The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1916-09-15

Peg opened the closet door n
stealthily proceeded to the parlor.
Quickly glancing around the room,
to discover the nature Of its furnish"
ings and an venue of possible escape,
Pegs eyes fell upon Mrs. Lund's hand
bag as it rested on the table where
the boss counterfeiter" had placed
it after paying off her gang.
Peg picked up the purse, opened it
and took out a letter. On the envelope
she read the superscription: Mrs. +.
C. Lund, Sr., No. 141O Wiltshire Street,
City Before the astonished girl
could open the letter she heard Mrs.
Lund's footsteps approaching.
The girl lodged behind the piano,
having first stuffed the letter into her
blouse, and hid herself from view by
crouching low against the wall. Mrs.
Lund entered tho room. picked up her
handbag and passed through a door.
which Peg observed slid open instead
Of working on hinges, as doors most
frequently operate.
Peg hell her breath, frightened at
her narrow escape from discovery. In
a moment she heard an automobile
start up and by the decreasing sound
she surmised that Mrs. Lund had
driven away from the house.
Then Peg read the contents Of the
letter she had taken from Mrs. Lunds
purse: Dear Madam: The secret serv-
ice is wise to our money. Almost
;r,,n.o,LJa - rot r;I NJ NY moro
You had better come at once.
Jaques."
Mystery deepened mystery in Pegs
mind. She listened for some sound;
| but the house seemed empty and ut
terly deserted.
Surely this was a mysterious place;
and the more Peg pondered the Q
was she perplexed.
Finally she flung herself into a
chair in the middle of the floor. The
poor girls nerves we're becoming un-
strung, and she felt a strange nerv-
GUS tremor. She bit her lips nervous
~; she stamped her feet upon the
floor petulantly-and in an instant she
felt the chair upon which she sat
move downward, almost as though the
floor had been dropped, slowly, be-
meath it.
And such, indeed, was the case.
When Peg stamped her feet upon the
ter Of q secret trap. The noise Peg
made with her fest upon the boards
attracted the attention Of the fore
man of Mrs. Lund's counterfeiting ex-
perts. who were working in the ma
chine shop underneath.
The foreman pressed an electric
button. tho trapdoor upon which
Pegs chair rested was electrically
lowered and Peg soon realized that
she was descending into some un-
known depths. Reaching out, frantical-
ly, with her arms extended, Peg
caught the edge Of the opening and
held on with her fingers as the trap
continued to descend, leaving her
dangling in the air with her chin
held even with the parlor floor through
main strength OF her wrists and
hands.
When young Doctor Lund opened
his eyes, he vas, for a moment, dazed,
as he lay upon a couch IN the hospital
trying to figure things out.
Then, in a flash, it all came back to
him; how he had heard someone
pounding and kicking within the
chest, how he realized that a life was
al cfol-n--htf hn know NOT who it
was. The last thing he recalled was
struggling with the heavy box, drag
ging it across the ground.
His returning strength and aroused
vitality asserted itself. Lund grabbed
his coat and cap. Just then the door
opened and a hospital attendant en-
tered. Lund flung him aside, dashed
through the door and was out Of the
hospital running up the street in a
twinkling.
lis brain was clear now; he no
longer felt the effect OF his fall, under
Chockro's sudden blow, or the strain
of the struggle i'll sitting smoke that
had so quickly overcome him.
Lund surmised that the glare
against the sky was the burning Cir
Gus. and as he ran along his suspi-
cions were confirmed by others who
joined him in his wild flight.
lie ran toward the fire, using the
street that led between the show lot
ard the lumber yard. He turned in at
the gate, which he now recalled, and
was soon mingling with the excited
crowd that was rescuing the show
property as best 1t could.
Lund dashed around. kicking
against the sides of all sorts Of boxes
in the vain hope OF getting some re-
Spouse. The fact that he did not know
who was in danger made him non the
less anxious to release the prisoner.
il someone else had not already done
SO.
Finally Lund gave up the search
and helped with the salvage of the
circus property.
But as the flames began to some
what die down, and the work OF say
ing the circus property seemed to be