The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1912-1984, 1916-03-03
Twelve Years Later.

holder of the pregnancy of apparel.
ances. He even reveled in his appel
lative of the Beau Nash of the Ten
derloin. His clothes were of the lat
est cut and from the folds of his nov
city cravat always flashed Sinner"
of the first water. There was, accord
ingly, almost note of condescension
in his manner as he received slim"
Legato in his meretriciously sumptu-
Gus sitting room. For 'Slim," what
ever his aspirations in crookdom, was
still mere underling.
Who sent this?' demanded Casa
vanti as he took a note from his Wis
itorS hand.
'Legar," was the answer. The cadet
pulled languidly at cigarette as he
opened the note and read it.
The girl ! spoke of will come to-
night at twelve. You will find her a
flower that is ripe for the picking.
And once the flower gets in your
hands ! want it kept there.-Juies.
Casavanti restored the letter to its
| envelope. Then he stood thoughtfully
| regarding his visitor.
did anyone see you come here?"
he asked.
Not that was wise to-" was Slim s
prompt reply.
Then see that you get as quietly
away"
Slim Legato, accordingly, kept a
| weather eye open as he emerged to
the street Nothing suspicious met
| his gaze. 1t was not until he had de-
scended the steps and reached the
curb that a closed limousine, running
| as quietly as a frozen river, flowed
along the pavement little more than
ten PAGES away from him. At the
| first corner it turned sharply and
stopped, obstructing the crossing.
The debonair Slim drew up, blink.
ing suspiciously at the mysterious We
hicle. Then he blinked even harder,
fer from the open door window of the
limousine a gloved hand had unmis-
takably beckoned to him. And the re-
markable part of it all, to Slim, was
the fact that the drawn car curtains
concealed everything but that mys-
| teriously reckoning hand.
Slim promptly decided to investi-
gate But he also decided to advance
with caution. Before he could place q
foot on the runningboard, however
and thrust a pertly inquisitive head
into the hooded gloom of the car, that
car began to move forward again. Yet
before it passed from his reach the
gloved hand thrust into his own an en-
velope
On this envelope was clearly in
scribed:
"Dr. Ludwig PaIidori,
Care of Jules Lesar,"
and beneath these words Sims be-
wildered eyes made out the unmistak-
able emblem of laughing mask. What
it meant was more than he could tell.
So inscrutable did this mystery
seem, in fact, that Slim, after one min
ute of deep thought, promptly yet de-
licately slipped the blade of his pen
knife along the gummed flap of the
envelope and forced it open. On q
single sheet of paper he found written
the cryptic words:
Remember the Hammer of God
which smites, and crushes whom it
smites!"
Slim, the gay cat and gangster, pug
Zled much over this message as he
restored it to it's violated envelope
1
Now, who tells gettin' his little
knocker out FIR the Doc?" demanded
that bewildered worthy of himself as
he made his guarded way back to the
underworld rendezvous which was
known to his confreres as the Owls
Nest.
The Owls Nest proper was an un-
savory cellar room in one of the most
unsavory sections of the lower East
side. Years before it had been wine
cellar, presided over by a Neapolitan
of Mano Nero affiliations, until a,.fed-
eral shoo-fy, in sesarch for ''coiners,
had been found stilettoed behind one
of its casks of MARSHA, whereupon
the Neapolitan had vanished and in
due time the Owl herself had taken
possession of the quarters.
With the advent of Jules Legar, the
mysterious center of mysterious cir
Gle of evildoers about whom, she
knew, it never paid to be too inqusi-
tive, life had become easier for her.
Her cellar, inconspicuous in a dis
trict so crowded with equally dubious
warrens, had proved precisely the type
Of quarters the leader of the new cir
Gle was in need of. And as Legar him
self stepped down into the cellar, adj
vancing with his peculiarly padded
tread as softly as an animal steals in
to its lair, the Owl remembered that
the hour of her reward was not far
distant. For she had proved jealous
guardian of the fair-haired girl whom
Legar saw fit to keep hidden so long
from the world
1t was plain to see that Legar was
accepted as leader by the half dozen
dips and gangsters and moll-buzzers
into whose midst ha had en- nriat1v