The Times-journal., March 08, 1911, Image 3

About The Times-journal. (Malvern, Hot Spring County, Ark.) 1893-1913

Image provided by: Arkansas State Archives

                
J3X~
RAY WAETER_r
COPYBrOMT <909 PODtJMBAD # COrSFANy-
SYNOPSIS.
At the expense of a soiled hit Herbert
Orme saves from arrest a Kiri In a black
touring car who has caused a traffic jam
on State street. He buys a new hat and
Is given a five dollar bill with: "Remem
ber the person you pay this to," written on
It. A second time he helps the girl in the
black car and learns that In Tom and
[Bessie Wallingham they have mutual
ariends, but gets no further hint of her
Identity. He discovers another inscrip
tion on the marked bill, which in a futile
Attempt to decipher it, he copies and
places the copy in a drawer in his apart
ment. Senor Poritoi, South American,
calls and claims the marked bill. Orme
[refuses, and a fight ensues in which Porl
*ol is overcome. He calls in Senor Al
catrante, minister from his country, to
■vouch for him. Orme still refuses to give
Up the bill. He learns that a Jap lias
■called for him. Orme goes for a walk
land sees two Japs attack Alcatrante.
CHAPTER lll.—Continued.
Orme leaped forward and swung his
•cane. The stick was tough and the
blow was hard enough to send a man
to earth, but the robber had heard
'Orme's approach, and looked up from
'his victim just in time. With a mo
tion indescribably swift, he caught
"with one hand the descending cane
-and wrenched it from Orme’s grasp.
Then he crouched to spring.
At this instant Orme hi .'.rd footsteps
behind him. A turn of the head
showed a threatening figure at his
back. There had been four men in
that procession through the park!
By a quick leap to one side, Orme
[placed himself for the moment out of
■danger. His two assailants, moving
too fast to stop, bumped together.
They faced about for another spring
at him. And then there was a short
scratching sound, and in the hand of
the man on the ground flared a match.
“Ha!’’ exclaimed the prostrate Al
catrante, “I thought so!"
Orme found himself looking into the
■contorted faces of two Japanese.
Discovery was evidently the last
thing the hold-up men desired, for
thej' disappeared like a flash, diving
through the shrubbery behind them.
Orme, dazed and breathing hard, at
tempted no immediate pursuit. He
stepped quickly to Alcatrante and
helped him to his feet.
“I am not hurt,” said the South
American. “When the man threw me
to the ground, I feigned that I was
stunned. It is wiser not to resist a
thug, is it not so?” He brushed the
dust from his clothing with his hand
kerchief. Orme handed him his hat,
which had rolled to one side. The
minister rubbed it carefully with his;
coat sleeve. * “See," he laughed, nod
ding at the ground, “my cane is
'broken. I must have fallen on it.”
“Since you're not hurt,” said Orme,
“we’d better get after the thieves.”
“Bah!” replied Alcatrante. “What is
the use? They are already far away—
and they got nothing.” He laughed.
“Is it not always better to avoid no
toriety, Mr. Orme?”
“As a rule, no doubt—but in this in
stance —”
“No,” said Alcatrante, firmly, “I
really must Insist that we let the mat
ter drop. As for me, I shall return to
my hotel. Perhaps you will walk along
with me.”
Orme hesitated. “I don’t like those
thieves to get off without a chase,
senor.”
“But, my dear Mr. Orme, they did
me no harm.”
Orme shrugged his shoulders. “You
forget that there was one after me as
well as one after you.”
“No, I don’t forget that. But don’t
you see, Mr. Orme? These two men
were not after our valuables.”
“Indeed?”
“Not at all. What they would like
Is my little friend Poritol’s secret.”
“But why Japanese?” Orme was
puzzled.
“Why, Indeed? A cunning Japanese
might as easily have got wind of it as
anyone else.”
“But why did you say, ‘I thought
so?’ ” persisted Orme.
