Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1917-10-27
SATURDAY.. ..OCToBY9 27, 1917.
SON OF TARTAN
CONTINUED from Page Three.)

nlmSclf well posted lis to the police
search for the anthropoid.
AS was true OF the general public,
his chief Interest in the matter cen.
tered about the mysterious disnppcar
ance of the slayer. or ut least this was
true until he learned several days sub
scqucnt to the tragedy that his son
Jack had not reported ut the boarding
school, on route for which they had
seen him safely cnSNohced In Ii railway
carriage.
Even then the father did not connect
the disappearance of his son with the
mystery surrounding the whereabouts
OF the ape, nor was 1t until Il month
later that careful Investigation reveal
ed the fact that the boy had left the
train before 1t pulled out of tho station
ut London and the cab driver had been
found who had driven him to the ad-
dress of the old Russian that Tnrzan
OF the Apes realized that Akut had In
some way been connected with tho dis
appearance of the boy.
Beyond the moment that the cab
driver had deposited his fare beside tho
Russian had been Quartered there was
no clcw. No one had seen either the
boy Or the ape from that instant, Mt
least no one who still lived. The pro-
prictor Of the house identified the pic
turc Of the lad us that of one who had
been n frequent visitor in the room of
the old man. Aside from this he knew
nothing.
And there ut the door of grinly old
building In the slums OF London the
senrchcrs came to Il blank wnll--bnfllcd
The day following the death Of Alexis
Paulvitch n youth accompanying his
invalid grandmother boarded steamer
Mt Dover. The old lady was heavily
yelled and so weakened by age and
sickness that she had to be wheeled
aboard the vessel I'm an invalid chair
The boy would permit no one but
himself to wheel her and with his own
hands assisted her from the chair to
the interior OF their statcroom--and
that was the last that was seen of tho
old lady by the ships company until
the pair dlscmbarkcd. The boy even
insisted upon doing the work OF their
his grandmother was suffering from n
nervous indisposition that mado the
presence Of strangers extremely dis
tasteful to her.
Among the passengers there was an
American named Conlon, a blacklcg
and crook, who was wanted" in
half Il dozen of the larger cities of the
United States. He had paid little nt-
tention to the boy until Oh one occa-
sion he had seen him accidentally dis
play q roll OF banInotcs. From then OH
Conlon cultivated the youthful Briton.
He learned easily enough that the
boy was travelling alone with his in
valid grandmother and That their des-
tination was small port on the west
coast Of Africa, n little below the
equator; that their name was Billings
and that they had no friends in tho lit
tic settlement for which they were
bound. Upon the point Of their purpose
in visiting the place. Conlon found tho
boy reticent and so he did not push
the mattcr-hc had learned all that he
cared to know as 1t was.
At Inst came the day that the steamer
dropped anchor in the lee of a wooded
promontory, where score or more Of
sheet iron shacks. making an unsightly
blot upon the fair face of nature, pro-
claimed the fact that civilization had
set It's heel. Struggling upon the out
skirts were the matched huts Of na-
tives, picturesque In their primcval saw
agery, harmoniZing with the back
ground Of tropical jungle and acccntu-
ating the squalid hideousncss of the
white mans pioneer architecture
The boy. leaning over the rail, was
looking far beyond the man made town,
deep into the God made jungle. a little
shiver Of anticipation tingled his spine,
and then, quite without volition, no
found himself mentally gazing into tho
loving eyes OF his mother and tho
strong face of the father which mirror
cd beneath it's masculine strength
love no less than the mothers eyes pro-
claimed. He felt himself weakened in
his resolve.
The task Of lowering the boys grand
mother over the side to waiting canoe
was rather difficult. The lad insisted
on being always at her side, and when
at last she was safely ensconced in the
bottom Of the craft that was to bear
them shoreward her grandson dropped
catlike after her.
SO interested was he in seeing her
comfortably disposed that he failed to
observe the little package that had
worked from his pocket as he assisted
in lowering the sling that contained
the old woman over tho steamers side,
nor did he notice it even as it slipped
out entirely and dropped into the sea.
Scarcely had the boat containing the
boy and the old woman started for the
shore than Conlon hailed a canoe on
tho other side of the ship and after
bargaining with its owner finally low
cred his baggage and himself aboard.
Once ashore he kept out of sight OF
the two story atrocity that bore the
legend "Iotcl" to lure unsuspecting
wayfarers to it's many discomforts.
1t was quite dark before he vcntured