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An Idol of the Stage Enters Into a Triangular Battle of Wits, as Gray Ghost Is Found. H IMMY PELHAM folded the news- paper, propped it precariously against the coffeepot and read again the article that had at- fgacted his attention “FAMOUS DETECTIVES SEVER RELATIONS. “James Pelham, one-time million- aire and amateur detective, but more recently a declared professional op- ponent of crime, and former Police Lieutenant Jerry Tryon, head of the private detective agency which bears his name, have formally announced their separation. “Police circles will be Interested in the news, as will the general public and the Gray Ghost, the arch-criminal | who for years has avolded the clutches of the police of all the world, will probably be elated. No reason is given for the.withdrawal of Mr. Pel- ham from the Tryon agency. Mr. Tryon refused to be Interviewed ves- terday. and Mr. Pelham could not be located. “There was another rumor in circu- lation around ity hall which in- timated that his honor Is coniemplat- | ing asking for the resignation of the commisstoner and will offer the place to Mr. Pelham. Politicians_maincain that this would be a wis 3 Dickenson, the former Maine guide who was Pelham’s confidential man of all work, entered the room “Read the Star. Dickenson,” Pelham said, handing the editorfal to the lean woodsmar Dickenson 1 it dered. he stared at his employer. ain't true, is 112" he demanded ma now rea slowly “That I'm to be police commission- | The job hasn't been offered me, Pelham about or? 1eplied “I mean not doing Dickenso “Oh, that." F ter. “Yes; agencs State of Maine people do not ms good nts. They maintain an in- dependence #rks their employers. “I think you're makin’ a fool play.” declared Dickin- =on Pelham's face and Mr together,” I've quit the hardened. but the ringing of the telephone postponed the reply to impertinence. Dickenson the room and answered the s for you. Mr. Pelham,” he Tryon talking.” Imost snatched the receiv- hand of the surprised Pelham n the son said into the ) you want? *xox ox £NSON had become devoted to D his mas But he also iiked and admired Jerry Tryon. And it grieved him that these two men should be blind to thew swn best interests and Guarrel. And they were quarreling. Jimmy Pelham was using a tone of voice that would have justified Tryon in striking him had the ex-lieutenant been pres- ent in person. Of course, the Maine guide conld not hear Tryon's speech, Lut after a moment’s pause, Pelham spcke again “You say that's your last word Well, you listen to mine. She's of age, her own bBss and she likes me. I'm not going to marry her. and fifty vncles couldn't make me. She's not a child, and neither am 1. ,You speak 10 me again this way and I'll thrash you within an inch of vour life!” He jammed the recelver upon the hook end turned to Dickenson. “What were you saving a while ago?" he demanded “I said you was making a fool play,” answered Dickenson with spirit. “Now 1 ain't sure, after listenin' to you, that it ain’t a skunk play.” Slim, alert, Pelham stared at the sinewy figure of his servant. Fire flashed in his eves. Then he turned on inis heel. “You're fired, Dickinson, he declared. “The servant Pelham smiled contemptuously. “Call it what you will, but see that you're out of here by tomorrow." “Suits me,” said the other. But there were reluctant tears in his shrewd gray eyes as he cleared away the breakfast things. He'd fished with Mr. Pelham, and found him a good sportsman. He'd slept beneath the same blankets, and had drunk out of the same cup. Dickenson thought he knew men. He had set Jimmy Pel- bam down as the finest gentieman that he had ever known. Darn wom- en! Tacy'd ruin any man x ko ¥ ELHAM did not visit the offices of the Tryon agency this day. He left s rooms shortly afier breakf: lunched at his club, spent the after- noon playing bridge, dined there played some more bridge, and at about a quarter to 11 stepped into a taxi ordered for him by the doorman and drove to the Regal Theater. The last of the audience had teft the biflding when Pelham rived. le walked down the alley that led (o the stage door. The door- tender recognized him and nermitted him to enter. Pelham mounted the circular iron stalrcase and on the first landing knocked upon the door of the dressing ropm of Miss Stacy Legendre, the petite and vivaclous premiere danseuse of “The Nightingale,” the extremely successful attraction at the Jegal. telephone: “Well, Iam! Just r- Bewil- | It rvon | said | of spirit that sometimes | and his voice breathed fire | I resign,” said the | | A mulatto maid opened the door a| trifie and peered through the crack, then threw open the door Within the dressing room a pert- faced young lady snifted a pair of re- markably attractive black eyes from the mirror above her dressing