davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1914-05-07

Zach was oagged in daTk-red Canton
flannel He broke the tape of one bag
and exposed a great silver pitcher,
furnished purple-blue like ravens
wing-then a tea-service. Each piece,
large and small, was marked with the
greyhound rampant and the motto.
And to think" he said. that my
at-great-grandfathe buried you
with his own hands under the stables
when Tarleton's raiders swept the val
ley before the surrender ar Yorktown
Only wait till Aunt Daphne gets you
polished up, and on the sideboardl
You're the one thing the place has
needed"
With the dog for eomrade he ira
versed the garden and plunged across
the valley below, humming as he went.
The place was painless and over
grown with paw-paw bushes and sassa-
fras. Great trees stood so thickiy
in places as to make a twilight and the
SUMMER spots were masses OF pink
laurel, poison-ivy. flaming purple rho
Godendron and wine-red tendrlls or In
terbraided briers. This was the for
est land of whose possibilities he had
thought. In the heart Of the woods he
came upon a great limb that had been
wrenched off by storm. The broken
wood was of deep rich brown. shading
to black. He broke of his song. snap
ped a twig and smelled it. Its sharp
acrid odor was unmistakable. He sud-
denly remembered the walnut tree at
Rosewood and what Shirley had said:
II know a girl who had two in her
yard, and she went to Europe on
them"
He looked about him: as far as he
could see the trees reared. hardy and
perfect. untouched for a generation.
He selected one of medium size and
The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1914-05-07
CHAPTER XIX.
NiQht.
aewNcN M 1y 1oeoS-t1EN<1L ca


| A quicker breeze was stirring as
John Valiant went back along the Red
Road. He had waited In the garden
at Rosewood till Shirley, aided by
Emmaline and with Ranston's anxious
face lowering in the background, hav-
ing performed those gentle offices
which a woman's fainting spell re-
quires. had come to reassure him and
to say good night.
AS he threw off his coat in the
bedroom he had chosen for his own,
he felt the hard corner of the Lucille"
In the pocket, and drawing it out, laid
1t on the table by the bedside. He
seemed to feel again the Jingle Of
his cheek where a curling strand of
her coppery hair had sprung against it
when her head had bent beside his
own to read the marked lines.
When he had undressed he sat an
Aour in the candle-blaze, a dressing
gown thrown over his shoulders, striv-
ing vainly to recreate that evening
call to remember her every word and
look and movement. For breath
her face would flush suddenly before
him, like a live thing; then it would
mysteriously fade and elude him,
though he clenched his hands on the
arms of his chair in the fierce mental
The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1914-05-07

hushing him to silence, Valiant, IN
seen, looked at the wretched place
with a shiyer He had glimpsed many
wretched purlieus in the slums OF
great cities, but this. in the open sun
light, with the clean woods about il
and the sweet clear blue above, stood
out with an unrelieved holiness and
contrast that was doubly sinister and
forbidding. He knew instantly that
the tawdry corner was the community
known as Hell's-H alf-Acre, the place
TO which Shirley had made her night
ride TO rescue Hickey Snyder.
A quick glad realization of her cour-
age rushed through him. On its heels
came a feeling OF shame that spot
like this could exist, a foul blot on
such landscape, 1t was on his own
landl Its denizens held place byl
squatter sovereignty, but he was,
nevertheless, their landlord. The
thought bred new sense of RESPONSE
bility. Something should be done for,
them. too.
AS he gazed. an uproar in a cabin
reached a climax. A red-bearded fig
ure in nondescript garments shot from,
the door and collapsed in heap in
the dirt. He got up with dreadful
oath-a jug thrown at him grazing
his temple as he did so-and shaking
his fist behind him, staggered into a
nearby lean-to.
Valiant turned away with feeling
almost Of nausea. and plunged back
down the forest hillside
The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1914-05-07


mat as scat because can't open the
first locked thing l find."
He ran upstairs and donned rough
corduroy jacket and high leather leg
gings- Were going to climb the hill
today, Chum." he announced, land no
more moccasins need apply"
In the lower hall, however. he sud-
denly stopped stock-still. The slip Of
paper that was In the china dog," he
exclaimed. what a chump | am not
to have thought of i'll" He found it
in its pigeonhole and. kneeling down
before the safe, tried the numbers
carefully, first right. then left: IL
$3.50. The heavy door opened.
81 was right" he exulted. IT'S the
plate" He drew it out, piece by piece.
The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1914-05-07

