The Ordway new era., 1917-09-07

Wall. while fiTT utiuseu oiis " s'"Sf
Patria almost roughly by the wais
and drag her with him.
THAT corner house" he said sharp
ly to Rylcy. indicating an unoccupieC
dwelling which adjoined the Charming
residence on the Fifth avenue side
somebody stationed in an upper room
behind those Shutters-with gun OF
some sort, Maxim-silenced. That shot
couldn have come from any other
quarter. Here: take care of Miss Chan
ming, please; don't let her expose her
! self. I'm going TO have Il try for our
gay assassin"
! Bent almost double. he ran In the
shelter of the wall 10 the rear of the
| half.hurued house, and. catching the
low sill of Il window, easily swung him.
self up and into the library.
The room had barely escaped becom-
ing total wreCk-was in truth little
better: yet there remained of the floor
ing web of charred and greasy tim
bers strong enough 10 sustain mans
weight. Parr picked gingerly way
out to the entrance hall, found the
stairs negotiable, and within very lit
tie time was climbing out on the roof
through broken skylight. Nor was he
in any way surprised TO find the scut-
tie on the roof of the corner house
open-recently broken open. il he read
.he signs Alright.
Stealthily, then, automatic in hand.
Captain Parr let himself down into
the ostensibly vacant residence, stole
back through the upper hallway. and
the rear rooms.
Simultaneously little man who had
been kneeling Mt one of the shuttered
windows swung round. and whipped
two shots at Parr from n heavy re-
volver furnished with Maxim ST.
ienccr. PARIS answering shot rang
brutally loud. The little man dropped
his revolver and subsided into Curl
ously disheveled heap, quite dead. The
captain delayed only long enough TO
make sure that there was no other
occupant of the room, and to verify the
fact. which he had all along suspected.
that the murderer was japanese.
Left here to discourage any attempt
of ours to break into that vault" he
Surmised. THAT means the enemy has
surprised our secrets probably even
now trying to get away with the
loot.
Throwing open the shutter he called
70 Rylcy in the garden that the danger
had been done away with, then turned
and set himself to hasty exploration of
tie corner house.
He found no living soul therein. but
every evidence that many had been in
lawless possession of the premises not
long since. The place had been Quilted
of its furniture, the trail of whose
hasty removal led Parr to and through
the front door.
As he ran out into the avenue n cas-
ual-minded policeman, strolling past,
Have you noticed anybody leave
this house?" Parr asked.
I've noticed about two dozen leaving
it-and that's about all they did leave
a big guy bossin' the job tells rue the
japanese consul has purchased the
property and is moving every stick out
before refurnishing. Three vanloads
they carted away-and in hell of q
hurry they We're, at that"
(Which WY did they go?"
The policeman obligingly jerked O
thumb westvards. "They made of
that way" said he. "But where they
We're bound. I dunno"
Parr fancied he could hazard @
shrewd guess. He ran hastily acros.
the avenue and down the side street.
And, so running. he disappeared fol-
time from human ken.
THE HOLE IN THE WALL.
Ignoring the protests of Mr.. RyIey
Patria crept along under co-er of the
wall to the window through wM -. She
had watched Parr disappear, pnt
climbed through.
just why she elected to follow hin
she could hardly have said.
She was inside the house bef.re sht
appreciated that she had yielded t.
what was most probably foolish i'm
pulse.
The first thing to greet her as shs
hurried through the upper hallway wa.
the grinning mask of dead japanese
huddled up or the floor of the bacl
room; and turning from this in dreat
and disgust she ran blindly down th'
stairs. But she discovered no sign o
Captain Parr--or indeed of anybod,
else-and though she stopped at tn,
front door long enough for hast.
glance out into the avenue, the maj
she sought was by that time severa
blocks away.
But this she couldn't know and be
lievins that he must still be somewher,
in the house, she pursued her investiga
tions; In the course of which, descend
ing to the cellar. she discovered IRE
futable evidence Of what Parr had sur
missed to his own sntisfactIon. II h,
hadn't stopped to verify 1t. that tn
! ~ vi