tabla to the presentable young-old visitor. She extended a white hand. - “Well, old thing. you're late this evening. Usually vou're here. battering at my door, before the audience has de- parted. It seems to me that your love's grown cold.” “On the contrary.” grinned Pelham, "t grows more torrid every day. Toesn't it embolden me to defy your willy old uncle?” The girl cast a quick glance at her maid. But the maid, busied with put- tng away costumes, apparently was paylng no attention. “What does Uncie Jerry say today?' the dancer wsked. “The usual thing,” replied Pelham. His tone was hard. “He'll find him- self in a lot of trouble If he isn't careful.” Vow, listen, Jimmy,” said the girl quickly. “I won't have you fighting with him.* Pelham shrugged. | | am’s volce was bit- | Tryon | “YOU ARE STILL DESPERATE, MR. PELHAM,” SAID THE GRAY GHOST, cloak about her shoulders. Pel- put the maid aside and cloak himself. Also, |he furtively embraced the dancer's Hithe waist. The maid saw the caress, "nnd her white teeth gleamed * % % % PL‘ severed a business had been extremely profitable, seemed quite unconcerned. And, for a man mentioned by rumor as a pos- sible of police, he seemed quite careless of public opin- ion, not that there was anything par- ticularly unconventional in supping at a fashionable after-theater danc- ing place | Until a reluctant management dis- | missed Its guests, Miss Legendre and | Pelham remained ed, riding home on West 50th street. Pelham dismissed the chauffeur and accom- panied the young woman to her apart- |ment. Leaving the elevator at the fourth floor, the dancer handed Pel- ham a key. He unlocked the door of her apartment, reached a hand into the hall, pressed an electric-light switch, and stepped aside for her to precede him. Thus it was that she saw first the stocky figure of her uncle, standing in the center of her tiny drawing room. “Uncle Jerry!" she screamed. Pelham, closing the door, wheeled and brushed by her. Ten feet apart, the two men glared at each other. “I warned you,” said Tryon thickly. From her bedroom at the far end of the hall, the dancer's cook, alarmed by her mistress' scream, came run- ning, dr ed only in a nightgown and a blanket thrown across her houlde Standing in the doorway that led | from the entrance hall to the little drawing room, her hands gripping the sides of the door frame, the dancer glanced over her shoulder at the ser- vant, “I'm afraid,” she whispered. The buxom cook peered intd |a | ham gently fastened the LHAM, for a man who had just relation that commissioner in a taxi the | room. | know vou warned me,” Pelham was saying, “and I also warned you. TI've had enouzh of this nonsense.” And T've had enough of your trick: growled Tryon. “If my niece hasn't sense enough to protect her reputation, I'll protect it for her. You get out of this room, out of this apart- ment, out of this building!” Pelham’s thin lips curled in a sneer. “And if T don't?" “I'll throw you out,” snarled Tryon. Pelham looked at the dancer. orry. Stacey he told her. ‘But I think we've stood enough—- “Don’t, Jimmy,” she pleaded. Pelnam turngd to Tryon, “For your niece's sake, I'll treat you better than you 114 you'll leave deserve. | quietiy— ‘You puppy,” cried Tryon He leaped forward as he spoke. The dancer screamed; the fat cook drew the blanket across her eyes. There as a moment of struggle in the draw- ing room; then Pelham went down. He fired from the floor. For & min- ute Tryon stared stupidly down at Ris former friend; his hand went waver- ingly to his breast and came away stained. He looked at the hand for a moment, then slumped to the floor. Stacy Legendre rushed to his side. And as Tryon fell, Pelham leaped to his feet. He was through the door and past the cook before she could make any effort to stop him. He ran down four flights of stairs to the lobby, and thence to the street. ... * ok ok ok HE Tryon-Pclbam shooting affair occurred after the editions of the morning papers had gone to press, but the evening papers carried the story. It made a most sensational feature. Probably more than a mjllion people read the afternoon editions, and prob- ably the most interested reader was the man to whom reference was made in every other paragraph of every story. Thin almost to the point of emacia- tion, the Gray Ghost seemed, at first glance, like one upon the threshold of death. Gray-skinned, gray-haired, and even dressed in gray, that im- pression of.neutrality, of having no further concern with life, was ban- ished once one looked fairly into the smoldering depths of the sunken gray eyes. Despite his evident age and his ap- “I don’t want to | parent weakness, here was force, un- quarrel with the old man, Stacy; but, |limited and unrepressed. after all, one has one's limits. “Don’t let them become limitations, Jimmy,” advised the dancer. He sat