Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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1UX ! THE GREAT ROttAf I n <ffi LOUT5 JC I 11 A 7ove/izatton of the Ah , ^T:^ I II Same Name Produced I || Film Service, Inc., L J III Wharton, Jnc. IT THE CAST. 1 MRS. VERNON CASTLE ? Patria Charming. MILTON SIL7LS as Donald Parr. WARNER OLAND as Baron Huroki. DOROTHY GREEN as Fanny Adair. | ! I 8YNOPSIS. | On the eve of inheriting sole control of iCh#mnlngs, Inc., America'* largest arms bm ammunition Industry, Patria Channlng 1b mysteriously summoned from Newport t? New York by Peter Ripley, trustee l'oi her estate. Baron Huroki, chief of the Japanese secret service, busies himself to hinder her response to this summons; but Patria overrides his opposition wit? the aid of Oapt. Donald Parr, United Mates aecret service, who suspects Japan of intriguing to embroil the Vnitcc. Mutes with Mexico. _____? EPISODE TWO "Treasure." 80 young was the Juno morning tlint, though cross-town streets already plowed with sunlight well nigh as bright if not so wimn as that of noonclay, wide areas of shadow lingered athwart Fifth avenue's silent reaches like still broad banners of translucent violet. The thoroughfare was as lifeless as Main street in any village at church hour of a Sunday; a few policemen blinked Indifference at the taxicab ll.v ing southward at such lawless speed. A few blocks sm?h of Fourteenth street the vehicle (driven with a recklessness arguing the prospect of a sub* stuntlul tip as reward for haste) took n corner on two whei Is and came to an abrupt pau*? before a residence of the vintage caste. > The moment it stopped, out of the cab hopped a brisk young man and. on Ids heels, an anxious young woman who ran impatiently up the steps to white front door while her companion lurried nj the curb to settle *vnh the chaufcVur. 1~G.v the time lie was free to Join the young woman on the doorstep, she was ringing the bell with a sort of semlh.vsterle persistence. . * "I can't understand why no one answers," slie faltered with a little shiver of apprehension, "I've rung and rung. . , , You don't really think anything can have happened-?tin you, Captain Parr?" . ? U()\ Mis* Channing?but I 1 i jUirnn to find out pretty pronto.' She stepped back, and I'arr planted ? firm thumb on Urn hell-push. From the Interior of the house came a remote buzzing'?nothing more. At a j venture the young man released the button and laid hold of the door-knob. To the surprise and somewhat to the constornution of both it yielded read- ? ily. i^'or a moment i ither moved ; only the eyes of each nought the other's, ' mutely eloquent with apprehensive inntii ry. Then with a quick gesture which might have heen iuh rpreted as bidding t.ho girl to wmi outside, the ^ouug man crossed me tnrcsnoiu, Quietly. the girl followed?to bo greeted by hop name. spoken iti accents 1 wojpder. "Miss Patty?fu' the lan\s J Bake!" ' I An aged negro servant clothed simply < in pujatnas stood transfixed in rceognition hulf-wny down the flight of , stairs to the upper storie.sk "That you. Martin? Where is Mr. Ripley T "Mistuh Uipiev? All reckon ho inus' lie into his bed. Miss Patty; he gin'rly *HI^8|^3^3K;w3^^^L^^^^^^^BH1PQ1H| uihhkiiu They Gained the Open Air. ?!<u?y? fMicty Jnt?> when he done worh late the nlpht bofci'?" ,%!>ld In' work lute lust (light, Murtin?' . "He s I io' did, MIjw rnttv?leuKtwu.vf T>o d<>tic >:ty hv gwlru* tuh when be utiic RIAr <CE?f PREPAREDNESS MPfVWCE n //ion Picture Play of the ' /or the International Sutler the Direction of Ctpyngkt Star Ctmpany. u?e off to bed 'bout'leven o'clock.* "Is tlint the library?" Parr asked, with a nwl '?,jr m the rear of the hnll; nnd receiving nil affirmative response motioned the servant to It with an imperative hand. "There's a llirht hurnimr in there still." ! he said; "you can see It beneath tlie door. Kettei?'f??e If perhaps Mr. lUple.v hasn't fajlen asleep over his work. Martin. . . . No?go ahead; I'll answer this." The doorbell had .lust rung. Am the aged negro scuffled off toward the library, Parr turned, opened the front door, and admitted an urchin wearing the livery of a well-known telegraph company. This last delivered an envelope addressed to Miss lVitriu <'banning. ]>oeket<si a tip. and returned to the street. Captain Parr cocked an j attentive ear toward the library while' iUe girl hastily scanned In r telegram, j "V.'luit nonsense! Captain Parr?will ' you please look at this'/" He took the telegram from her quivering hand?and knitted annoyed brow s over it. Newport, Juno 10, 1016. Miss Patria Chaniuns. I'.ast Tenth Street, N. Y. City. IVMraetoU. W!.y Cut you vim :nvay tonight v.. 111? i;t onplunuiion? jioer.ey f 1 - j ty lint morr.ffir train. Please wire !"rrpt ?! ial. Kuuorn eurrci.t lute you .