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fekeM @ c 6y i?anda AUTHOR OF "BEYOND THE FRO MY LADY OF T NOVELIZED FROM THE EHOTON Y oeoftOE I SBTZ COTYtlOMT, IflA SYNOPSIS. | Adventurous Jerry Carson embarks la search of hidden treasure with the promise of l.eontlne Wulcott to be his' wife on his return. Her father favors I Sebastian Navarre. Jerry's ship is burn- j d, he Is reported lost. Jerry suddenly ' turns up to confront charges of the Nuvarres against him. in a struggle for a forged paper Dlcgo Navarre Is killed and Jsrry is convicted of the murder. He escapes, and finds the treasure and a wonderful chemical pellet. Lcontine Is forced to marry Sebastian. On the honeymoon, he attacks her in a rage. Suddenly he Is confronted by a welul apparition. Ravengar forces a confession from Ixmie, | Sebastian attempts to get It. An earth quake occurs; in the excitement, Red Finn steals the confession and flees. He appears In New York as Romanoff and enlists the uid of Madame Blanca. : Ijeontine confronts her husband in the I gambling house. Romanoff attempts to ; kidnap Sebastian and Leontine. but Rav- j engar appeal s to thwart him. Blanca and ' her thugs arc puzzled by Ravcngnr's re- ! peated escapes and returns to bis cellar i vnmik. i/w'iiiiiivt vuiiltvilifi iu livvuilljiaiiy ' Hamilton on a balloon ascension. Sebastian drugs llarnllton and arranges to have Leontine set adrift in tbo balloon. Th" balloon burst into llamo and Leontine finds that her companion is Ravengar. They uro rescued, but Ono-Ijanip Louie rejK?rts that they perished in a hurricane, j Sebastian arranges to marry Blattca. ljouie prevents it to save himself and is thrown to death by Sebastian who changes his marriage plans. lie sees Leontine alive and well. Later Sebastian has Leontine kidnaped. Ravengar delivers Leontino from the hands of her enemies, but Bianca's thugs capture him. Blanca hesitates to kill him as she is I passionately in love with him. By maintaining that 1 pontine is insane, Sebastian again gains possesion of her. Havciigar. after a terrific batt.a, rescues her, but the 1 mystic mantle which renders tItem invisible, Is stolen. Bianca's thugs corner Reven gar ami Leontine in a shack. Bianca defends Ravcngar. lie escapes and recovers tlie invisible mantle. Out of revenge the thugs dynamite the shack. Ravcngar offers Sebastian his freedom in exchange for the confession: as the police arrive Sebastian escapes. Ravcngar takes Leontine to his iaboruiory U? explain *. mystic pellet. Sebastian steals the pellets, and the mantle. THIRTEENTH EPISODE \ The Hidden Menace. As Leontine knelt there Ravengar disnrmenrori. .... _ , ^ ... He was gone In a moment, before ; her eyes, and before the eyes of the group of doctors and hospital assist- , ants who had run up to the scene of i ^ She rose To her feet with a cry. The -hospital staff stared ubout them in amazeUfent. \ "Where is he?" cried everyone. "He is gone!" cried Leontine. "He has been kidnaped. Come to the po- 1 lice station. We can do nothing more ( now. I know?"- I ^^fc-She br^kq ?# What could she say? r could she explain the matter in carry conviction? ~j They followed her to the police sta- , tlon, and there the difficulty was intensified. The police listened to her story in incredulous surprise, until Leontine, realizing the futility of what she was trying to say, became silent. She had caught the looks that were Interchanged, looks suggestive and hinting as to her condition of iniud. She decided to go to Ravengar's laboratory. There as Just the chance that he had escaped and made his way there. Sebastian could not have carried him away bodily. Ravengar had been regaining consciousness even in the moment or two during which Leontine had knelt at his side on the il/tAI* A^ til A 1* An*\S 4 1 A1UU1 Ui llir llll. She ordered a taxicab and drove toward tho laboratory. Meanwhile a 111 tie scone was taking place in the street In front of the building. Mr. Patrick McOuire, who had nothing in particular to do, was watching some street urchins quarreling over a find which they had picked up in the street. It was, in fact, nothing else than the bottle of pellets. One of them, a hoy of seven or eight years, had pounced upon it and picked It up. He looked very greedy eyes ht the dark bean-like objects, apparently chocolate-coated, which lay in his hands. He was about to convey one of them to his