now, on the evening of this day whose dawn had witnessed the Her | tragic termination of the long al- face, serious for a moment, relaxed |liance between Pelham and Tryon, almost instantly into its usual ex- |studying each edition of the newspa- pression of merriment. She rose and |pers as they were brought to him, permitted the mulatto maid to place [seeming to read between the lines, to Then they depart- | to thé dancer's | DAY STAR, WASHINGTON; D. (. JUNE remiere Danseuse than was printed. He sat in the solidly furnished 1i- brary on the second floor of a house Waverley Place. Aside from the malevolent fires in his he | seemed like some feeble old gentle- man, rspectably placed, comfortably well off, who kept up an interest in the doings of a world from which age had retired him. The manservant who noked the logs in the fireplace evoked thoughts of ancient manor houses in England. His very sideburns were guarantees of respectability. He was a criminal, differing only in degree from his master, yet he ad- hered to the fiction of master and ser- vant even when there was no other person present. The master, having read the last of the newspapers, ordered the ser- vant to admit a man who waited out- side. The Gray Ghost forced an un- willing smile to his thin lips. “Well, Beagle?" he said. Beagle nodded in the ‘direction of the newspaper which the Gray Ghost had put aside upon the entrance of his follower. “I't's all stralght” he announced. “Tell me what you ordered the Gray Ghost Beagle looked at his master, “We've kept & watch on both Tryon and Pel- ham every minute of the day and night.” The Gray patiently. you to.” | Something of the natural man in | Beagle, usually subordinated to his awe of his master, crept through his mask of reserve. “And we've had a dozen chances to bump them both oft, he sald aggrievedly. The Gray Ghost “You don't on eyes, Ghost ‘I know gestured im- that; I ordered smiled coldly. respect our friends as much as T do,” he safd. don't doubt that as many opportunities have presented themselves, but you would not have accepted them." “I'm not a killer,” muttered Beagle. “Exactly,” sald the Gray Ghost “We have no difficulty in finding men who, in the course of business, will kill. But the only sort who will start out deliberately to murder are men of so violent natures that they are untrustworthy.” “We've had men commit suicide rather than be captured and give us away,” declared Beagle. “You have no understanding,” said the Gray Ghost. “That is true; those men preferred death to imprisonment Had 1 asked one of those men to commit a deliberate killing he would have refused, Killing to avold cap- ture, self-destruction for the same reason, killing to Insure success of one of our plans—they are all dif- ferent from deliberate murder. Not only can I not hire such men and have any assurance of thelr discretion, but I do not wish to. I am no gangster, Beagle. Iam a gentleman.” “Just the same, if we'd taken a chance and nicked Pelham and Tryon a few months ago, we'd be a million to the good,” argued Beagle. * % % * HE Gray Ghost smiled once more. You have my permission to at- tend to Tryon whenever you choose. As for Pelham—go on," he ordered peremptorily. “Well, he was followed to the apartment of Stacy Legendre last night. Also Tryon was followed there. He arfived before Pelham and the girl. About ten minutes after Pelham arrived he beat it from the house in & hurry. He went home, but he came out again in five minutes, carrying a suit case. He took a taxi to the Grand Central; he pald his driver, went into the station, came out a little later in another car. He drove to the Burchard Hotel, reg- istered under the name of Thomas Wentworth of Boston, went to a room, changed his clothes, and slipped out half an hour later. He went to & public telephone booth jn an all-night drug store. We don't know what number he called, but from his ex- cited manner, Hendry, who was fol- lowing him at that moment, now sur- mises that he telephoned Miss Legen- dre's apartment”, No surmis Gray Ghost. Beagle flushed. “He went from there to & lunchroom, ate & break- fast, and then took & ride in the sub- way. He spent over two hours riding around underground, apparently just killing tim: At about 7 o'clock He went to a cheap clothing store on 8d avenue, and bought a few things. He'd left his bag at the Burchard. At a drug store he bought a tooth- {brush and other incidentals. Carry- ing his purchases with him, he went to a rooming house on bth. street. Evidently. he went to bed“and stayed there until late this afternoon. Then he went out, had dinner in'a restau- please, pa . o iy | | gather from the printed page more | rant on 6th avenue and went back to |Overlooked the most important thing | the rooming house. He's there now, | or was there fifteen minutel ago.” “Very good work.” sald the Gray Ghost. “What else “You telephoned me at $ this morn- ing,” said Beagle. “You told me that Kernan had learned that there -was | a general alarm out for Pelham. T got | halt a dozen men on the J6b at once. By the way, sir, I think Kernan is pretty reckless. He ought not to telephone you from police headquar- ters. If one hint ever got out that you had a man in the detective bureau . | “Kernan didr hone from | there. Go on.” said the Gray Ghost “I sent Zensler out-to round up the maid of Miss Legendre,” Beagle con-.