Evening Star Newspaper, October 21, 1927, Page 46

THE BLACK BY ISABEL OSTRANDER. (Continued from Yesterday's Star.) CHAPTER XXXI Freedom. OR more than an hour Janet F studied the code, but her be- ; wilderment only grew. Ani- mals, trees, jewels, colors, the 13 cards of a suit, substituting “ace” for “one,” were all jumbled to- gether, but interspersed with such sig- nificant words as “cnmured.::‘ “deliv- ered,” “threatened,” ‘“ransom"! One thing only seemed clear. Mrs. Kerr had signed the name by which Francois Durant was known—and Du- rant lay dead, perhaps, or was in the hands of those remorseless men who had descended from the air to close in | upon him! (L Al at once a single, significant wor atood out from the rest and then, as thouzh written in letters of fire, a ve stood out before her! A message 0 ich dread import was it that the girl « she gazed wildly about with the ter- rified appeal of a trapped animal, but her indomitable courage rose to meet { the hideous crisis confronting her and | with it came a rage which she had never known before. ‘That unknown messenger who had come to the house built into the hill two nights before with the informa- | tion that there was a traitor in camp had not lied! And she had been ac-| cused—she! Fury akin to murder | itselt rose in the girl's heart. There was a traitor, indeed, and that traitor was Angie Kerr. | Not only for her own safety must she escape from this creature now, stout spirit quailed and | JOKER | more difficult to slip away from un- | detected than a private residence, but | \When they had left the yacht’s launch | at the clubhouse wharf and proceeded to the smart little town car awaiting | them, she took Mrs. Kerr's hand in both her own. Yyou have been so good to me, are not even sure of my she murmured: the words “Oh | when | 1dentit | choked in her throat. 'T was a traitor and yet you didn’t de- me!’ “Why, Janet dear, T hoped that was forgotten!” Mrs. Kerr looked into her |eves reproachfully. “Of course I don’'t think anything of the sort! I know you are Richard Dane's daugh- |ter and when—when he comes to us I shall tell him how splendid you have been through it all!” She had faltered! Even her hard- | ened effrontery had balked at the lie! |Janet could almost have smiled, but | instead she asked with every appear- ance of innocent curiosity: “What would happen to a real | traitor, it one should ever be discov- | ered in the ranks of the Black Joker?” Mrs. Kerr started. “Good heavens, child, what a ques- tion! The—the organization is so huge and far-reaching that they never escape, be sure of that! I f: that they would simply drop out of sight and not be heard of again!" She had framed her words as deli- cately as possible, but Janet caught their significance and remarked: “It's a comfort to know that, isn't it? Just think what might have hap- pened to me if you hadn't come along on Saturday! The other’s—Norman's people—might have taken me again but 1n order to warn the others, those of the pack who were true, who would | risk—who had risked—their lives for | the child of Richard Dane! She had | learned much of which she could not | have dreamed. but the amazing en-| lightenment was swallowed up before | the greater fact of the imminent peril | which faced them all. : The little packet of papers contain- | ing the message thrown in at her| window—much in the same manner | as this latest code had reached her—| the pages she had used deciphering it| and the scrap torn from the news- paper on the train, had been trans- ferred from one change of clothing to| another and now, rising, she took it| and this time I'm afraid 1 should have ‘disappeared’ as a possible traitor among vou would do!” “Don’t speak of it, dear, and try| not to think of it.” Mrs. Kerr patted | her arm. “It didn’t happen and we | are almost home."” i 1f either of them had looked through the window at the back they would have observed a taxi behind them— not a remarkable occurrence in a crowded city, and the taxi was quite an ordinary, shabby affair. However, by a curious coincidence it had fol- lowed the same route as they had from the stand before the entrance to the yacht club grounds and it carried ingle fare. a woman plainly