The Tomahawk. [volume] (White Earth, Becker County, Minn.) 1903-192?, 1917-09-06
NV friend, SIT down and got

Now then, my 1r1enu' S1' Wv"
At glance knew the prisoner. IL
was Edward Briggs. He was tro"sS,
unkempt. savage looking, some"na.
the worse for drink, and OF lowering
brow and set pugnacious lips.
"What's all this?" he growled out:
"You have been arrested for deadly
assault upon one certain Vandamann'
observed Marvel. :.
"It would have been more certain IL
I'd had the show retorted the lei-
low
Did you hurt him much"
"Worse luck, no. The next tlme!
the man glared across MS hnol'eu
fist.
ION TOP of your last exploit re-
marked Marvel, lit may be six montns
or year this time. Unless you nave
left a case of mayhem behlno YOU
down at Vandamann's l can promise
YOU a chance to get out of this mlx-up
ON conditions
what conditions? muttered the
fellow, an evil eye fixed on both OF
us-suspicious and leery.
LAS the Fourteenth Man"
whats that" calculated Briggs
with start, and then he shrank back
within himself the barrier up, like
man in a trap.
LAS the Fourteenth Man, you Of
course knew Royal Ludington."
Suppose I did?'
"What did you take to his house
the day of his funeral?"
Briggs bored into the Questioner's
face with his shrewd ferret eyes. He
shook his head. This is some kind
of a. frame-up,' he declared. Il don't
say a word till know what's do1ngS
After some persuasion the man told
It amounted to this: Scoundrel-hearted
Abel Vandamann had seen an oppor'
tunity in the sudden death of one OF
his victims to press fictitious claims.
He had utilized the Fourteenth Man
in his plot. This had been to have
Briggs visit the Ludington home
surreptitiously, place the photograph
in a pocket of Ludington's coat, and
in his desk a card bearing rotations
of various amounts. These, corres7
pended in amounts to alleged notes OF
the decedent, we're later presented to
his widow for payment.
The willy schemer had convinced
Mrs. Ludington that he held notes
they were forgeries-to a large
amount, given him by her husband.
He had further persuaded her to be-
lieve that the borrowed money they
represented had been sQuandered in
gambling and in financing the extrava-
CANT whims of the woman, 1dalia.
The notations, the photograph, al
seemed to verify the foul misrepre'
sensations that brought sorrow and
dread to the wife and daughter of the
dead trader. Mrs. Ludington was q
proud woman. The fear of disgrace.
publicity, had made her the easy vic
tim of the arch swindler, Abel Wanda
mann.
The demands Of the broker were SC
found that after she had sacrificed her
personal belongings to satisfy the
notes, there would be no hope of
liquidating the Indebtedness at the
bank.
Resilius Marvel held brief but
productive interview with Abel Wanda
main tho next day. Then he carried
to the bank twelve forged notes for
$4,000, and like amount in cash al
ready extorted from Mrs. Ludington
on similar forgeries. The bank there
fore, lost nothing, and the Ludingtons
were restored to fortune and lifted
from the shadow Of great grief.
There is such a thing as earthly
retribution,' observed Resilius Marvel
to me one day.
A column in a daily newspaper was
the basis of the remark. It told Of
the murder in cold blood of Abel
Vandamann. A stiletto had dealt him
his death wound, so it might have
been woman. But his strong box
was rifled, SO it might have been a
man. The police never found out, for
the woman, Idalia, and the Fourteenth
Man had disappeared as completely as
though the earth had opened and swal.
lowed them I'D.