| tinued. “Zensler posed as a reporter. The mald was loyal to her mistress until he flashed a century note. Then she loosened up. She sald that she had overhead Tryon scolding her mis tress for accepting Pelham's atten- tions. In the dressing room last night the mald heard Pelham say that Tryon would get into trouble If he wasn't careful. “I sent Elsle Landon to call on Dr. Wetherby. You-see, I'd had Ferguson- &0 to Miss Legendre's apartment house. He couldn’t get to the cook— the police were there—but he got in touch with the night telephone opera- tor and learned that Wetherby had been sent for immediately after the shooting. “Elsle acquired an obscure ailment that necessitated a long examination. She found out that Tryon was shot through the left lung, and probably will die. “I went myself to Pelham's apart- “I ALONE CAN PROTECT YOU. anaj MISS STACY LEGENDRE SHIFTED A PAIR OF REMARKABLY AT- TRACTIVE BLACK EYES FROM THE MIRROR TO THE PRE- SENTABLE YOUNG-OLD VISITOR. ment. T pretended to be an insurance solicitor. I -found that two plain- clothes men were there. I couldn't get to Dickenson, his servant.” LR R % 'HE Gray Ghost nodded. “That's all right. Kernan sent word that Pelham and Tryon had quarreled over the telephone. The police got that out of Dickenson. Had a lot of trou- ble making that fellow talk, too. Go on.” “I went to Pelham's bank: I recog- nised plain-clothes men there. Of course they might have been there for some other reason. The Gray Ghost nodded. “Prob- ably not. - Trying to stop him from drawing funds. What efse?” Beagle shook his head: *“Why, douldn’t think of anything el - The Gray Ghost laughed mockingly- “Couldn’t -think of anything elss; eh? 1 3 of all, Well, I've attended to the matter myself." “Well, 1 don't see how there could be anything else. I don't understand why vou had us do all this, anyway,” grumbled Beagle Of course you would never occur James Pelham is an extraordinari brilliant man,” said the Gray Ghost “What's his brilliahce got to do with his shooting his partner in a row over a girl?" demanded Beagle. Thé Gray Ghost tilted his head back as though he were some hound upon | the scent. “That, Beagle, is exactly the question that I have been asking myself since early this morning.” His manner changed, from some- thing akin to ennul to alertness. “Get Pelham,” he ordered. “Bring him here. If you've been able to tra him, there's no reason why the police should not be able to do the same thing.” He pulléd hfs chair nearer to his table and reached for some papers. Beagle accepted his dismissal reluc- tantly. “Suppose he won't come? “Tell him that you will inform the | nearest policeman where James Pel- ham may be found.” said the chief. Beagle was soon. at the Sth street rooming house where ~Petham had | taken refuge. It was a shabby place, run by a suspiclous-seeming woman. Beagle showed the woman a badge upon his walistcoat. “I'm from the detective bureau. You let- a room this morning to & thin, partly bald man, who wore a blue suit and a gray felt hat. Show me t6 his room.”" don't; it probably to you that Mr. is is | “Go there yourself,” snapped the; landlady. “Second floor back.” Beagle mounted the stajrs and| knocked upon Pelham's door.. “Come in,” said Pelham. Beagle entered. asked. He found himself looking into the muzzle of a pistol, the same one lhul' Pelham had fired earlier that day. “Step right inside, close the door, stand against that wall, and don't cpapt Your mouth,” snapped Pelham. Beagle obeyed the first two injunc- tions, and then smiled at Pelpam. “I'm not from headquarters. I'm from the Gray Ghost,”” he said, Slowly Pelham lowered the muzzle of his pistol. ' “What does he want ‘with me?” he demanded harshly. Beagle shrogged. “How do I kmow? “Mr, Pelham?" he | But® he said -that if you didn't come | tightly an | Mr. Pelham 1923—PART 5 L' Vs WILL YOU PAY THE PRICE OF SAFETY?” to tell you that there would b an here in five minute Who's going to get him? Do you think I'm going to let you go?” cried a po- | Pelham. “I have a car outside. The chauf- feur will summon a policeman in just two minutes. What are you going to countered Beagle. thirty seconds Pelham stared him. “I'm going with you," he said. His alr of resignation, of de- spai1. would have surprised the people who knew him only as a jaunty