Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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^)ke Skielc 9 o^'Kanda AUTHOR OF "BEYOND THE FROI "MY LADY OF T NOVtUZED PROM THl PMOTOPL It OCOROE I SEJTZ. corruoMT, ?? ?, a 8YNOP8I8. I Adventurous Jerry Carson embarks in search of hidden treasure with the promise of Leontine Walcott to be his wife on Ills return. Her father favors SebaBtian Navarre. Jerry's ship is burned, he is reported lost. Sebastian presses his attentions. Jerry suddenly turns up to confront charges of the Navarres attainst him. In a struggle for a forged paper Diego Navarre is killed and Jerry is convicted of the murder. He escdpes, and finds the treasure and a wonderful chemical pellet. Leontine is forced to tnarry Sebastian. On the honeymoon, he attacks her in a rage. Suddenly he is confronted by a weird apparition. Ravengar forces a confession from Ixiuie. Sebastian attempts to get it. An earthquake occurs; in the excitement Red Finn steals the confession and flees. He appears in New York as RoinanotT and enlists thr> nlri nf ma/iii.. iy.i,>nn l*eontlne confronts her husband In the Rambling house. Tho Shadow battles Tor her and she escapes with the confession. One-Lamp Louie follows her and tukcs the paper from her. SIXTH EPISODE The Disappearing Prisoner. "And he has given her the Rajah necklace!" Romanoff ended his speech and waited for Riunca's approbation. She had listened quietly while the man discoursed, and now regarded hint with un ironical smile. "Next time you bring me informa tion, Mr. Ranonoff, why not toll me fiomethng 1 (11(1 not know?" she asked. "How?" demanded Romanoff. "Hgw? Why, hy bringing me tlio necklace tonight, of course," answered Biancn sharply. "The job won't be j bo difficult. 1 have all the plan de- I ( tailed, and you'll take Redely along to ' not ns lookout." I i ******* i "For the love of Mike, look, Bill' ! . Policeman Casey, who had been \ , Bleeping in the station house, while his . comrades off duty played dominoes, , started up in his berth, his teeth chattering. ( ) They looked where he pointed. In t a far corner of the station house, lumi- j nous against the half gloom, appeared ( two burning eyes and two white hands, which, as they watched, traced , in fiery letters the following message: , ^"An attempt will be made tonight j to steal the Rajah necklace from the home of the millionaire, Sebastian Nu- . varre!" .sapsr*" ? v. - ? The men started from their seats j aiuV stared at each other in conster- i tm\?on as the message slowly faded. Then with one accord they rushed into , the corner. j There was nothing there. The room was empty, except for their presence. vigorous was Officer Casey's rush ] that he ran his head full tilt into the wall. But only a hump developed. "It's a warning," muttered Casey, ( rubbing his head. "Let's tell the captain.*' "And get called down." "I tell you It's a warning." "You tell him,-Casey." "You'll back me up?" "I guess so. I saw it sure enough." "Say, what's eati ^ you hoys?" demanded Captain O'Shaughnessy an, 11 i 1 1 Jjg? * : ^!fc:3 Bianca Leaned Over and Touched Him. grlly, as the policemen stood before lilni .with their btory told. "You go': nnd lie down, Casey." "It's true," suid Officer Logan. "I! saw It with my eyes." "For the Lord's sake! You, too, CohenT ".Sure I saw It," said Policeman Co I hen, shifting uneasily beneath his .superior's glare. j "You did, hey? All of you did?' Then I tell you what we'll do. You four'll go out to Mr. Navarre's house, And don't come back until you get th? Skadow ttfarrislv 88 NTIER," "MAID OF THE FOREST," HE NORTH." ETC. AY SERIAL Of THE Wit NAME RELEASED IY RATHE I Y *k**AU MHUM I burglars. See?" Four dogged but rather shamefaced men loft the station house Ave minutes later In the police automobile. Captain O'Shuuglmessy had relented at the last moment. Resides, with four men swearing to the apparition, | he hud begun to think that there might be something in it after all. i There certainly was something in it. At half past twelve lteddy, the lookout, saw Romanoff stand inside the bathroom and signed to him that he found the coast clear. The maid had left the window open, as hud been arranged. Romanoff entered the passage and crept cautiously toward Leontine's boudoir. The door of Leon tine's room was slightly ajar. Romanoff halted, and, listening, heard her even breathing as she slept. lie crept back into the bathroom and looked down, lteddy was still standing at the foot of the tire escape, up which he had come. Coward as he was, Romanoff know that unless he brought, back the necklace his occupation would be gone, so far as Rlanca was concerned. llo went back softly, and, takTng a skeleton key from his pocket, unlocked the door at the end of the passage leading into the other rooms of the apart- ' inent. With an escape thus assured, he entered the