mouth when an older boy "Revenger Saves Leontine From the Burning Laboratory. matched the bottle and pellets from thtm. As the elder boy held the bottle ^tantall singly aloft, the little fellow isqti&red his fists for the fray. He {leaped at him, and In a moment the |two boys were at it, hammer and ttODgB. ImgSkadow QfarrisK ffi iNTIER," "MAID OF THE FOREST," HE NORTH." ETC JkY SIJUAi or THI SAMf NAMI . RR EASED tY PATM n hmu ruiiw *uo to it, fellers 1" said Mr. Mc- ^ Quire, watching tlieiu with an amiable grin. The little fellow was a good fighter. They rolled over and over in the mud, hammering each other for all they were worth. A policeman strolled along and, quickening his leisurely pace, came up to them. "Get out of that!" he said. The hoys, terrified by the law, disappeared promptly, leaving the bottle of pellets lying in the road. Mr. McGuire strolled forward and appropriated the spoils of war. He looked at the bottle and at the loose pellets, which, coated with dust, appeared like chocolate-coated beans. Then he walked a few .yards to a house in the rear of the laboratory, where some women were hanging up clothes. "lley, Mrs. Spielburger, see what that kid of yours was trying to eat!" he said. At that moment Leontine suddenly appeared on the scene. "(live me that bottle," she cried. "It's mine, I lost it and 1 have been looking for it. It contains a rare medicine. 1 will give yon tifty dollars for it." Pat eyed her in astonishment. "Did yonse luom that, lady?" he demanded. "Yes." Pat placed the bottle in Leontinc's hands. At that moment an extraordinary tiling happened. Two hands, apparently materialized out of the air, closed over Leontine's and attempted to wrest the bottle from her. Leontine screamed and fought for it. Siie looked up into two eyes?nothing but eyes. They were Sebastian's. The German woman, her neighbor, and Pat McGuire watched the struggle in consternation, too terrified to scream. Leontine's hands were slowly opening under the pressure of Sebastian's. She let life bottle fall. Patrick McGuire darted forward and I ' picked il up. As lie stood with his hand clenched tighl about it tlie hands j in the air began to close about his wrists. p. PjU \vrenched himself free, stooped dow iij find {ticked Up a wash-stick that was lying in the yard. Still holding the bottle tightly in his left hand, with his right ho began striking about In every direction* There was the sound ( of the stick descending upon a skull, ' and a distinct arrest of its movement through the air, which would have sounded comical under other circuni- j stances, ?j>T'Kni~ ~T? In a few moments Pat stood, the i stick still brandished in nil attitude of defiance, clutching the bottle of pellets victoriously in his hand. lJut Phe , hands of the spirit laid disappeared, j Pat, with a bow, handed tlie bottle to Leontine. "Keep it for mo," she said. "Guard it in a safe place until I am ready for it, and I will pay you live hundred dollars instead id' iifiy." "Foivo hundred, is il ?" cried Pat. "Sure, lady, for foive hundred dollars I'll tight all tlie ghosts in Christendom." I "I'll come for it soon." "Sure, and I'll go with you, lady,"! answered Pat. It occurred to Leontine at that moment that she did not know whore to go. To return to Sebaslinn's house, even though he would never dare to go back, was Impossible. She decided upon a hotel lot* women, located in an inconspicuous part of the city. "You can see me to the subway. ' *\ then, she said. I'at started off at Iter side in the at- j titude of a protector. It was not a long walk, but it required passing through a shun region and over a high railroad bridge. Under lite bridge ran the river, and j along the river hank was the railroad. At the approach to the bridge was a tool house, used by a construction gang. Against the wall an iron crow- , bar was leaning. Suddenly Loontine j screamed and caught Put by the arm. ; Unseen hands iiad silently picked tip the crowbar aud poised it on high. At! that instant it was descending with fearful force toward the Irishman's head. Leontlne tried to pull Pat back. But Pat, who seemed to miss nothing, started forward with wonderful agility, and the bar passed within an inch of his skull and shoulders and thudded upon the ground. Next moment Pat had leaped at his assailant. They fought nil over the bridge sidewalk, gradually being carried further and further toward the middle of the bridge, so that now they were tighting over the river beueath. Pat struggled with all his power, but he was no, match for his antagonist. He was thrmvn av?i? lha ?? ? V*TM Vf V* 4i?v K/t 1V4?U| The Irishman went under Immediately. Then, as Leontine leaned over the' rail, sick with horror, she perceived a rowboat with two men In it approach-; log the spot rapidly. But before It reached the spot Pat's' head appeared above the waves. He tjxshok*? 