op- timist Beagle held out his hand. the gun,” he said. Pelham hesitated a second; then hé surrendered his weapon, picked up his hat from the dingy bed on which it ay, and followed Beagle to the street. He entered the car with the Gray Ghost's emissary. Onve irside, Beagle adjusted metal blinds that covered the windows, so that no view of the street through which they at “Give me | passed could be cbtained Nor did he encourage talk :n the hour's ride that tollowed. a ride that covered twenty miles of the city's streets, and yet finally deposited the passengers less than half a mile from their starting point. As a further precaution, Bea- gle insisted upon blindfolding Pelham Lefore they left the car. The bandage was not removed until Pelham was standing in the library of the Gray Ghost's home. * ok x % HE lights dazzled his eves for a moment, and he shut them quickly. When he reopened them he was able to see more clearly. Then he saw distinctly. And he looked upon the features of the man whom he had sworn to capture “We meet again, Mr. Pelham,” sald the Gray Ghost. “After ten years, we meet again” He was older, infinitely older, than he had been on that day, vears ago, when he had, as Mr. Peter Ballantyne, chartered the yacht which Pelham then possessed. This, of course, Pel- ham did not know. He was looking upon the Gray Ghost for the first time. But, though he had never seen him before, he had heard him de- scribed and from the description knew the man. “We never met before,” he replied. The Gray Ghost's lips curled. “In the flesh neve, but in the spirit many times. You have been a source of great trouble to me, Mr. Pelham.” “I hoped to send you to jall—to the electric chair,” growled Pelham. “And now you may go to one or both places yourself,” said the Gray Ghost. Pelham started. me here for that.” “No? Then why?" asked the Gray Ghost. “How do I kmow? To gratity a cheap desire for triumph, perhaps. Or perhaps—but that's silly.” “What's silly?” agked the Gray Ghost. Pelham passed a hand over his hag- gard features. *“To make terms. Qnly I'm not in a position to make terms. Not since last night. That's what's silly—my forgetting.” “Still, I must have had a reason,” sald the Gray Ghost. “And you do not belittle me in your thought by crediting me with a cheap desire for triumph. Not really.” “Well, what do you want.” The Gray Ghost leaned forward. “I want you, Mr. Pelham. I never hoped to enlist a gentleman. I must do with such cattle as Beagle, here.” He look- ed scornfully at his chief lieutenant. “I want a man of imagination, of genius such as you have shown you possess. I need such a man, Mr. Pel- ham. Your rash infatuation for a girl has ruined you. Your world can know you no longer. Will you come to my world?" “Turn criminal?”’ Pelham stared at him. “You're mad,” he cried. “Think of prison; think of the elec- thic chair., And then think of free- dom; think ‘of life. What do you say, You didn't bring “I say no,” replied Pelham. " “Yet you came here with Beagle. Why? I'll tell you why: because you were desperate. But you are still des- prate. hide you, can save you. Will you pay the price of safety? -Of courss you say no now. but tomorrow—let us wait until tomorrow, Mr. Pelham. Unless vou are certain you will not change and wish me to send for the police now.” Pelham stared at him. ‘“Let me— think it over,” he said slowly. * ¥ k%X VER the Gray Ghost's wrinkled features spread a smile of tri- umph._ It vanished as his' butler | read it. 1 alone can protect you, can, carrying a telegram. He lald it upon the Gray Ghost's table and departed. The Gray Ghost picked it up and The smile that had been in- terrupted returned to his lips, with malevolent cruelty added. He spoke to Beagle: “Beagle, 1 told you that you had overlooked the most important thing of all. And you ask me what Mr. Pelham's brilliance had to do with his shooting of his partner in a quarrel Gver a girl. Beagle, Miss Stacy Le- gendre was born, as any newspaper file would Inform you, in Suntown, Mo. Suntown Is not far from St. Louls, and T have agents there. The young lady lived there until she was eighteen. Let me read you this tele- gram: “‘Young woman you mention of French-Canadian descent; only living relatives mother and grandmother; toth residing here. They state she {has no uncle in New York.' “That's the important thing you overlooked, Beagle. The other thing, your question—watch him Beagle!" But Beagle did not need the warn- ing; a revolver had appeared in his band before the Gray Ghost had finished reading the telegram, and Pelham knew better than to move. The Gray Ghost smiled malevo- lent! “Beagle wanted to know, Mr. Felham—but you heard me repeat his question. 