Evening Star Newspaper, October 18, 1927, Page 35

THE BLACK JOKER BY ISABEL OSTRANDER. | | | { (Continued from Yesterday's Star) | CHAPTER XXVIIL The Beacon. « Mrs. Kerr was becoming | anxious about you and asked me to look you up.” Janet aroused herself and gazing at the speaker in momen- tary bewilderment. The sun had disappeared, leaving | only a rosy glow above the mountain about her, while standing at her side was the man who had first greeted her on her arrival. She had curled herself up on the moss beneath a tall ing sleep that had come to her for many a day. “Not at all! T didn’t mean to sleep, | hut it is all so wonderfully quiet here, the hand he held down to her, and | rose. *“l1 did not imagine it was so lat | t has done you good.” He eved | “Mrs. | Kerr has been telling us some experi- ences of yours which we had not heard before. You have had an exiciting | “Haven't 17" Janet started down | the path beside him toward the camp. “Every one has been wonderfully good to me, and T would be quite content for a few things—among them, I do want to know about Mr. Alford and what happened to Mr. Durant yester- day, when he made me leave him planes!” She shuddered as she recalled the memory, and Clinton Hollis cbserved: “You shall know as soon as we hear not disturb you by bringing back har- rowing thoughts, but instead will you tell me something about the friends who awaited you at Daneholm? Your intimates and I am curious to discover if I know any of these.” Janet complied, describing Mrs. Madison, Burt, Padmore and Basil events of her brief stay, adding: “But, of course, you know daddy’s confidential secretary, Mr. Burt?” Hollis nodded. that Mr, Padmore seemed familiar or, rather, to resemble some one else whom you have encountered lately? That's odd, but then people run in you describe him, Miss Dane?” “Well, his eyes are gray and there are touches of gray in his hair, too,” Janet responded slowly. “He isn't his manner, quiet as it is, that makes him stand out from every one else in the room. His voice is grave and gentle, but you know, somehow, that almost better than any one else there, although Mrs. Madison was lovely to me! Oh, I forgot to tell you some- thing that I've never been able to un- O 1 disturb you, Miss Dane? | with a start and sat rubbing her eyes tops and the fragrant dusk was all tree and fallen into the first refresh- | Mr. Hollis.” Laughingly she accepted her with grave friendliness. | week!” i to walt here for father if it were not hemmed in by that circle of Norman's anything ourselves. 1 know we must tather has many different groups of Ferrars, with a partial history of the “I've seen him frequently. You say types. I don’t think I know him; will very tall, but there is something about it could be very stern, too. I liked him derstand. I thought I'd wait and ask THE BIG NE daddy, but perhaps you ought to know it. Mr. Padmore didn't trust either Mr. Burt or Mr, Ferrars. He followed them one night—I saw him from my | window.” “What!” They had reached the edge of the clearing now and Hollis paused, staring at her. She told him in detail of the inci- dent and then left him to go to_the room which had been assigned to Mrs. Kerr and herself. One of the younger women of the party had fitted her out, before luncheon, with several changes of attire, and now she slipped into a dainty crepe gown with real feminine enjoyment, listening the while to Mrs. Kerr's light-running chatter. r mind was occupied though with ln?econversaflun which had just end- od and the train of thought it had wakened. Which of the two men he pied upon that night had Mr. Pad- Tore distrusted and why? How was it that some of those present had been thoroughly conversant with what wa going forward and others partially, most_totally recognize the symbol of her watch, b none of them had been active a ciates of the group surrounding h now, for they had said nothing about the unique pseudonyms these people had adopted! It was odd, too, that none of the face cards had yet ap- peared! Dinner was laid in the great living- room, but at a small round table, and Janet was astonished to learn that the majority of the camping party had de- parted that afternoon while she dozed, leaving only a mere handful, mostly women. Mrs. Kerr explained carelessly that they were always coming and going, but Janet knew better; she guessed that this exodus was the result of the news that unknown messenger had brought during the night to the house on the hill, that the object of their quest was in the hands of Philip Mari- ott’s associates. They took