The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-05-28

show him we've got the Laughing
Mask here. With 1t will go note
giving him his last chance to hand
over that chart!"
And who'll carry that note?"
asked Williamsburg Sadie out of the
silence of apprehension which fell
over that little group.
You WILL" calmly announced Le-
gar.
ION the contrary, Til call up Col
den myself and tell him he'll get it
back, ten to one, If he makes a single
move against you. And, besides that.
we've got him so beaten at This game
that he's going to cry quits the min
ute he sees we've roped in the last
Of his gang. the minute I tell him
III leave the country on condition
he coughs UP the papef.'
And s'posin' he does weaken and
hand over that paper? Where do
get Off"
You come back here with It as
fast as wheels can carry you"
But Betsy Lee Marsh's friend in the
yellow mask. for all his captivity.
was apparently preparing for that
finish in n more active manner than
was imagined by his captors. For, the
moment he was locked In that mar
row closet he had undertaken a sys-
tenatic search OF its gloomy corners
That search, however. was rewarded
only by the discovery of group of
insulated wires running along its
outer wall. Yet these wires he ex-
amined with not little care. And
h- ,fy,1 La I, 81
both from the nature of the wires
and the heaviness of the insulation
about them, that they were an in
tegral portion of the lighting system
OF the hotel. That they were not
dead" he promptly discovered by
scraping away the insulation tissue
and bringing two of the barred wires
in contact. This resulted in an i'm
mediate hiss and spark OF light. And
that gave the prisoner an idea. BY
breaking" the current, he knew. he
could send a message needing
through all the nervous system Of
the house. And at some one point,
he felt sure, that methodic play Of
dot and dash in the light bulb would
arouse suspicion and cause search
to be instigated.
1t was, in fact. in the Office of the
hotel itself, where High Collar Davis.
the house detective. leisurely perused
an evening paper for certain racing
returns close beside a rotund and
robin-like room clerk in red vest,
that an electric bulb just above the
register began to conduct itself in a
manner that was first mysterious and
then challenging. High Collar Davis,
looking 1anguidly up from his racing
charts, watched this light for several
moments OF silence.
well, TIL be blowed!" he finally
calculated
whats wrong!" asked the room
clerk.
Instead of replying the house detec-
tive took out paper and pencil, and,
carefully watching the winking and
blinking bulk, wrote a number Of let
ters down on his slip of paper.
That's the first time" he solemnly
announced, II ever saw an electric
bulb talk Morse!"
Talk Morse?" echoed the other.
Yes, talk Morse, or never pounded
the brass for two years. And here's
what IL mas SAID, TWICE over. Help
room three-o-seven-he
The house detective suddenly stood
upright. Say. who is in 307 in this
house, anyway"
''That Virginian with his arm In a
sling!"
Then It's up to us to find out what's
going on In that room."
The Laughing Mask, in the mean
time, was no longer giving his atten.
ton to the wires along the closet wall.
But with his pocket knife he had al
ready removed the set screw from the
coorknob Of the closet door. Then,
swinging lightly UP to the shelf that
stood some five feet from the floor, he
seated himself there opposite the door.
By grasping the two heavy clothes
hooks screwed into this door, and by