Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1917-02-02

But n point at issue is al least
the safety Of your daughter contend
ed Manley. remembering only too well
the events Of the immediate past.
And that, young man. is a RESPONSE
nility which still rests on my own
shoulders" was Golden's curt retort as
the new footman stepped into the
room in answer to his summons. Tell
Miss Margery to come here at once"
AS Margery quietly stepped into the
room Golden stared at her for a mo-
ment and then sank back into his
chair.
What is the Spotted Warning?" he
suddenly demanded.
The girl. with her troubled eyes bent
on the grim-lined face Of her father,
did not speak at once.
The Spotted Warning?" she re-
peated, in a little more than a whis-
per.
Yes, what is that supposed to
mean?"
1T is a warning OF death" was the
girls quietly enunciated reply. Man
ley could detect the tremor that sped
through her body. And It means that
you have been hearing from Legar
again."
But what does Legar mean by it,"
asked Marley. why should he use
such a phrase?"
1T is a warning that comes to the
person who is about to die. 1t is a
message of warning. spotted black. It
is the last word they send. And have
heard them say it has never failed
never once!"
But the indomitable old fighter at
the desk was once more on his feet.
That Sicilian black-magic stun
can't intimidate me-" he Numbered
out.
He turned to his daughter. Until
this Calabrian brigand farce is played
out, I'm going to send you into the
country
But where are you sending meR'
asked the girl.
I'm going to send you out to your
Aunt Agatha's on Long Island!" was
his curt response as he swung about
to his secretary. And while Mar
gery's getting her things together,
Manley, you send Train, the chauf-
feur, here to me for his instructions.
Manley, promptly crossing to the
door, was startled to find the figure OF
the new footman standing close beside
1t as it was swung open.
Ten minutes later, when Manley re-
turned to the library with Train at mis-
heels, he found Enoch Golden staring
down at a sheet of paper lying on his
desk. At the center of this paper
stood a large black blot.
ITS the Spotted Warning said
Golden, his heavy face furrowed with
a trouble deeper than he was willing
to admit. But how, in Gods name,
did it get here?"
Marley, after staring at the strange
l~y-spotteG sheet, stared even more in
tently at the ceiling directly above the
point where the paper lay on the desk
top. A momentary look Of satisfac-
ton fitted across his face as Golden
turned to him with a crisp command
to precede Margery to Cedarton and
there explain both the reasons for her
visit and the precautions to be exer-
cised during that visit.
"And as for you, Train continued
the grim-eyed old millionaire, turning
to his chauffeur, Il want you to take
my daughter out to Cedarton as quick
ly as your car and the speed laws win
let you carry her. There are special
reasons for this. remember. And from
the moment you leave this house. don't
let anything or anybody stop YOU"
Thirty minutes later Margery Cold
en-. surrounded by her bags, sat back
in the swaying automobile. puzzled
over this new and unexpected turn
in the lido OF events. And as mile by
mile swan by beneath the hurrying
wheels, the keen-eyed man in the driv-
ing seat found a load lifted from mis-
own shoulders.
Yet at the next turn in the road his
light-heartedness suddenly departed
from that keen-eyed driver. For as he
took this turn and speeded up along
a dustless stretch OF open highway,
he saw a figure run out to the middle
of the road. Il was not the fact that
this figure stood directly in his path
hat most disturbed him. It was the
discovery, as he drew down on 1t,
hat this figure wor a yellow band OF
cloth across the eyes,. with a moon
shaped apron falling almost to the end
of the nose. that brought the redoubt-
able Trains heart suddenly up in his
mouth. But even while that figure
remained stubbornly and directly m
his path, motioning for him to stop,
he remembered mis- orders. Instead OF
slackening his speed, in fact, he in
creased 1t, increased it to the limit
OF the engines power. And he would
surely have ridden down that would
be interceptor had not the latter, at
the last moment. leaped quickly aside,
MarKery Golden, as ne did so, half
rose I'm her seat. for she, too, had
caught sight OF that mysteriously'
Swallowed face.
aput that was fha laughInO Maxi 20