-I f| ed Willi Captain Parr. AMI!!.! A WRIiNN. A s;i i'r. hal .'-rue! ul. lialf <?f amuseme!;!. ?*? p!:.i r(l Parr's frown. lit- re-j uned the message. The girl impn'ie?;lly t??:* it up at.d en-nudited its iV<aisive fragments to the floor. She was startled by a cry throaty with 1 error. Martin tottered out of the library dm?r. ids limbs trembling, his Jure ashen beneath its bronze, i "MJsv Patty! O Luwd, my , Hand !'; j'; i'rV fingers closed imperatively up<-n the servant's wrist. \> 11:11 is ir; ?\ II!II s tut ppcIlCtl t Mop that J1 < > \ v! 11?tr :m<] l ? ! 1 us !" "It's Mistuh Ripley (laid in there ? Common Impulse moved the two young people toward the rear of the hallway, hut half way to the library door I'arr cheeked the girl. 1 "Spare yourself. Miss ('banning. Let iue co Urst and have a look around? please !" Ii tvas a spacious chaniher. soberly if richly furnished in an outaged mode and dominated by a massive chimneypiece of marble elaborately carved. Parr, however, only subconsciously registered an impression of Its character. Ilis interest centered upon the body of a gentleman of advanced years that occupied an armchair at one end of the table. And it needed no more than a glanflP to assure hiip that the man was dead beyond dispute. Ills head and arms rested upon the ' talde. One hand still gripped an automatic pistol. Near his head rested an overturned telephone instrument, the receiver dislodged. He had been murdered?shot down while telephoning. Rut he had not died so quickly as to let his assassin escape; he bad lived long enough to discharge his own weapon with fiend'y efYect. Half it dozen feet aside the corpse of ilif assassin law nsprawl?in the east ??f those dead features Parr road I pro* finable continuation of his grimmest siKpiehms: iii^ assassin was?had been?a Japanese-, Turning on the servant sharply, Parr stilled hi?? lamentations with a brusque command. "Stop that horrihlo noise, Martin! I ?<? you v. ish Miss ('banning to hoar you? . . . Now toll ino: whore can wo put those bodies out of her sight?" The negro designated tin* drawingroom which communicutod with the library by sliding doors; thither they bore and there left the bodies. Then returning. Parr ordered the cotumunieating doors closed, and for a moment hesitated, dubiously examining a fat sealed envelope which he had found In the pocket of the dressing-gown worn by the ill-starred Mr. Itiplcy. It was superscribed in the linn, minute writing of a strong old hand; "Pop Miss Palrla (Tanning?Private & Confidential." lie returned to the hallway. At sight of ids gravely troubled countenance Patria rose quickly from a chair and came to him with an imploring gesture. "Prepare yourself," he said, "your guardian has been assassinated?by a Japanese. He left you this; perhaps It explains. ..." J PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL, j My Dear Ward: tomorrow, your ' t ll'itn I t -H net I > t * fe 11 a i \f 4\ i t * I I lti> . Inst of "The Fighting Chutming)*." On j ihat day you will loyally become your : own mistress nnd I will be relieved of t ihe guardianship of yourself and your fortune?one of the greatest fortunes In the United States if not in all the world. ' ; I write, rather than widt to nunj inuiiieate what I have to si.y, beenu.se 1 live In the. shadow of death. I id: t I not Jive. to sty -yow. personally t<? nc 1 j count to you for my stews, 'j may not !i\e to k? e tomorrow's d;.\v. THE HORRY R?H My life IF strangely menaced-?even of your life inuy l>e when you have taken over sole control of your, inheritance, your lunds and estates, Ckanniugs, Inc.. ?that greatest of arms and ammunition industries outside Germuuy?and the Ohanning secret defense fund. You do not know what that last means. It Is to enlighten you?lest 1 perish with my secret undivulged?