'Here's the answer: only a brilliant man would have conceived the idea of pretending to become a way to me. At least, only an ex- traordinarily brilllant man would bave conceived this particular plan. I congratulate you, Mr. Pelham, and I regret that the association for realized. But no falsehood can suc- cessfully impersonate a truth- for long. You had a weak spot in your plan, Mr. Pelham.” Pelham stared at him. He wonder- ed if ever any one would succeed in mastering the genius of crime who sneered at him now. His elaborate pretense of a love affair with Stacy Legendre, who had been persuaded through promises of great publicity to pose as Tryon's niece; his realistic quarrel with Tryon: his planting e dence of the bad feeling between Try- on and himself with servants; the en- gaging of doctors and hospital au- thorities and certain police officials to criminal himself in order to win his | which I had hoped can never be assist in the pretense of a murder- F you are afraid take courage, statisticians in the weather bu- Teau say that only about 0 persons are killed a year in the United States from these fiery darts, which means with our present Dop- ulation that the chances are about 220,000 to 1 that you will escape this fate. of lightning, nature may do, but scientists have been able to keep tab on her and her pranks and find out her tastes, and though lightning is likely to strike any place they have found that she hits cows oftener than people, barns oftener than houses, country dwell- ings oftener than city homes, trees at the edge of a wood more frequent- ly than those In the thick of it, oaks oftener than maples, and human be- ings out-of-doors oftener than those who are.in the house. There are certain sensible precau- tlons for people to heed in a thunder- storm, most of them, however, ferent from the superstitions which have been handed down in many fami- lies. Therefore, do mnot folloy the footsteps of your grandmother and jump into a feather bed, believing it will keep you “from being struck and It is useless to hide vour scis- sors and steel knives, thinking they will draw the lightning, for you can judge how futile are such precau- tions in influencing in any way, either to bar the progress or attract from its path such a tremendous force as lightning, since the flash which kills ranges from 200 feet to a mile in length and is of 50,000 horsepower. * ok ok K l\( ANY people believe it is “fiy- ing in the face of Providence"” to stand by, an open window in a thunderstorm, and perfectly safe to rematn there if the window is closed The facts in the case are that it is immaterial whether the window Is open or closed and the only reason for keeping away from a window Is that i the lightning does strike that side of the house it will enter the window as the point of least resist- ance, the thin sheet of glass, of course, counting for little in the path ot a powerful force llké a thunder- bolt. Doorways for the same reason, are well to avoid, not however, in order to keep away from “drafts, for lightning does not drift with the wind, as does smoke, its forkings fol- lowing the strata of air having the greatest relative humidity, and there is no evidence that the motion of the alr currents affects it at all. The weather bureau scientists ad- vise people to keep away from chiri- neys and open fireplaces, for a chim- ney, being the tallest object on the house, it Is the path the lightning is most likely to take. 2 They also pronounce as dangerous a position inside the ‘house near a wall to which a wire' clothesline is attached outside. Another place to avold is between two good-sized metal objects, as an iron sink and a radiator, or between either of these and a downspout, for in seeking an outlet to the ground lightning has a tendency to jump between two such metallic bodies. An especially dangerous place is right underneath a hanging lamp or electric lamp globe hung from the celling by a chain. Lightning may follow the chain and then jump off. Your safest place is in the cellar, especially if it is deep and damp, somewhere near the walls—remem- bering to avold a place.between the furnice and a metallic object. | Wood, stonme, brick and stucco Rouses are equal in.their safety, all are poor conductors. Steel ‘framed building are excellent conductors and though they afe sometime; knocked upon the door and entered,, people inside do not know it for the Ot course nobody knows just what| aig. | Breater | tered BY ARTHUR SOMERS ROCHE. ous assault; the realism with which the police had undertaken the task of scarching for him; all these had fail- ed. The Gray Ghost's penetrating in- telligence had reached evidence and seen the truth. And now he, Simmy Pelham, was the Gray Ghost's Power. B Unless Jerry, whose men had fol- lowed him to the rooming house, in the hope that the Gray Ghost would do exactly as he had done, had been able to keep pace with the limousins which had conveyed Pelham here He edged near the table. If he could