her hair-these and the touch of her,
the consciousness of her warm and
vivid fragrance, remained to wrap all
his senses in mist woven of gold
and fire.
Shirley, meanwhile had sat some
time beside her mothers bed, leaning
from a white chintz-covered chair her
anxiety only partially allayed by reas-
surances, now and then STOPPING to lay
her young cheek against the delicate
arm in its lacy sleeve or to pass her
hand lovingly up and down its outline,
noting with a recurrent passion of ten
iderness the transparency of the skin
with it's violet yeining and the shad-
lows beneath the closed eyes. Emma
line, moving on soft worsted-shod feet
about the dim room, at length had
Whispered.
You go tub bald, honey. I stay
with Mis- Judith till she go tub sleep"
Eyes, go. Shirley" said her mother.
Haven't any privileges at all? Can't
even faint when feel like it, without
calling out the fire-brigade? You'll
pamper me to death and heaven knows
l don't need it."
you won't let me telephone for Doc
tor Southall?"
Certainly mott
and you are sure 1t was nothing
but the roses?"l
why, what else should it be?" said
her mother almost peevishly. Il must
really have the arbors thinned out. On
heavy nights it's positively overpower-
ing. Go along now, and Wen talk
about it tomorrow. 1 can ring If
want anything"
In her room Shirley undressed
thoughtfully. There was between her
and her mother fine tenuous bond
of sympathy and feeling as rare, per-
haps, as it was lovely. She could not
remember when the other had not
been a semi-invalid, and her earliest
childhood recollections were punctu-
ated with the tap of the little cane.
Tonight's sudden indisposition had
shocked and disturbed her; to faint
at rush of perfume seemed to sug-
gest growing weakness that was
alarming. Tomorrow, she told herself,
she would send Ranston with wagon
load of the roses to the hospital at
Charlottesville.
She slipped on pink shell-shaded
dressing-gown of slinky silk with a
riot of azaleas scattered In the weave.
and then, dragging her chair before
the open window. drew aside the light
curtain and began to brush her hair.
All at once her gaze fell upon the
floor, and she shrank backward from
twisting thread-like thing whose bright
saffron-yellow glowed sharply against
the dark carpet. She saw In an in
slant. however, that it was nothing
more dangerous than q fragment OF
love-vine from the garden, which had
chung to her skirt. She picked up
the tiny mass of tendrils and with
slow smile tossed it over her right
shoulder through the window. II 1t
takes root" she said aloud, my sweet
The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1914-05-07
CHAPTER Xxx
The Gardeners.

He saw them coming through the
gate on the Red Road-the major and
Continued on Page 81
The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1914-05-07

effort to recall it. Only the intense
blue of her eyes, the tawny sweep of
her hair-these and the touch of her,
the consciousness of her warm and
vivid fragrance, remained to wrap all
his senses in mist woven of gold
and fire.
The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1914-11-13
"I tell you. no."

