The Yale expositor., 1916-10-19

the safety of your daughter" contend
ed Manley, remembering only too well
| the events OF the immediate past.
"And that, young man, is responsi-
bility which still rests on my own
shoulders" was Golden's curt retort as
the new footman stepped into the
room in answe er to his summons. Tell
Miss Margery TO come here at once"
AS Margery quietly stepped into the
! room Golden stared at her for mo-
ment and then sank back into his
chair.
What is the Spotted Warning?" he
suddenly demanded.
The girl, with her troubled eyes bent
on the grim-lined face OF her father,
| did not speak at once.
"The Spotted Warming" she re-
peated, in a little more than a whis-
per.
Yes, what is that supposed to
mean?"
1T is a warning OF death" was the
girls quietly enunciated reply Man
ley could detect the tremor that sped
through her body. And It means that
you have been hearing from Legar
again!"
But what does Legar mean by it?'
asked Manley. why should he use
such a phrase?"
1T is a warning that comes to the
person who is about to die. II is
message of warning, spotted black. 1t
is the last word they send. And have
heard them say it has never failed
never once!"
But the indomitable old fighter at
the desk was once more on his feet.
THAT Sicilian black-magic stun
can't intimidate me" he thundered
out
He turned to his daughter. Until
this Calabrian brigand farce is played
out, I'm going to send you into the
country"
But where are you sending me?"
asked the girl.
I'm going TO send you out to your
Aunt Agatha's on Long Island!" was
his curt response as he swung about
to his secretary. And while Mar
gery's getting her things together
Manley, you send Train, the chauf-
feur, here to me for his instructions.
Manley, promptly crossing to the
door, was startled to find the figure or
the new footman standing close beside
il as il was swung open.
Ten minutes later, when Manley re-
turned to the library with Train at his
heels. he found Enoch Golden staring
down at a sheet of paper lying on his
desk. At the center of this paper
stood large black blot.
ITS the Spotted Warning" said
Golden. his heavy face furrowed with
a trouble deeper than he was willing
to admit. But how, in Gods name
did it get here?"
Manley, after staring at the strange
ly-spotted sheet, stared even more in
tently at the ceiling directly above the
point where the paper lay on the desk
top. A momentary look Of satisfac'
ton fitted across his face as Golden
turned to him with a crisp command
to precede Margery to Cedarton and
there explain both the reasons for her
visit and the precautions to be exer
cised during that visit.
"And as for you, Train continued
the grim-eyed old millionaire, turning
to his chauffeur, 'T want you to take
my daughter out to Cedsrton as quick
ly as your car and the speed laws will
let you carry her. There are special
reasons for this. remember. And from
the moment you leave this house, don't
let anything or anybody stop YOU"
Thirty minutes later Margery Cold
en-, surrounded by her bags, sat back
in the swaying automobile, puzzled
over this new and unexpected turn
in the tide of events. And as mile by
mile swan by beneath the hurryine
wheels, the keen-eyed man in the driv
ing seat found a load lifted from hit
own shoulders.
Yet at the next turn in the road his
light-heartedness suddenly departed
from that keen-eyed driver. For as ht
took this turn and speeded up along
dustless stretch of open highway
he saw a figure run out to the middle
OF the road. II was not the fact thai
this figure stood directly in his patti
that most disturbed him. IL was the
discovery, as he drew down on 1t
that this figure wore yellow band o.
cloth across the eyes. with moon
shaped apron falling almost to the enc
of the nose, that brought the redoubt
able Trains heart suddenly up in hii
mouth. But even while that figure
remained stubbornly and directly II
his path, motioning for him TO stop
he remembered mis- orders. Instead o.
slackening his speed, in fact. he in
creased It, increased Il 10 the limi
4, OF the engines power. And he woult
surely nave ridden down that would
he Interceptor had not the IattcT, a
the last moment. leaped quickly aside
MarFery Golden, as he did so, hal
D rose in her seat. for she, too, haC
d caught sight of that mysteriously
. 5hadoved face.
"Bnt that was the Laughing Mask!