4d0u nooded briskly, nod his arm went out in the movement of a swimmer. Put had survived his fall, and in a minute he wss being hauled into the boat. Leontine began running along the bridge at the top of her speed. She reached the further end, and, a minute or two later, was standing upon the wharf, toward which the rowboat was making its way, conveying Pat"You ore not hurt?" cried Leontine. '*1 guess it'll take more than a ghost to put Patrick McGutre out of business," answered the dripping Irishman with a grin. "And the bottle?the bottle?" Sure, miss, I lost it in the water," answered Pat in abject contrition. Leontine was downcast. "Well, never mind. The shadow didn't get It," she answered. She gave Patrick her card. "I shall send you a check as soon I get home," she said. "Five hundred dollars, because you did your best and risked your life for me." "Sure, and that wasn't nothing," answered Pat cheerfully. "I'd foight that ghost again, any time, just for the look in your bright eyes, lady." Leontine had not reflected on one thing. A bottle will float. If she had waited?if Pat had waited. But that was just where they failed in the moment of success. Slowly the bottle traveled upon the lapping waves. It was making toward the pier, half submerged, but easily resting in the water. Nobody seemed to notice it?and yet one person noticed it. For, as it came to rest against the support of the pier nearest to the wharf, a pair of hands, wholly detached from any arm, came forward mm picueu i no dot no out or the water. ' ; , ******* Sebastian laid picked Ravongnr up , l)odily and hurried out of the hospital with him, the mantle securely enwrapping the pair of them. With a great effort he placed him in a tnxieah which was standing outside. Reaving i him covered, he went to the chauffeur with instructions to take him to a certain place where he knew he could 5 find rest and a breathing space. ' It was the upper floor of a garage ' on a small estate near the city, which 1 he owned under an assumed name. ! Upon this estate, in a cottage about a Quarter of a mile from the garage, i connected with it by wire, he had a ' chauffeur and caretaker and his wife. ',1 They knew Sebastian only by his! alias. | 1 Leontine had discovered the existence of this place, much to Sebastian's i regret. i Sebastian dismissed the taxieab, and < the chauffeur drove away, quite ignorant that he had conveyed more tluui 1 "* nv' "Give Me That Bo ried hfin up the stairs to the room ( above the garage. Then he hound him hand and foot and stood gazing at him triumphantly. , At last he had his enemy i? his power. And he meant to make full use of Ilia J i?mvo;\ Kilt ho could not remain there to 1 exact his vengeance. He must follow . up Leontine. lie administered a pow-. ' erful Soutli American drug, which j would prolong the period of Raven- ' gar's unconsciousness for a definite 1 time. Then, leaving Ravengar bound, he hurried downstairs, opened the. door, locked it behind him, and went , off iu search of his wife. It was a novel experience for Sebastian, stalking through the city j streets wrapped in invisibility. lie did not find Leontine at the j hospital. But lie met her at the back 1 of the laboratory, with the results a I- \ ready indicated. lie fought with Mr. Patrick McCluire, receiving some stun-l ning blows from the wash-stick, he threw him bodily over the bridge, only ; to see him rescued by the rowboat's occupants. And, finally, he found the bottle of pellets floating against the support of the bridge. He had achieved his purpose. Trl-. umphantly he hastened back to the garage. He found Ravengar Just awakened from the effects of the drug. He atood over him and surveyed hint, hla eyes blazing witli triumph. "I've got yon," he Haiti. "I guess you're pretty helpless now. What arc you going to do about it?" "It looks to me as If It's up to you, Senor Navarre," responded Haven gar. "It's