Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1916-04-24


had aptag ntiy not been altogether
unconscious OF the danger confronting
him He had al Tie same moment
side-steppea nimhly through Tie quick
y opened door. throwing an approach
ing and suddenly hysterical houEemaid
aside as he had swept PAST her. The
redoubtable Wilson, VINO had also at
tempted to block his exit, had even
more promptly gone down, Knocked
flat by one fierce blow. i had been
then and then only. that aauley dis
covered the identity OF the intruder
lie had caught sight Of the SCARED
face. which even an ample beard failed
to screen. He had seen the right
arm of wood which ended in its sim
lister iron hook. and al doubt as 70 his
enemy had vanished.
But this discovery had in no way
interfered with Manleys pursuit Of
that audacious intruder
ID had not been q pretty fight, that
haa3-to-haud contest between the Slim
bodies youth ana the scarfeced eX-
plo.Jer Of evil, but IL had been q des-
rerate one. AS Msnley, pressing stub
boTely on. had struggled to close in
on his opponent, Legar had discreeuy
and nimbly backed away until he
fsand--the doulae house door itself
barring his farther retreat. There
>upon he had promptly shattered the
plate glass backing the iron grill work
on tie hinges. and had actually swung
one oItbese doors open before Manley
could gather himself together and
spring bodily on his escaping enemy.
They had gone down the broad steps
together. locked arm in arm, fighting
and clawing as ferOciously as midnight
cats in a tenement court. And Man
ley, with one hand on Legar's leathery
throat, would surely have won, had
not a closed car glided up to the curb
along which they were writhing and
painting and rolling. From that car
yellaw-faced Italian known as Scoop
had taken e prompt and active part in
the encounter. lie had withheld
fpalities. however until Manley was
urpermost. Then with a quickly
drawn billy" he had biackjacked that
youth into utter indifference as to
Icear and mystcriously waiting limou-
sine and all the rest of the world.
Before Manley's senses had come
back TO him he and the greenfeath-
cred parrot had been tossed bodily
into the closed car, and, three minutes
before the arrival Of the police for
whom the white-faced girl in the
library had so frantcally telephoned,
that mysterious limousine had speeded
of into the night, carrying not only
Legar but the youth who had been so
Prescriptions as to attempt to inter
fere with Legar's exploits
But Manley did not altogether give
up. His heart atil had the residence
Of youth. lie still believed in his
star
What fretted Maniey most, however,
was his lack OF freedom Rolling a
little over ON his side he studied min
utuiy the rough brick floor on which
lis lay. After this inspection he
a0fmed his way carefully from side to
side. lying face down and trying each
ross OF exposed bricks with his shoe
toe, in the hope of finding one of them
loose.
lie had deliberately tested eleven
rows before he found any reason for
hope in this direction A chill of eX-
element ran through his tired body,
in fact. as he discovered one brick
which seemed less securely embedded
in cement than were its fellows. He
worked at it patiently, laboriously,
kicking away small particles of plas-
ter, humping it with his boot heel,
prying at it with his sole until it
rocked free in it's row. Then came
the even sterner task of shifting it
from its place This he did by turning
about and lying close to it, on his side,
SO that the fingers Of his tightly i'm
pIIsoned hand might come in contact
with its edges. Time after time it fell
back. but in the end he triumphed.
Yet it was not this unearthed brick
which interested him His attention
was directed towards the rough-edged
parallelogram where that brick had
originally rested. for the corners Of
this opening. he soon realized, pro-
v.jcd him with a saw edge which in
time might serve to abrade and cut
through the stoutest OF cotton rope
Tut the consolation OF this nope did
not stay with him long Fer even as
he started 10 work, his movements
were interrupted by the sound Of a
KEY In the heavy iron lock ON the door
that shut MIN i'm He rolled over
cu oElv, twisting about so that his an