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RA3T HIE GREAT ROMAt n <6* LOU15 JC Novelizatton of the A J Same Name ProUuceu Film Service, Inc., i What ton, Inc. j THE CAST. MRS. VERNON CASTLE as Patria Charming. MILTON SILLS as Donald Parr. WARNER OLAND as Baron Huroki. DOROTHY GREEN as Fanny Adair. SYNOPSIS. Baron Huroki of Tokyo, conspiring to embroil tlx* I'nited States ami Mexico in order to pave the way for the Japanese Invasion of the Pacific coast, is hunted from tlx- country by Patria Channing, sole executrix of the $l<H?,(K.?n,000 trust secretly created by patriotic progenitors to combat tin* national perils inherent In "unpr?*par< dness." Kstablishing himself just across the Mexican border, Huroki schemes to he revenged upon Patria. who ins us vast properties just north of the border. Tll/r I r T I I r- r> I ^ ~ ? i vvuLr I M tNSUUt "Peace" Which Passeth All Understanding! BEFORE THE STORM. The punishment administered h.v tlie Channing ranch hands to the raiding party which, under the leadership of that redoubtable scoundrel, Pancho Zelava. had descended?literally like wolves upon a sheepl'old?upon Patria's hacienda in the quiet of early morning. seemed to work with salutary effect upon the understanding of Senor Zelayn and his .lapanose confrere, Huron lluroki. D ays of complete peace followed that abortive raid, lengthening into weeks. Scouts sent out by Captain Donald Parr, acting f??r Patria. reported that Zelaya and lluroki had apparently never again ventured forth from the mountain fastnesses to which they had been driven by the ('banning people, after their rescue of Patria and Donald. Nor was there perceptible any Indication of concentration of Mexican soldiery in the country south of the border?whether troops of ihe de facto government or followers of Zclaya's outlaw fortunes. In natural consequence that vlgl1??...I, i .1. t ? ? uiiht miiicii n.'Kl tH'Cn eXellcil among border landowners by the raid insensibly relaxed. The stronger guards which they had established against further attempts against their lives i:nd properties were weakened hy decrees. With a single exception. they relapsed into that fatally false sense of security which had theretofore been theirs, thanks to lontr intinnnitv from such outrages as had boon visited upon other sections or the border country. That solitary exception was a noteworthy one?Vatria C'hanning. who had suffered too much at the hands of Baron Huroki and his associates to believe that anything short of complete preparation to cope with further attentions would discourage the enemy. " * Such measure* hen. as Patria and tier counselors reckoned she must take to provide against possible disaster, must necessarily he put into effect with the greatest secrecy. A minimum of show must mask a maximum of intelligently directed protective efforts. Patria spent days riding over her lands in company with Donald. Hodman Pillshury and a small staff of chosen lieutenants. The topography of the countryside was examined with minute attention. The tremendous acreage of the /"banning ranch favored such secrecy. It would have been almost possible to mobilize and* maintain a great army within Its boundaries undetected?it would have been altogether possible had the resources of the land been sufficient to clothe and equip and provision such a force. As It wn?. a very considerable number of men was added to the normal population of the ranch without attracting any attention whatsoever. Picked employees rode forth fromthe hacienda well-nigh dally, for a time, on long tours into the interior and east and west along the border. And the results of their adventurlngs appeared daily, hy twos and threes and singly?seasoned horsemen all, alert, clear-eved. determined patriots. As a rule they timed their arrivals to occur during the hours of darkness; and as soon as they had reported to Donald Parr, they were assigned to specific duties at a distance from the inaia ranch houses, and disappeared Into the night as silently as they had corrie. The hinterland of the ranch xvranowea tnem up; in its remoter *tretch??s they lived and wrought sedulously at their tasks, all ready for that ftumipons which might come at any hour. Meantime the.v drilled quietly, a* cavalry, as artillerymen, and as machine gun crews. Within a period of time surprisingly brief, Patrla had at her command a secret legion of trained fighting men, ready for any emergency, inured to hardship, familiar with the border country, resolute und willing. Only the drills of her fiylng corps could not be kept under eover; but RLA KE?