The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1912-1984, 1916-03-17

own ends, quite oblivious of her and
her hiding place.
Her face paled, however, as she
heard the clearer and more authorita-
tive tones of one of those speakers.
For that voice, she knew, belonged to
Legar, and only to Legar.
The girl, pushing her cautious way
through the bushes, leaned even closer
! over the ledge. Then she held her
breath, for she saw that her move
ments had loosened the gravel at her
| feet and sent covey of powders
careening down the hillside. The
: voices below at the same time came
to sudden stop. In another moment
she could hear the crash of hurrying
feet through the tangled shrubbery.
Before she could turn and fly Lee
gar and his four evil-faced followers
were charging up the slope. They
were upon her, cutting off her retreat
before she could dodge back into the
passageway. Yet she did not surren-
der without struggle. She fought
| them back as best she could, standing
| at bay with her back against the rocky
| hillside. 1t was not until Legar's hand
clamped like a wise on her arm that
| she screamed, and screamed again.
A masked figure picking his eau
tious way along the crest CT the hill
| above them heard that cry and seemed
| to understand it's meaning. Fer, on
! hearing that repeated scream, he no
longer picked his way, but ran fran
tically, and with all his speed. So pre-
| cipitately did he scurry down that
! rocky hillside, in fact, that he de-
| scended in a flying leap in the very
midst of Legar's followers clustered
about the girl. He landed like a
! fallen plumb bob, heels down, knock
i ing enc of the conspirators sprawl
ing over the cliff edge as he came. An
| ether he sent with a well-aimed blow
in the same direction The third was
not disposed Of so easily. But an
| adept jiu-jitsu twist of the body soon
sent this opponent diving headfcre-
most into the loose gravel. 1t was
then that Legar, seeing his men going
down about him like ninepins, re-
| leased his clutch on the girls arm to
draw his revolver.
! At the same moment that he did
SO the man in the mask, swinging the
girl sharply about, darted for the tun-
nel-mouth. He was through it before
Legar could level his gun and fire. He
was half-leading, half-dragging the
| painting girl down the narrow passage
before any of the band could follow
But before he lodged for the hidden
powder house he threw up his free
hand and caught at the loop which
hung there at the end of his line And
he pulled it vigorously as he ran.
The result of that simple movement
was both prompt and appalling. The
thunder of a great detonation shook
the earth. The rocky hillside erupt-
ed into a sudden volcano of flying
earth and gravel, fiinging it's tons of
debris into the echoing valley. And
under the debris could be seen the
still struggling limbs of Legar and his
men.
But the man in the mask did not
lingar to witness those struggles. He
darted with the white-faced girl out
of the broken tunnel mouth, dragged
her hurriedly up the slope and circled
down through rock and underbrush to
where his hidden car awaited him.
The Secret Attack.
Enoch Golden was no longer con.
temptuously Indifferent man as he
faced his attorney, John Sibley, hur.
riedly summoned for a conference.
Il tell you, Sibley,' said the man OF
millions, something has to be done.
and done soon. I'm surrounded by enc
mics can't run down, enemies can't
even understand. In the first place,
there's this man in a mask stalking
through my house and pinning threats
to my doorpanels. Then"
Wait cut in the man of law. did
anyone actually see this man of the
mask?"
Yes, Wilson, my butler, came face
to face with him as he stepped out OF
a passageway. Then, when my secre
tary, Manley, started in pursuit Of the
intruder, instead of finding stranger
in this fool mask, he found his way
blocked by a girl, a girl in a cloak
who seemed to come there out of thir
air. And that girl. sir, turned out
to be my own daughter, my owl
daughter in some miraculous way res
cued from Legar"
Brought there by the man in the
mask?"
Yes, brought there by him. 81
she asserts. Yet this stranger, wht
brings me back the one thing preciou!
in my life, on the same day assumes
to criticize my conduct and threatens
to rob me of my money"
But that threat. as I've alread!
pointed out, is foolish. Your none.
has all the protection that steel ant
civilization can surround it with. 1
lies in the vaults of the Third Nationa
bank"
But tell you I am surrounded b!
enemies, by unknown enemies OF grea
. / oil