The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1912-1984, 1916-04-18
THE IRON CLAW
EIGHTH EPISODE
The Stroke of Twelve.

fact, of that pertinacious breed who
fight best when half defeated. And
as he grew into a fuller realization of
the virulence of Jules Legar's hatred
for him and his house, he proceeded to
take more effective steps to protect
| himself.
One Of his precautions was to place
an armed guard about the home which
had been repeatedly and audaciously
invaded by Legar and his agents.
But the mere posting of a couple
of paid sentinels about his doors did
not mark the limit of his activities.
He strove for still more substantial
protection by installing in one of the
upper rooms of his house huge bur-
glar-proof vault of chromium steel.
The installation of so ponderous a
vault, however, involved much mate
rial strengthening of structure not
primarily designed for the support of
seven-ton safes, and for days small
body of expert workmen had been busy
putting in pillars and Orders and
Disgusting these ponderous supports
under veneer of mahogany ceiling
beams and oriental teakwood columns.
In the ornamentation of the latter, in
fact, the owner of the house found a
valued assistant in Count Luigi Da
Espares who, with his finished taste
and his knowledge of the fine arts, ad-
vanced many suggestions for beautify-
ing what might otherwise have been
an ungainly and cumbersome innova-
tion
1t was Margery Golden, even more
than her father, to whom Da Espares,
in these small efforts, looked for graft
tude. And the more Margery Golden
saw of that gallant young antiquarian
the more mysteriously impressed she
became.
David Manley, who was not alto
gether ignorant of this new turn in
the tide of events, found little to add
to his happiness in this evergrowing
intimacy between Margery and her
guest. For Manley, by this time, did
more than merely distrust Da Es-
pares; he hated him.
These vague misgivings of Man
ley's extended even to the costume
dinner-dance which this esthetic for
eigner undertook to engineer for Mar
gery's amusement. And in talking
over his plans with Golden himself,
as the latter was making ready for
one Of his hurried trips to Washing
ton, the young nobleman even ven
tured the hope that this fete might
be made the occasion of an even more
suspicious announcement.
But the morose-eyed old millionaire
did not quite follow the others line
of thought. So Da Espares was driven
to the expedient of openly yet cour
teously requesting the privilege of
pressing his suit for the hand of this
fairest daughter of America.
What dyou mean by that" de-
man1ed the astounded financier. Are
you trying to tell me that you want to
marry my daughter"
That is the honor of which l have
dreamed" was Da Espares' quietly in
toned reply.
We'll, the point is, has my Margery
been dreaming along the same line?"
That l cannot venture to say" re-
l,lied that unctuously gallant sutton.
We'll, in America that's about the
first thing that counts And | guess
we'd better call off this courtship talk
until we find out how the girl feels
about it,"
The disappointed, but not disheart-
ened, count, accordingly, proceeded
quietly yet earnestly tc sound Margery
Golden herself as to her feelings in
the matter. But here, toe, he was
met with a reply which, if graciously
worded, was at least noncommittal.
But you at least know that l wish
to bring you happiness, that l was
your friend in the past, that always
in the future I want to be your
friend"
But when friendship remains
masked, it remains harder to under
stand."
Then the mask may be withdrawn,
and withdrawn sooner than you ex-
pect.'
Just what does that mean?" asked
the clear-eyed girl, studying his face.
1T means that l am about to make
move which will deliver you and
your father from his enemy. And this
time | think the plan will succeed"
Mysterious as that plan was, it de-
veloped through an incident which
soon brought things down to the plane
OF the practical. For when the ma
sons and ironworkers who were com
pleting the installation of the new
Golden vault returned from their mid
day meal a far-from-attractive stranger
stole into the house at their heels.
And when David Manley happened to
catch sight of this stranger deep in
talk with Count Da Espares, he
promptly jumped to the conclusion
that he had at last discovered some
thing on which to concentrate all his
earlier Scotch-mists of suspicion.
For Da Espares' visitor unmistak-
ably bore the earmarks of the I'M
l.