/PRER\REDNE5S )5EPn VANCE n otton Picture Play of the ,mJ~ f for the International . ruler the Direction of Ccf\ right Stjr C?mf>jny. .n-se 11:1 <1 boon tfolnp on for weeks beoiv her arrival at the ranch. Occasionally their reconnaissances *MPI*1fkf1 wwi ' c<uit clioj iif I lin iiti* anes south of the border; hut the retorts of their observers were Invariably destitute of alarming Information. Vpparently the Mexican population Aas apathetic^ restgoo*1. ihc pursuits ** l'here was no more gun-runaing that could bo discovered. There vas no movement of troops perceptible. There were no raids. There was not even a lonely case of sniping to keep the patrols on the qui vivo. For all that, l'atria's preparations voce pushed forward with unbated energy. . There came :Vday, several weeks Ttor Zalaya's futile raid, when this ting v.Miian lae'e <>nl to review her modest but wonderfully ellicient forces. She returned to the hacienda in the quiet of evening, weary but exhilarated. 'Tin not afraid." she told Donald "i'li a nod of her head indicating tlie Moxi.-nn nvumtains in the south-?their ragged ramparts looming in purple -hades against the silvered skies of a perfect moonlight night. "Let them eome !" lie laughed sympathetically, but .took a reproving head. "Let tm not fall into the pit of overonfldenee." he said "T know how von 'eel. It's wondorttil to Know tlisit we have sill 11 lino follows to rally to , >11r <lofon<o in oaso of need. Hut aftor all. tlioy'ro only a handful ; and what 1 four i< that tho next act of agression, when it conies, will he invasion > in overwhelming forces. We have - mo as far as we can in the matter of making those men the toughest kind t hard-hitting fighters; hut there aren't enough of them to withstand an army's advance. From now on we must devote all our energies to the planning of means to equalize superior numbers witli superior intellia< nee. We must he prepared to deliver a staggering blow before the enemy ran tii a I out how insigniticant our forces are." They sat In silence for n little, both gazing out over the shadowed dis1 ? - 1 t ? iiimv:" i?? >? 1111 me noruer. "It is too quiet?too quiet altogether," Parr mused aloud. "I can't . forget tliat Huroki is somewhere out there?hiding, planning. restlessly scheming to serve ids country's purposes and at the same time to gain his revenge for the setbacks he has received at our hands." "Xor can I forget it." the girl replied. "Of one tiling we may feel assured : if Huroki lias any voice in the councils that are taking place down there, the Idow. when it conies, will fall here first of all." The shadow of premonition darkened her mood transiently. She shivered a little. "1 wonder," she said, "what iniquities lie is hatching down yonder?" There is a certain psychic sympathy between the minds of those that hate well, even as it is with those who love; there was less coincidenee than might be thought iti the fact that, at annrox imately the same time. Huron Huroki was 1111?Ti 11 ix substantially similur observations eonrerning I'atria. at u dist_anee of snnii'tJjing like a day's ride from the hacienda. The scene was the main room of an adobe dwelling of somewhat more pretentious proportions and appointments than is commonly to be found in the wilder sections of inland Mexico. There were a number of other adobe houses near it; but this was the largest of tit" lot; and it was further distinguished i?v a restless going nod *- v ? * * -* \* ~T " ? . - . . eol.ttng "t orderlies alld otheefs of si I perjor rank in the field uniforms of the Japanese army?though there wsis not linking a sprinkling of others attired in the livery of the troops loyal to the tie facto government of Mexico The dwelling was, in short, the headquarters of General Nogi, commander in chief of the allied Japanese and Mexican forces which had been secretly gathered together in lids remote retreat and were now marking time, under arms, against receipt of word from Tokyo to proceed with the long-planned invasion of the southwestern United States. t-'l'.ilii I Itii ullirti* mill ...1.1..%. .win i m. piiftin viiiiiif in r I'll v> 111? 