not up to me, it's up to you," answered Sebastian. "What's the use kU>, OOIWiY, 1, 0. one person to the garage. Sebastian had meanwhile removed Ravengar, who was still half conscious. He carthe other, from his position upon the floor. "I guess you'll tell me all right/' sulci Sebastian, with a threatening gesture. "The gume'8 up. Isn't it? I've got you, and I've got your cloak. And I've got your pellets. What more is there to get, except your life?" Itavengar smiled again. "Go ahead," he answered. "I'm not a murderer, except when I have to be. I don't care if you're living or dead. What I wunt Is to know the secret of these pellets? What's the use of ihom? I heard you tulklng to my wife In your laboratQry, but I didn't get what you said about the pellets, except thut they're black. Well, I know they're black. Any fool can see thut. But wbut um I going to do with them?" "Eat them," suggested Ravengar. "They won't hurt you. All they'll do will he to make you black inside, and you're that already, friend." Sebastian scowled again. It was humiliating to he taunted by a man . whose life was at his mercy. "See here," lie said. "I'll give you | your life if you'll tell me what the j pellets are for. Why shouldn't you j and I go into partnership? We are the only people who know the secret. There ought to be a fortune in it. If it's my wife that's in the way, take her. I'm through with lior." "No, you cur! I'll tell you nothing." ; Sebastian trlaivd nt liim* nrwi !?>??? there came to him the saving thought. "1 guess you don't have to," he grinned. "Ilow about that journalV" llavengar's face turned while. II was Sebastian's master-stroke. "It's all in there. I'm going to get It and ilnd out all about the pellets. And then I'll come back and decide what to do with you." lie kicked lluvengar savagely and went out again. * * * * * Leontine, having lost the pellets, as she thought finally, in the waters of Ihe river, was in despair. Ravengar was gone, the cloak was in Sebastian's possession; never had her hopes seemed at a lower ebb. IUit one thing remained?the journal. With that she might happen up>11 some clue. She made her way iack to the laboratory. Everything was just as she left it. Sebastian hud not been there. At that moment she made another mistake. She omitted to lock herself 11. Rut she was thinking of nothing ?xeept the journul. ? , She hurried to the safe, knelt down iu front of it. and had speedily set jHRn H9fl0t?9Bfltt nK RHUMMHH ftlR^^^u ' '/W^ojwj o,J"' ?22 ? ttle," She Cried. nt inese pellet.sT Come, you rimy.as | well tell the truth." "I never tell anything but the truth," said ltnvengar. "That's sense," said Sebastian. "When I tell anything," continued the combination. She took out the lournal, which ltnvengar had replaced there before his hurried exit. Suddenly, as she began to read, she became conscious that she was not alone. She looked back. The rooth was apparently empty. Smothering her fears, she read: "To all whom it may l>e known: "I, Joseph Dexter, scientist, have discovered here 011 the ledge of Itifvengar two/treasures. One is of gold, the other of far greater value. The first I found?it is that of Sir Henry Morgan, buccaneer; the second I have made. Here iu my dead hand?for I a in dying?it may he found. It is three black pellets. To the finder they mean [rower beyond the wildest dream of man. They are?" Leontine started. This time she knew her Instinct had not deceived her. She looked back?Into the face of Sebastiau. He had thrown off his cloak and stood confronting her, * mocking sneer upon his face. hfl I V A f Itn f f i\ IIIA ** V*A atl/l ikll%r?kMA uitc if in i iu i?iVf jiu oatUf nufuuir lug. "you shall not have It!" "Oho it to me!" She run from him, but he followed her, caught her at the door, and wrested the journal from her hand, In spite of her furious struggles. She snatched it back and rushed toward the safe, thrust It Inside, and tried to slam the door. But the ponderous mass of steel moved slbwly, and Sebastian grasped the journal i win . , n?mwmmmi? II agtun. As XebntTnV tried ones again to grapple with him he flung her to the floor. She fell full length, striking her head against the corner of the safe, and lay there stunned. Sebastian glafttoed about him. This time he meant to finish with Leonttne. The room was Uttered with opened packing cases, stuffed with straw and | excelsior. The furniture was of the j mission style, all slats and slabs of > bard oak. Sebastian gathered chairs and tables together In the middle of the laboratory, heaping about them exeelslor from the cukor. He made a pile of the stuff half as high as the ceiling, carrying armful after armful from the boxes. Then he looked at Leontlne. She was regaining consciousness. Her Hps moved. Struck with a sudden curiosity, Sebastian went toward her. She uttered one word: "Rnvengar !