coffee on the veranda and chatted desultorily for an hour while the moon, a narrowing crescent, shone pallidly through the trees, but a very lethargy of sleep seemed to have fallen on Janet and she soon retired. Yet again she was awakened abrupt- Iy, but this time it was by Mrs. Kerr's hand upon her arm. The moonlight had given place to a faint but angry glow in the windows and her com- panion said quietly: “T thought I had better tell you my- self, Janet, for if it should grow worse and you woke up to find yourself de- serte again you might be alarmed. There's a fire somewhere on the main- land, that is all, but I'm going to dress and watch it. One or two of the others have already gone out and if you need me T shall be with them. One of the servants will come i you ring.” Janet lay still with her eyes upon that lurid glow, while her companion moved about the room, but when the latter had departed she jumped up and ran to the window. The trees hid from her the direction of the conflagration, but it seemed to be concentrating rather than spreading like a. far-off crimson_searchlight. Mrs. Kerr had not suggested that w Powder has always been the best tooth- cleaning agent. Nothing better has been produced. That is why your dentist, using the most advanced appliances and methods, continues to use powder, Thequestion of ccnve of fear does not influe dentifrice. As an expert guardian of the teeth you entrust to his care, he considers only efficiency and safety. No panaceas for him leaf out of his book? nience or theshadow nce his choice of a «++.why not take a DO A4S YOUR DENTIST DOES To avoid confusion, possible injury to you don’t resort to self-medication. Do as your - Del PV, y disappointment and r teeth and gums, ignorant of it? Mr. Burt | had been the only one, seemingly, to THE EVENING STAR. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1927. the girl accompany her and Janet had no wish to intrude, but the convic- tion came to her that that was no or- dinary fire. A stiff wind had risen and was soughing through the branches of the pines, but that distant light did not flicker; its steady ray ap- peared as though directed into her very room and at last she left the window and started to dress. It was in vain that she told herself the idea which possessed her was just a sick fancy of her overwrought brain; the foreboding, almost a_premonition, that that light was a factor in the mystery surrounding her deepened with each passing minute and as soon as she was dressed she flung a cape about her and stole down the hall to the living-room. No one was there, |but the glow had increased, paling the two brackets which been light- ed beside the fireplace, and she went out on the veranda. No one was visi ble in the clearing either, but above | the ‘tops of the trees she could see that the light came from the e: single broad beam, like a giant s light, indeed. Where could every one have gone? Janet preferred to avoid them, sensing the constraint they felt in her pre: ce, but she felt tha must see more clearly. The hoathouse was on the eastern side of the island, and she started toward it, but paused just on the edge of the tree-line, for the murmur of voices came to her and in the glare | she could distinctly make out the fig- ures of Mrs. Kerr. Mr. Hollis and | the remaining members of the de- pleted party. Sobbing in a hysterical | feminine voice reached her low gallery, jutting out over water, where they were all g: and then Hollis' deep, rea tones, but the words themselves were | indistingulshabley They would have been superfluous. That sobbing told Janet that her pre FORTIFIED FOR HEALTH Build up a new resisting power to fight off colds and coughs. You can rid yourself of impurities, soothe the irri- tated membrane and build new health and strength—by taking FATHER JOHN'S - MEDICINE All this is done with the posi- tive assurance that Father John's Medicine is guaranteed free from alcohol and harmful drugs, si- [ they fell. suring | SV monition had been a true one; just as a message had been written in the cloudless blue by letters of smoke to prepare her to escape, 80 a mes- sage was being thrown now against the mighty screen of the night sky, 2d although she could not guess its portent she feared that it spelled fur- ther disaster. Slowly she stole back through the trees to the clearing, prepared to find another point of vantage, but just as she started to cross she was plunged into darkness! The lurid ray had vanished as quickly as it came and even as she stumbled for- ward a loud sizzling sound came from