boudoir, took his station before the safe, and began to ma- : nipulute the handle in accordance with the formula penciled upon his shirt [ ruff. 5 It was at this juncture that Casey, 1 n. .i i i ? - ? i.imi'ii iinu J.u;;;in, leaving melt* illltomobile round the cor nor in charge of * iie fourth policeman, came quietly upon the scone by diverse rouios. A dance showed Casey the familiar form >f Roddy, standing at the fooi of the ire escape and looking pensively upward. Instinct brought Roddy's attention o Casey's presence lie did not stop o pass the time of night, but bolted? nto the expansive arms of Cohen, at he other corner of the block. Cohen welcomed hint with his nightdick, and promptly led his subdued md battered prisoner toward the ationioblle. I Romanoff had got the safe open. In- ! ;ide he saw the jewel case with the i tecklaee. He stretched his hand out j longingly. As lie did so the two po* i licetnen entered the hall. Romanoff dropped the case nttd ! irraiublod for the door which he had j unlocked so providentially. He ! anushed it open?to encounter Sebas- j linn, who, hoftridg the noise in the j bathroom, had slipped t.- his dress- j ing gown and had come to investigate. Romanoff dodged like an eel, for Casey and Logan were hard at bis i , --- ? J heels. The two policemen tripped , over his outstretched foot and tumbled upon Sebastian. Romanoff darted into j Leontiuc's bedroom. j j The girl, awakened by the sounds. , sat up in alarm. She caught a hasty , glimpse of the crook's face. That was till, ltonianotf dashed for the window, smashed it with one blow of his elbow, and clambered upon the sill, just , as Logan and Casey tired slmultuue- ( ously from the doorway. , One bullet went wild, the second ( struck Romanoff a glancing wound ^ across the upper part of the thigh. , With a yell he leaped into the darkness. . Romanoff went through the yard, | j scrambled upon a projecting roof, ran i . up the roof like a monkey, slid down j a lire escape, and reached an empty ! street. As he did so he heard Cuaey j shouting from the yard. The trail of blood lit? left behind him would betray him in a few luomeuts. Romanoff hound up his wound w ith i his handkerchief, let down his trouser leg, ami then made his way, moaning, j toward the street cars. llalf an hour later, weak and frenzied with pain, he staiggered into Riuuca's house. * * * * * * "lie's the only man who knew of j our plan to get the necklace, lie gave , it away." "Nonsense!" said Biancn angrily. Tin? miscarriage of this second scheme against Navarre had, in fact, exasperated her. "It was your own stupidity and Uoddy's." "That fellow Havengar is at the bottom of it, anyway," he snarled. "Ever since we had him in the cellar things have been going wrong. lie heard us, anyhow, Biancn?" "If you don't mind your manners you'll leave this house iustantlyl" snapped Biancn. "Well?inadume," muttered llonianott', abashed. "He heard us laying our plans, and even if he didn't give the tip to the police he ought to be killed." Biunca mused for n while. Then she touched her hell, and Wong Lee came shuffling in. "Where Is Mr. Itavengar?" inquired Binnca. "Jn collar, missis. All tight. No can get out again." "I'll lake a look at him," said Binnen| thoughtfully. "Do you think you are i I / TOBOKBT HSB able to accompany me, Mr. Romanoff?" Romanoff hobbled at her side, and they went downstairs, preceded by the Chinese, who ostentatiously with drew the heavy bolta of the greul oaken door one by one. Stretched full length upon n bench, his hands under his head, was Ravengar, asleep. lManca leaned over him and touched hlin. Ravengar started, opened his eyes, and then sprang to his feet with a bow. "You see, Mr. Romanoff,'* said 111anca. "He's faking!" screamed the crook, thoroughly exasperated, and frightened, Into the bargain, by the amused smile upon Ravengar's face. "He warned the cops about our little game." "Get out of here!" snapped Blanca, "or you'll be thrown out by Wong Lee. Come, now, march!" Scowling and muttering, Romanoff beat a retreat. Blanca hesitated a moment, then said to Wong Lee: "Help him upstairs and make hlin comfortable?but not in my boudoir, please." When the door of the cellar had closed behind them Blanca stood looking In silence at Ravengar. The anger had disappeared from her face. She was smiling gently. It was the Blanca whose charms had lured a score of men to their ruin* the woman Who thought her power irresistible. There wna no mtatnking the inviting posture, slight as it was. Biunca had recognized in Rnvengar a man unlike any of her other easy conquests. His! Indifference had piqued her, then he had fascinated her. The woman of a hundred conquests, she had met her match at last. "You perhaps don't realize that 1 saved your life just now!" she cried. "I am half inclined to reconsider my [ decision." '"It is a womnn'.s privilege to change j tier mind, inndame," replied Rnvengar suavely. Biunea clenched her fists and jlared. But the look of amusement 11 Ravengar's eyes was too much for icr equanimity. She swung about and lurried from the cellar in fury, However, she did not forget to holt the loop behind her, shooting each one lioine as it' it were a dart to the heart >f the man who had scorned her. Upstairs in her boudoir she thing herself down on a lounge and re- ; lowed the situation. The humiliation dung her like fire; lier face, which j uid been scarlet, was now ashen. She : roniblod. She rose and paced the j loor. She threw herself into a chair ,,,.1 . t?. .. . ... ?n<? wui.