II tell you, no."
In desperation Alan rammed hand
into his trousers pocket. "Will a dol
lar influence your better judgment?
he suggested shrewdly.
Let's see your dollar" the other re
turned with no less craft-open in
credulity informing his countenance
And, surely enough, Alan brought
forth an empty hand.
Make a light" he said sharply. MY
moneys in a belt round my waist
Open your office. You'll get your dol
lar, all right"
All right" he grumbled, reopening
the door of the telegraph booth and
making a second light inside. There's
blanks and a pencil Write your mes
sage. 1t amt often do this-but I'll
make an exception for you"
Alan delayed long enough only to
make a few inquiries, drawing out
the information that, for one who had
not patience to wait the morning
train northbound, the quickest way
to any city of importance was by boat
across Buzzard's bay to New Bedford
Addressed to Digby, his man OF
business in New York, 1t required that
gentleman to arrange for a motor-cor
to be held in waiting on the water
front of New Bedford from 800 a. m.
until called for in the name of Mr..
Law. as we'll as for a special train at
Providence, on similar provisions.
But now, though he was all uncon-
scious of the fact, he went no more
alone.
His shadow In the moonlight kept
him company upon the sands; and
above, on the edge Of the bluffs, an
other shadow moved on parallel
course and at a pace sedulously pat
termed after his. ......
He found his sweetheart and his
friend much as he had left them, with
this difference-that Mr.. Barcus now
lay fiat on his back and snoring
Justify.
He was Weakened quickly enough,
however, by Alan's news.
But when it was the turn of Rose
they faltered. She lay so still, be-
trayed her exhaustion so patiently in
every line of her unconscious posture,
as well as in the sharp pallor of her
face upturned to the moon, that it
seemed scarcely less than downright
inhumanity to disturb her.
None the less, it had to be done.
Alan hardened his heart with the re-
minder Of their urgent necessity, and
The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1914-11-13
CHAPTER Xxx.
-hen.EIrA.


But by this stage in his history Mr..
Law had arrived at a state of mind
immune to surprise at the discovery
that he had once more failed to elude
the vigilance and pertinacity of the
woman who sought his life.
He viewed the schooner with no
more display of emotion than resided
in narrowing eyelids and a tightening
of the muscles about his mouth.
Much farther to go?' he inquired
presently, in a colorless voice.
AT our present pace-say, two
hours"
And will that enable us to hold
orr OWN"
Just about" Barcus allowed, squirt
ing critically at the chase; she's
some footer, that schooner; and this
is just the wind she likes best"
How much lead have we got?"
"A mile or so-none too much"
Anything to be done to mend mat
ters?"
Nothing but pray, If, you remem-
Der how"
In the end they made it by narrow
margin. The face of Judith Urine was
distinctly revealed by the chill gray
light of early dawn to those aboard
the power cruiser as she swept up
through the reaches of New Bedford
The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1914-11-13

eventually brought her to with the
aid of few drops of brandy.
Between them, they helped her up
the beach, past the point, and at length
to the door of the hotel, where-reani-
mated by the mere promise of food
Rose disengaged their arms and en-
tered without more assistance: while
Barcus was deferred from treading
her heels in his own famished eager
ness, by the hand of Alan falling heay-
lily upon his arm.
Watt" the latter admonished in
a half-whisper. Look there!"
Barcus followed the direction of his
gesture-and was transhxed by the
sight of a rocket spearing into the
night draped sky from point invis-
ible beyond the headland of the light
house.
The two consulted one another with
startled and fearful eyes.
AS with one voice they murmured
one word Judith" To this Alan
added gravely: COR some spy of
hers!"
Then rousing, Alan released his
friend, with a smart shove urging him
across the threshold of the hotel
Go on" he insisted, 'join Rose and
get your supper. I'll be with you as
soon as | can arrange for a boat. Tell
her nothing more than that-that
thought 1t unwise to wait until every
body was abed before looking round.
He turned to find his landlord APP
preaching from the direction of the
hotel barroom. And for the time it
seemed that the wind Of their luck
must have veered to a favoring quar-
ter; for the question was barely ut
tered before the landlord lifted will
ing voice and hailed a fellow towns
man idling near by.
Hey, Jake-come here!"
introduced as Mr.. Breed, Jake
pleaded guilty to ownership of the
fastest and stanchest power-cruiser
in the adjacent waters, which he was
avariciously keen to charter
They observed haste religiously;
within ten minutes they stood upon q
float at the foot of a flight of wooden
steps down the side of the town wharf,
The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1914-11-13
CHAPTER XXI.
Anticlimax.

