Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1916-05-26
Continued from previous issue.l
AND there ne goes now crlea I'M

long lane OF light columning out from
the cars lamps. Across that narrow
river OF light they could catch a
glimpse OF tall figure skulling on
into the darkness.
Follow that man with your car.
the Laughing Mask suddenly cried out
TO the chauffeur.
mo car could travel through coun.
try like that" protested Train.
Then keep your lights on the main
road to the west here. so as TO pick
him up IL he tried to break through
on that side I'll swing around by the
foundry yards and head him of in the
east"
And the next moment the man in
the yellow mask had disappeared in
the darkness. Golden and his daugh-
ter stood staring after him
Two minutes later the blackness
that had swallowed him up was
stabbed by a series of fame flashes,
followed by the repeated bark Of a
revolver From the gloom still nearer
the shadowy piles of the Westingham
foundry came an answering series of
shots.
That means he's making for the
foundry. sir" cried the excited Train
as he swung his car about
Then for Gods sake, get us there,
as quick as you can" commanded
Enoch Golden as the car lurched and
pulsed and crawled on between the
broken shrubbery. in perilous search
for some open pathway
But both Legar and his pursuer
were by this time well beyond their
line of vision That desperate-minded
master criminal, in fact. realizing
that his enemy was pressing close at
his heels, mounted a Stag pile. dropped
fiat, and cmntied his revolver into the
darkness, where the Laughing Mask
should have been
But the wary pursuer. dropping low
beside an empty pitch barrel held his
fire and waited The moment he
heard the crisp sound of footsteps
along the Stag slope he once more
took up the pursuit
That pursuit lcd through a narrow
lane between great piles OF structural
iron II led through an abandoned
boiler Dom, :hon on through dimly
Lighted and low-roofed structure OF
pulleys and lathes. and from there to
the brighter lighted and higher rooted
metal room OF the foundry itself
There, beside glowing furnaces half
naked men toiled over incandescent
annealing boxes and cauldrons OF mol
ten metal. There gigantic track
cranes swung bowls of liquid fire from
crucibles to mold beds.
And there the harried Legar, be-
wildered by The sudden bright light,
ran like a pelted hound down the
sandy paths between forge and coke
oven and cauldron crane There, see
ing his way blocked by a group of
round-eyed Lithuanians, he swung,
catlike. up into the iron network of
the cable bridges, with his pursuer
still close at his heels. And there,
midway across that smoke-stained
roof, that echoed with the tumult Of
thunderous hammers and directly over
a king cauldron of molten steel, the
two men came together
There Legar, with his metal claw
hooked securely into the iron network
above his head, swung about and
faced his enemy And there, on that
grimy bridge high above the equally
grimy workmen who left their FORCES
20
the struggle, the two enemies, who
had so long and bitterly opposed each
other. found themselves face to face
for their final struggle.
Yet the man in the yellow mask
seemed the cooler headed of the two
for as Legar struck snarling at his
face he ducked low on his narrow
perch and at the same moment
whipped his revolver from the side
pocket of his coat Yet Legar, with
a movement equally prompt, kicked
viciously at the fingers clustered about
the gun-butt before the weapon itself
could be brought into use. The next
moment that weapon fell with hiss
and splash into the lake Of molten
metal beneath them.
Then the struggle became one OF
tendon against tendon, OF straining
muscle against muscle, OF empty
handed mortal strength pitted against
mortal strength. There, like animals
of the wild, high in some Amazoniar
eyrie, the two strangely entanglet
figures fought and struggled and
clawed and struck.
In the matter of mere physical
strength Legar seemed to have the
advantage. And what under ordinary
circumstances might have proved
disability could now be turned to his
advantage. For the iron claw at the
end of his right arm, hooked securely
into the network of steel behind him
held him there without effort and
without strain. His opponent, on the
other hand, found it no easy task L
make sure of his perch above tha
ever-intimidating cauldron of molter
metal. His arm shook with the ten
sion imposed on his overtaxed mus
cles. His fingers became numb Will
pain, threatening 10 lose their pre-
hensile power, and even as he Tough
he weakened TO realization that h'