>l nun nysioricai soomng. n was the most incredible thing that md ever happened to her. Suddenly, looking up, she saw scinching in the farthest corner of the coin that sent her faint with terror, rhere again were the luminous eyes, tnd the dead-white hands beneath hem. The eyes were fixed steadily on j lers. * Then, as she watched, terror-st^ick- j ?n, she saw letters appear in the air i beneath the hands, traced as if in phosphorescent tire. "Only in one way can you win Rarengar's love," the writing ran. "Se- ! mstian Navarre has committed a j :riine of which you are well aware, i i'iie confession has been destroyed, j L>raw g confession from him and Ra- i rengar's feelings will cltange." The writing quivered and disappeared, leaving Rianca staring at the 1 >lnnk wall opposite. And through the: windows crept the first pale gray of [he morning. * * * * * * * "I.routine!" Sebastian Navarre stood before his wife in her boudoir. She rose nervously and looked at him in uncertainty; she was afraid that he had come io renew his protestations of love, hut there was only contrition II it: tit X/ilinul i-iti't! Ciw" "Leontine, I have come to make a proposal to you," said Sebastian. "I liavo wronged you in tlie past, but tlio hast cannot bo cbanged. Let us be Bianca's Men 1 AID. CONWAY, S. O. ! happy In the future?' Leon tine looked at him steadily. 44You forget one thing/* she answered. "The forgery that still asperses the honor of the man whom 1 love.'* "He is dead, Leontine.** "Ills name Is not dead. He Is under a cloud. Dead or alive, his reputation must be cleared. That confession of Louie implicated you." Sebastian fidgeted uneasily; he could not understand Leontine's stubbornness about the matter. "It implicated you, Sebastian, and you behaved like a guilty man. You tried to get that paper.'* "It was a He," he burst out. "Don't you see, Leontine, that every wealthy man such as myself Is at the mercy of a hundred blackmailers? Throw mud, and some of it sticks. 'No smoke without a Are,' the public cries. Louis Lamb wrote that confession of forgery, which implicated me, at the behest of a gang of blackmailers." "He was rich; he had no need to Incriminate himself." "He wrote it before he found that gold mine in White's Village. That crook Romanoff who came here that morning wanted to sell it to me. Is that not evidence enough? Perhaps if I were a stronger man I should have taken the matter to law, had the follow arrested and fought it out. Rut you would have been drawn in as a witness, and no in ail Is willing to have liis wife baited by thieves' lawyers upon the witness stand. If I acted foolishly I am to blame, but. I am clean of the dishonor which you impute to me, ami it was for your sake that I acted as I have done." "Very well," said Leontine.- making up her mind swiftly. "You shall have your chance, Sebastian. You have a right to ask that." And she extended her hand frankly, which Sebastian took and raised deferentially to his lips. "And now," ho said, assuming a gayoty which he was far from feeling, "what do you say to a little auto trip with me? Lot us go out on the IMaiuliold road and have dinner together at Smith's roadhouse? We'll be back by evening." "As you wish." answered I.eontine. "We'll start in half an hour, then," j said Sebastian, rising. "I'll telephone the garage to semi the car around." He left her. And all the while she was putting on her cloak and hat and \eil Leontine felt intuition struggling against reason. Sebastian could he fascinating when he chose. His manners were perfect; but. in her heart, she knew that these fair words were pnly a mask for his designs. As the auto whirled away Leontine's maid, Marian, hurried to the telephone and rang up Biunca. At lluit- mimiinit 1. .11.. ? I <>i mill HiwilllUl llllllKa > > il IKMIIll]^ ? session in her house with RomunotY and three other of her adherents. She took down the receiver from the telephone at her side as she sat on the lounge, listened, and then hung it up. Site turned to Romanoff. "Now's our chance," she said. "They are off for the day to Smith's roadhouse on the riainiield road. Does anyone know it?" "I do!" cried Romanoff. "It's near tlie top of the Ramapo mountains, in