dressed “You_thought |y o e Dok e Tvatmorn o | Whose only.distingulshing points were | the masses of pale gold hair beneath newspaper together, she made a| . < amaller packet of them and tore Into her velled hat and her tall, magnifl- tiny bits the experimentation pages. |Cently formed figure. These she scattered through the port ! But both Mrs. Kerr and her guest and, ripping the lining of the coat, she | slipped the packet inside. She was dressed when the maid| knpocked on her cabin door in the| morning and only a slight pallor and the bluish circles about her eyes gave any indication of her sleepless night |d: of desperate planning. She must| above all play a part now, play it not only for her life, but for all who fol- Jowed the leadership of the Black Joker. The yacht was riding at anchor be- | fore a club-landing with the splendid panoramd of the northern part of New York on one side and the tower- ing Palisades on the other. Breakfast ‘was & hurried one, for Mrs. Kerr was anxious to reach home as early as possible; she was pale and almost hag- gard once more, but her eves were feverishly bright and she talked with forced animation to the girl who was ‘watching her with new eves. Janet responded with an alacrity which might have been suspicious had the other woman not “been too deeply engrossed in the difficulties of the mo- ment, asking many naive questions about the home which had been so graciously thrown open to her, and Jearped that it was an apartment on | woman beside her smiled in approval. were oblivious to it. Janet had clasped her hands and sighed with every evidence of anticipatory happi- nes “Let me see; this is Tuesday, and daddy sailed from Liverpool Satur- ! I don’t know what ship he took sage on, but he should be here to- morrow, shouldn’t he? How can we get word to him, Angie?” She added the familiar name shyly and the pa Do you suppose we could pick him up by wireless?” Mrs. Kerr started again, slightly. “I don’t know. but we will try,” she responded with an effort to welcome the suggestion that was palpable. “Here we are at last! You are safe at home now. Janet dear, and moré than welcome” ‘The car had turned in at a broad passageway opening into a huge square court with towering walls of gray stone on all four sides and dis- may seized upon the girl. Those great wrought-iron gates through which they had passed could be closed in an instant at the mere touch of a bell; the palatial apartment building was a | veritable prison! | The taxicab had drawn. up for a Park avenue in the forties. This | moment across the opening of the THE EVENING the window, as the woman and girl descended from the car and passed under the arched entrance at the right, the south side of the building. Then the taxi drove on and disap- innumerable lines of peared in the traffic. Meanwhile Janet and her hostess had entered a small private elevator and proceeded to the fourth floor, where the door opened into a hall so spacious and richly furnished that her eyes widened, but she said nothing as she followed Mrs. Kerr to a charming suite all fvory and soft rose. Then she exclaimed: “How very lovely! I don't know any way to thank you for your hospi- tality, Angie, but 1 know that father will when he comes tomorrow! T know you have many things to do, less message to him for me? shouldn't know how to go ahout send- ing one, and besides I—I feel so really safe here. for the first time in so many days, that imless there is something I can do for you, T should just like to rvest quietly here.” Mrs. Kerr looked relieved. “I'll have the call sent out at once fo every incoming ship. If you will be contented alone here for the morn- ing and will excuse me at lunch, I'll come back early in the afternoon, and we'll send for my hairdresser and mo diste. We must do something with that rather eccentric, bobbed effect Frank gave you, and vou'll want some clothes of vour own. If you need anything ring, and Marie will come to vou. Don’t worry if I should be a little late; just stay here quietly until I come.” She bent and kissed the girl's cheek and although Janet shrank from the touch of her lips, she submitted and STAR., WASHINGTON, even hugged her in response, but when the other woman