The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1902-08-20
WON BY PLUCK.
Jessie Bannings Long Struggle for a Peruvian
Fortune.


such a shape that Flores was COM
PEELED TO sell out to him for a song
Flores swallowed the bitter pill, but
he vowed revenge. So when Jessie Ban
ming reopened the case In the courts for
possession of the great mahogany
forests Flores went to her, told her
what he knew. and offered to help her
all he could His was invaluable assist
ance. for not only had he heard Valla-
dolla recount some of the inside work.
ings of the ring to grab the forests,
but his own fight with Valladolla had
taught him the latter's methods.
The key OF Jessie Banning's proof
was the Valdes deeds, for they COM
pleted the gap. showing the unbroken
title TO the forest lands from the origi.
nal grantees down through several gen.
erations to her mother. 1t was well
known that these important papers had
not been destroyed by the men who
had stolen them, because they also con-
veyed certain rights and privileges
which were being used by "the ring"
Ii was the plan of the latter to wear out
the Banning heirs and then produce the
Valdes deeds. Jessie Banning was the
only one who stood between them and
success, and they didn't see how a girl
like her could possibly defeat them.
Very early in the affair bundle of
papers purporting to be the original
Valdes deeds were offered to her at a
fancy figure. The arch conspirator mad
figured that she would snap at these
forgeries and use them for the purpose
of winning the suit. OF course at the
proper moment they were prepared to
step in and dramatically prove the
deeds to be gross forgeries. Fortunate
ly, Flores got wind of the matter and
warned Miss Banning in time. But the
trick, though it failed in execution, pro-
duced one momentous result. 1t re-
vealed the headquarters Of the plotters.
and by a rare chance showed that the
bona-fide Valdes deeds were in the
aame place. But how to get them?
Jessie Banning knew that her fathers
secrets had been sold out to the other
. side, and she was afraid to trust any
body with the important task of recov-
ering the deeds. Whoever got them for
her might turn and offer to resell them
to the other side for ready cash. In
this dilemma she decided to try to re-
cover them herself. There was only one
way. Court processes were useless in
trying to reach her enemies. She must
do as they did when they took them
from her father.
Her cousin was a daring lad of IT,
and she pitched on the plan Of disguis-
ing herself in a suit of his clothes and
taking him with her on the adventure
She had selected a rainy night for the
feat, and found everything clear in her
reconnaissance Of the house where
Flores reported 'the ring" met. Then
fortune played strange prank in the
proceedings, which both helped and
hurt her. II CHANGED that a burglary
was being committed that same night
IN a residence almost directly opposite.
The servants were awakened, gave the
alarm, and a fusillade of pistol shots
rang out on the midnight air. OF course
all the households in the neighborhood
were awakened by the racket and ran
forth to learn the cause of all the con-
fusion. The servants in the house where
the ring met were among the number.
Jessie Banning nearly collapsed in the
uproar, thinking for a moment she was
the cause of it. She was paralyzej with
fright, but only for an instant. The
next the quick-witted girl realized that
the uproar was golden opportunity
offered to take advantage of the deser-
tion of the servants; then she fell upon
the desk containing the Valdes deeds
stolen from her fathers house.
With them safe in her pocket she
made jubilant rush for the broken
window, forgetting for the moment
that the gardens in that locality were
being secured by the househoders,
seeking for the burglars who had fed
from the alarmed house across the way.
Unfortunately for her she was OBJ
served as she dropped lightly from the
window, and a vigilant servant fired
pistol at her. The ball grazed her side
inflicting flesh wound. but she
pushed headlong into the darkness,
followed by the shouts of those in close
pursuit.
Suddenly, in her mad flight, she
stumbled and went sprawling head
lcng into the water. Ii was shallow, with
a stone bottom, but she dared not move
lest she should get beyond her depth,
and so lay at full length, with her
head just above the surface. Her pur-
suers were close upon her. She could
hear them calling TO one another and
beating the bushes in their fruitless
search. Lanterns began to bob about in
the darkness; she lay still, fearing to
move lest she should disclose her hid
ing place. Two Of her pursuers met
near the water; one carelessly threw
the light of his lantern in its direction,
evidently with view simply to disclose
its location. and told his companion to
be careful and not stumble into the
| fish pond" Time and again her pur-