Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1901-02-06
ssssssg 49, 800 go so So

81; ! /.
: S. Sc Sc s. 81
SYNOPSIS.
CHAPTER l. Captain Bob Kingston. who
mas been rowing Tor several years 10 foreign
seas away from his Vile and son, writes home
70 bis wife telling her thar he has made enemies
and that they are seeking to be revenged on
him he warns her to give information tossno
one concerning him. That same day a foreigner
arrives at Mrs kingston's cottage to inquire
where the captain Is, He questions Davie
Kingston and his mother and finally departs.
leaving curious mark Affixed to the gate. H.
and llI.-They take counsel with Mrs King
st0n's brother jim. but he derides her fears.
Sim takes his nephew new, Daye to the play that
Kingston and the s. rvant murdered. A,myster-
ious Sign similar to that on the gate has been
are never discovered. Davies uncle. takes
charge of him. and thsy live together till the
sign appears on their door also. Then young
changed To- James Davle. 50 that the mysterious
assassins can be THROWN on The scent His uncl
meanwhi e seeks for tho murderers, but does
lads fatSer returns and declares ts ne Isl Being
hunted by the members Of a secret society and
that the mark they place upon their victims is
the Sign of the j Hidden Meaning. or the Boxers
vi. " I, VIII and IL. He and his son travel.
from town to town. trying to throw the ennis
sartes OF the society on the scent, but always
or protection are futile and that q favorable oT-
portunlty alone Is being waited for nefore the
eonspirators take the old mars. life. e.
Captain Klngstonis at last murdered by. the EN-
issaries Of the Society of the Hidden Meaning.
XII. and XII He leaves n manuscript recount
ing how he came to fall under the ban of the So
ed by tile head of The society. Kung. to kill
certain CHIEF magistrate. Instead OF doing so
he revealed the conspiracy. He tells his st-
must go o China find Koon-Si and Kill Kung.
XIII, NV and Ky -Dayie ana his uncle form
acqulintauces, who are evidently working to-
gether to get them into a position where tn y
can be murdered readily. One of these ac-
quaintances discharges a pistol Che claims
accidentally, which grave Davies head.
lou must not forget" said he grave.
iy--"not for moment. If you do, that
moment will be the opportunity for
which our enemy has waited Poor
lad. It's a terrible heritage, this, but it
is ours, and we are men. 1t is fright
full, this having to suspect every one
with whom we come in contact, and
heaven knows it Is the very antithesis
of my nature, as Of yours. But what
are We to do2 confess i do not like
the look of things, and l did not like
the look of Mr.. Wentworth, but one
20 a.
minds of men,"
Wishing to believe that had still
some faith In man, suggested that
such accidents were not uncommon
and that We're we not SO peculiarly
circumstanced we should never dream
Of connecting with the incident sin
lister design.
.arrue," he replied, land that's where
the curse of our position touches us
acutely-we must suspect everything
and everybody
And yet, if he is what we dread,
how can you reconcile this incident
with the warning he gave me in the
Empire last night?''
"That, too, said my uncle slowly,
hts eyes fixing me with serious,
steady look, has caused me IN. infinite
amount of speculation. In these times,
Dayie, our own shadow may conceal
the assassin. What If your liquor had
not been tempered with at all?'
But that seems incredible. l rec
ollect distinctly the man with the beard
stumbling over my toes and apologlz-
Ing profusely. oh, no; fear there; can
be no doubt Of the attempt"
..Well, am not SO certain. In the
FIRST place, 1t would be an infinitely
risky thing to attempt at crowded
Sar-tlIis deliberate pouring of the con-
nuts of a bottle or Vial into a stran-
RS glass. Some one was sure to see
5 the act. Some one, us 1t happened,
did. But what If the man with the
beard had been an accomplish? What
If the whole story had been but ruse.
to gain your confidence?"
Z 1 began to see things clearer, or at
least l thought so. But it robbed me
of the last vestige of. hope. would
like to have combated my uncle's argu-
ment, but somehow l couldn't There
was terrible force and reality In his
Indictment. felt instinctively that it,
would have been waste of powder to
reply.
AS we prepared to go down to dinner
my uncle suggested that we Should call
on Mr.. Wentworth, examine his curios
and investigate the affair still further.
But the knock at his door received no
response, dim knocked again, this
time more loudly. A querulous query
came:
who's there7"
81" al
''Who are your"
s.Davie."
.Ohp
There was silence for a moment or
two; then the voice said, Anything
important?v
no; only wanted to have a
chat.
.Awfully sorry, but I'm in the mid
die Of dressing. Will after dinner suit
your
Admirably
Good" :.
After dinner we searched the varlousi
reception rooms in vain for Mr.. Went
worth, and as last resort i ran up
stairs and Knocked at his door. A
chambermaid with a bundle on her
arm came along the passage, and from
her ] learned a rather startling piece
Of news.
Mr., Cyril George Wentworth had left
the hotel about an hour preyiously!
CHAPTER XVI.
"A WEST END TRAGEDY.
cannot cohscientiously say that this