11 thi? (1<|UMrters building stood the valley sloped away In dimly moonlit perspective; and as far as one could see It was a city of dust-colored tents populated by regiment upon regiment ??f highly trained and etlieient troops. Within the headquarters building. In a large room, brightly lighted and furnished with soldierly severity, an Informal council of war was In progress. General Nogi himself presiding. He was a man of nearly sixty, yet carried his compact and athletic body with the ease of twenty-five. His heavy-lidded eyes were as bright as any youth's; the network of wrinkles that Inclosed them with the whiteness of his hair, alone betrayed his age. And the habit of Incontestable authority was distinctively his. A man who measured his words before uttering them, who spoke seldom, having once spoken, was to be obeyed to the letter. he dominated the conference ub-, volutcly. i fn that presence th*v blustering, valiant /clave diminished to bis right stature, tluit of a rowdy isli l?ni|TKaii*t, not lacking in courage and Initiative, conspicuously deficient in education, wisdom, judgment. Only less dwarfed was the representative of the Oirrnnzn interests. General Torreon, a trim and intelligent Mexican, well grounded in the fundamentals of his trade?which was simply and exclusively war. Huron Huroki alone seemed able to address Nogl in terms of equality?if without once suggesting any reluctance to accord the commander in chief the deference that was Ids due. This, perhaps, was quite natural, in view of the authority with which Huron lluroki had been clothed by the imperial government at Tokyo?an authority only second to that of General Nogl, who was liuroki's only ranking officer in the allied camp. The occasion which hurt hi ought about this coo?f?tv?i?v was the failure of the Mexican system of espionage to secure any accurate Information as to conditions immediately north of the border. This was due to the uncommonly thoroughgoing and tireless system of patrols organized by Donald Parr r.r.d maintained by Patria ami Iter neighbors. Kor sev? r.i! \t?eks spy after spy had sought to penetrate the lines?and invariably had been obliged to give up the attempt. No less than three, through unehronieled mischance, had vanished utterly and inexplicably. And no information of any real value had been reported back to headquarters by those who. acting under instruction, had confined their efforts to long-disOitwKi ! l*1- 1 ...... v- Tiiimn wiiii uie Jim or powerful binoculars. They saw l'atria's biplanes hanging ill the skies nr swiftly coursing through them; but that was all. And hour by hour it was believed by all those present at this conference, the moment drew nearer when the word to advance would he given out by Tokyo. "It is not only humiliating." TIuroki was declaring, "it is madness, downright madness, to contemplate n movement in force without first-hand information as to what this accursed girl is up to. Tt Is insensate folly to underestimate her ability and anxiety to hinder and embarrass us. It is all very well for you gentlemen"?he addressed himself superficially to Zclaya and Torreon?"to point to our forces and say the United States can muster nothing to withstand It. That is true?as far as we know, lhit you make the mistake of thinking you have only the regular army and the National Guard to reckon with. You have something else?this puny slip of a girl, this insignificant Patiia ('banning. I know her, as you do not ; and 1 tell you she is like a living flame of patriotism ; she is intelligent, T^e ^'9ht Was ir resourceful. unafraid. and sin- controls 7.~> per coin of ilie anus and anitmmltion industries of lite I'nited States. In addition, she lias at her command this immense treasure, this htindredinillion-dollar trust, which she iulurited and declares she will spend it for the sole purpose of defeating our plans . . . since, us It appears, her country is too niggardly and shortsighted to spend a dollar in its own defense! "And we sit here in ignorance of her plans! We must know them, and we must know them without more delay?or we risk a setback that explodes our entire scheme of invasion !" "How can that he?" Torreon inquired. With a grunt of impatience Huroki nointed to a erreiit toimirrnnlilenl ' mjin spread out on the table between them. "Have you forgotten that our chosen line of march strikes directly through the Ohannlng ranch property? And what are we going to find there? What Is this girl doing there, all tills time while we sit here twiddling our thumbs? She isn't Idle?I promise you lliut Klin / rt nnr/iKooA I* I' ^ ? ??% ^??