-that 1 uin writing tonight. I have to inform you concerning that sacred trust, that bequest of your patriotic forefathers. One hundred years ago, almost to a day, the first .lohn ('banning died. He was a Virginian, a friend of Washington's, a soldier, a, patriot, a gentleman of fortune, character, Intelligence and of almost prophetic foresight. He lmd served through the War of Independence. When the War of 1812 broke out, ho resigned his ease and took the field ah' a colonel of militia. in nis military capacity John Chnnning the First wus an intimate observer of the luck of organization, military spirit, training, ability to tight, that characterized the American forces. "What he had experienced made n profound impression upon him. lie never censed to plan to protect his country against its greatest weakness ami its greatest eucui??itself. In the fatuous blindness of a people wlio then as today believed a sacred and .just ctfuse the equivalent of resistless weapon of defense, who thought they hud no need to train themselves for! v?ar so long rs they warred only fori the right, the first John ('banning foresaw mi intrinsic. Inbred weakness of j the people, prolifie of perils which lie j conceived it to he his duly to combat. Some rime prior to ids death, there-1 fore, he consulted with the first lVter Tliph y. n.y forebear and the l'oumlei 1 of'that line of It gal advisers to tit('banning family which must perish when I perish. Met ween them, tin two schcni-ti ??ur a scheme for a fund 1 :Y national <k'fense in time of dangi through what we have lately learned term "liuprcparedncss." One half ol i lie, ev< r. tic ii. very < onside ruble (''.tanning fortune was ?:ct aside to lie lit nucleus of the ("'hannfng secret dt fen^e fi inl, to in drawn uj-on or expended w!:o!!\ only in gravest national enter gei icy. Ti... <?... a.. -? * **< * i < I cTTl\I II'' \ H| 111' fr.inl v ".s !i;nr!'-fl <lown from father to K Was a Richly-Framed ?ii :?s 1?.tiir sim tin* ('hnnnings and ihe Itipieys luid male children. That time is now passed : Mj hoy died before at:;.111i11ir nisitiii'ity ; you sire your futherN only chilil. The fund today less (jrnwn, through careful in vest uii'iil ami unremitting vigilance. to the appreciable total sum of ss p] > i'o \ i m ;i 11 I y The whole is stored in the secret vsiult hemath this room to which the password is your name. Three-fourths of it Is eomprehemieil in giii -edged securities, immediately negotiable ; the balance of :"j.~.tit'.(),<too is in gold?thus ncctimul;ited lor immediate resource in emergency. Wisely employed, this treasure nuiv pro\e the salvation of your country in thi*, as it seems, its hour of direct need. Ku rope is atlame with war; w hen peace is declared, Kuropc's foreordained way to recoup will he by means of preying upon some great and wealthy hut defenseless country, such as the 1'uitI'd Stales of Aniericn. <>n the other hand, to the west of us, we have a ureal nation without room to crow?Japan. Its natural course of growth, following tin? line of least resistance, must he in and through our l western states. To tlie south of lis I lies Mexico, n hot bed of revolution, in| trigue and raeial hatred. l^idenee in support of Japan's designs against our pence Is not lacking. ^ Tlt.l V, I ill I . . 1. I .. .. I .. 1 * ? - - - | IIIV JN ll\ 1- VI ll? l HI III aMCXICM' the fact that Japanese officers haTe J?een detailed to drill Mexican troo|tl, Is known to the administration tit Washington if not to the people; thjft Japan maintains naval hoses, with Mexican consent; at Magdalena hay nod c)se\\ here, Is a matter of eommou knowledge, in my personal ex pern m* it is true that, following mv refusal a* ll loyal and patriotic eili/en to make contracts in the name of Chant;'. -?J** khl>% OONWAY, 8. O. ' ?uc? for delivery of arms arid aininoni- J tlon in Mexico, Japan has lert no stone j unturned to induce me to revoke my J refusal, and even now threuiens uiy : life because I ubide by It. For myself, my dear ward, I do not fear; when a man has passed a vermin age, death bus few terrors for him; hut for yon I do fear, when you shall have set your hund to the task : whieh mine must