Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1917-05-11

HA"A -. $50
to the desk where lay the unfinisneo
confession. Skidlion faltered toWaru
the desk ln obedience.
But his intelligent mind worked
quickly, and by the time he had aiii1eu
his name to that document vindicav
ing the masked fugitive from Legars
~atrocious crimes he had banished tne
fears which this supernatural resur-
rection had caused him and deter
mined on a course of action. Hising
from the desk he approached the
Laughing Mask, who was standing
near the open closet with his ready
weapon in his hand. Skidmon heiu
out the signed confession, but before
the other could take It the paper with
seeming inadvertence, slipped from
the fingers OF the scientist and 1utter-
ed to the floor. As he stopped to re-
gain II he suddenly hurled his weight
against the legs Of his unsuspecting
enemy with a force that sent him
topping over backward into the
depths Of the closet, and before the
Laughing Mask could regain his foot
ing the door had been swung shut
and bolted.
Margery, from her place Of conceal
ment, saw the loose-llpped malefactor
make a motion as though to destroy
the confession, but he suddenly grew
rigid as though gripped again by the
hand Of fear. Following the direc-
ton In which his eyes were staring,
she saw the reason for his trepida-
ton. A figure masked In the identi-
cal manner as the man just impris-
oned in the closet came slowly through
the hall doorway.
"It would be foolish to tear up that
little document" he said in tones of
grim determination, "for you would
have to write 1t v As it is rather
essential to my welfare, I'll trouble
you to hand It to me-"
But instead of complying with this
demand the dazed and panic-stricken
analyst backed slowly away from
that terrifying specter. His retreat
WIS suddenly checked by the labor
otory work bench, on which he heavily
dropped a trembling hand to steady
himself. As he did so there came a
sharp sound Of breaking glass and,
with an abrupt cry Of pain, he flung
up his deeply gashed hand, splashed
with blood and a thick Ooze of gelatin
Gus matter. He turned and saw the
spllntered pieces Of the fragile vessel
which had contained the colon bacilli
culture. A dull moan Of horror came
from his blue lips as ne realized he
was hopelessly %inOculated with the
deadly virus.
In wild desperation he caught up
the towel from the work bench and
scrubbed the smear of blood and
sticky substance from his open wound.
But the strip of linen dropped from
his nerveless fingers as a series of
cOnvulsive tremors shook his tortured
body. Then his knees gave way under
him and he slowly sank upon the
floor, and after several jerky spasms
his pain-racked form vas stilled in
death.
Overcome by the sight of that grue'
some tragedy, Margery stood rooted
to the floor, inarticulate and trem.
bling. She saw the Laughing Mask
pick up the confession and go out Of
the laboratory toward the stairway
Still holding the revolver, he descend.
ed to the cellar with the air Of 8
man whose mission is but half fin.
ished. Even as he hastily concealed
himself back Of the piles Of carpet
he heard Legar returning from his
futile search Of the premises. THAI
puzzled worker Of iniquity suddenly
found himself looking into a revolver
held by the Laughing Mask, who hat
stepped out Of the shadows.
Realizing he had been outwitteC
and that resistance was useless, Legal
raised his arms above his head II
obedience to the curt command OF the
other. But the evil genius was mo-
slumbering, and as his lifted righl
hand came in contact with a large
earthen flower pot standing on
shelf above him he grasped thai
heavy object and hurled it with al
his strength full in the face Of his
masked opponent.
That crashing and unexpected blow
accomplished its purpose, for the
Laughing Mask dropped In a motion
less heap as though he had beer
struck by a bullet. The one-armeC
man, bending over his apparently
llfeless enemy, saw a paper protrud
ing from the inner pocket Of his coat
AS he glanced at II by the slckly llghr
Of the lantern he realized it's pur
port, and hurried up the stairs to cal
Skldmon to account for disclosing hi
guilty secrets.
The first door he opened proved
to be that Of a small buffers pantry
and by the Pickering light Of tn,
match he saw in the gloomy compart
ment a statue-like form standing witt
folded arms. The silently accusing
figure wore a yellow mask. With
half-strangled oath he dropped tn
glowing match end and slammed tn
door on that masked apparition.
He raced up the stairs to the thir'