|
Alan came to himself supported by
! Barcus-his senses still Keeling from
| the conclusion of that thunderbolt
which he had so unwittingly loosed-
the cloud of sulphurous smoke and yet
dissipated by the wind
Judith lay at his feet, stunned; and
round about other figures of men in
sensible, if not, for all he could say,
dead
And then Barcus was hustling him
unceremoniously down the wharf.
Come! Comet" he rallied Alan
Pull yourself together and keep a
stiff upper lip Rose is waiting in
the car; and if you don't want to be
arrested you'll stir your stump5, my
son! That explosion is going to bring
the worthy burghers of New Bedford
buzzing round our ears like a swarm
of hornetsi
His prediction was justified even
before it was made; already the near
by dwellings were vomiting half
clothed humanity; already a score of
people were galloplng down toward
the head of the wharf; and in their
number policeman appeared as if by
magic
And while the man hesitated Alan
grabbed him by the shoulder. threw
him bodily from the car, dropped into
his seat cried warning to Rose, and
threw in the clutch The machine re-
sponded without a jar; they were a
hundred feet distant from the scene
of the accident befetc Alan was fairly
fatt1ed in his place
AS he grew more and more calm, he
congratulated himself on having drawn
an excellent car in the lottery of
chance.
Yet his congratulations were prema-
ture: they were not ten minutes out
of the environs of the city when Rose
left her seat and knelt behind his, to
communicate the intelligence that
they were already being pursued.
A heavy touring car, she said it was,
driven by a man, a woman in the
seat by his side-Judith the latter. the
The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1914-11-13

while the promised rowboat of Mr.
Breed drew in, at most leisurely pace,
to meet them.
Aboard and away from the wharf
the burden of Alan's solicitude seemed
| to grow lighter with every squeal
of the greaseless oarlocks, with ev-
cry dip and splash of the blades
which, welded by crew of yillainous
countenance, brought them nearer the
handsome motorboat which Mr.. Breed
designated as his own. 1t was not
until Alan looked up suddenly to find
Mr.. Breed covering him with re-
volver of most vicious character that
he had the least apprehension of any
! danger nearer than the offing, where
Judith's schooner might be lurking,
waiting for It's prey to come out and
be devoured.
IN take that money-belt of yours,
young feller," Mr.. Breed announced,
and be quick about it-not forgetting
what's in your trousers pocket"
In the passion of his indignation
Alan neglected entirely to play the
game by the rules. The indifference
he displayed toward the weapon was
positively unprofessional - for he
knocked it aside as If it had been
nothing more dangerous than a straw.
And In the same futter of an eyelash
he launched himself like wildcat at
the throat of Mr.. Breed.
Before that one knew what was hap
pening he had gone over the stern
and had involuntarily disarmed him
self as well.
The other two men made sad bust
ness of attempting to overpower Mr..
Barcus. In less than minute they
were both overheard.
And just for this" Alan said before
getting out of earshot-"l'm going to
treat my party to a joy-ride in your
pretty powerboat."
He concluded this speech abruptly
as Barcus brought them up under the
quarter of the power cruiser.
Within two minutes the motor was
spinning contentedly, the mooring had
been slipped, and the motorboat was
heading out of the harbor.
Within five minutes she had left it
well astern and was shooting rapidly
westward, making nothing of the buff
fets of very tolerable sea kicked up
by the freshening southwesterly wind.
my friend" observed Alan, AS
our acquaintance ripens | am more
and more IMPRESSED that neither of us
was born to die a natural death,
The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1914-11-13
CHAPTER XVIII.
Stranded.

Stranded.
Mr.. Thomas Barcus picked himself
up from the bottom of the lifeboat,
where he had been violently precipi-
tated by the impact of grounding,
blinked and wiped tears of pain from
his eyes, solicitously tested his nose
and seemed to derive little if any com
fort from the discovery that it was not
broken, opened his mouth 49,. and
remembered the presence of lady.
Poor Mr. Barcus!" she said gently.
I'm so sorry. Do forget I'm here
and say it out loud!"
Mr.. Barcus dropped his hands and
dropped his head at the same time.
1T can't be did," he complained in
embittered resignation; "the words
have never been invented :"
In the bows Mr.. Law (who had
barely saved himself a headlong
plunge overheard when the shoal took
fast hold of the keel felt tenderly of
his excoriated shins, then, rising, COM
passed the sea, sky and shore with an
anxious gaze.
the fiat, limitless expanse of the night
bound tide, near at hand vaguely sill
vered with the moonlight, in the dis
tances blending into shadows; never
a light or shadowy, stealing sail in
that quarter to indicate pursuit.
Where are WEI" he wondered aloud.
ASK me an easy one" Barcus re-
piled; somewhere on the south shore
of the cape-unless somebody's been
tampering with the lay of this land.
That's a lighthouse over yonder"
Alan took soundings from the bows.
Barely two feet" he announced,
Withdrawing the oar from the water,
land eel-grass no end"
OH" Barcus calculated with the
accent of enlightenment; and leaving
the motor turned to the stern, over
which he draped himself in highly UNI
decorative fashion while cropping UNI
der water for the propeller. .-'+
That's the answer" he repeated;
there's a young bale of the said eel
grass wrapped round the wheel
Which, l suppose, means I've got to
go overheard and clear it away"
IF you've nothing better to do, my
critical friend" he observed as he
stopped to hack and tear at the mass
of weed embarrassing the propeller,
you might step out and give us a
The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1914-11-13

