Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1915-02-13
BY J.V. OIESY

! Veled at the calmneSs of her man.
ner. She left his side and seemed
to run back into the room. He saw
her figure between him and the light
er patch of a window. Then she dis
appeared, and he fancied he heard
her fumbling about in a corner of
the room.
what is the matter?" growled
Karloff. thine is precious. Why
doesn't she come ?"
The whirring chatter of machine
! gun broke in upon them. Both men
| started. In their minds they pic
! tured what it would mean trained
upon the unarmed mob of convicts.
Hurry, Shielap begged Gafford,
and heard her coming toward him in
a swish of draperies. A moment
later she was at his side.
81 am ready now" she told him.
"Go on"
The rapid-fire still chartered. The
roaring of the mob was turning to
shrieks of terror and dismay. Even
as the three left the room and turned
back along the hall the front door
burst open and a figure leaped in,
seen dimly as a silhouette against
! the outer glare which still came
from the furnaces of the plant.
"Shiela!" cried a voice that sent
! Gafford's heart into his mouth in
recognition. "Shiela, where are you
Are you safe? It's all right now.
It's almost over"
Gafford in that instant drew out
! his revolver and fired at the sound
of the voice. Karloff swore harShly
in Russian.
GIVE me the girl" he growled
roughly, land stand him off! Meet
me at the machine"
AS he fired for the second time
Gafford heard him run back along
the hall.
No sound had come from the man
who had entered. Gafford strained
his ewes to see what he might be
about. The front door was closed
again and the hallway was utterly
dark.
The footballs of Karloff and Shiela
had died out and told him that they
were outside the house. He stood
painting deeply and straining his
ears. For any sound he heard he
might have stood alone.
Suddenly as he waited, the front
door was again wrenched open. For
one moment he saw the man, and
then he had leaped through and was
gone.
Carrying the revolver in his hand
Gafford turned and raced down the
hall and out at the back. In the
ruby glow from the great plant the
scene lay in sort of eery twilight
The chatter of the quick-fre had
died away into an uneasy silence
There was nothing of the recent con-
flict remaining save the groans OF
the wounded and an occasional rife
shot from some guard. From the
front of the house he could hear a
voice crying an order in Japanese.
He looked about for Karloff and
Shiela and saw them just entering
the alley between the two nearest
buildings Of the works. Instantly he
set off in pursuit.
A pistol cracked at his back. A
voice cried out peremptorily to him
to halt. Without checking his speed
he turned his head, threw back his
arm, and fired as he ran. Again
and again his pursuers' shots sound
ed.
Gafford glanced ahead once more
as the bullets sang past. He could
see the giant figure of Karloff dim
ly, and it seemed that he had picked
up the girl in his arms and was car
rying her. A fear that she might
have been struck by a flying shot
possessed him. He darted aside to-
ward the angle Of a building and
crouched down.
His pursuers, four in number
fully as h might in the half light
he fired. One of the men, paused
staggered, and fell. Gafford CHANGED
another shot, sprang up, and raced
on.
AS he ran he managed to reload
the weapon and after a bit he halted
and discharged all five chambers as
quickly as he could finger the trig-
ger. Turning, he ran on, chuckling
His pursuers now numbered but
two.
Just before him was the last
building of the plant and beyond
that was Karloff's machine. As he
ran he heard the sudden throb OF
its motor, drew out more cartridges
ana IuT DleU tHeIn lnCO HIS gun.
Then, with final burst of speed
he reached the auto and flung him.
self upon the rumble. Kneeling, he
fired at the two dark figures which
darted from behind the building he
had just passed. One of them stun.
bled and went down. Just as he
fired again Karloff started the ma
chine.
1t darted away withr-a jerk, which
destroyed Gaffords aim and all but
threw him to the ground. BY a
lucky chance he saved himself from
falling and kept grip on the re-
volver.
A twist and a wrench brought him
back to the rumble seat. Fire darted
toward him from the lone figure
which remained behind. Gafford
could see that the fellow was kneel-
ing and firing. From the sound OF
the shots he judged that he was us
ing rife. He heard Karlof grunt
harshly as he bent at the wheel and
sent the car through the strange red
night. He chuckled without and real
perception of what he was laughing
| about and olupo IN HE n1oca on tha