the midst of the woods, and miles from anywhere." "Well, boys, then here's your chance to get Senor Navarre," said Bianca. "(let him out of the house without his wife's knowing. Tell him?let me see! ?tell him that One-Lamp Louie is waiting to speak in him. That will fetch him. Hustle him into the nuto and take him into the mountains.There you'll get a confession from him about the forgery. And see that it duplicates the one which we had before." "What's the use?" demanded Romanoff. "He won't buy back a confession that we got from him by force." "Will you do as I tell you?" demanded Bianca. "Well, hoys'." said Romanoff, rising. "And don't come back until you have I KvrvwS ^8HK25%QL3SI^3BV<3B^. j^im ^?P: Capture Leon tine. % It," Blanc* added. She watched them drive away and sank back upon the lounge again In despair. What was the use? There was no money In the project, and not much chance of success, Blaucn knew. She, whose welt-laid schemes had failed her, had descended to this wild scheme In order to win the love of ltavengar, the tlrst man who hud possessed her heart since she entered upon her life of crime. Sebastian could certainly be charming when he set himself out to l>e. Leontiiie was forced to acknowledge that. The personality of the muu thawed the Ice of her reserve, and the little point of doubt sank deeper and deeper down in the recesses of her soul. Who was this man Ravengar? Three times he had interposed to uid her in her perplexity and distress. She had come to expect him to appear in such times. If "Jerry had never entered her life. . . . Suddenly she became aware that a stranger had entered the roadhouse garden, lie was standing beside Sebastian, who looked up at him imputi ntiy. "Excuse me, but are you not Mr. Sebastian Navarre?" he asked. "Well, sir?" demanded Sebastian, annoyed at the interruption. "There is a man of this name waiting outside to speak to you." lie handed him a dirty piece of paper, Sebastian glanced at It and turned white. Then, with an energetic gesture, lie tore the paper into pieces /and flung thom down upon the floor. Without a word t*> Leontine he clapped on his hat and followed the stranger. Leontine stared after her husband in wonder. Then, moved by a sudden impulse, she stooped and picked up the scraps of paper. She pieced theni together upon the table and made oui the name, "One-Lamp Louie." What Leontine saw vividly was the face of the little crook who had torn tno confession from her hands and destroyed it outside the gaining nouse. At once her suspicions leaped into life. She rail out of the garden. Sebastian was nowhere to he seen, hut she heard a faint cry for help coming from a lonely spot some distance below the summit ol' the hill, among the dense hushes. Hurrying forward along a little trail, she saw presently the automobile, standing beside a gypsy wag-1 on. Reside this her husband was wrestling with three men. It was a distant picture; she could discern Sebastian only by his characteristic pose of anger, and again his cry came to her, sounding faint and far away. Instantly Leontine dashed through -the trees, tripping over roots, forcing her path through brambles, her mind Intent on loyalty to the man she called her husband. The kidnapers had whisked Sebastian into the auto and pushed it down the mountain path before he was well aware of what was happening to him. The trail connected, some distance down the hill, with a disused road, which, in turn, run into the main road two miles further awuy. This road !<>(] Into t)i*? moiin tn 11?? nnil It w?io there that the crooks meant to extort Sebastian's confession. An unexpected Interruption in the shape of a fallen tree compelled the car to slow down. Instantly Sebastian seized his opportunity to leup to the ground. It was then that Leontine heard his cry for aid. "Shut up!" yelled Romanoff, dashing his fist into Sebastian's face. But Sebastian, whose fears were stronger than his cowardice, broke away from his pursuers, again crying for help. And it was at this juncture that Leontine, breathless nnd disheveled, appeared upon the scene. At the sight of her the men hesitated. Then Romanoff had an inspiration. Behind Leontine stood the empty gypsy van, whose owners were doubtless picking blueberries upon the mountains. He caught the girl in his arms, bundled her inside, and locked the door on her. "Now we've got 'em, I guess," he said, baring his teeth in a grin. And he started as his own words left his mouth, for out of^the bushes broke?Itavengnr, who had been left securely locked in Bianca's cellur. With blows light and left, Ravengar felled two of the crook's companions. While Romanoff dodged the third swing of his right arm, Itavcngur unlocked the door of the van. He dashed inside. "LeontineI" he called. Romanoff's inspiration did not desert him. Before Ravengar had caught Leontine from the