“Did I say that? It must have been
because I suspected that only a Jap
anese could be so agile as my assail
ant. But all this is immaterial. I
should have warned you that Poritol's
secret is dangerous. You should not
have left your apartments.”
“Well, this certainly is a queer ket
tle of fish,” muttered Orme. ' He was
beginning to feel disgusted with the
situation. He did not like Alcatrante’s
■oily smoothness, and he wondered
whether it would not have been better
to hand the bill over to Poiitol at the
first demand. But it came to his
mind that in a certain degree he stood
committed to continue the policy he
had adopted. He had sought adven
ture; it was coming to him in full
measure.
Together they walked back toward
the park- entrance. The minister
seemingly exerted himself to regain
the ground he had lost with Orme. He
proved an Interesting conversation
alist—keen, slightly cynical, but not
without an undernote of earnestness.
“You have seen me much abused
by your press, Mr. Orme,” he said.
“That is natural. I have the interests
of my own country to protect, and
those interests are of necessity some
times opposed to the interests of oth
er countries. But if your people
would be even more patient with us —
all we need is time. There is reason
for our persistent tomorrow; for we
are young, and it is a slow process to
realize on our resources. That is why
we do not pay our debts more
promptly."
Orme said nothing, but thought of
looted South American treasuries, of
exiled presidents squandering their
official stealing at Paris and Monte
Carlo, of concessions sold and sold
again to rival foreign companies.
They had now reached the park en
trance. “There is a cab,” said Al
catrante. “You will ride with me as
far as your hotel?"
“Thank you, no,” said Orme. “I
rather need the walk."
Alcartrante smiled persuasively.
“Permit me to urge you. If you
should be robbed, my little friend
might lose his precious secret. Poor
boy!” he added. “His father was
my friend, and I cannot refuse him a
service.”
The cab had swung around to the
curb beside them. Orme had no fear
of robbery on the lighted drive, but
since Alcatrante was so Insistent he
felt inclined to yield. He might as
well ride; so he permitted the min
ister to bow him into the cab, and
presently they were whirling along
southward. There was a period of
silence. Then Alcatrante spoke medi
tatively.
“You see how it happened, I sup
pose,” he said. “ Those Japanese were
waiting outside your hotel. When
Poritoi and I came out, one of them
followed us, while the other remained
on guard. Then you started on your
stroll, and the man who remained on
guard set out after you.”
“Yes,” said Orme, “but I don’t see
how the fellow could have known who
I was.”
Alcatrante laughed. “Oh, he could
have placed you in a number of differ-,
ent ways. He may have got your de
scription from one of the servants —
or from the clerk. But it is enough
that he did know you.”
“Well,” said Orme, “this is beyond
me. That five-dollar bill seems to be
very much desired by different groups
of persons.”
Alcatrante nodded. “I am not
sure,” he said slowly, “but that it
would ease young Poritol’s mind if
you would place the bill in my hands
for safekeeping. Not that lie mis
trusts you, Mr. Orme, but he imagines
that you may not realize how im
portant it is to him, and you might
not guard it carefully.”
“I agreed to keep it until tomor
row,” said Orme, quietly. “As for
thieves, my apartment is on the tenth
floor, pretty well out of their reach.
The only danger of robbery lies be
tween the cab and the hotel office.”
“I know, I know,” chuckled Alca
trante. “It is, of course, as you will.
I was merely thinking of my young
friend’s peace of mind. I am his fel
low countryman, you see, and his con
fidence in me —” he stopped, with an
other chuckle. “Singular, is it not,
how impressionable are the young?”
Orme said nothing. He did not en
joy this fencing.
“Look at the lake,” Alcatrante sud
denly exclaimed. “How beautiful an
expanse of water. It has so much
more color than the sea. But you
should see our wonderful harbor of
Rio, Mr. Orme. Perhaps some day
I shall be permitted to show you its
magnificences.”
“Who knows?” said Orme. “It
would be very pleasant.”
“As to the bill,” continued Alca
trante quickly, “do you care to give
it to me?”
