5r , =: <,$£ ju «#s.
LOUIS JOSEPH VANCE
Author of The False Faces,"
* The Lone Wolf,” Etc.
CHAPTER NINE
The Changeling.
I. TRANSLATION. * ;
—1«— '•
As on that first occasion when sleep
had stolen upon and overcome her
unawares In the studio, her unclos
ing eyes comprehended only dark
ness absolute.
Unlike that time, when she had
roused instantaneously, self-consdoua
■V ness springing suddenly, full witted.
full powered, clear, out of nightmare
thralldom, now she awoke slowly and
i at expense of effort almost painful:
senses and perceptions struggling long
And arduously to break the embrace
of a lethargy so deep and undisturbed
that the self-sense had lain In It -be
numbed and stifled, like a seed that'
slumbers In the pent darkness of
the earth against the coming of the
spring.
In the confusion of . those first wak
ing moments she believed herself to
be at home, In bed.
K But the darkness of her bedchamber
bad never been sheer; there was a!
'ways a diffused glow from the lights
In the street to temper It.
Then she remembered, dully, the
!£•; Studio and the weariness that had
weighed upon her In the afternoon.
‘V- She must have slept several hours
at the least reckoning, for It had been
-. br<>ad daylight when she lay down,
the evenings were long, and it was
; j now, Judging by Urn blackness of it
and the silence, dead of night.
Bat she looked in vain for . the
ylolet-tlnted rectangle of the north
tlghb
... Ana mysteriously the windows were
shat which had been open when she
Stretched out to rest For there was
hot only an utter absence of light but
h smothering lack of fresh air. Her
lungs starving, she lay for some time
|tupldly' contemplating the exertion
that would be needed to rise and open
One of the windows. Somehow she
could not seem to nerve herself to It
She was feeling actually 111, squeam
ish. Her limbs were stifT and heavy,
7 her hands hot her cheeks and fore
head afire, a prickling sensation af
flicted her body, she was athirst and
the taste in her mouth was evil; and
When she moved her bead upon- the
pillow, pain like a brutal blow crashed
> . from temple to. temple and back again
and agatn, forcing feeble groans past
her lips.
Nevertheless conditions such as
these were unendurable. At whatever
tftst she must have water and. fresh,
air. ... ■ •' ,v
She steeled herself, and presently,
by a supreme exertion of will power,
forced herself to sit up. For the time
being she could no more. The pain
rocked and smashed about like a mad
tiling, tilt she wondered would It break
- her skull. And as by degrees those
transports subsided, she was taken
with qualms of nausea. .
7 She must have kicked off her shoes
In her sleep. At least, she could not
(remember removing them before lying
dowg. At all events—whatever had j
become of them—they were gone. Be
... heath her stockinged feet the floor
"7 Was bare and rough, of unfinished
wood. Now, there was a rug beside
, the divan In the studio. And even
bad it been spirited away like her
shoes, the studio floor was of hard
wood neatly Joined and polished till
Its surface was like glass.
Then a hand that she dropped to
the edge of her couch encountered the
-coarse ticking of an uncovered mat
tress, instead of the silken rw that
clothed the divan. .
Slowly It was borne in upon her that
she was neither In her bedchamber
' nor In her studio.
This conviction struck home to her
■ understanding with a shock that
brought her to her feet What had
happened? Where was she—and who?
Was she Priscilla Maine, delirious?
Or was she Leonora—yet once again
?■ that puppet of her life In dreams, em
barked upon some new and still more
terrible adventure?
But Leonora was no moke ...
' She took a blind step Into obscurity,
and another, blundered into a chair
.. and knocked It over with a clatter.
While she waited, dashed, hands!
clutching wildly at vacant blackness,
: a key turned in a reluctant lock, a
door opened, closed, and was relocked.
Priscilla failed to elicit more than
: a harsh. Inarticulate whisper from a
swollen throat
--A match reaped and spluttered ;u
"the murk, a gas-jet hissed from «
wall-bracket, spreading a fan-like flame
with a body of ghastly blue and a bor
der of tawny yellow.
It revealed a mean and ugly cubicle,
perhaps six feet by eight, with dingy
walls to whose crumbling plaster clung
a few dismal rags of ancient paper.
The'stngle window was stoutly board
ed on the inside. The begrimed floor
was a stranger alike to carpeting and
soap and water, had apparently been
so since time out of memory. For
furnishing there was a small table of
painted wood, the overturned chair,
and a scorbutic Iron bedstead with
sway-backed springs, a lumpy mattress
and one emaciated pillow, ;?