interior of the van he had turned the key on him. He drew back, panting, while his companions, who had picked themselves up from the ground, stared dazedly about. Then, ' turning round, he realized that Sebastian had made good his escape in the confusion. Far up' the hillside he saw Sebastian running. lie ground his teeth in rage. "I guess we'd better beat it home and think out what we are going to say," said one of the gang. "And leave lilin in there with her?" grinned Romanoff, jerking his thumb toward the van, from within which came the sound of Ravengar's fruitless blows. "Not if I know it. Look." D .l/.n.n 1,111 ()/.?,? An. JLAT7 |rvniu\;u uwun ilic 1 a i ft i ouilir III! J yards away the steep declivity ended in one of those precipices common in that country?a sheer drop of not more than thirty feet, perhaps. But thirtj feet is as good as a hundred for ? heavy gypsy van. "All we've got to do is to start her,' said Romanoff with o grin. ******* 1 I?oont!rc, faint with terror, raw a. mitu bound Into the vau. She looked bjH-to ace ltuvcngnr. At that moment both heard the door* click behind them. The light was again cut off abruptly. The man fluug himself with his full force against It. It did not yield a particle, lie smashed with nis fists against the heavy wood. But the door of the r*.n was without panels, hewn from the living tree, and he might as well have attacked cast iron. Then he was conscious that the van . whs moving. In fnct ltoinnnoff and his companions had picked up the shafts and had given the vehicle the primary impetus that was to start It on its way down the mountain side. The wheels would revolve faster and faster until the edge of the precipice was reached Then . . . The van was half way down thedescent when: Leontinc's companion, groping about him in the darkness, felt his hand close on something that set * I KR ra The Forward Imoetus Precipitated Him to the Ground. his henrt boating wildly. It was nn iron crowbar, such as (ho gypsies carry in their tinkering anil shooing outfits. Ho grasped it, snatched it lip, and battered furiously upon the door. It splintered. Again and again he delivered thunderous blows with all his power. Suddenly the whole door gave. It cracked and swung from the hinges, and toppled to the'ground, falling beneath the van. It arrested one of the hind wheels. The van stopped dead for an instant and began to topple over. The forward Impetus precipitated him to the ground. He scrambled upon his feet and saw the awful precipice beneath him. Had not the van swerved at that moment, it would have precipitnted him down thirty feet below, among the rocks and bowlders. He stretched out his arms. "Leontine 1" he called wildly. And Leontlne tumbled into them. For a second they swung and swayed upon the very edge of the precipice. Then, with almost superhuman strength, he pulled her backward, and they fell exhausted among the bushes. Sick and giddy, Leontlne rose to her feet and looked at her rescuer. Was this Rnvengar? Or was it a phantasy of a disordered brain that seemed to see hiin standing at her side, one hand outstretched. ; "Coine, Madame Navarre," he said i ceremoniously. "I will conduct you to your husband." **??* + * Rlanca leaped to her feet as the auto stopped In front of her house. I She had fallen asleep, dreaming of ItnI vengar, the man locked in the cellar ' | beneath. She had dreamed that her ' emissaries had returned, bringing with them news of success, and Sebastian's \ written confession. I She had dreamed that the mystic prophecy had been fulfilled, and that ltavehgnr loved her. In this love ^somehow she had found herself; she had shaken free from the old Rlanca ; she was once more an innocent girl beside hor lover. She looked through the window. The men were descending from the nuto. She read their failure in their dejected faces. And the dream was nil a lie. Romanoff and his friends received the worst rating that had ever passed Rianca's lips. For once she met them on their own level. She tonguelashed them until they were ready to sink through the lloor. Bianca knew how to wield the whip. "If you'd accepted my advice and had that Ravengar killed, this wouldn't , have happened," hurst out Romanoff. "You fool!" said Bianca angrily. "You were dreaming, all of you. Some tramp came along, I suppose." ' "I tell you it was that Ravengar," I itrln/1 * ? 1 ? ?" ' * vncu uviiiuiiuu iiiinuMy, "rifi DUS16(1 > up the show, and he got Leontine out , of the van in the nick of time." , | Bianca looked from one to another* , speechless. ' | "Are you prepared to swear it was - Ravengar?" she asked. "Are you I ready to come to the cellar with me?" i1 "You won't find him there, unless he's got a double," answered Koina' noff. ' 1 i! Bianca rang for Wong Lee. "Where is Mr. Ravengar?" she asked the Chi' naman. "All in cellar, missis." "Lend the way, then, Wong."