\ v??i* iiunuf *i nrru i?r< the host military intelligence in the United States. Is it sensible to suppose that her advisers have overlooked the fact that via the Chnnntng ranch is the shortest and quickest route toward our goal??that, if we strike at all from this quarter, It will naturally and surely he along that line? And, such being the probable case, is it wise , to Imagine fftie In taking no step* to prepare a trap for us? ... I tell you, we must know! Your spies lutve thus fur fulled; we run employ none of ours, for it would he fatal to have a Japanese caught In an net of espionage." "What would you suggest, then?" Torreon asked thoughtfully. "Find some way to stimulate the efficiency of your system, flot us some trustworthy information?no matter how." "If I may make a suggestion?" Zelaya ventured. At a nod from Nogi he proceeded, pulling at his mustache xo inusK tne smile of relish with which he anticipated permission to commit yet another atrocity on American soil. "It is a long time since we have broken the peace of the border hereabouts. And these Americans have short memories. Let me send a few? a tr.fir mindful?of my men to execute a flying raid on tlie damning ranch. I will guarantee results." "How so?" Nogi demanded. Zelaya bent over the map and with the blunt, end of a greasy forefinger indicated a certain point. "Here is a house fully twenty miles from the hr.cienda," he said. "It is the lv>iiit* of the man named Morgan, ranch foreman, lie lives there with his son, his sister ami his mother?his wife is dead, lloth Morgan and his sister are deep in the confidence of the Senorita Charming. Let my men bring in either of these . ." He paused and showed his teeth in a smile of gruesome significance. "And I will promise to induce him?or her? to tell us everything we want to know." Kagerly Tluroki's eyes sought the face of his commander in chief. It told him, however, nothing. Impassively Creneral Nojii deliberated ; it was Hourly two minutes later when he delivered his verdict. "I.et this thing be done." he said ; and rose, ending the conference. "PEACE WITH HONOR." Ctoinez was the name of the man chosen hy Zelaya to do the work he had suggested?"CJoinez the Killer" was the sobriquet hy which he was known to his fellows; a quiet-mannered. sad-faced Mexican of something a little under the average build of his breed. Listening gravely to the instructions of his superior, he nodded gentle coinprehension. and sallied forth to exe- ' cute Zelnva's will with no more coinpassion in his heart than he would have felt if ordered to exterminate all hut one or two of a nest of rattlesnakes. He journeyed northward that night 1>V inotorcvole. and sm>nt tho follow!mo < 1 jiy in what appeared to be desultory riding about the country just south of j the border, pausing at the dwelling of his friend and that to pass the time of day. In all he made just twenty such '^/^Mfli^^Hr w^WMara^Pw^CT ? > :;' m x :: ^ iwj . ^.y'y^X ''// ; ry^y. '*' * - ^gQyHpMM^B^^BB .^fipSwaMHiiBHM^MBfr^a^^K i Deadly Earnest. rsil's. Thc?n lie retired to well-earned rest. In the gray dusk of the next dawn twenty mounted and armed Mexicans rendezvoused with the Killer at a I point some two miles south of the boundary line of the Channlng ranch, and about twenty miles from its hu- ' clotida. He whs well-informed as to the habits of the patrol?both that maintained by the Cnited States government und that which Patria damning had organized. 'Since it was the custom for raiding parties to cross the bonier by night or In earliest dawn. Gomez re frnlnod doing anything as commonplace. He reeognlzed no necessity for a clash with the patrols when It could he avoided by the exercise of a little patience. Conducting his command to n point where they could "Nkulk under cover of. wooded ground, secure from spying eyes, he scouted on afoot to a spot 1 whence, lying at length on the crest of a little hill, he could spy through the undergrowth that concealed him. Below him, just beyond a shallow arroyo, lay the Morgan homestead. It was a Sunday morning, very quiet and warm. The peace of unaccustomed indolence enveloped the homestead. By convention It was a morning for a late breakfast?late, that Is, In the esteem of folk In the habit o* rising with the sun. So' It was all t or two hours after* suti-up when the | smoke began to ascend from the chlm-j t ney. of. the peaceful Morgan kitchen. | In The dooryard H*id Morpm and his | sister Hess were watching with tinj bridled tiimiseinent 'he efforts ol* Bud's little hoy. Sinn, to ilde an aged ami well-informed donkey ? a sad-eyed 01 eature who demonstrated his intelligence hy lylnjr down as often :is the child got firmly seated on his hack. Their laughter came clearly to the ears of the Killer. llis own eyes twinkled sympathetically. Then he yawned and Imped that their summons to breakfast would not he too b?ag delayed. It bored (him to wait there in the heat and dust without the solace