*' Furiously he struck a match and applied it to the piled up straw and wood shavings. Hie pluce was ablaze In an Instant. Sebastian strode from the room, locked the door on the outside, and put the key in his pocket. Wrapped in his invisible mantle, be descended the stairs. ; ******* Ravengar, lying bound within the garage, hardly felt the savage kiek that Sebastian gave him. He was not thinking at all of his own danger, but of Leotitine. She must have witnessed his mysterious disappearance at the hospital; she would be searching t'01* him ; she would go hack to the laboratory and meet her husband there. He must save her. And, as soon as Sebastian hud taken Ids departure, he fought desperately to free himself from his bunds. Hut it was in vain. Suddenly he stopped struggling and looked about him. Somehow there 111 u:-1 in- a means or escape. He had been in worse positions than this, and had got out of them. On one side of the room he perceived two wires, evidently those of an oloetrie hell connected with the house of the estate on which the garage st o? )d. Itnvengar began working his way, wornilike, along the floor, lie had to 1 ? 1\IN #.! <i \ 1 ?l t f t l\0 I) i? II ill ry lMt\ rv <1 I ni ? n m ? %> mvtov. nn n.-? ci meditun for self-propulsion. In time he reached the wires, sore and dusty. He raised Ids feet in the air, reclining on Ids hack upon the floor. His feet, tied together, were thus exactly opposite the two wires. With about three inches of freedom at the ankles, Itavongar began to move them up and down alternately, pressing back the wires against the wooden beam he'd nd tlmm, He worked in this way for ten minutes. I Now an observer might have detected what he was doing. lie was trying to rub off the protective covering of the wires. At lust the strands of copper wire were visible. Then, with a last effort Itavengar pressed his feet together, bringing the two ..I t ..4.. -1! 4. ^ * * * wiii-js nun dufci ciMiuiei aim musing n short circuit. lie kept them thus for porhaips half a minute !>efore falling back exhausted. Ami a half-minute peal of an electric hell would throw consternatf on or an per into the heart of the most independent janitor or watchman anywhere. It worked In this case. Half a mile distant Sebastian's chauffeur was seated beside his wife, smoking, wlfen the bell rang. "Them hoys have gotten into the garage again !" exclaimed the good woman. "I'd give 'em a taste of the stick, Henry." Ilenry put down his paper, thrust on his cap, and sallied forth to wreak justice upon tlie youthful malefactors. By the time he reached the garage he was hot with indignation. There was nobody below, lie rushed upstairs, to encounter Ruvengar lying upon the floor, bound. "What?!" he begun. "Your mistress is in danger," said , Ravengar. "I have been attacked und bound here. Don't wait to ask any questions, but unfasten me and get the car at once." The chauffeur took out his knife and cut Ravengar's bonds. Ravengar strug- j gieu pumiuuy to Ms feet. "Who?7" the chauffeur began. "(jet the car out. I'll tuke you. there," answered Ravengur. They hurried down the stairs together. In a few minutes the ear started. It whirled out of the estate and began to thread the city streets. "do faster," cried Ravengur in the chauffeur's car. "Her life Is in peril. I'll give you five hundred dollars If we; are tlfere hi tlfne to save her. And if | any cop tries to stop you, drive over him!" ******* Leontine awoke to find the laboratory filled with smoke. At first she did not know where she was. Then, in a flash, she remembered.1 She was in Itavengar's workshop, and Sebastian had come and seized the precious journal. Rut,how long ago? Dizzily she tried to find the door, but the place was filled with whirl[ lng, choking smoke clouds, and in the center was a broad tongue of fianie, already spreading along beneath the celling, catching at the rafters, and sending out a shower of sparks. Under the window she heard excited cries. Leontine groped her way to the wlnJy... 