Omaha daily bee., 1916-10-01


up the station house and get the re-
serve squad along. And, hurry!
When the Hell-cats mean business
they put In quick action"
Meanwhile, John Burton was being
entertained by Blanche to a moving
story Of hardship and distress, un-
alleviated by solitary CLEAN. of hope
or happiness Had John been wiser
he might have been rendered cautions
by this very fact The poor are not
unhappy. They make light OF their
priyations; having few wants, they
have equally few desires. The mere
habit OF living from hand to mouth
entails careless juggling with fate
which is by no means indicative of
wretchness 1t is almost safe to say
that there is more real Joy and con-
tent in many howell than in a kings
palace.
be that as II may, John was soon
undeceived. His companion led him
into a tumble-down tenement. After
traversing rickety stairs and dark,
evil-smelling passages he found him
self in large and very well-lighted
room. His quick ears caught the click
of lock, and he turned to ask the
girl why she was thus securing the
door, when he became conscious that
several men had entered through
other doors. apparently leading to
bedrooms Or closets.
One glance at the nearest ruffian
told Burton how soutrageously he had
been swndled Without q spoken
word he leaped toward the door and
endeavored to open the lock. believ-
ing that II he could only gain the mar
row passage he might be able to fight
his way out
To his surprise, the door opened In
his face, and Two-Gun Jake entered.
The gun-man took in the situation In
\ second, and flung himself at Bur-
tens neck. John was momentarily
staggered by this unexpected assault.
| Before he could recover himself he
was grabbed by dozen hands and
pinned againstta wall.
He had never before set eyes on
such loathsome crew as the men
nto whose clutches he had fallen.
each fhce bore the impress Of crime
and drink. The low forehead. the
wolf-like jaw, the recedIng chin, eyes
baleful with lust and avariee--these
were the features common to the He'll
cats. who, indeed. must have been
named by an artist in criminal nomen-l
ciature. A
Two-Gm Jake relinqushed his hold
when his assistants were able to Sc
cure John without his help.
So, you are the wise gry who goes
around flashing dollar bills for the
| benefit Of the deserving poor?" he
guffawed loudly. We'll. guess
there's no cne more In need OF your
kind help than this yer crowd. We're
goin' to trouble you, Mr.. Burton, for
ten thousand plunks That's our price
mot a cent less An make no mis-
| take, you're goin' to pay and keep a
crease your weight by several ounces
OF good solid lead Now. what's II. to
| be? A friendly settlement or the
| other thing?"
Burton did not reply at once. He
was trapped and knew It, He looked
/ almost tcompassionately at the Ngirl
who had decoyed him to this den, and
she flushed violently under his pierc-
ing gaze. He noticed that wizened
old hag was now standing by Blanche
! Grlfiln's side. and apparently gloating
over the success of the stratagem
which brought this rich prize within
the tolls. but John had fleeing ifA-
preston that the girl was secretly
ashamed Of her share In the work. He
endeavQred to temporizea H., s,.sas.
/ T. - tPA AaNR aHy SoAtIHVu
sense" he said. you must know quite
well that even man reputedly
wealthy does not carry large sums Of
money In his pocket, Moreover, IL
send to my bank for any such amount
as that which you demand, there will
certainly be an Investigation before 1t
| is handed over to your messenger.
Now, II you will be reasonable am
willing to help you--even by urchas-
ing my freedom II you insist on put
ting 1t that way--but must warn
you that you are simply counting
disaster by asking for such a pre-
posterous figure"
you can chuck that here and now"
broke In Jake. fercely. "All you've
got to do, mister, Is to sign your check,
or send for your check book II 1t isn't
in your pocket. - Go through
hinW he went on, with a truculent
sirn to the others. Let's see how he's
fixed. We must have that money this
morning an he'll soon be glad to get
II here"
A ferocious grin on the mans face
showed that he meant exactly what
he said He would stop short Of nc
vile means to enforce his demands. OF
course, Burton should have yielded
forthwith and trusted to the law tc
avenge his wrongs, but his gorge rose
at the notion that these ruffian,
should be able to plunder him with
impunity, and he risked everything or
new and desperate effort to free
himself
Physically, he was match for an,
three among them, but 1t was fool
ish thing to tackle a dozen des
peradoes, any one OF whom nigh
have put summary end to the af
fair by knife or. pistol.
Two-Gun Jake was evidently afrait
that something Of the sort might hap
! pen. As John we down under 4,
, combined attack he heard the lead
er's warning yell:
hurt him too much. Hrs wortl
nothin' dead"