The Tomahawk., 1916-02-24

the sutherlands; but she realized that
au these factors were now pltted
AGAINST more than one pair of hands.
and the others were not MRS. lave
nant's hands, for that lady. screaming
fra7tically, was not near by.
For the time being Helen's weapon
was useless, though she still retained
her hold upon it. Vainly she opposed
to the brute strength of her aggressors
every trick and artifice in which her
own 1.-THE, athletic body was trained.
then all at once the hand TWISTING the
cloth and the hand grasping one arm
| lost their grip. In flash she TORE inc
cloth from her head and availed her.
self of the opening. Desperately she
threw herself upon her second assa1i-
ant and with the pistol struck ollndiy'
| madly. in the dark. So impetuous was
her attack that she swept the man
some PAGES along the hall before ne
could brace himself against her on
| rush. More than once her weapon
landed as muttered curses ana lmpre-
cations testified, but ineffectively In
the dark.
Once he spat at her: 'FYcu hell-cat!
I'll kill you if you don't let up. Curse
you! Do you want to murder me?'
EYES," 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 stunning blow
on the side of the neck staggered her.
With the residence and swiftness of
rubber ball she launched herself
back to the encounter; but the move
ment was abruptly checked. Her 9th
er assailant, the woman, grasped her
skirt just as she lcaped. The fabric
tore and spun the girl round like top
The automatic was flung from her
hand and went Gathering along the
hardwood floor.
Then in twinkling the whole sltu-
alton was Transformed.
She heard a roar as from a Wild
beast. A huge form plunged past her
and a. mans screams were mingled
with Mrs. Davenant's. She realized all
at once that that lady's frantic en-
beavers were now purposeful, that
they voiced 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 one it was that met
her eyes-Mrs. Sloan covering upon
the floor in huddled heap; Mrs. Dave
nant, almost mad with fear, cllrglng
wildly to the doorjamb and shatterlng
the night with her screams. And
yard or two farther along 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, mad
leaped true through the darkness His
fangs were closed upon the mans
throat in death grip. !,
Without hesitation she sprang for
ward, secured 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 stralnlng
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
bed where the girl dressed his lacer-
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 girl-romance was relegated
to the dead past.
But Stanley Hall was not dead. The
1,ornon,c cocond marriage gave the
scoundrel his opportunity to prosecute
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. It was fear of discOv-