of a cigarette. He fondled the grip of his revolver and repined that his orders had been strlet? tiiat he might not shoot now, when the three offered him such fair targets, ami have done with the business without delaying to take two of them prisoners If possible. In due time, however, the mother nnniMii'iwI t? -? - ... ( ... , ... in*- inmrwsi.v and cniicu th??in in. The donkey was abandoned to crop liis own breakfast. The dooryard-was left untenanted. Gomez subjected the surrounding landscape to one final, prolonged scrutiny, then turned, squirmed back through the underbrush. rose to his feet, and hurried to rejoin his fellows. T.cuding their horses, the Mexicans moved forward furtively, surrounding the home /Without rousing the suspicions of its tenants. To these the attack came like thunder from the blue. They breakfasted behind doors closed and bolted?by habit of precaution; that circumstance alone provided tlieni with a chance for their lives. There came a sudden rush of feet in the dooryard, and the front door was furiously buttered with rifle butts. Simultaneously a window adjoining the table was smashed in. Bud Morgan had barely time to spring to the cartridge belt and holster which hung on the wall behind them when the first shot sounded, lie emptied a revolver at the window in response?meanwhile urging the two women and the child into the adjoining bedchamber. As they disappeared the front door began to give to the blows of ?.o ........ W KM (I A. Rnd )i:m 1 a scniml revolver ready f<?r the rush that followed its breaking In. The satisfaction of seeing two of the raiders fall was at least his before he was charged and carried to the floor by half a dozen Mexicans. Why he was not shot outright passed his understanding. His weapons empty. he fought madly with his bare hands. He was a young man. and hard and powerful; the combined exertions of the six could no* avail to keep him down for long. One after another he struck and kicked them off. then struggled to his feet. At the same time he was assailed from behind; a staggering blow from a gunbutt all but felled him. Sick with pain, he reeled out through the doorway. There others awaited him. He went down again under their assault, again fought his way to ids feet-, tills time with n revolver which lie had wrested from the grasp of one of his adversaries. Gomez the Killer confronted him as ne rose?weary of eye, almost diffident of manner, watching his proy warily, revolver poised. It was becoming plain to Gomez that this man was not to he taken alive. As Hud caught sight of him. he fired. The American's head jerked hack sharply, there was a look of agony on his face, swiftly erased hv <he hlnnkness of uneonseiousness. Ids knees twinkled. and he dropped? one side of his head n mass of hlood. It never oeeurred to the Killer to doubt that his bullet had penetrated Hud's brain. He wasted no more thought upon the unhappy man?after irritably kinking 1dm?and passed on into the house. The bedchamber door was down. Within. Hess Morgan was fighting for ner life. A dead Mexican .iust beyond the threshold testified to the skill with which she had used the revolver which, its every chamber discharged, she was now employing as a club. Slender and young, a mere slip of a falr-hal red girl barely out of her teens, she fought with science and the desperation of one who faces, if not death, worse than death. She had no reason to anticipate any sort of mercy; her mother lay dead, a bullet through her heart, in a far corner of the room; her little nephew had just dropped out of the window to he ruthlessly shot down as he fled round a corner of the house. Lounging in the doorway, a shoulder against, it, Gomez rolled and lighted a cigarette, watching her struggles with a glimmer of approbation. Gringo women like this, with such spirit nnd strength, were worth fighting for. The Killer regretted that he must hand her over to his superior. What a woman?once he had tamed her! She was standing off no less than three Mexican desperadoes?one she stretched out with a skull cracked by a shrewd Mow fr*m the butt of the revolver, even while Gomez watched. But the others were too many for her; stepping buck to avoid their rushes, she tripped over the body of one of their fellows, ar?d went down. That .was the end; in another moment she wirs helpless th their hands. Gomez straightened up from the doorway. "Come," he said quietly "hold her fast, but don't hurt her."l j Struggling hopelessly, the girl was I dragged from the house and thrown | Into the saddle of a horse belongfhg I | to one of the fallen Mexicans. Her captors rode knee-to-knee with her, on I either side. There was no possibility ' of escape, yet she would not lose heart. I I She affected a sudden weakness, sat i droopingly, with head bowed and i I hands clasped on the pommel. The j cavalcade swept to the tune of rushing II i hoofs out of the dooryard, down into ji he arroyo, up Its farther bank, and so southward -^toward tho?? fur purple 111 lis. Itehind It the Morgan homestead roaml with flumes, a funeral pyre for the l?o<|y of th?' murdered mother. ^ The girl wouhl not let herself thluk^ of that. She understood now that she had heeli taken alive for a purpose. She must defeat that purpose, either hy escaping or by bringing lier own <l( ath about in attempting to escape. She dared not think ot the horror that lay behind, lest it unnerve her and make her fall. Jlifr Leaving the open country, tfilp raiders took to the highroad. If they had eluded the patrol#, they did not hope for lone t<i iro iiimnrsiieit Their \ course lay in open Might by the ftist^ practicable route to the hills. Thh.v spared neither their horses nor them <#1 selves. It so happened that the animal ridden b.v Hess Morgan was one of the ~ Within Bess Morgan Was Fighting for Her Life. poorest of the lot. It lagged. They who rode beside* her were constantly drawing ahead, and then with eurso^ reining hack. Deceived by her apparent resignation, they gave her more room. Ahead of them, when they had ridden for about twenty minutes, the road swung round a high-bunked ben*, (hit of the slope a tree thrust a brunch over the road. Bess saw, and took her one chance. 9 A furtive twitch at the reins caused her horse to lag still more decidedly. The others wot; to a full length ahead* as they swept nAind the curve. Raising both anus, the girl caught, the overhanging branch and lifted herself bodily from the saddle. The horse rocketed on, relieved of its burden, tit 1 somewhat faster pace. I But thfc* efforts she made to swing I up on the limb of the tree and bv that 1 1 route gain the top of the hank wntt g hopeless. She hud put too great v 1 '''"(M upon her strength in her struggle; W1 failed her now. She dangled helpless- I iy for a moment or two, then dropped J to the roadway. | As soon as that happened, terror 4 lent her new strength. She turned uud 1 ran wildly back along the road, seek- d ing some place where she might find W temporary cover by the roadside. I That refuge was denied her. On the I one hand was open country, destitute- 1 of anything considerable enough t<v U hide behind: on the other, the coiicnvftl wall of the IdutT. And already her escape was diseov- I erod. She could hear the thunder of I returning hoofs. Still she held on. run- I nlng as she had never dreamed she I would be able tO run, dc^E^te her i straining lungs and aching mimics. H The hoofs were very close ""behind .1 her now. She put forth one lost en- 1 deavor?which failed in its inception. 1 Overtaking her, the Mexicans rode';l up on either side. As she ran, the;-fl riders swttng down from their snddle/Mfl / HHfUf Itoe oione It " r.. t-f^* nil III inn, iiiiiii^; IHT i ;i ir iy off her foot and utr her so while,1 tho.v wheeled thoir horses and dashed back. ? * * * * * * * Scorching boat helped Hud Morgan'* i return to consciousness. He roused slowly, rolled over to get further'! away from the flames that were devouring his home, and sat \>P. With iv* splitting pain in his head. The hand that he instinctively lifted I to his temple came away dripping with 1 blood. Vet be was not serlousl.v>A wounded. The bullet had rut a deep J furrow in the side of his head, hut Jl had failed to penetrate the skull. T J>jJ the temporary unconsciousness that *1 followed the wound, he owed his pres-^| cut liberty and his escape from a tor- fl tured death somewhere In those hills' to the flfouth. 1 Yet life was bitter to savor anew.oA As he staggered away from the burnlag house that entombed his mother, he came upon the riddled body of his 3 son. ? What his subsenuent actions werffci'l he never knew. It was late afternooiglfl When he rode up to the Chaoninj? ha-vJB olenda, more mad than sntioVon th?01 hack of a borne without stradle or , I bridle. I It was an hour later before he reijl covered sufficiently to gasp out hb'.il tale of horror to Patrla and Donald; 11 Parr In the library. I When he had finished, the mm . bowed his head on his folded rind sat racked with dry, cnnvuisix &J| sobs. On either side of hlin Patrla an<v|3 Donald roupht, then avoided, r I [ titer's eyes. 1 (TO BE CONTINUED. ||