Payette enterprise. (Payette, Canyon Co., Idaho) 1909-1935, 1916-06-01

Legato in his meretriciously sumptu
Gus sitting room. For Slim" what
. ever his aspirations in crookdom, was
still a mere underling.
Who sent this?" demanded Casa
vanti as he took note from his Wis
itors hand
''Legar," was the answer. The cadet
pulled languidly at a cigarette as he
opened the note and read it.
Tho girl ! spoke of will come to-
night at twelve. You will find her q
flower that is ripe for the picking
And once the flower gets in your
hands want il kept there.-JuIes.
Casavanti restored the letter to its
envelope Then he stood thoughtfully
regarding his visitor.
did anyone see you come here?"
he asked
mot that was wise to-" was Sims
prompt reply.
Then see that you get as quietly
away!"
Slim Legato, accordingly, kept a
weather eye open as he emerged to
the street. Nothing suspicious met
his gaze. 1t was not until he had de-
scended the steps and reached the
curb that a closed limousine, running
as quietly as frozen river, flowed
along the pavement little more than
ten PAGES away from him. At the
first corner it turned sharply and
stopped, obstructing the crossing.
The debonair Slim drew up, blink.
ing suspiciously at the mysterious We
hicle. Then he blinked even harder,
for from the open door window of the
Limousine a gloved hand had unmis-
'takably beckoned to him. And the re-
markable part of it all, to Slim, was
the fact that the drawn car curtains
concealed everything but that mys-
teriously reckoning hand.
Slim promptly decided to investi-
gate. But he also decided to advance
with caution. Before he could place
! foot on the runningboard, however
and thrust a pertly inquisitive head
into the hooded gloom of the car, that
car began to move forward again. Yet
gloved hand thrust into his own an en-
velope.
On this envelope was clearly In.
scribed:
"Dr. Ludwig PaIIdori,
Care of Jules Legar,"
and beneath these words Sims be- |
wildered eyes made out the unmistak- |
able emblem of laughing mask What |
it meant was more than he could tell. |
So inscrutable did this mystery |
seem, in fact, that Slim, after one min
ute Of deep thought, promptly yet de-
licately slipped the blade of his pen
knife along the gummed flap of the |
envelope and forced it open. On
single sheet of paper he found written
the cryptic words:
Remember the Hammer of God,
which smites, and brushes whom II
smltes!"
Slim, the gay cat and gangster, puz.
zled much over this message as he
restored it to its violated envelope
and adroitly resealed the flap.
Now, who tells gettin' his little
knocker out FIR the Doc?" demanded
that bewildered worthy of himself as
he made his guarded way back to the
rendezvous which was
known to his confreres as the Owls
Nest
The Owls Nest proper was an un.
savory cellar room in one of the most
lnsavory sections of the lower East
side. Years before it had been wine
cellar, presided over by Neapolitan
If Mano Nero affiliations, until fed,
eral shoo-fy, in sesarch for "coiners,"
lad been found stilettoed behind one
Of its casks of MARSHA, whereupor
he Neapolitan had vanished and in
lue time the Owl herself had taken
possession of the quarters.
With the advent of Jules Legar, the
Mysterious center of a mysterious cir
lie of evildoers about whom, she
new, it never paid to be too inqusi.
i've, life had become easier for her.
Ter cellar, inconspicuous in a dis.
riot SO crowded with equally dubious
yarrens, had proved precisely the type
f quarters the leader of the new cir. ,
lie was in need Of. And as Legar him. ,
elf stepped down into the cellar, ad.
ancing with his peculiarly padded
read as softly as an animal steals in.
D its lair, the Owl remembered that
be hour of her reward was not far !,
istant. For she had proved jealous Z
uardian Of the fair-haired girl whom
egar saw fit to keep hidden so long 6
'om the world. /.
1t was plain to see that Legar was !,
ccepted as a leader by the half dozen !,
ips and gangsters and moll-buzzers @
ito whose midst he had 80 quietly a
tipped.
where's Legato?" he CURLY asked :,
> he glanced about the circle. :,
That question answered itself, for :,
zen as 1t was put Legato himself @
ipped down into the dim light Of the >,
wis cellar. .,
What's this?" demanded Legar, as =
10 newcomer, without speaking a