had gone she paced the floor in an agony of perplexity. Mrs. Kerr's temporary absence was a fortunate chance if it wers not just a ruse to test her. She must risk that and make full use of this blessed op- portunity, which she felt might be her last. She realized the tremendous odds against her, for the moment her departure was discovered the woman could call on her real allies as well as the Black Joker's adherents to aid in the search, but with the confidence of vouth she was sure that she could take care of herself if once she could pass those stately but grim portals below. Could she bribe the maid, even with her precious string of pearls? Janet rang the bell, but one glance at the shrewd, hardened face put that hope forever out of her thoughts. “Marie, what other servants are at home?” she msked. The woman flashed a quick look of surprise at her, but replied promptly: None, miss. You see. the apart- { ment was closed, but they’ve heen sent for and they’ll all be here this after- [ noon. Is there anything I can do for you now, miss?" Noo." Janet's voice expressed dis- ppointment, but her heart leaped. | “There’s a terribly important message 1 want to send and I fo { tion it to Mrs, Kerr. She said 1 could | trust you absolutely and 1 | think of giving it to any one else, or even of having it 'phoned to a tele- { graph office. You-—you couldn’t go | out for just a minute, could you?" | <, “mise.” The woman smiled, looking more hardened than ever. “There's a desk in your sitting-room. 1t you'll write the message I'll take | it at once.” < | Scarcely daring to trust Doctor Found Women and Children Sick More _O_f_tfn than Men As a family doctor at Monticello, Illinois, the whole human body. not any small part of it, was Dr. Cald- well’s practice. “calls” were on women, children and babies. They are the ones most often sick. But their illnesses were usually of a minor nature—cold: fevers, headaches, biliousness—and all of them required first a thorough evacuation. They were constipated More than hali his | In the course of Dr. Caldwell's 47 vears’ practice (he was graduated § from Rush Medical College back 1875). he found a good deal of su cess in such cases with a prescription of his own containing simple laxative herbs with pepsi In 1892 he de- cided to use this formula in manufacture of a medicine to be known as Dr. Caldwell's Syrup Pep- sin, and ir that year his prescription was first placed on the market. The preparation immediately had as great a success in the drug stores as it previously had in Dr. Caldwell's private practice. Now, the third generation is using it. . Mothers are giving it to their children who were given it by their mothers. Every second of the working day someone somewhere is going into a drug store to buy it. Millions of bottles of Dr. Caldwell's Syrup Pepsin are beirg| used a year, Its great success is based on merit, on repeated buying, on one satisded user telling another. There are thousands of homes in this country | that are never without a bottle of | Dr. Caldwell's Syrup Pepsin, and we have gotten many hundreds of letters from grateful people telling us that it helped them when everything else the | Y B. Ctturcee md AT AGF 83 people are esp 1ly benehtted by Dr. Caldwell's Syrup Pepsin, it is promptly effective on the most ro- bust constitution and in the most ob- | stinate cases. It is mild and gentle in its action and does not cause griping and strain. Containing neither opi- ates nor narcotics, it is safe for the tiniest baby. Children | take it willingly. Every drug_store sells Dr. Cald- well's Syrup Pepsin. Keep a bottle in your home—where many live some one is sure to need it quickly. We would be glad to have you | prove at our expense how much Dr. Caldwell's Syrup Pepsin can mean to you and yours. Just write “Syrup | Pepsin,” Monticello, 1llinois, and we |will send you prepaid a FREE ‘got to men- | couldn't | her luck, | like it and‘ | | | D0 Janet hastily wrote a few lines saying that she was safe with friends and well, and would write later, and ad dressed it to a mythical man on a fic- titious street in Philadelphia, and | Marie departed. But had she really gome? Janet waited as long as she dared and then reconnoitered. The