Silent beneath the wheeling gas
light, the woman Inez bent upon Pris
cilla a louring regard. *
j ' n. inez. ;
“Weiy* Inez drawled in overcolored
surprise, “would.you look who’s here!
As I live ’tis none other than the Du
plex Kid—Little Nora of the Doable
Life—and Face!” ^ ' ;
Anns akimbo, with fleering mouth
and hostile eyes, she waited hopefully
for her gibe to draw the spirited re
sponse which might have been ex
pected of Leonora, and so provide ex
cuse for further Insolence.
She was disappointed. Her victim
was too far gone In wretchedness to
know or care whether she were the
butt of Ill-natured derision. Added to
the misery of her body, she bad now
to cope with an Intellectual confusion
that seemed past raveling.
| She had fallen asleep, in the tran
quil spaciousness of her studio: she
j was awake in this confined place of
: unspeakable squalor. Sho had been
| free and alone: she was now in a
manner Jailed, at' the mercy of this
truculent vixen. No later than this
afternoon she had been Priscilla
Maine: tonight she was cast for the
role of Leonora. Both hands clasp
ing her tortured head, as if to pre
vent its splitting asunder, the girl
stared at Inez with distraught eyes in
a haggard countenance.
“Thought you'd'pay the old place a
visit, did you? Found Fift’ avenue
and all too rich for your stummlck, I
presoom. How’s it feel to he back
on the farm? Like old home wttek, I
guess.”
Again rnscuia tried to speak; but
her tongue dove to the roof of her
mouth. The sounds, when at length
they came, were unrecognizable as
her own voice.
“Water 1” she croaked—'In pity's j
name—water I"
Momentarily the other seemed of a
mind to refuse her. Then, perhaps
because die saw she would get no sat
isfaction from her prey otherwise, sha
decided to Indulge her.
“All right, dearie; TO fetch you a
nice long drink. Back In a minute.
Just make yourself perfectly at home."
Deftly unfastening the door, Inez
slipped out. -
- Priscilla was kept waiting a cruel
time ...
Whether prompted by need for
stealth or by common hatofuinese
seeking to prolong her torments, Inez
chose to return noiselessly. Prisdlla,
sitting with drooping bead, had no
warning till she heard the door dose
softly. Then, seeing Inez posed with
her back to It, a large goblet of thick
glass held high, the girl lurched to
her feet and toward her.
“Please!" Priscilla begged huskily.
With a quick movement Inez placed
the glass on the little table and met
Priscilla with a straight-arm blow on
the bosom that drove her reeling back
to the bed, whose uprights she
grasped to save herself a fall.
“Don't bo In such a sweat Tou’ll
ffet jrOlir dHnV all rlcrhf—..whnn vmi'vo
done what I want you to.”
“What—what do you want me to
dor
inez losseu low a ru ner a Dunaie or
garments she had brought under her
arm. “I want that suit you've got
on—It's too d—n’ good for you—and
your rings and that brooch and every
thin’. Hand ’em over and you can
have your drink.”
"I, don’t understand. Ion can’t—it
can’t be possible you mean to rob
me?”
“Say, lls’nt" With the stride of an
infuriated animal Ines crossed to her
and stopped with her shrewish face
thrust forward pugnaciously, not six
inches from Priscilla’s. “Pm goln’
to have them swell duds and Jools' if
I have to rip ’em off your back with
my own hands—and the skin off your
face, too. Qet me? I mean every
word of it You’re goln’ to come down
to where you belong this minute, and
you’re goin: to look the part too, or
my name ain’t Inez. You’ve come the
haughty over me for the last time.
Si'-',-.', U., iit.,--:..
It’s my lnnlns now, ami when Tin fin
ished with you everythin' ’ll be per
fectly even between yon and Inez, for
ever and ever—e-men!”
With trembling, awkward fingers
Priscilla began to .pluck at the but
tons of her blouse.
Inez retreated to the table, picked
up the glass and rattled the Ice mu
sically within it.
“Hurry, dear heart 1” Ji,
Priscilla removed coat and blouse
and stepped out of her skirt, then lift
ed her bands for the glass. Her tor
mentor warned her off.
: “Walt—a—mln-ute I You're forget
tin’ them rings.”
Silently the girl stripped her fin
gers, dropping their Jewels Into the
greedy palm. Nothing mattered, so
that she earned that drink of water.
But yet once again was she put oft.
“Don’t crowd me sol I might get
nervous and spill somethin'. . . .
