The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1907-06-16


Yes. Inal r- 81 an vas. ~ single week
tIe other ave had disappeared through
tie gruesome gates. and with them
too. ley had taken Captain Reeves.
What did ID meang Were they slfvaf
Were they dead2 Were they held IN
captivity More than all. WHY lad
Fa-les, certai9iy tie last person likely
% throw his lie away n the venture.
why had he fol0weI the Iucki-ss ex-
ample Of the rest2 IL was all beyond
ftnrcse now Could times have moved
backward couple OF ce- tunes. ne
would have been more than a little n
cLned 20 charge some one with simon
pure Witchcraft,
Ana what on earth else could II be7
" % Q &C aaa taken them. one after
TIE o.-er. five Of them AT least. with
eyes vide open 20 the danger. through
the dark gates2
Tor an hour he pondcred. and passed
into another hour quite as much al sea
from one end OF the proposition 10 the
other The dinner crowd filtered OF
Of The dining room and scattered 10 tr.
-FOUR points OF the compass. card
games started up here and there
The Inevitable crowd % billiard ma
macs gathered around the tables. TIE
Usual mid-evening quiet settled On tae
Wanderers.
Rather abruptly, the quiet sent q
chil through Penrose-s whole body.
What sort Of quiet was resting on
that unfortunate six who had gone
before?
The ffaa b-,r,rN. ~ O.. - -
Fsyles was reported 20 have done The
evening before. he. too. took TO tramp
ing back and forth and mutterfnR 10
himself What should he. the sole sur
vivor, do7 The simplest. sanest thing.
plainly. was 10 summon a sufficient
force Of police and descend upon the
herdish place with a zhirINind force,
sun. did not The arguments. pro and
con, anent the constabuIary. appIv. now
as we'll as before. when they had de-
cided against using uniformed force
II violence had been done, Il was done
II violence was neditated. the din OF
breaking down the gate would give the
unknown forces ample time 20 carry
out any plans they might have made.
To be sure, a well planned attack
might succeed, u the men without es-
sayed 20 climb the wall az several
points az the same momsnt-
That though, looked a bit imprac-
ucable, u the approach were not 10 be
discovered 70 the occupants OF the
House OF Suspicion. For one thing.
as PenrOse knew the police, he per-
ceived that Il would take tine 70 ar
range. and probably give rise % more
or less time-consumiaE discussion
For another. II would create local
excitement beyond any doubt FOR TIE
sight OF half a dozen men carving
twelve-foot ladders must arouse the
aeighborhood. however apathetc u
might be otherwise.
Again. It was hardly probable that
the advance would be noted from
within Senses OF sufficient Sharpness
20 distinguish between one man and
two men through that heavy gate
would have little dImculty IN iore-
stating any Vall-olImoing movement
q body OF officers
What. then. should be his course7
Penross tramped on and on and on,
his head sank low. his cold cigar
clutched tightly between the HARDEST
teeth. And slowly. very slowly at
first, but more rapidly as the min
utes sped by. Penrose began 70 ad-
mix a strange thing; even be, with all
his knowledge OF the AFFAIR, was
growing curious about the House OF
Suspicion.
II was. OF course. absurd. He IN
derstood fully that the place was
merely a cutthroats nest. He had not
Ill
investigate II on his own account or
that he was perfectly sure but the
curiosity remained, nevertheless. At
il was a gnawiug sensation! Pen
rose fairly yearned TO know the Sc
cret Of those terrible gates In the
suburbs,
Ten O'Clock. and the pull OF the nys-
terry was well-nigh irresistible. He
STAYED IL of. however. until the quar-
ter hour. He was not quite an I'm
beetle. But at the single stroke OF the
clock Penrose stopped suddenly, and
his fist came down with sudden empha-
SIS upon the table iH the empty room
II might be insane. Well. then, II
must be. L might be suicide: II 90,
there was no one 10 worry partIcu-
larly. Il might be simply playing
into the murderer's hands; II that oc-
CURED, II would be his own lookout
They had gone. Weldon. Carr, Dun
frey. Sellers. Reeves. FaylesI
They had gone. and Penrose was
gong after, His chin was set dog
gedly, and he glared defantiy at the
blue walls and the blue furnishings.
He waved silent good-by to the de-
serted department and walked out
with a grim smile
The decision reached. the details
worked themselves out rapidly. Pen
rose paused in the corridor, and then,
somewhat 10 the establishment OF sew
eral bystanders. made his way 70 the
basement Of the clubhouse. the floor
below the street level.
In the white room. where the little
dynamo wbsrred ceaselessly and the
big motor went into periodical activity
in response 70 the elevator lever above
and the trim Corliss spun silently,
Penrose made an unexpected appear
ance.
Continued Next Sunday.)