The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1912-1984, 1916-05-30
FOURTEENTH EPISODE
The Unmasking.

A strange mood of happiness, as I'M
reasoning as it was inexplicable,
seemed to have taken possession of
Margery Golden. A less timorous light
shone from the depths of her pool
brown eyes. At all times of the day,
too, she could be heard singing about
the house.
This wayward blitheness of spirit
was something more than a puzzle to
her heavy-browed father, who found
little in the situation Immediately con-
fronting him to cause him any undue
lightness of heart For that situation
had Unexpectedly taken on the form
of a defeat.
After all Jules Legar's campaign for
the possession of that pregnant scrap
of parchment which carried the key
to the secret of the lost treasure Of
Windward island, the long-fought-for
document had suddenly disappeared
from the Golden vault. And all evil
dence pointed to the fact that it was
the Laughing Mask who had stolen
the chart and cipher code from the
safe.
Golden was in the midst Of his
second conference with the russell
faced Captain Bracket of the head
quarters staff, when telephone call
came for that official. The talk over
the wire was one-sided. Then with
great elaboration the official hung
up the receiver and swung about to
Enoch Golden.
"Wel. we've got your Laughing
Mask for you"
You've got him?" repeated Golden.
Our man Walcott located him by
trailing his chauffeur. And before
nightfall we can have him rounded
up"
where was he found"
Just where you'd least expect q
man of that character to be found.
He's hiding in a cave in the Hudson
Palisades, not ten miles from where
we're sitting at the moment, just above
Coleman's village. And the fact he's
ducked to q Malina like that bears
out what we've always claimed, that
he's as big a crook as this Iron Claw
himself. For honest men don't crawl
into river caves!"
Golden was about to reply in the af-
firmative to this self-obvious statement
when he was interrupted by the en-
trance of his daughter.
But supposing our fugitive" said
the serene-eyed girl as she smiled
down on the somewhat startled police
captain, had enemies who seemed at
the moment stronger than he was and
at the same time found himself in pos
session of something which it was es-
sential that he should guard? Wouldn't
it seem natural for him to go where
he'd be least likely to be found?"
The russetfaced captain blinked
stolidly up at her.
When an honest man has some
thing It seems dangerous to hold, he
goes to the police for protection. When
q crook has made haul, and is shaky
about losing his swag, he beats it to
his Malina, to his fence, the same as
your friend the Laughing Mask has
done! And the sooner we get the
wheels moving and root that masked
grounding out of his dugout the bet
teri"
I'm ready" announced Enoch Col
den.
With q gasp of sudden resolution
Margery rang the bell, called for her
roadster, and struggled into her hat
and coat, as she ran down the sand
stone steps to the street.
She sped of through the city at a
rate that was an open and obvious
violation Of all the speed laws. She
laughed rebelliously as, once free of
the congested ferry traffic, she swung
lightly past the car in which she be-
held her own astounded father decor.
ously seated, giving him her dust as
she mounted to the crest of the Jersey
hills and struck the road leading north
ward along the wide-bosomed river.
Then as she swung past still an
other hurrying car the smile sudden
~ died from her face. For she felt
sure that one. of the faces in that car
ward along the tOpmOst ridge or the
cliff, headin- for the timber not more
than a hundred yards away.
But by this time two of the officers,
recovering their wind and burnind
with the indignities to which they
had been subjected, had caught sight