer of hate. He would not even answer Royce’s ques- tions, Pierpont had drawn Gloria to one side, and he said: “Well, now that you've got your man, what are you go- ing to do with him?” “Find out why he killed Dick,” Glo- ria said, “and then turn him over to the police.” “In spite of all the publicity?” Pier- Pont asked. “In spite of all the publicity,” said Gloria. : Pierpont gave up the fight. He loathed the prospect of a newspaper scandal, but if it had to come, he must brace himself to endure it. He had done all that he could legitimately do, and more than that, to thwart the po- lice, and now that the necessities of the law compelled him to give the law the right of way or suffer the con- sequences. He resolved to turn Trask over to Judge Freeman as a rep- resentative of the law and let the judge assume the future responsibility. When the yacht reached the country house at length, Pierpont sought for Judge Freeman. He had left the house. Pierpont would have sent Trask on after him, but he was too weak to be moved farther. Besides, Royce was insistent in giving Trs.sk the full bene- fit of his medical and surgical knowl- edge, and asked for a guest room to lodge him in, Now Trask was stupefied indeed. He had expected that his enemies would throw him into a prison cell, And they had installed him in a luxurious nre of you?” | The Fight on the Barge. chamber in a palace. And his daugh- ter was established in an adjoining room whose fittings would have satis- fied a princess, They almost terrified the r habitant of a canzl boat. » decided to motor into the city to fetch his surgical instruments and bring out his assistant. While he was gone Gloria stole into Trask’s room to question him, but he had passed into a state between sleep and coma, and she dared not trouble him. She found that Nell had fallen asleep, too, worn out with emotions of every sort. Glo- ria stole away to her own room. She was tired out, too. She felt that she was on the brink of discoveries that would mean everything to her, She was a little afraid of them. She paused at her window, and, see- ing Doctor Royce Just stepping into his car, she mused on him. He was aon increasingly interesting mystery to her, very much at her beck and call in some ways, and absolutely beyond her control in others, He looked back and waved his hand. She thought he waved to her and she answered his salute. Then she saw that he was signaling to someone else and had not seen her. It was a wom- an he was signaling to, for he lifted his hat. Gloria wondered who it was, and felt an odd quirk of jealousy. It needled her like a stitch in the side. She would have felt a sharper stab if she had known that Doctor Royce was waving at Lois. Lois was with Casimir’s wife, reading to her and com- forting the sick woman as best she could. The sight had startled Doctor Royce, as much as it pleased him. The wild and ruthless Lois had given up her perilous intrigues, indeed, if she could give herself to the monot- ony of ministering to the lonely and the sick and take pleasure and pride in such service as a substitute for a social lawlessness that had made her hateful In Royce’s eyes. As he rode on into the city he felt a great elation, He was not a relig- ious man, but he loved a wholesome, healthful soul as well as a body that was clean and well. He had kept Gloria from learning of Lois’ affair with Freneau for Gloria’s own sake. Now he believed that under cover of the deception Lois’ own soul had been enabled to redeem itself. He felt that Lois had earned the right to have back the letters she had sent to Freneau. Whether she would wish to destroy them or keep them as a reminder and warning from her evil Royce Questioned Trask in a Low Tone, past, they belonged to her and to no one else. Certainly Royce had no fur- ther use for them. When he reached his office and gath- ered up his instruments he took the package of letters from the safe and put them in his pocket. Then he re- turned to the motor and sped back to the Stafford country home. It was a long ride and he was trov- bled about many things, about Gloria’s determination to probe into the se- crets that could mean only a cruel dis- illusionment for her, about the chances for Trask’s recovery, and the dangers that threatened the Staffords if the newspapers or the police learned with what Independence of the law the pris- oner Trask had been captured and held. He wondered at his own con- nivance in the matter, and he shud- dered to think how many lilegal acts are constantly committed by the most respectable people. When he reached the Stafford es- tate he stopped the driver of his car and got out, telling the man to take the case of instruments up to the house. Roce had seen Lols strolling about the lawn in a mood of solemnity. He felt that the time was appropriate for the surrender of the letters. He wondered if he had the right to de- liver them over to her. Yet he knew that he had no right to keep them. It seemed that he had so tangled him- self in the net of the Freneau affair that anything soever he did was bound to be wrong. He hurried to Lois and called to her. She turned to him sadly and weakly. He knew too much about her for to face him without shame. He brought a little smile of relief to her along witha swift blush of guilt when he said: “Lois, I have decided to give hack to you the letters you sent to Freneau. I read only one of them, and I have forgotten, I think, what it said. I think you have earned them back, and I advise you to burn them up at the first opportunity.” He took the long envelope from his pocket and her hand was just moving forward to take it when he saw her blush vanish in a flash of pallor. “My husband!” she whispered. Royce thrust the envelope back in his pocket just before he felt David's hand on his shoulder and turned to look into David's smile of comradeship. Royce had to play-nct with all his might to pretend a cheer that he was far from feeling. Once more the loath- some phase of deceit was uppermost. He could not control himself under David's eyes and he made an excuse to move on. “I was looking for Gloria,” he said. “She's over by the marble pool,” Da- vid answered. Royce moved on, know- ing that he was watched. He did not want to meet Gloria with those letters in his pocket, but he must go on with the role. Gloria seemed a figure in a painting as she stood at the edge of the blue water in its white frame, with the for- mal shrubbery and the graceful colon- nade back of her. The boy Stas was on one knee at her feet. He was sail- ing a tiny sloop on the tiny ocean, As soon as Gloria saw Royce she beckoned to him with a cordiality that she regretted at once, remembering that someone else had waved to him before. Having just seen him speak to Lois, she felt sure that it was to Lois that he had waved when he left the house. When Stas saw Doctor Royce he left the sloop to its fate and ran whooping to him. Royce caught the child in his hands and tossed him high, then brought him to the level of his shoul- der for a hug and kiss. He loved chil- dren and children loved him. He did not notice that the little groping hands of Stas had happened on the envelope full of Freneau's let- ters and lifted it stealthily from his pocket. When he set the boy’s feet on the ground again Stas ran away, brandishing the envelope and challeng- ing Royce to a game of tag. Royce's heart bounded with alarm. If the child had carried a stick of dy- namite in his hand it would hardly have been more dangerou8> “Give me the letter, my boy,” Royce said, putting out his hand. Stas laughed and ran a little farther eff. Royce followed, demanding. The more anxious Royce was the more Stas liked the game. Royce was in mortal terror lest the letters fall from the envelope and somehow Gloria would learn their na- ture. / He made a dash for Stas. Stas whisked behind a juniper and circled it. Royce chased him through a clump — of rhododendrons, Gloria began to laugh and encour- age Stas. At length Royce made a frantic rush for the boy, and Stas, growing breathless, made for Gloria's arms and flung himself Into them, pant- ing: “Take it! take it! take it! quick!” He placed the envelope in Gloria’s hands. She was about to return it to