yield. I know your i breed well cuough to know you will ' not falter in the discharge of tills sacred trust, I know Japan well enough to know she will stop ut nothing to dlsi courage you. 1 charge yon above all tilings to lieware the mau who calls himself ; Huron Huroki?who poses as a cosmopolite of Japanese birth?who is in i reality secret chief of the Japanese secret service In this country, i More than this I hope to tell you In detail?If 1 live to see you again. Otherwise?I shall die content In the ! knowledge- "that I have, at least, done ; my host to warn you against the ehlcfest dangers you must apprehend as executrix of the (.'banning secret defense fund. Your affectionate guardian, PKTEU 1UPLEY. GOLD! When Parr had finished reading the i last page of Peter lllpley's letter he I looked down to encounter Patria's direct, uncompromising gaze. To her uu! uttered inquiry he nodded slightly. 1 "He was sane," said Parr. "He ' feared Japan?and a Japanese assus- i i shotted htm. That muc h continuation of what ho wrote we possess, beyond I refutation. There remains only to he j determined the actual existence' of tin* 'defense fund' . . . In a 'secret , vault beneath this room t?> which the password is your name!' What do you make of t hat V" Patrla shook her head. "It's ali ton strange. ... I never had any suspicion of anything of the sort. . . . I'm afraid i don't quite grasp it yet !" It was Patria who stumbled upon the solution haphazard? or, as woman would claim, intuitively. "The password my nan"*-?Patria! That sounds as though there must be 'i safe ?,loor somewhere with a letter ' omblnatJcrn . . . or else . . Oil Portrait of Her Ancestor. Or else??" I'arr prompted ns she 1 liesi t itrod. "Look Ihoro !'* * Mer otirllttrij.' hnnd indionted the inns-i ? . ( iliaride oliiiii11<-v-iiiiPun* Unit-! I? <! liiv I mws, staring. Tin* tiling wttsj in)crestInif only as a relic of the curious artistic taste of a bygone <1 jiy : 1 none hut a mid-Victorian intelligence! roulil have tolerated the thought of such a monstrous monument, to home-i liness. And yet the carving was ex-i <iuisitely done, lie crossed to it. with! I'fitria hy iiis side, for a closer fnspee-1 lion. In whatever brain the design had] originated, it was a patriot's: the! American eagle screamed in sculpturedj stone, the Mag flaunted blatantly its moveless folds, the arms of Virginia flanked the arms of the I'nited States, immediately above the fireplace the ('banning arms were emblazoned upon a shield. beneath this a scroll bore the motto of the house? "PRO PATRIA NOBIS." "To which the password Is my name !" l'atria put forth fingers which touched lightly the initial of the word l'atria on the scroll. She withdrew her hand with an exclamation; the letter she had touched had fallen in flush with the surface of the scroll. Parr nodded excitedly. "Try the next letI I cr!" I To her pressure the letter A became as the letter P; the remaining letters of the word followed suit as readily. And when the hist had hoen depressed i hey heard n eurlous grit ting noise beneath the mantel and. looking down. i saw the apparently solid stone hacking of the fireplace proper swing massively inward and disclose the mouth of a 1 ] narrow passageway. 1 i "Let lue go tlrHt!** j * I'ait's tone was Imperative* JftU>n dfrtng a littlest the Instinctive docility with which she ol)cywl hiin, Tatria stood aside. He ducked beneath the mantel and disappeared. . . . The passageway proved short, upon that level. Parr advanced three paces in utter darkness. Then It turned aside at a right angle. At the foot of some twelve steps he found unother level, advanced gingerly a pace into the denser imaginable murk, und stumbled over something soft and yielding that obstructed the floor. In stumbling he threw out a hand which encountered an electric light bracket. Steadying! himself by this he felt for and turned \ the switch; the brilliance ??f a single, bulb daz/.llngly exorcised darkness. He stood In a small. airless, window- j less chamber, furnished simply with a square mahogany table and four chairs ! on a rug. Otherwise it was featureless : but for a huge safe-door built Into the wall close by the foot of the staircase. Tills door stood ajar. A hluck void was beyond