Charlevoix county herald., 1916-10-06

evoked. An on the back Of his
hand they was a big red ring. like 1t
was painted there"
The Red Circle!" muttered La
mar; and just then he found the ring
OF the trapdoor.
Then he paused, as II in thought.
Presently he took out one of his cards
and scrubbed on II: Need Aid. Fol-
low Boy"
Take this card to the first police
man you can find" he said. Lead
him here, and then go somewhere and
have an Ice cream cone debauch.
Hurry now! Chase!"
AS Spudsy scampered off on his mis-
sion Max Lamar drew his revolver
and stepped down through the trap
door into the passage beyond.
Along that same passageway, not
five minutes earlier, Circle" Jim Bor-
den had propelled his drunken son.
Through what seemed to Ted a mile
of underground wanderings, they sped.
At last, Jim had pushed upward. An
other trapdoor had yielded tc the push,
and the father and son had crawled
out of the passage into poorly fur
nished and ill-lighted room.
A bedroom adjoined this first dusty
apartment. These rooms had for
years been Jim Borden's unsupported
hiding place.
Jim partly led, partly carried him
into the adjoining bedroom and threw
him heavily upon the cot, which, with
one chair, formed the rooms sole fur
nishing. Ted took scant note OF his
surroundings and was soon in drunk
en- sleep.
Jim, spent with his run, collapsed
upon the rickety chair beside the cot
and looked down in gloomy disgust
upon his snoring son.
1.-THE last OF the Bordens!" he
unused. I'VE two. My son and I.
hoped was fool enough to hope
back there in that hell Of a living
tomb-that Ted might redeem us.
That he might prove to be the saliva
ton of our name. And nova thief.
The cheapest, meanest, lowest type of
thief! There's no hope. The sooner
the Bordens go, the sooner menace
to society will be done away with. We
must go; he and l."
With fingers that did not tremble,
he turned on the solitary gas jet;
then, with one last look at the sleep
ing boy, he left the room, closing the
door behind him.
He will never know" muttered
Borden, as he came out into the other
room. "He will die in his sleep. Gas
is mercifully painless. And now it's
my own turn My own-turn. A quick
er death and less easy to bear than"
He checked himself; the big shout
ders tensing; head thrust forward,
eyes alight. For, almost under his
feet, he heard a muffled sound OF some
one stumbling in the dark.
Borden understood. His secret hid
ing place had been discovered.
Noiselessly, he slipped to the trap
door, and stood crouching and alert
just behind its hinge. A second later,
the trap began to rise. Inch by inch
it was lifted from below
pistol muzzle protruded from the
narrow opening then a hand, an arm,
and a human head.
One lightning look revealed to the
crouching Borden the face OF Max
Lamar. In the same instant, Circle"
Jim launched himself upon his foe.
He seized Max by the wrist and,
with one mighty tug, dragged him up
into the room, slamming the trap shut
behind him.
Hands up" snarled Borden. "Upl
Up!-So!"
He stood for a moment glazing In
cold triumph at his helpless enemy.
Then he spoke slowly, hungrily,
from between hard-clenched teeth
"Sit down." he said
Max Lamar" he said in the same
slow, deep voice that robbed his words
of any melodrama faint, You've sent
me to prison three times. Now, I've
got you"
Lamar's eve roved from the black
pistol muzzle to the SCARED hand that
held it so menacingly.
81 see you still have the Red Circle,
Jim," he said, as II to make CONVERSE
ton.
He was playing for time.
Red Circle" repeated Borden.
duly. Yes. The Red Circle. 1t Is
still there, on my hand. Always there.
And it has always marked one mem
Der in every generation OF my family.
And the person 1t marked has always
been q criminal.
Here 1t ends" said Borden again;
81 am going to wipe out the curse by
wiping out my family. My son is in
that bedroom-dying. / shall go next
With this gun | am going to shoot
myself, after have squared an old
score by killing you"
Borden, as he spoke, raised the re-
volver a few inches, and his finger
frightened on the trigger. Lamar,
gathering all his strength, lunged sud-
denly forward, clutching Jim's wrist
and twisting it to one side. The bull
let went wild. In another instant, the
table was overturned, and the two
men locked I'm furious embrace