apartment was larger even than she believed, with a muititude of rooms, but she found the servants’ quarters at last and in only one room was there feminine wearing | apparel, neatly arranged, and other evidences of occupation. Nowhere had she encountered any one: Marie must | have actually gone in good faith to send that message! Three minutes later a girl in the maid’s best hat and coat stole out of the servants' entrance of the huge | apartment house and, turning west, walked rapidly away. It had been ridiculously easy, after all her terrors! The elevator opening into the rear of the apartment was a French self- opera‘ing one and the porter at the basement entrance had merely nodded indifferently as she passed him, hold- ing her breath. Jefore her at the end of the block she saw a wide avenue with a never ending stream of busses and motor cars passing in a double line, and he yond that another, where t skeleton of an elevated road its grimy superstructure People p happy peoy relay g0 ing openly ahout their private afafrs without a glance at her! Janet was tree! [ (Continued in Tomorrow's Star.) APARTMENTS TO LET All Sizes—Low Rentals 1. W. GROOMES, 1416 F ST. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21. 1927. THE SUPER O1L HEATOR WILL BRING YOU MODERN, CONVENIENT OIL HEAT NOW you can enjoy the splendid convenience, comfort and value The cost is within your means, the unpleasant details of coal heating are unnecessary, and the operation of the heater is en- tirely free from worry, trouble or at- of Automatic Oil Heat. tention. SUPER Oil Heator brings to you the scientific blessing of home heating without work. Heating costs no more Roe all year 'OU don't have to wait until roe is “in season” to enjoy 'round S POTTER & JOHNSTON MACHINE €0, this delicious sea food. Gorton's | ” . Deep Sea Roe, sealed in cans, has all the ™ Ve MASTER B LDERS savory flavor of roe taken fresh from the fish, and may be served Ask at in many delicious ways your grocers. than formerly, yet you avoid hours of lost time, inconvenience and worris some concern over coal supply and ash disposal. Assure winter comfort by putting in the SUPER Oil Heator NOW, thea you’ll be ready before the first winter weather swoops down on you = a small down payment starts the good work. FREE—"Gorton’s Deep Sea Recipes.” Write for them GORTON-PEW FISHERIES CO., Lt& 'S GLOUCESTER, MASS. AUTOM HARTFORD / - e {8 L 6 0 0 0 2 ATIC Ol FOR HOME HEATING WALLACE ENGINEERING COMPANY 923 Twelfth Street N.W. Washington, D. C.—Phone Main 183 4.6 0 L HEATOR CONNECTICUY J| DOLLARS inYourPocke 5 meant nothing to her except that she |gateway and the woman inside bent | faile feared an apartment house would be cautiously forward, watching through ~ While women, children and clderly | SAMPLE BOTTLE. drain my crankcase Let’s not run into colder weather with dirty and diluted oil in there. And let’s do it right while we are about it: refill with the one oil that combines correct body for hard service and free flow at cold starts. the one oil— GCOLDEN MOTOR OlL THE TEXAS COMPANY, 17 Battery Piace, New York City - Tesaco Petroleam Products & $ 5 The snappiest line of NEW FALL SHOES ever presented by Neggark S SN Unbeatable Yalues BecauseWe Make hem and Sell them DIRECT 70 YOU/ ~ 4 Big Faclories with a’ Produc- tion. Capacity of over 18,690 pairs of Newarks DAILY! Over 400 Newark Stores, sell- . close 1o six million pairs of lewark’s every year. Elim- Dollars in pocket and a chance to sport dZewm!mt pair of shoes you ever wore—that’s what Newark’s New Fall Line means to you. inating the middleman’s -and Men’s Shoes. that have all the swagger of the latest TLondon lasts. 'Women’s Shoes that areso ador- ably chic and Parisian-that she will go into at Newark! Comein today, friends! Let us show you how our new Fall line not only knocks the spots out of High Prices—but also gives you *“‘shoes you are proud to wear!”” Ne. 9341T Rew, Tan Shade Bal, Leather Cales, Heels. Only one of sheé: many Classy Models in .the Kuason’s Newest. | 4 HUGE FACTORIES WITH A PRODUCTION CAPACITY OF 8\18690Pairsalay o New 913 Pennsylvania Avenue 711 H Street No. 4534 A Very Pédular and Stylish 3 Bu Lt Ot g Drisss Comportatle, ana a Big Value.