It. At Parr's feet lay *he obstacle which had so nearly proved his downfall: the body of a little Japanese clad in the uniform of a telegraph messenger?in his dead hand an automatic pistol. Turning, Parr called to Murtiu to come down to hlni. The negro's answers to Ills questions enabled him rapidly to reconstruct the prelude to a brutal crime. It seemed that, shortly before Pntrla's guardian hail dismissed him fori the night, Martin had answered the) door-hell to admit a telegraph niessen- ' gor hoy with a telegram for Peter Uip- I. ley. Signing for the message, Martin j hud told the hoy to wait for n possible answer, ami had taken the envelope to his employer in the library. But when Mr. Uipley luul opened It. he had found nothing within the envelope; and w lieu lie and Marlin had gone hack to the hall to interrogate the messenger, this last had vanished. By this ruse (Parr reekoned) obtain- ' ing admittance to the house when Mar- ' tin's b?ek was turmd. the pseudo-messenger had seereted himself and waited till, finishing his letter to Patria. Uip-i ley bad found rmisnn in it..<i-i.iwt t.. ?i...! Icensure vault. Then, following, the messenger had tried to shoot In]>1\ down, hut had tiu't death himself in i the attempt. Meantime a confederate had entered the house?gaining admit-! tnnre through the front door, loft unlocked. as Parr and Patrla had found i it. hy the tirst Japanese. And when liipley, emerging front the secret passage?no douht even then fatally ( wounded?had called Pritrin In Newport hy long distauee?the second JitpanoM' had shot to kill and had sue<|ed if at cost of his own life. . . . A-kin;; Pallia to turn aside while he wlvli Martin's aid carried up the dead Japanese and placed him with the others in the drawing-room. Parr left Martin on .unard, and conducted the girl helow to the treasure vault. If any traces of incredulity had thus far colored his thoughts, they were. pPO'ipt | y d! -slpatcd. The Vault was hot large?perhaps twice the si/.c of its anteeliamher?and w as so well-filled w ith boxes, hales and bundles that it afforded scant space in I which to move about. Aside from the entrance, three wails were hidden hy packing-eases. The fourth, the farthest from the entrance, boasted racks of pigeonholes in which were hied and docketed packet upon packet of papers. J and in addition a richly framed oil portrait of a gentleman in continental uniform. boasting a brass plate with this legend: JOHN OIlANNlXa Esq. (IP 17.~>7? I b 18H1.) Patriot, Statesman. Soldier. Founder of the ('banning Secret Defense Fund. Ignoring all else in the vault, the girl Patria lingered for many minutes he-i tore this portrait of the ancestor whose : clear foresight and love of country had created that trust whose burden had! now fallen upon her slender, pretty , shoulders. Kapt beyond utterance, she signified her wish lo confirm her deceased guardian's report as to the treasure. Parr selected one trom the nearest stack of wooden boxes, and essayed to t muster 11 to ino lanie. t?(11 it proved I heavier than he had anticipated, and slipped through finders unprepared for' its weight. There was tt crush; the liox lay shattered at their feet, its eon-1 tents spilled?stuck upon stuck of golden double-eagles scattered upon the floor. There was u pause. . . . [ Patrin stink into a chair and rested forearms upon the table. In 1 *r hands she held Peter Itlpley's letter. After n little, shuffling the sheets, fdie brought that one uppermost which showed the words? "Wisely employed, this treasure may prove the salvation of your country in this ... Its hour of direct need." "God make me wise," she said?and faltered?"