1 I 1 1 A . - uun niiu ivuftKU Ulll. A. CTOWCl W08 gathering, watching the smoke clouds pouring forth. A cluster of men, seeing her, cried to her to wait, to stay there, thit the engines were coming. But Leontine did not understand what they were saying. The window was so high above the ground that a imp would bo to certain UeatK. However, Its position enabled her to remember where the door was. She ran buck through the room, skirting the blazing Are, which was now extending shoots of flame In- every direction. They licked at her dress hungrily, but she won clear and found the door. It was locked. Leontlne tore at the handle fruitlessly. She remembered that she had not locked It behind her. Then her husband had set the fire and locked her In, to murder her. Her anger at his vlleness revived her fainting body. She hammered at the door, she flung her flats against tt with all her might. It was In vain. She could.no more open It than If It had been made of steel. In despair she sank down In front of It. She could hardly breathe now, and life seemed ebbing away. She thought of Ravengar, of Jerry, and i the personalities of ^he two men seemed to blend anu Intermingle In ) ' her consciousness. Then she felt her- I self slipping out of life. \ J Suddenly she heard feet on the stairs. Outside the vast crowd was watching a man?Ravengar?who had Ill ^ JBli : Mr! - . ft* Mh^8 ' ^ .?* ' ~ f% ' 'y ^ ^ ' "" ' ij t?? J'?? "It's the Lady That Promised Me $500 for Risking Me Loife for Herl" hurst Into the hack entrance and was staggering up the smoke-tilled stairway. i lie reached the laboratory door and ' set his shoulder against It. Once? ! twice?at the third lunge the solid mass J splintered at the hinges and half opened. A cloud of smoke shot through wit tl fllH'V ut ri>!ll.'U rtiulwwl /-.lit n^lin^llnrl. i ...... ... . ^ mva ? ttumf ? iioiivu wul? XlliUll^ll " It llavengar dimly made out the con- ' scions form of Leontine. He readied across the ruins of the i door, picked her up in his arms, antPi slavered down the stairway again. ] The flames, released by the fall of the (hair, and blown Inward by the draft frotu the open window, seemed uk* about hi in. They leaped at him like , living tilings, hut. he went on, shield-:ing Leontine in his arms, and carrying): her as if she were no heavier than tF* cliild. As the fire engines dashed up t<>< the front entrance and began playing! upon the flames, which threatened the entire building, Knvengar made ids way out at the hack, where the crowd 9 was smaller. lie rushed with Ids 9 precious burden across tlie street and 9 entered the yard of the German worn an whose son had found the pellets. 9 "Give me some water!" he saidjfl breathlessly. 9 Mr. Patrick McGtiire came hustling J up, but Havengar, not knowing hini,*9 Impatiently ordered him away. 9 "Sure, It's the lady that promised me 9 foive httndred dollars for risking nifj9 loife for her," he said. ?9 The water was brought, and, per9 haps at the touch of this on her fore-^H head, perhaps at Pat McGwire's voice ffl Leontine opened her eyes and smiled >9 Then she stretched out her arms t(J9 Itavengar. And he, overcome with hap 9 plness, dropped on his knees besldtjl She remembered; and there was n? '9 n/W\/1 r*# f 1 ? - Al in IIIIIIICI f.\[H]IIlIII1011K. 1 lll'i U happiness was too Intense. Each hn< fM believed the other dead. |j "Dearest!" whispered Leontli^e intjll his ear. 'U "Sebastian took the cloak and vtf fl pellets," said Ravengar In a low vole*' fl "And he has the .lournnl, too," * IJ swered Leontine. "But what does tl#%^ matter when I have you?" "You love me?" usked Ravengar lifll credulously. ? m "Yesr" she acknowledged. "Do yor remember long ago when you sougR my love, and I told you that It wf?jl Jerry's, my dead lover's, of years by? Since then I have come to fettll that In some way I can love you witD V out profaning that love I promise, J Jerry to keep for him, dead or ally-\ W forever. I have come to feel that V Is what Jerry himself would wis1'jj couia he t>ut know?that I should Ioa m you. It Is as if some message ha' J come to me from him in his grave, < H rather in his heaven, telling me thr J In returning your love I <lo no wrong 4m She paused and looked at him ear eetly, then laid her hand upon h JH arm. jl i "Ravengar " she said, "once, wh?P S