Climb into them clothes I brought you
first—and If I was you I wouldn't
waste,no time, neither. Can’t tell
when Harry or someone H bump in
here and catch you with nothin* on
but your pretties. And be thankful I
let you keep them- . . ."
For an Instant, Indeed, the woman
seemed disposed to repent of that
generosity, eyeing Priscilla’s under
garments of lace and filmy silk. In
fumbling baste Priscilla covered them
with the cheap and none too clean
cotton blouse, the shoddy and 111-,
fashioned coat and skirt which Inez
had brought her.
At long last she had her reward. At
first in frantic gulps, then more slowly
if With no less avidity, she drained
-«• I Lira, *Ti* Nona Otner Than the
Duplex Kid—Little Kara of the
Double Life." -
the glasa: while Inez at the bed
matched np and packed under her
arm the spoils of this her first; victory
over her rival.
“Well, how about it, Norat Feelln’
ehlrpiert” she inquired with magna
nimity when Priscilla put down the
empty glass. , ; ^ s '
“I don’t know." Priscilla's feet wove
uncertainly toward the bed. Too late
she was realizing that the glass had
held something more than mere water.
She sat down suddenly and began
again is nurse her head. “I’m ill."
she murmured—“very 11L How did I
get here 7” , • ■
"i guess may do mat s somethin'
you don’t know.” Inez laughed spite
fully. “And I don't mind tellin':
Harry followed you down Flft* avenue
'softernoon and seen where you
stopped, up In McDougail alley. Then
he got Charlie and left him to watch
you while he ’phoned for 'the rest of
the bunch. When It got dark and
everythin’ was quiet, they picked tho
lock, found you doin’ a Rip van Win
kle that looked good for twenty year,
give_you a shot of the hop to make
sure you wouldn't wake up at the
wrong time, and brought you down
here In a taxi. That’s your history up
to date. Cheer up: the worst Is yet
to come. And when It comes—grab
this from me—Innocent iil Inez is
goln’ to have a ringside seat,”
‘1 don’t understand . . .**
The words w«r« bare?" audlbls; but
the termagant heard. Her sneer dark
ened.
“Well, If yon gotta know, the
btmch'g outside makln' np their minds
what to do with you. I haven’t got no
•dear what they'll fine'ly settle on, but
It’ll be plenty, whatever It la. U It
was anybody else I’d feelsorry for
them; but you—I* . _ /
| Her laugh was harsh and jeering.,
For sole response the cringing figure ,
on the bed suddenly sank in upon
itself, then over upon one side, where
it lay sprawling, inert, whites of eyes
showing under half closed lids.
Startled, the woman bent over Pris
cilla. But her breathing went on mo-,
notonously. She had merely fainted.
III. THE TRAP. - ; *
‘ The blinding prismatic glare that
filled all space dwindled slowly to a
hand’s breadth of particolored flame,
its thunderous roar to a sustained
more: overhead the sertorous gas Jet
by fits and starts hissed and spat an
grily.
She had no means of knowing how'
long it had been burning; that Is to
say, how long she had been Insensible;
but It was long enough, at all events,
for the atmosphere of that stuffy hole
to have grown sickening with heat
and its aggravation of the native
stench.
Her month and throat once more
were, parched. The drink brought her
by Inez had served only to render her
thirst more Intense: a matter of spite
ful calculation. In all likelihood: even
though diluted, alcohol in any form
| Is no .quencher of thirst, rather the
i contrary. ' Inez had not, however,
j reckoned with Its stimulating proper
ties : Priscilla was no less nnhappy In
body and mind, on recovering from
her swoon, but she felt stronger, bet
ter able to think and to Work out
thought in action.
At present, however, two considera
tions dominated all others: her need
of water; the necessity somehow to
escape from that place of terror acd
abomination.
She got up, unsteadily enough,,
padded to the door, and listened there
with an ear to the Joint between door
and jamb.
Hearing what she believed to be a
rumor of distant voices, nothing else,;
she laid hold of the knob and turned
it cautiously. A thrill shot through
her heart when the door opened:
Whether by design or Inadvertence,
Inez had neglected to lock ltl
A peering reconnaissance showed'
nothing but gloom lmmediately.beyond
the door. Trembling, the girl opened II
wide. The light from the gas Jet then
revealed a length of malodorous hall-'
way, broken by two more doors, both
closed. At its far end It turned oft at
a right angle. What lay beyond was
nnguessable: there was no light.