Orme felt himself frowning. “I will
keep it till the morning,” he said.
“Oh, well, it is of no consequence,"
Alcatrante laughed shortly. “See,
here is your hotel. Your company has
been a pleasure to me, Mr. Orme. You
arrived most opportunely in the park.”
Orme jumped to the curb and, turn
ing, shook the hand that was extended
to him. “Thank you for the lift, Se
nor Alcatrante," he said. “I shall
look for you in the morning."
“In the morning—yes. And pray,
my dear sir, do not wander in the
streets any more this evening. Our
experience in the park has made me
apprehensive.” The minister lifted
his hat, and the cab rattled away.
The entrance to the Pere Marquette
was a massive gateway, which opened
upon a wide tunnel, leading to an in-
terior court. On the farther side of
the court were the doors of the hotel
lobby. As a rule, carriages drove
through the tunnel into the court, but
Orme had not waited for this for
mality.
He started through the tunnel.
There was no one in sight. He noted
the elaborate terra-cotta decorations
of the walls, and marveled at the bad
taste which had lost sight of this op
portunity for artistic simplicity. But
through the opening before him he
could see the fountain playing in the
center of the court. The central fig
ure of the group, a naiad, beckoned
with a hand from which the water fell
in a shower. The effect was not so
unpleasing. If one wished to be
rococo, why not be altogether so? Like
the South Americans? Was their
elaborate ornamentation plastered on
to an inner steel construction? Orme
wondered.
Midway of the tunnel, and at the
right as one entered, was a door lead
ing into the porter’s office. This door
was shut, but as Orme approached it,
it noiselessly opened out. He ex
pected to see a porter appear, and
when no person stepped over the sill,
he inferred that the door had been
blown open by an interior draft-
Just as he was turning out to go
around the door—which shut off all
view of him from the inner court —a
figure shot through the opening.
Before Orme could dodge, he was
seized firmly by the shoulders and
jerked into the room, with a force
that sent him staggering. He tripped
over a chair and went to the floor, but
quickly scrambled to his feet and
wheeled about.
Two men stood between him and
the door, which had been closed si
lently and swiftly. They were short
■BE t
0 Mg
la
I 11
“I, Too? Has—Anybody Else—?”
and stockily built. Orme exclaimed
aloud, for the light that filtered
through a window from the street
showed two faces unmistakably ori
ental.
If this was an ordinary robbery, the
daring of the robbers was almost in
credible. They ran the risk that the
porter would return —if they had not
already made away with him. Only
the most desperate purpose could ex
plain their action.
“What do you want?” demanded
Orme.
“Your pocket book,” replied one of
the men—“queek!” He smiled an
elysive smile as he spoke.
"What if I refuse?” said Orme.
“Then we take. Be queek.”
A call for help would hardly bring
anyone; but Orme gave a loud cry,
more to disconcert his enemies than
with any hope of rescue.
At the same instant he rushed to
ward the door, and struck out at the
nearer Japanese.
The blow did not land. His wrist
was caught in a grip like an iron
clamp, and he found himself perform
ing queer gyrations. The Japanese
had turned his back toward Orme and
swung the Imprisoned arm over his
shoulder. A quick lurch forward, and
Orme sailed through the air, coming
down heavily on his side. His arm
was still held, and in a few seconds
he was on his back, his assailants
astride him and smiling down into his
face.
Orme struggled to free himself, and
promptly felt a breaking strain on his
imprisoned arm. The knee of the
Japanese was under the back of
Orme’s elbow. A moderate use of the
leverage thus obtained would snap the
arm like a pipe stem. This Orme
realized, as he ceased struggling. The
strain on his arm relaxed slightly, but
the grip was maintained.
“Jiu-jitsu,” explained the Japanese
in a tone that sounded gently apolo
getic.
The other robber now stooped and
ran his hands over Orme's coat. Find
ing the pocket book, he took it from
its inside pocket and went swiftly to
the table. He produced from his own
pocket a little electric hand lamp, by
the light of which he took rapid count
of Orme’s money.
