Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1917-10-19

! came these unquestionably c~ompromis
ing surprises IN her life 90 often fore
warned by him who always safely ex-
tricated herr The Silent Menacel The
Silent Menacel Il was Adamsl It was
not Adamsi
These we're Pearls momentary and
restless thoughts.
To his question she answered: III
you are positive in this matter, why
do you not take the government into
your c~onddenceT"
He smiled whlmsically. eff / should
be m error, Miss Dare, and there is
always the possibility Of error, / would
be doing our country far greater harm
by exposing my suspicious than. by
keeping silent. ! must make SURE first.
That is why ] ask you what would be
the effect tiff the Silent Menace
should turn out to be one whom you
regard highly as IA friend2"
yourself, for example7" after a
tense silence.
isn't that a bit absurd, Miss Dare7"
AnAAAaA NANE NAAINf unn AAG HANaA
ing In her voice thrilled him, "Can you
prove to me that you are not the ST.
lent Menace2 VIII your"
81 can and WILL"
"Then do It. Relieve my mind and"
She stopped suddenly, her features
flushing.
He Strengthened in sudden determi-
notfon tfNUnI ron ba1arH nna mora
adventure7'
Her eyes sparkled and she nodded.
He stopped the car, reversed,
changed their direction and sped
hOmeward.
He left her at the door before pro-
ceeding to the garage with the auto
mobile. "Meet me at the freight docks
inside an hour. / will show you the
Foreign Alliance unmasked and the
Silent Menace"
Pearl ran into the house.
In less than the appointed time, at
one Of the f%relghting wharves at the
foot of q well-known street, Pearl
Dare met her fathers orderly, who
awaited her coming. On seeing her
his face frightened. Giving her hand
} n tiny pressure, which she did not re-
sent, he led the way to a rowbOat. She
took the stern seat and picked up the
steering rope. He grasped the oars.
} In another moment they skinned up
stream at a fair speed. Once or twice
Pearl started to speak, but he re-
strained her with n motion of his head
! and whispered that great caution was
essential to the result of the enter
prise. He had prudently mufled the
: oarlocks and disguised the nature OF
their errand by placing an eel fisher
mans outfit In a place in the boat
where It was easily d%iscernible to any
inquisitive eye. There were a number
of such fishermen on the river, for this
: was the favorable hour.
In midstream they came upon a tul
towing barges. Adams Immediately
: shunted his boat shOreward and pre-
tended to fish, while Pearl simulated
I an interest In what he was doing. The
tug steamed in an opposite direction
In a little while both tug and bargeS
were tied up at the wharf for the re
mainder Of the night, lights were
=" doused and silence fell upon the
e scene.
1 "DO you know w-what's In then
barges?' Adams whispered to Pearl
with his old familiar stutter.
ut looks like coal is itf"
! He laughed noiselessly. "The tot
Il layer, yes. Them potato bomb m-mOldi
of yours are underneath. That stuff'i
e d-due to some submarine somewhere
u d-down the bay, I'm sure"
II wonder where?"
"We're going ito find hat out
mebbe."
The time had come to make gOOC
his promise to Pearl. He showed theii
boat back into deep water, dipped tn,
oars hard several times without undu,
II noise and began to drift. The tide wa
in their favor and after a long sus
D pense they drew alongside the silen
tug.
. 1t was a tugboat of no ordinary de
% sign or dimensions and closely resem
!" bled, and might have been taken fol-
4 u small tramp steamer There wer
ueChS AOie uhu Ut anu tOp Win
- fairly comfortable rail. Adams an,
Is Pearl slipped over the side undetect
II ed and down a narrow eompanionway
y Here, either by blunder or intentioi
y on the part Of Adams, they becam
= separated.
. "Adamsr" whispered Pearl, file
: with sudden forebodings.
She heard his hushed voice and
slight scraping sound in the darl
Then a light flashed, a door swun
open and a masked man showed an
. locked her into a stateroom.
She pounded on the door hard an
cried out. She>thought she heard
responding DISCRIMINATION some
where. A ray Of light suddenl