The Monticellonian. [volume] (Monticello, Ark.) 1870-1920, 1917-07-12
PEARL,
IF Ae
ARMY
~
GtsyMM "! 1c
FIFTEENTH EPISODE
The Coloners Orderly.
FIFTEENTH EPISODE
The Col0nefs Orderly.


The Silent Menace was unmasked.
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
loeket was conspicuous at her throat.
At last had Bertha come into her own
and the inscription on the miniature
in the locket become fact indeed.
Colonel Richard II. Dare and the chief
of the army staff We're 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 fiut-
tered in its place on the army admins
tration building pole
The dying man opened his eyes and
saZed upon it in intense hatred. 1T
will yet come down. ~ he growled, as
If foretelling the future.
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 turned from the
hateful object of his sight and breathed
his last. THE Silent Menace 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 leader of the Foreign
Alliance, the master political criminal,
the man of distinguished Characters
ties of bearing, speech, physical PROV
ess and iilimitable 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 thick black muller.
That he died mailman 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-
tina, briefly congratulated them and,
not as subordinate addressing his SUI
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 it was so
preposternus that it 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,
TO their amazement, although they now
clearly understood, they learned that .
on the same night Toxic had 5een taken
from the hospital on Il wgtten order I
purporting to come from f,lonel Dare,
nothing strange being thAf4ght of that.
This cleared the l9st q one of the (
only two missing ES@s in the mystery
of Toxic, the otfR being seemingly i'm
possible of s@sfion. /
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 Payne on q
that day in July when the latter left
the secret council chamber of the gen |
eral army staff, the only person outside i.
of those in the session to whom this |
secret was known? And was the Ora |
madam ambassador murdered by To- y
ko? 9
someone must have told Toxic"
declared i.earl, perplexed, as they hur- +
ried homeward. yet not soul had e
left the slncil chamber when Captain
~~~-~~~~~c>~-~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-~>