His eyes glittered; a wide scar on
his forehead stood out whitely. Sud
denly he gave a little cry and held up
a single bill. He jabbered excitedly
to hi« on—- ilon f or a moment, then
Spwne quietly to Orme.
“This all we want,” he said. “We
are not thief, see—l put other five
dollar bill in its place and leave pocket
book here.”
He thrust the selected bill into his
pocket, put the fresh bill in the
pocket book, and laid the pocket book
on the table.
“See here," said Orme, still prone,
“what’s the meaning of all this?”
“Don’t say.” The Japanese smiled.
He went over to the door. “Come,”
he said. The man astride Orme re
leased his hold and sprang to his feet.
Like a flash, both the Japanese disap
peared.
Orme jumped up. Seizing his
pocket book and his hat, he darted
after his assailants. At the street en
trance to the tunnel, he looked quick
ly in both directions, but his men
were not in sight..
Pursuit was futile. Slowly he turned
back. He thought of notifying the
police, but, after all, he was none the
worse off —except for his promise to
Poritoi and Alcatrante, now involun
tarily broken. He must explain to
them as best he could. The marked
bill had been of no consequence to
him except as a focus of adventure.
And he had had about as much adven
ture as he could expect for one eve
ning.
But the secret of the bill still tanta-
lized him. Blindfolded, he had played
in a game at which the others saw. It
seemed unfair—as if he had some
right to know the meaning of all these
mysterious incidents. Why had Po
ritoi wanted the bill so badly? Why
had the desire to possess it driven the
two Japanese to such extreme meas
ures?
Orme crossed the court and entered
the lobby. The clerk looked at him
curiously.
“Mr. Orme," he said, "there is a
young lady in the reception room,
waiting to see you."
“Me?” Orme looked his surprise.
“Yes, sir. She gave no name.”
“Has she been waiting long?”
“Nearly an hour.”
Without further questioning, Orme
turned to the door of the little green
and gold room. At the threshold he
paused in bewilderment. Arising to
meet him, smiling frankly, was the
girl of the car.
CHAPTER IV.
The Girl of the Car.
“Oh,” she said, with a little gasp of
recognition, “are you Mr. Orme?" Her
cheeks flushed softly.
He bowed; his heart was beating
furiously, and for the moment he
dared not try to speak.
“Then we do meet again,” she ex
claimed, —“and as usual I need your
help. Isn't it queer?”
“Any service that I—” Orme began
haltingly “ —of course, anything that I
can do —”
The girl laughed, a merry ripple of
sound; then caught herself and
changed her manner to grave earnest
ness. “It is very important,” she said.
“I am looking for a five-dollar bill
that was paid to you today.”
Orme started. “What? You, too?"
“I, too? Has —has anybody else—?”
Her gravity was more intense.
“Why. yes,” said Orme— “a little
man from South America.”
“Oh —Mr. Poritoi?" Her brows were
knit in an adorable frown.
"Yes —and two Japanese.”
“Oh!” Her exclamation was appre
hensive.
“The Japanese got it,” added Orme,
ruefully. That she had the right to
this information it never occurred to
him to question.
The girl stood rigidly. “Whatever
shall I do now?” she whispered. "My
poor father!”
She looked helplessly at Orme. His
self-possession had returned, and as
he urged her to a chair, he con
demned himself for not guessing how
serious the loss of the bill must be to
her. "Sit down,” he said. “Pe-haps I
can help. But you see, I know so lit
tle of what it all means. Tell me
everything you can.”
With a sigh, she sank into the chair.
Orme stood before her, waiting.
“That bill tells, it I am not mis
taken," she said, wearily, “where cer
tain papers have been hidden. My fa
ther is ill at our place In the country.
He must have those papers before
midnight tomorrow, or —” Tears
came into her eyes. Orme would
have given much for the right to com
fort her. “So much depends upon
finding them,” she added—“more even
than I can begin to tell you."