The air of the hallway was heavy
with that subtle, sickly smell, alluring
and appalling . . . the breath of,
death. . . . She- had smelt it be
I fore, somewhere, at some time tndefi
jnlte. . , . At. length she knew It:
i the reek of opium smoke In the deo
i of Sing Ho, to which she—or Leo-'
nora—had gone that night (so long
jagol) to fneet Charlie the Coke.
She advanced one unshod, timid
foot across the threshold, faltered,
took another step and closed the door
; behind her! shutting herself out Into
| untempered darkness, and stole fear
fully on, feeling her way with hands
that brushed the walls.
She drew near to the farther door.
The voices became more definite.
Seemingly several persona were clos
eted In that room, all talking at once.
In discordant dissension. The notion
came to her, was entertained and es
tablished as an Idea fixed, that If she
could only win past that door, the rest
would be easy, an unhindered way of
; escape would open out to her. ; . •
She tree -within two paces or sue
! cess when an especially violent wran
! gle ended in a harsh rasping of chait
legs on a bare, rough floor; and In a
sudden lull heavy heels thumped
I toward the door. The girl shrank
I back, instinctively flattening herself
| to the wall to one side of the door.
This last was thrown open, letting
out a flood of gaslight and a choking
gust of air heavy laden with tobacco
smoke. A man came out, turning
toward Priscilla’s recent prison. Blind
ed by the transition from light to
darkness, he stopped and, cursing, put
out a hand toward the wall. It touched
Priscilla’s shoulder. She winced with
a stifled cry of fright. Instantly the
hand closed cruelly on her shoulder;
Its owner uttered an exclamation of
mingled wrath and satisfaction, and
with one ruffianly swing sent her stag
gering into the room.
Somehow she escaped a tumble,
righted herself, stood cringing, blink
ing, trembling.
The door closed with a bang. The
time of all pretensions to polish, an
accents of the Nut, destitute for the
nounced:
“Here she Is now! Caught her Just
in time—trytn' to do a sneak. Who
left the door unlocked on her! Too,
Inest” . j
Coolly the voice of Iaes replied:
j "Maybe I did—I don’t remember."
“D—n’ careless of you—’’
I "Ah, shut up. What difference dnaa
It make! She didn’t get away, did
sheT She couldn’t, not In a thousand
years, without we let her.”
(TO B]E CONTmUEDj _
MRS. NANCY SHARP, of
Los Angeles, who says she
received the greatest surprise of
her life when' Tafilac completely
restored her health after she had
almost lost hope of ever getting
well. Suffered twelve years.
"After seeing the wonderful results
my husband obtained from Tanlac I
began taking the medicine myself, and
now we both agree that It is the
grandest medicine on earth,” said Mrs.
Nancy Sharp, a prominent and highly
esteemed resident of Los Angeles,
Calif., living at 921 Camulus street,
whose husband is proprietor of the
Merchants’ Express Co.
“During the twelve years that I
suffered with indigestion and stomach
i trouble I tried nearly every medicine
I heard about, but nothing helped me
and I lost faith In everything. So,
my wonderful restoration to health
has been, the greatest surprise of my
life.
“I began to feel an Improvement on
finishing my second bottle of Tanlac,
and now after taking six bottles I am
like a new womdn. I have a splendid
appetite, eat three hearty meals a day,
enjoy them thoroughly and am never
troubled In the least with indigestion
or any other disagreeable after ef
fects. .
“Before taking Tanlac most every*,
thing I -dite caused my stomach to
rebel and I would suffer for hours
afterwards. I was- so dreadfully
nervous that many nights I never
closed my eyes In sleep, but now I
am not the least nervous, and I sleep
like a child* My strength has been
wonderfully Increased, and I have
much more energy.
“I Just wish It was so everybody
troubled like I was knew about this,
wonderful medicine.” ,
Tanlac Is sold by leading druggists
everywhere.—Adv* . . tV;'
A Mistake.
- vuf pretty Sciguinn musi ins very
much In love with her husband. I
heard her the other day say she was
going to do her best to make her Bil
ly’s life happy". r,
“Billy’s, not her husband; he's her
poodle.”
Constipation, indigestion, slck-head
ache and billons conditions are over
come by a course of Garfield Tea.
Drink before retiring.—Adv.
If a man is able to collect nis
thoughts he can pull through with
out borrowing trouble.
Oraaulated Snllta Sties, Inflamod Brae
relieved overnight br Roman Bra Balaam.
One trial prove, tta merit.—Adv.
The less a man thinks of his neigh
bor, the more he thinks of himself.
50good cigarettes
for 10c from
one sack of
4b
GENUINE
BULL
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