behind the house and something shot far above its roof, a comet with a tail of fire! Janet watched it, it burst, sending out a myriad of glistening, blue-white stars that twinkled and were extinguished as Had the message been de- livered and answered or was com- munication just established? Who had sent that rocket aloft? Feeling her way to the veranda, she followed its rail around the side of the houst and to its rear corner, where she peered out cautiously. By the dim light of a hooded lantern, preparing another rocket from a store beside him, was Nat! She longed to speak to him, to thank him for all he had done for her, but this was not the time. Turn- ing, she stole back again and, crossing the clearing, entered the belt of spruce and pine just as the sky above the mountain from whence had come that crimson ray broke into a xlare of golden light. Stronger than that of the sun itself, it all but blinded her, vet by its aid she made her wa ftly through the thick ranl of transfixed, until | trees, avolding the path, and came out upon a shelving bank of pebbles whith sloped to the waters of the lake. ropping behind a clump of alder bushes she glanced at the group on the boathouse veranda. Hollis stood erect with folded arms as though braced to meet whatever might come; one woman had her head buried in her arms outstretched on the rail, but Mrs. Kerr was leaning far for- ward staring eagerly into the intense glare, and Janet's gaze insensibly fol- lowed that of the other woman. Could she be dreaming, or was it a trick of her distorted vision? It seemed to her that there against that curtain of golden light there appeared the black silhouette of a jester with cap and bells, capering grotesquely In an infinity of space! The next instant it and the light vanished together and there arose in rapid succession three glant red rockets and after a pause a bursting shower of purple stars. That was all, but as Nat sent up his second and final response a groan went up from the boathouse veranda and high above it a woman's shrill The Black Joker! He is lost! Our game is finished gan e o (Continued in Tomorfow's Star.) \WALKER READY TO QUIT WHEN HIS TERM EXPIRES By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, October 18.—Mayor Walker wants to quit public life when his term of office expires, he told city Is, business and professional men orns Now Needless Prove It Overnight! Why keep #treating” corns, when the first drop of Freezone stops all sensation of pain, and a few drops soon end the corn? The most painful corn—even one sensitive to touch of stocking—can't throb ten seconds after Freezone comes in contact. All that's left to do is lift the corn right off, and it's gone! Isn't that better than surgery? Feet that are “sights” from corns can grow back to normal, unblem- ished condition through the use of Freezone. ~Meantime, no pain— Dr.Lyoms TOOTH There is no NEWER BETTER way to clean teeth --anp your none at all—and no awkward pads or plasters to cause shoes to pinch and cultivate corns in other places. The Freezone process is scientific and certain. The hardest corn that ever formed can't resist it—nor the soft corns between the toes, where nothing has ever helped. A tiny bottle. of Freezone copes with the worst condition of corns. Freezone has made it folly to have any corns at all, for any length of time. For your own comfort, investigatc Freezone. Every druggist has it and the cost is a few cents! ECONOMY SIZE dentist does. Use a pure, non-medicated powder like DR. 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He made no com Monday in November, 1928." reports, however. . er arrived one hour late | 5 . . at the banquet last night, and he took | _ Th® total membership of regulas ac- | Masonic lodges in the world i ap- occasion n his_spe cusations of tardin a | proximately Snglish-speak mayor,” he sald, “‘w s |ing Masons 50,000, while on time and after he arrives is pres- 'all others i« Y/ \/ / J 9 5 @ 0 9 RUAR A T A A e e A e who gathered at a home-coming din- ner tendered him at the Hotel Bilt- more, T have one ambition and only one,"” cald the mayor at the close of his ad dress, “and that Is that when ')nc‘ term of mayor has ended 1 shall have done with public life.” mayor's term expires December 31, Reports were that he has received | $.430,000. number Com oking Comfo and Happy Haizszwzyzs‘/ In-So~Top 1D\PT¥\ GAS RANGE With INSULATED-VENTILATED OVEN —Greatest advance since Oven Heat Control. The ideal range for Oven Canning and Whole-Meal Cooking. 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