“Let me help,” said Orme, eager to
follow those papers all over Chicago,
If only It would serve her. "Hear my
story first.” Rapidly he recounted the
adventures of the evening. She lis
tened, eyes intent, nodding in recog
nition of his description of Poritoi and
Alcatrante. When he came to the
account of the fight in the porter's of
fice and spoke of the Japanese with
the scar on his forehead, she inter
rupted.
"Oh! That was Maku,” she ex
claimed.
“Maku?”
"Our butler. He must have over
heard my father and me."
“Then he knew the value of the pa
pers?”
“He must have. I am sorry, Mr.
Orme, that you have been so roughly
used."
"That doesn’t matter," he said.
“They didn’t hurt me in the least.
And now, what Is your story? How
did you get on the trail of the bill?”
“We came back from the east a few
days ago,” she began. “My father had
to undergo a slight operation, and he
wished to have it performed by his
friend, Dr. Allison, who lives here, so
we went to our home in—one of the
northern suburbs.
“Father could not go back .east as
soon as he had expected to, and he
had the papers sent to him, by spe
cial arrangement with the —with the
other parties to the contract. Mr.
Poritoi followed us from the east. I—
we had known him there. He was al
ways amusing company; we never
took him seriously. He had business
here, he said; but on the first day of
his arrival he came out to call on us.
The next night our house was entered
by a burglar. Besides the papers, only
a few things were taken.”
“Poritoi?” exclaimed Orme, incredu
lously.
“It happened that a Chicago detect
ive had been in our village on busi
ness during the day,” she went “He
had recognized on the streets a well
known thief, named Walsh. When we
reported the burglary the detective
remembered seeing Walsh, and
hunted him out and arrested him. In
his pockets was some jewelry belong
ing to me, and in his room the other
stolen articles wer&found—everything
except the papers."
“Did you tell the police about the
papers?”
“No> it seemed wiser not to. They
were in a sealed envelope with—with
my father’s name on it, and would
surely have been returned, if found
with the other things. There are rea
sons why they would have —would try
to please my father. We did not let
them know that an envelope contain
ing something of value had not been
recovered, and told them to make a
thorough search.
"The afternoon after the burglary
the news of Walsh’s arrest was tele
phoned .out to us from Chicago. I
talked with my father, who was not
well enough to leave the house, and
it seemed best that some one should
go to the county jail and see Walsh
and try to get the papers. My father
had reasons for not wishing the loss
to become known. Only he and I
were acquainted with the contents of
the envelope; so I insisted on going
to Chicago and interviewing the
burglar."
She laughed, intercepting Orme’s
admiring look. "Oh, it was easy
enough. I planned to take our law
yer as an escort.”
“Did you?”
“No, and that is where my troubles
really began. Just as I was preparing
to go, Mr. Poritoi called. I had for
gotten that we had asked him out for
an afternoon of golf. He is such a
funny player.
“As soon as I told him I was going
to the Chicago jail to interview a
burglar about some stolen goods, he
insisted on acting as escort. He was
so amusingly persistent that I finally
agreed. We set out for the city in my
car, not waiting to take a train.
"When we reached the jail I pre
sented a letter which my father had
written, and the officials agreed to let
me have a private interview with
Walsn.”
Orme opened his eyes. The girl’s
father must have considerable influ
ence.
"It is a horrid place, the jail. They
took us through a corridor to Walsh’s
cell, and called him to the grating. I
made Mr. Poritoi stand back at the
other side of the corridor so that he
couldn't hear us talk.
“I asked the man what he had done
with the papers. He insisted that he
had seen none. Then 1 promised to
have him freed, if he would only re
turn them. He looked meditatively
over my shoulders and after a mo-
ment declined the offer, again insist
ing that he didn’t understand what I
was talking about. ‘I took the other
things, miss,’ he said, ‘and I suppose
I’ll get time for it. But so help me, I
didn’t see no papers.’ ”
The girt paused and looked at
Orme. “This seems like wasting min
utes when we might be searching."
