Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-01-22

! Storm heard. Instantly Chang and his
assistant seized her ana bound and gag
| ged her. Then the oriental tried to throw
her back into the trance; but h failed,
/ for Zudora was not taken unawares this
/ time She was bewildered and could not
| dream what had happened since that mo-
! ment she had started for the rope which
| hung from her boudoir window The two
| Wills fought for a minute and then WI
Chang stepped back, signing He had
wasted too much power that night The
| girls mind was now free, however well
her body was bound
So he left her for the night. AT dawn she
would be on the high seas. The sooner
the better, so far as he was concerned.
| When that liner drew out of her slip
IIassam Ali would place In his hands
1910 shining disks of gold. But the an
sWer to "A telephone call at dawn dis
MAYED WI Chang The liner would not
sail until 4 In the afternoon. Ships do
not always sail on scheduled time.
As for storm, he did not take his
clothes off at all, and he was something
of wreck when he ate a rnenger break
fast. Ho had heard zudora call for help
as plainly as II he had seen her. He
thought and thought, and finally. recall
ing certain curious features in WI
Changs house, fell upon what he believed
to be the true solution A secret room,
behind that alcove, from whence the
voice had GOMEZ He seized the telephone
and routed out half a dozen grumblng
detectives Storm was a coming power;
a turn of the wheel might lift him to
the position Of District Attorney, and the
detectives wanted to be on the right side
OF him in that event.
There was a bit OF bluff in his declara-
tion that he had been mysteriously ap-
prised Of the fact that there was a hidden
room in Wu Chang's house and that Zu-
dora was there. The detectives were still
skeptical
TO return 10 Zudora. She was still as
Chang had left her, bound, gagged, help
less. There was only one bit of consola-
ton: her mind was her own. Through
small, high window-outwardly giving
the appearance of belonging to the next
house-the sun poured In brightly and
warmly. She gazed about eagerly, en-
deavorng vainly to find something sharp
upon which she could saw her bonds The
room had been land evidently still wasJ
a kind of seclusion for WI Chang when
he desired to pursue his modes of culture
There was a table upon which stood n
readers magnifying glass attached to d
frame. Quickly zudora calculated the
rays of the sun as the inspiration came
to her. She was quite obiivious to the
sudden sounds coming family through the
wall. If she could but reach that table,
Fortunately she was not bound to the
chair. She rose slowly and took short
little jumps, balancing herself nicely. II
she stumbled and fell, good-by liberty or
the chance of it.
1t took three minutes to reach the table.
With her elbow she hitched the glass so
that the sun fell full upon it. Instantly
the book beneath emitted a bit of smoke
ZudOra turned about so that this burning
ray became focused upon the hempen
cords. She felt the smart and sting Of
flame upon her wrists But that was
nothing, The ray was shrveling the
rops; she could smell 1t! She strained
suddenly at her wrists-and was free! 1t
took but moment to untwist the rope
and tear away the bandage.
Pistol shots!
She listened. A pounding began to take
place against the wall outside Her lover
had found her!
Storm and the detectives had entered
uncereHonously this time, and a fine BIZ
of warfare ensued. Chang lost his temper
and in doing so lost his liberty. He
drew knife and sprang at Storm with
all that deadly fury OF an angry China
man. a lucky bullet from one of the
detectives saved storms life. Selling a
handy object, Storm began to beat in the
wall of the alcove, even while the des-
perate battle between the detectives and
the Cinnamon ragged fiercely about him.
When the battle was over and Chang
was in irons they got into Zudora's prison.
And they found a trap under mat, and
below they found the source of Mr.. Wu
Chang's fortune-thousands of cans of
opium. And still further below a big
room half filled with the devotees of
the drug.
Later Hassam Ali sat in his mystic
room and heard from her own lips zu-
dora's remarkable adventure.
my child, you had better give up the
In some manner Chang has
heard of your fortune and kidnapped you
for ransom, Wait until you are 21. You
will still be young enough to marry
Storm.
II have concluded TO go to the end.
I am determined to solve these 20 riddles,
because-well. because 1 begin to find |
these adventures the most fascinating |
things in the world
Very well, my child; but remember
that | have warned you"
No sooner was she gone from the room |
than he set TO plan some new deviltry. |
But for two weeks he trembled Chang |
might speak But Chang never spoke. |
His bit of work for Hassam Ali was of |
small consequence TO other crimes that |
were unearthed within that fortnight. WI
Chang was not born TO die in a cell. |
A little black pellet In his mandarln's |
ring opened the way out.
CONTINUED MONDAY
Copyright. 1914, by Harold McGrath.)