Macon beacon., 1917-04-13
PEARL,
0fMe
AlE2fvl[ I
~
Guy MnCon11en
FIFTEENTH EPISODE
Tho HnInnnI'c 0rhnrIv
FIFTEENTH EPISODE
The ColoneI'S Orderly.

lie SlIeuI Me0HCe was uQIHdSkeQs
On the roof of the army administra.
ton building. helpless, huddled, his
eyes closed, his face partly concealed
in the crook Of his unbroken arm, he
lay in the center Of an awed group,
dying.
In this group was Major Thornton
Brent and his wife, Mrs. Thornton
Brent, formerly Miss Bertha Bonn.
Even in that tragic moment a gold
locket was conspicuous at her throat.
At last had Bertha come into her own
and the inscription on the miniature
in the locket become a fact, indeed.
Colonel Richard II. Dare and the chief
of the army staff were also in the
group, spellbound before the revela-
ton they beheld.
Kneeling beside the dying man,
from whom consciousness had not en-
tirely fled, was Miss Pearl Dare and
her fathers orderly and her lover, T.
o. Adams, about whom the shrouds Of
mystery had not altogether been re-
moved.
The flag which the Silent Menace
had attempted to despoil again flut-
tered in its place on the army admins
tration building pole.
The dying man open d his eyes and
gazed upon it IN intense hatred. ut
will yet come down." he growled, as
If foretelling the future.
A gust Of wind shook the flag and
unfurled its stars and stripes before
the gaze Of the stricken man, as If to
defy and challenge him and the whole
world.
The dying man turne from the
hateful object of his sight I'D breathed
his last. 1.-THE Silent M.nace has not
perished!" were his departing words.
America, look out!"
A shudder of horror ran through the
spectators. Pearl Dare and T. o.
Adams gave the dead mans face one
indescribable look, rose and walked
away, hand in hand, thinking Of many
things, Of everything.
The dead man was Toxic.
Toxic, the Dare chauffeur, the faith
full servant, the never suspected or
questioned.
Toxic was the Silent Menace.
Toxic was the reader of the Foreign
Alliance, the master political criminal,
the man Of distinguished characters
tics Of bearing, speech, physical Prov
ess and illimitable power; ruler, an
international dreamer, superclever
and supercunning, genius in shaping
events, in intrigue, an archplotter for
crowns and sceptres against democ-
racy and personal freedom.
Toxic, the quiet and unassuming
chauffeur, was all this, the man who
shook America and foiled it to the last
with a thick black muffler.
That he died madman there was
not the slightest doubt; for no sane
person, no matter how revengeful or
desperate, would have hazarded dis
covery when he must have known that
every secret service man in Washing
ton was searching for him. Further
more, his language and appearance in
death indicated that the man had gone
entirely out of his head.
And now curious change was ap-
parent in the department of T. o.
Adams. Before leaving the roof with
Pearl he approached Brent and Ber-
tha, briefly congratulated them and,
not as subordinate addressing his su-
perior but as an equal, he requested |
the major to bring his wife to the |
Dares as soon as possible; and he also |
asked the colonel if he would try and !
arrange to be at home at an early |
hour.
Both the colonel and Brent took it |
that he had something further to tell |
about the Silent Menace and agreed |
to his wishes. Bertha did not know
what to think. A preposterous notion
had come into her mind, but 1t was so |
preposterous that 1t was dismissed at
once, leaving her blank.
Adams and Pearl went to the hos
pital in which Toxic had been placed
on the day Of the night they became
prisoners on the ship Of the Silent
Menace en- route to the canal. Here,
20 their amazement, although they now
clearly understood, they learned that
on the same night Toxic had been taken
from the hospital on written order
purportirg to come flom Colonel Dare,
nothing strange being thought Of that.
This cleared the last but one Of the
only two missing links in the mystery
of Toxic, the other being seemingly i'm
possible of solution.
1t was this: How did Toxic learn
that the Canal Defense plans were con-
cealed under the left shoulder strap
and the chemical waters In the watch
fob locket Of Captain Ralph Payre on
that day In July when the latter left
the secret council chamber Of the gen.
eral army staff, the only person outside
of those in the session to whom this
secret was known? And was the Gra-
madam ambassador murdered by To
ko?
Someone must have told Toxic !"
laoIosod Daorl porpIoyad oS fhov hrIr- | ,