trial shove Don't strain yourself
just see if you can move her"
The boat budged not an inch-but
Mr.. Laws feet did, slipping on the
treacherous mud bottom with the up
shot of his downfall; with mighty
splash he disappeared momentarily
beneath the surface-and left his tenn
per behind him when he emerged
AS for Mr.. Barcus, he suffered like
loss within five minutes; when, with
much pains and patience having freed
TIE wheel, he climbed aboard and
sought to restart the motor. After
a few affecting coughs it relapsed into
stubborn silence.
Studious examination at length
brought-out the fact that the gasoline
tank was empty.
Its no use," he conceded at length.
Were here for keeps"
why not wade ashore?" Rose Urine
suggested mildly from the place she
had taken in the stern in order to
tighten the bows. 1T isn't far-and
what's one more wetting?"
That's the only sensible remark
The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1914-11-13

whether abed or at the hands of those
who dislike US; but rather to be
hanged as common pirates.
You have the courage of igno-
rance" Barcus replied coolly; if
you'll take the trouble to glance astern
promise you sight that will move
you to suspend judgment for the time
being"
At this Alan sat UP with a start
Back against the loom Of the Eliza
beth islands through which they had
navigated while he nodded, shone the
milkwhite sails of an able schooner.
Sheets all taut and every inch of
canvas fat with the beam wind, she
footed it merrily in their wake-a sill
yer Jet spouting from her cutwater
The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1914-11-13
SYNOPSIS.

The of Hearts is the death sign" en-
ployed by Seneca Urine in the private war
Of vengeance which, through his daugh-
Ter Judith, woman of violent passions
like his own, he wages against Alan Law,
held responsible for the accident which
made him a helpless cripple. Rose Ju-
dith's twin and double, loves Alan, and
learning of her sisters campaign against
him, leaves home and joins her fortunes
TO his. Under dramatic circumstances
Alan saves Judith's life and so wins her
love; but failure to shake his constaney
to Rose kndles Judiths jealousy and set
ties her in her homicidal purpose. She is
largely responsible for a shipwreck in
Nantucket's sound, from which Rose and
Alan escape with their friend Barcus. Ju-
dith pursuing in a chartered schooner
with crew of cut-throats.
The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1914-11-13

man an old employee of her fathers
by the name of Marrophst-
Marrophat!
Alan remembered that one.
He could only trust in his skill as
a driver. and skill is the lesser factor
in such a race.
For his own part he drove like an
exceptionally cunning mailman. e.
And then, quite clearly, he recog-
nized the time and the place and the
character of the road that lay before
him as the car sped like dragon-fy
down a slight grade
From the bottom of the grade 1t
swung away in wide, graceful curve,
bordered for some distance by railroad
tracks on slightly lower level.
He had guessed the fiendish plan Of
the other driver only too truly.
AS they approached at express
speed the stretch where the road par
The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1914-11-13
Copyright, 1914, BY Louis Joseph Vance

that's been uttered by any party to
this lunatic enterprise since you hove
within earshot of me, Mr., Law" said
Mr. Barcus. Respectfully submitted. "
"The verdict of the lower court
stands approved Alan responded
gravely.
But there's no sense in Miss Urine
wading," Barcus suggested. Were
web-footed as it is, and she's too
tired"
We'll, what them"
I'VE can carry her, can't we?"