(tod make me wise to administer this sacred trust!" Without wholly appreciating what he lid, transported beyond himself, Parr closed his fingers over hers. "Amen to that!" said he. . . . On the echo of his words a dull grating noise sounded above their heads. HOLOCAUST. In the twinkling of an eyelash both appreciated what had happened: the door to the secret passage had swung shut; for whutever reason, Martin presumably had r<h?d fit to close it. Without hesitation I'arr swung about, out of the vault and up the constricted stairway. At the top he found only the smooth surface of the closed door. His fingers groped vainly over It and round Its edges; if any means there were of opening It from the inside, it was too C ""?i? mmmmmmmy mmmmmmmmmmm cunningly coiieenlcd for his ingtttfttiry. Hut If closed, the dour was not altogether tl;;lit. Limits from" the library gleamed round three of Its edges. ?Pnrr could not contrive to get an eye to a crack, but he could not avoid hearing. K What he heard was, however, dllllcult m to Interpret. Several voices were audible from beyond the barrier, all chattering rapidly; and though Parr had a fair working knowledge of the Japanese tongue he lacked as yet thfc ability to translate the vernacular when t|ttick!y spoken. * After a time he crept nolse^Hj down the stairs. -mere are Japanese?several of tltoii*?In the Uhuse. Mnrttn must have seen them coming end locked us In to s prevent their discovering us." ' "But Martin? What wll* they do to him?" "I don't know. . \ . Let's not think about that. . . . Let's hope for the best. It's all we can do. I can't budge that door up there, and even If I could, I've got no weapons of any sort. . . ." Five minutes passed. Throughout the two could hear faint aotintutbf hurried footsteps overhead?for all the world like the scampering of rats in wainscoting. Then were heavier, duller i ( Stumbled Out Into the Underground Passage. noises, t<? hoot?ns though the Intruders were moving furniture about. Tluu all sounds reused. . . . Of a sudden, simultaneously, I'atria and I'arr turned startled fares toward! the vault door. Hound Its edges thin veils of smoke were seeping into the ehamher. "They have fired the house!" The strained, frightened whisper was Pati'ia's. Meehanieally I'arr nodded. Already the atmosphere in the vauilt was oppressive?so impregnated with smoke it was diflieult to hreathe, so warm that perspiration headed brows and hands. Another five minutes: he heard a little choking eolith, and turned to I'at- ^ ria. Slie was on her feet, swaying, ey?s hlanU. hands plucking feeldy at the throat of her waist. As she turned, the lis-ht died out from her face and she slipped slaekly forward upon tne l aide. Half-maddened. Parr put a shoulder with his weight hehiud it against tin? vault do()r. it swung otit?1?> admit a stif'iiu^ eloud n| hitter smoke together with a h'ast of ln-aied air that might have eoine from a furnaee's maw. Tugging the door shut again. h?* turtietl ami began rapidly to eirele th?wrlls. hoping against hope to diseovcP somewhere another exit. In Ids haste h ? tripped over the broken box of eorti and fell against tnc framed portrait of the first John Cliannink'. Its aged cord parted uiijAfcthe portrait fell with a crush, expositor the inner face of a stout door of steel. I'lueking frantically at Its bars and holts, I'arr succeeded in dislodging them. The door swung nut. A gust of damp, cold air invaded the vault. yond the opening little was visible? slimy hriek flooring between arched walls of brick fading into blackness? nothing more. Stepping back, Parr gathered the insensible girl up in his arms and stunij bled out into the underground passage. Uhice beyond the threshold he put his IntcR against (he door and swung it ffito place. Then he blundered bUndly on. pj Twenty pnees through inky vmrk. . . . 11<* stubbed his toes against a step, and gently putting down his burden, found and struck a match. The brief-lived flame discovered n short lligiit of stone steps ascending to a flat roof. At the top was no sign of ^ any doorway or fastening. Vet some way of escape must be there! He ran 1 up the steps, crouched on the topmost, placed his shoulders against that Hat roof of stone, and heaved mightily I ?and heaved and heaved. ... | Grudgingly, half-Inch by half-Inch,, i the stone yielded; then more rapidly; In the end one tremendous final effort I overturned it, ttnd I'arr sprawled out of tlie opening iuto fresh air and uioru- J ing sunlight. m He picked himself up to realize a. i walled garden in the rear of tlK^esidenoe whose every window spouted smoke and flame. Then he hurried hack to ratriu, took her oiico again in his arms, and bore her to the upper world. . . . She reeovered swiftly. Two minutes more, ami they stood in a quiet mews on the far side of the walled garden. And there, for a Utile, tluyfl *