Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1916-06-13

eAouS Ss6haA. Inc HeAt uOuent she
was olambering nimbly yet carefully
down the ledge of broken rock.
A pair of stalwart young arms were
waiting TO hold her up. But she quick
ly broke away from their clasp.
Quick, they are coming to capture
youi"
''Who are?"
The police. They have found out
you are hiding here. And Legar also
has found OUT"
The man in the mask darted back to
a small table on which stood a shaded
lamp. He bent quickly over and blew
out the flame. This left the back of
the cave in darkness. Then he ran
back to where the girl still waited.
do you trust me?" he asked.
Il trust you in everything" was her
reply.
Then listeni The water at the foot
of this cliff is deep. 1t is a drop OF a
hundred feet. But it may be our only
chance. Are you willing to take that
leap with me?"
Il trust you--in everything" she
told him, as she drew herself up. He
held her there for moment, and then
slipped to the back of the cave. When
he reappeared he carried rough pine
table in his arms. This he placed
on end close to the entrance of the
cave.
The next moment a shadow dark
ened the mouth of the cave. Silhouet.
ted clear against the outer light they
could see the STOPPING figure OF the
Iron Claw.
AS he stood there, peering cautious.
ly about the ledge of the bookshelf,
he was stealthily joined by his fol.
lowers.
They're coming" the Laughing
Mask whispered TO Margery Golden,
as he drew her closer in beside the
rocky wall of the tunnel. Then, using
the appended table as screen, he
advanced with her towards the cave
mouth, slowly, silent, foot by foot.
They were within six feet of the
opening when Legar turned about to
give a word or two of command to his
followers. Two figures, those of a
masked man holding a slender girl
firmly by the hand, came running out
of the cave
So suddenly did they come that they
scattered Legar's men as they ad-
vanced. And before those astounded
men could recover either their foot
ing or their wits, the man in the mask
holding the girl close to his side, had
crossed to the cliff-edge and had taken
a flying leap out into space.
An involuntary gasp Of consterna
ton burst from that startled group OF
gangsters as they stood watching the
clasped figures hurtle through the
air, strike the surface of the water
clean, and so down into its blue
depths. Then, after what seemed on
interminable wait, a second shout,
as involuntary, apparently, as the flrst
burst from the watchers as they be-
held the two figures reappear, swim
ming strongly side by side along the
undulating surface of the water. But
that shout was not a prolonged one.
1t merged suddenly into calls and cries
of somewhat different character, for
with that repeated shout Legar and
his men had betrayed their position to
a russet-faced police captain and six
stalwaTt men at his heels.
The next moment there was a
charge in force down the broken face
of the cliff And as the minions of
the law descended on the cave-mouth
the evileyed group gathered there
erupted into sudden life. There was
wild scramble up the rock-ledges,
quick encounters and combats, blows
and counter-blcws, the impact of ash
night-sticks on resounding skulls, the
captivating cry of half-stunned cap
tives.
But Legar fought, backed close
against the rock, with the ferocity OF
a wildcat, holding off every attack and
with his failing iron claw sweeping
back every assailant. Then, swing
1ng about, he leSped up the clin-face,
springing from rock to rock with the
agility OF mountain goat.
1t the top OF the cliff, when Enoch
Golden himself, side by side with the
police captain, attempted to bar that
tight, the fugitive bowled over those
two rotuna figure and bolted north.
ward along the most ridge of the
eliit, heading FOR the timber not more
than q hundred yards away.
But by this time two of the officers
recovering their wind ana burning
with the indignities to which they
had been subjected. had caught sight
of the fugitive and started in pursuit.
They ran well, and they ran deter
minedly. Legar, realizing that they
were gaining on him, and further real
izing that he could not keep up his
gait for long, veered suddenly towards
the river, where a road-builder's tool
shed stood at the extreme end of a
rock-cut along the cliff-top. Through
the doorway of this shed he darted,
with his two pursuers, now joined by
a third officer, not hundred yards be-
hind him.
He had hoped, in diving into that
empty building, to throw his pursuers
of his track, II only for a few mo-
ments. But in this he was disappoint-
ed, just as he was disappointed in find
ing that the shack he had entered pos
sessed no second exit or entrance. And
as he stared quickly about he realized
o,&oraI TRAN