hurl a book, an inkstand, a paper welght through the window and warn Jerry's men, who must be outside, of his danger . . ., But as he moved something crashed against the strest door. It must be Jerry; it must be! The Gray Ghost leaped to his feet: he glared at Pelham “You are a genius, Mr. Pelham you had yourself followed and—" Pelham leaped across the table. The Gray Ghost, agile despite his years and apparent feebleness, moved 1o one side. Beagle fired as his master moved in here * x Kok ¢6\JO fake about this wourd. Mr 1 Pelbam,” said. Jerry Tryon the next day. He w: tting on the edge of Pelham's bed—a bed which nelg a white-faced man whose scalp was cowered with a bandage. “An inch lower and he'd got you.” Pelham sighed nd to think that he did just what we'd agreed he'd do —investigate, be deceived and send for me. To think that, having been able to fool his followers who havae been shadowing me for weeks we couldn’t fool him “Quit worying,” said Jer with gruft kindliness. “So long as you'rs alive I ain't got a kick in the world | Why, Mr. Pelham, when I heard that shot it seemed to me—aw, you know what I mean. If I'd only had sense enough to watch the whole block of houses so he couldn't slip away . . . We'll get him yet." “I hope so,” sald Pelham. But hiz tone was none too confident. The Gray Ghost would not be so easily deceived again. He had been fonnd this once; time alone could te! whether or not would be found again he (Copsright, 1928.) Cellar Is Safest Place During Thunderstorm lightning is instantly carried to the for Uncle Sam's|8round and dissipated Outdoors it is another tale, for there you may be crazy enough t seek shelter under trees. Don't it, for it 1s better to spoil your clothes and stand out in the open, as the ma- jority of those who are killed by lightning outdoors meet their death under trees. Some varieties of trees are better conductors of electricity than others, therefore most often struck. Keep away from the oak if you are going to pitch a tent in the woods and seek a beech, for the cak is struck fifty-seven times, the fir thirty-nine and the pine five times as often as the beech. The maple and birch follow the beech as to safety. * %k * HE reason so many people ars killed if a number of them caught out in a thunderstorm is be- cause they huddle together, for large gatherings of men or beasts offer attractions for thunder- than ir they were scat- about singly The sub- stapces of which the bodies of both are made are better conductors of electricity than the wood of th trees under which they usually gather, and therefore recelve the bolt Cows are more frequently killed by lightening than any other animals, statistics showing that there are twice as many of them killed as any other beast, and following them in the order of greatest fatalities sheep. horses, pigs and mules. Uncle Sam, by means of Instru ments sent up in balloons, has meas- ured the thunderhead, the glant « the storm family, and found some of these vaporous mountains to be as high as eight miles. Since a thou sand million volts is the electric force required to send lightning to the earth from a thunderhead, wh base is a mile high, the great electro- motive force of these floating masses can be judged. Bolts from these storm clouds have been known to sink thirty feet into the ground, making the sandy soil into glass tubes as they went. The National Museum, in Washing- ton, has & number of these tubes made by thunderbolts, varying in size from a quarter of an inch to three inches in diameter. The frequency varies in different sections of the country, Alabama, Georgia and Florida being visited more than any other part of the United States, but tho zone of greatest frequency is not always the one where the greatest number of fatalities occurs. Accord- ing to the weather bureau, the region where lightning does the most dam- age includes southern Vermont, all of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Con- necticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Vir- ginia, Ohlo, Kentucky, eastern Illinois, and the greater part of Mary- 1and, where annually five deaths occur to every 10000 square miles. Only one-halt the persons struck by lightning die, so the Work of re- suscitation should be commenced” at once, even 1f lite appears extinct. and not cease for at I2ast an hour. Stim- ulate the respiration, keep the body warm by extra clothing, hot water, bags, etc., and rub the legs upward to force the blood to. the heart and brain. In fact, use the same ineans as if the person had been rescued from water. bolts are of thunderstorms Greece's Ancient Washtubs. WING to the scarcity of wood and metals in Greece, washtubs aré seldom seen. - Jn the little village of truck the | utllized stone sarcophagi Khasia, near Athens, the women have that are " more ‘than 2,000 vears old.