Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1917-08-31
my friend, sit down and get

New then, my friend, sit down and get
your breath"
At glance / knew the prisoner. 1t
was Edward Briggs. He was frowsy.
unkempt, savage looking, somewhat
the worse for drink, and of lowering
brow and set pugnacious lips.
What's all this?" he growled out.
''You have been arrested for deadly
assault upon one certain Vandamann,"
observed Marvel
1T would have been more certain il
I'd had the show" retorted the fell
low.
Did you hurt him much?"
Worse luck, no. The next time!"
the man glared across his knotted
fist.
ION top of your last exploit" re-
marked Marvel, sit may be six months
or year this time Unless you have.
left a case of mayhem behind you
down at Vandamann's, I can promise
you chance to get out Of this mix-up
on conditions"
What conditions?" muttered the
fellow, an evil eye fixed on both OF
us-suspicious and leery.
las the Fourteenth Man"
Whats that" calculated Briggs
with a start, and then he shrank back
within himself, the barrier up, like a
man in a trap.
AS the Fourteenth Man, you off
course knew Royal Ludington."
Suppose / did,"
What did you take to his house
the day of his funernl?"
Briggs bored into the questioner's
face with his shrewC ferret eyes. He
shook his head. This is some kind
of frame-up," he declared. Il don't
say word till / know what's doing.1
After some persuasion the man told.
It amounted to this: Scoundrel-hearted
Abel Vandamann had seen an oppor-
tunity in the sudden death Of one Of
his victims to press fictitious claims.
He had utilized the Fourteenth Man
in his plot. This had been to have
Briggs visit the Ludington home
surreptitiously, place the photograph
in a pocket of Ludington's coat, and.
in his desk. a card bearing notations'
of various amounts. These, corresl
pended in amounts to alleged notes of
the decedent, were later presented to
his widow for payment.
The willy schemer had convinced
Mrs. Ludington that he held notes
they were forgeries-to a large
amount, given him by her husband.
He had further persuaded her to be-
lieve that the borrowed money they
represented had been squandered in
gambling and in financing the extraya-
CANT Whims of the woman, Idalia.
The notations, the photograph, all
seemed to verify the foul misrepre-
sensations that brought sorrow and
dread to the wife and daughter Of the
dead trader. Mrs. Ludington was a
| proud woman. The fear of disgrace,
publicity, had made her the easy vic.
tim of the arch swindler, Abel Wanda
mann
| The demands of the broker were so
extensive that his black-mailed victim
found that after she had sacrificed her
personal belongings to satisfy the
notes, there would be no hope of
| liquidating the Indebtedness at the
bank.
| Resilius Marvel held brief but
productive interview with Abel Wanda
mann the next day. Then he carried
| to the bank twelve forged notes for
| $4,000, and like amount in cash al
ready extorted from Mrs. Ludington
on similar forgeries. The bank there
FORE lost nothing, and the Ludingtons
were restored to fortune and lifted
| from the shadow of a great grief
There is such thing as earthly
retribution," observed Resilius Marvel
| to me one day.
A column in a daily newspaper was
| the basis of the remark. 1t told of
| the murder in cold blood of Abel
| Vandamann. A stiletto had dealt him
| his death wound, so it might have
been a woman. But his strong box
was rif1ed, so it might have been a
man. The police never found out, for
| the woman, Italia, and the Fourteenth
Man had disappeared as completely as
though the earth had opened and swal-
| lowed them up.