The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1916-02-24

and the others were not Mrs. Dave.
nant's hands, for that lady. screaming
frantically, was not near by.
For the time being Helen's weapon
was useless, though she still retained
her hold upon 1t. Vainly she opposed
to the brute strength of her aggressors
| every trick and artiflce in which her
own 1.-the, athletic body was trained.
| then all at once the hand twisting the
| cloth and the hand grasping n arm
| lost their grip. In a fash she tore the
| cloth from her head and availed her.
! self Of the opening. Desperately she
threw herself upon her second assail-
ant and with the pistol struck blindly,
madly, in the dark. So impetuous was
her attack that she swept the la
| some PAGES along the hall before he
| could brace himself against her on
rush. More than once her weapon
| landed, as muttered curses and impre-
| cations testified, but ineffectiyely in
the dark.
Once he spat at her: you heli-cat!.
I'll kill you if you don't let up. Curse
you! Do you want to murder me?"
"Yes," she found breath to reply.
Then fell one of the accidents OF
battle. Helen's toe caught in a rug
and she tripped. The man wrenched
free, and next instant a stunning blow
on the side of the neck staggered her.
With the residence and swiftness or
a rubber ball she launched herself
back to the encounter; but the move
ment wal abruptly checked. Her 9th.
er a~ssailant, the woman, grasped her
| skirt just as she leaped. The fabric
tore and spun the girl round like a top.
The automatic was flung from her
| hand and went Gathering along the
hardwood floor.
Then in a twinkling the whole stu
| alton was transformed.
She heard a O IA as from a wild
beast. A huge form plunged past her
| and a mans screams were mingled
with Mrs. DavenaEt's. She realized all
at once that that lady's frantic en-
| deavors were now purposeful, that
| they voiced a definite appeal.
Stanley! Stanley! oh, my God
|! save him!"
Luckily the electric torch was still
in Helen's other apron pocket. For
the moment she was free. Simultane-
ously she whipped out the torch and
snatched up the trailing, impeding
length of skirt. The latter she tucked
in her belt, and flashed the white ray
of her torch upon the scene.
And a strange n it was that met
her eyes-Mrs. Sloan covering upon
the floor in a huddled heap; Mrs. Dave
nant, almost mad with fear, clinging
wildly to the doorjamb and SCATTERING
the night with her screams. And a
yard or two farther along a man.
! pinned against the wall in a crouching
attitude, was struggling desperately
with Boris.
The enormous brute, all the instincts
Of his jungle ancestry rampant, had
leaped true through the darkness. His
fangs were closed upon The mans
throat in a death grip.
Without hesitation she sprang for
ward, secured a firm grasp upon Boris
collar and pulled and jerked with all
her strength. The dogs wind was
shut off. In a moment she was drag
ging him, struggling and straining
with deadly purpose to return to the
attack, along the floor. With her free
hand she opened the first door and
contrived to SHOVE him in and close
it again.
The man lay painting and spent upon
the floor. Helen roughly abused Mrs.
Sloan into a semblance Of activity, and
between them he was removed to a
bed where the girl dressed his LAGER
ated throat.
In the stress and excitement of the
moment the secret was revealed.
Years before, when the lady who
was now Mrs. Davenant was an unso-
phisticated schoolgirl, Stanley Hall
had persuaded her into a clandestine
marriage. A month later he disap-
peared, carrying the secret with him;
for the heartbroken parents, realizing
that the affair was not public property.
took no steps to have the ceremony
annulled. Time passed, and informa-
ton came to the family that Stanley
Hall was dead. The daughter, now
matured to full womanhood, met and
was won. by Mr.. Davenant, and the
wretched g~irl-romance was relegated
to the dead past.
But Stanley Hall was not dead. The
woman's second marriage gave the
s~coundrei mis- opportunity to prosecute
a systemized course of blackmail, and
it was when greed overcame caution
that he worked his own undoing.
With Mrs. Sloan's connivance and aid
he would surreptitiously enter the
house and browbeat and bully Mrs.
Davenant into supplying his Unsuitable
demands. She lived in a constant
state of terror. 1t was fear of discov-
cry by her husband that impelled her
I, isolate herself at Lambeth.
Not satisfied with obtaining every
cent that the woman could lay her
hands upon, the rapacious Hall took
to raising the cheques provided by
Davenant for household expenses
! detail which he confessed to Felix
Hazard some weeks later.
The D%avenants arrived at a full and