Orme was pleased to hear the "we.*
"Well,” she went on, “I knew that
Ihe man was not telling the truth. He
was too hesitant to be convincing. So
I began to promise him money. At
every offer he looked past my shoul
der and then repeated his denials.
The last time he raised his eyes I had.
an Intuition that something was going
on behind me. I turned quickly.
There stood Mr. Poritoi, extending his
fingers in the air and forming his
mouth silently into words. He was
raising my blds!
“It flashed upon me that the papers
would be of immense value to Mr.
Poritoi—for certain reasons. If only
I had thought of it before! I spoks
to him sharply and told him to go out
side. It always seemed natural to
order him about, like a little dog.”
“However, little dogs have the
sharpest teeth,” remarked Orme.
“That is true. He replied that ho
couldn’t think of leaving me alone
in such a place. So there was noth
ing for me to do except to go! I would
have to return later without
Poritoi. ‘Come along,’ I said. ‘My er- '
rand is done.’
“Mr. Poritoi smiled at me in away
I didn’t like. The burglar, moantime,
had gone to a little table at the back
of his cell. There was an ink bottle
there and he seemed to be writing.
Looking Into the cell, Mr. Poritoi
said: ‘The poor fellow has very un
pleasant quarters.’ Then he said to
Walsh: ‘Can’t we do something to
make your enforced stay here more
comfortable, my dear sir?’ ’’
Orme smiled at the unconscious
mimicry of her accent.
“Walsh came back to tiie grating. ' -
He held in his hand a five-dollar bill
—the one that has made so much
trouble. It had been smuggled in to
him in some way. ‘You might get
me some “baccy,” ’ he said, thrusting
the bill through the bars and grinning.
“Now I understood what was going
on. I reached for the bill, as though
it were Intended for me, but Mi. Po
ritoi was quicker. He snatched the
bill and put it in his pocket.
“I didn’t know what to do. But
suddenly Mr. Poritoi seemed to be
frightened. Perhaps he thought that I
would have him arrested, though he
might have known that there were
reasons why I couldn’t. He gave me
a panicky look and rushed out of the
corridor. Afterward I learned that'
he told the guard I had sent him on
an errand.
“Well”-—she sighed—"of course, I
followed, after a last glance at Walsh,
who was peering through the grating
with a look of evil amusement. He
must have been well paid, that
burglar. But then,” she mused, (‘they
could afford it—yes, they could well
afford it.
“When I got to the street, Poritoi
was just disappearing in my car! I
can only think that he had lost his
head very completely, for he didn’t
need to take the car. He could have
mixed with the street crowd and gone
a-foot to the hotel where —’’
“Alcatrante?"
“Yes, Mr. Alcatrante—where he was
stopping, and have waited there. But
Mr. Alcatrante was playing golf at
Wheaton, and Mr. Poritoi seems' to....,
have thought that he must go straight
to him. He cannot escape from being
spectacular, you see.
"He ran out through the western
suburbs, putting on more and more
speed. Meantime I set a detective on
the track of the car. That is how I
learned what I am now telling you.
As for the car, Mr. Poritoi sent It back
to me this morning with a hired chauf
feur. He wrote a note of abject apol
ogy, saying that he had been beside
himself and had not realized what he
was doing.
“After setting the detective at
work, I went out to our place by train.
I dreaded confessing my failure to fa
ther, but he took it very well. We
had dinner together in his study.
OM 1 I
sa si wvnihannnMHßi
Putting on More and More Speed.
Maku was in the room while we were
talking. Now I can see why Maku t
disappeared after dinner and did not
return.”
“But how did Poritoi lose the / 11?”
asked Orme. J |
(TO BE CONTINUED.) I '
To remove paint take two pounds
of salsoda, one-half pound of lime, one
gallon hot water. Stir all together
and apply while still warm to the old
paint. The mixture will soon loosen
the paint so you can easily scrape it
oft.
5 7 ■■ v s i