Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1916-05-31


the dizzy wine of her terror, wringing
a yoluptuous delight out OF her word
less cape of horror. Then the look on
his face suddenly altered, and he
/ wheeled about. still clutching the girl
I close to his side. He stood staring at
! the door which he had locked but a
minute before And his face sudden
! ly hardened as he saw the heavy iron
latch of that door move.
Margery, following his glance, also
/ watched that door. And when she
/ heard the thump of heavy timber on
its panels a new hope sped through
her. That hope equipped her with
| fresh strength. 1t prompted her to
struggle against the Iron Claw with
the utmost power of her desperate
| young body. But her enemy, for all
her efforts, was too much for her. Foot
by foot he forced her back towards
the open sluiceway Then. with a NUT
tered gasp Of finality and a sudden up
ward heave of his shoulders, he flung
the girl headlong into the water.
AS he did so the door burst open.
For the heavy-hearted Peggy OMara,
( after slipping guiltily away from the
sluiceroom where she had left her
quite unsuspecting victim. awakened
Tor the first time to the full enormity
of her offense. AS she stood there in
the darkness, staring back at the dark
mass of the factory walls, the aches of
remorse lay heavy on her young heart.
She was standing there, with tears
of helplessness in her eyes, when a
figure stepped up to her. She would
have fed, incontinently. at the an
proach of that intruder. But the
stranger held her with a gently re-
straining hand. And as she peered IN
at his face she saw that it was the
man in the laughing mask
The righting of wrongs is a mart Of
my business in life. Can l help your"
The girl hesitated.
Yes she finally confessed, with a
burst of tears. And through her sobs
she brokenly recounted as much as
she dared of that nights proceedings
But she continued to weep.
And me father'll be goin' to the
pen for what I'm tellin' you" she
walled out in her misery.
He will not" avowed the Laughing
Mask, with decision. He'll hav
more than help before this night is
over, and better job and a clear con-
science before another one comesl
But tell me first where you left this
girl you brought out from the city?-
Inside the door o. the sluiceroom
there"
Good God!" gasped the man IN the
mask. Then he caught the spindle
legged Peggy O'Mara by the hand and
started for the shadowy pile of the fac
tory on the run. Quick" he said as
he ran, show me the door,"
T The 1t hfRJ|tRbGEdGath43egst stopped and fran.
tically caught up a piece of timber al
most as long and heavy as his own
body. Peggy O'Mara, seeing that its
weight seemed more than he could
manage, promptly ran to his assist,
ance.
Now, come together" he said. for
we've got to knock that door in"
Twice, three times, they charged the
door before it gave way. But the mo-
ment its panels crashed in the Laugh.
ing Mask leaped through the opening.
AS he did so he caught sight of the
two struggling figures on the brink
of the blackened runway. AS he saw
the figure of the woman flung headlong
into the open sluiceway he leaped with
a shout towards the one-armed man
who stood on it's brink But that one
armed man, with lightninglike move.
ment, whipped a revolver from his
pocket swung round on the intruder
and fired
The Laughing Mask wheeled half
way about, staggered a step or two,
. and then fell forward on his face.
The wide-eyed Peggy O'Mara, fol.
lowing at his heels, saw both that fall
and the fact that the Iron Claw had al.
ready leaped towards the control
board of the water mangle. Peggy
screamed aloud, shrilly and belligerent'
ly, as she leaped for the man already
before the control board She caught
! at him, clawing at his appraised arm,
! fought him with every jot of her thin,
( blooded girlish body.
But she was no match for that de-
termined and malignant opponent. The
I most she could do was to distract and
harry him for a precious moment OF
two. Then, realizing she was a factor
TO be eliminated without scruple, he
caught her bodily up from the floor,
raised her above his head. and with q
sickening thud, sent her body against
the solid masonry of the factory wall.
She lay there stunned, without NOV
ing, moaning brokenly with pain. as
Legar darted back to the control lever
of the mangle drums and shifted that
lever to the spot marked start" The
next moment he had thrown over the
switch of the sluicegate control
He ventured one triumphant glance
in the direction of the whirrine
mangle knives and the slowly ascend
ing gate. Then, with grimace of sat
. isfaction, he leaped over the inert
body of the Laughing Mask, ran to the
door, and disappeared in the darkness
Had that flight been less hurried
]. Legar might have observed that thu
!. eyes of the Laughing Mask were open
and the inert body, weak as it wal
from the loss of blood from a fiesl
wound in the hin. was already pain