Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1917-10-05

80 ~ A@aEH 1ANAA .Aa - - 80 $3.50
Thanks for the canal defense plans"
II was, Of course, from the Silent
Menace, under his usual silhouette.
Brent crushed the note In his fist
and compared It with one he had re-
ceived by nm unknown messenger at
the barracks earlier In the day.
"AInjor Brent" the first note read.
"You will find the locket in Colonel
Dare's safe. No one but Adams who
hid 1t there knows this"
But the signature was not that Of
the Silent Menace, nor was the writ
ing the same. 1t purported to come
from Bertha Bonn.
He destroyed the two mlsslves and
Joined the colonel who with Adams
and Toxic had returned to the library.
They were greatly agitated and at n
loss to know what to do. Wondering
what the trouble was about, Pearl
came down the stairs and Joined the
group.
Naturally Adams was embarrassed
in the extreme.
1T was $50 sudden like, l didn't
know what happened t-till IL was all
over" suffered the miserable fellow.
81 shoulda know'd better than to ego
near the blamed window with them
plans In m-my hands"
Suspicion was now removed from
Brent as his explanation Of the affair
at the safe had all the marks and verl-
hcations of the truth. 1t was his
chance to be insinuatlng and sarcas-
tic about Adams and he did not let it
slip.
at seems to me that every time
anything happens to the Canal defense
plans you are in or around it-Or
somewhere about" he could not re-
fraIn from saying to Adams in a most
caustlc manner.
Colonel Dare raised a protesting
voice. "The fact of the matter is that
there has been entirely too much
misunderstanding among us all," he
declared, testify. He looked at Major
Brent severely. "You, and Toxic. too
he gave his chauffeur a sharp glance,
"--Gnd possibly my daughter and my
self have been over suspicious Of this
young man." He laid a kindly hand
on Adams shoulder. 1.-The time has
come when we must trust one another
more fully or else we will get nowhere
I'm our efforts to unmask the Silent
Menace and the secret foreign alliance
with which he is cooperating. l must
confess that / am at my wits ends
nglra Ianlrad uhnanfgh AhOmC
stared out of the window. Brent
shifted his eyes %uneaslly. His fea'
lures twitched perceptibly.
Pearl asked a question or two. .
trust Adams-when he acts in the
open. But will he explain how he cam
to preside as the Silent Menace at tina
meeting OF the Foreign AllianceT"
81 wasn't presiding. l w-was pre-
tending" put in Adams quickly.
"Dld the Foreign Alliance think YOU
were pretendlng?"
"Sure! If you hadn't thrown t-tha
bomb at them they'd have been caught
too. W-wouldn't they colonelT"
The colonel turned to his daughte
with a faint smile. adams can ex
Z plain all that, Pearl"
"Has he explained how he LOCATED
the meeting place Of the Foreign ALI
ance in the unlnhabited tenemen
, house where the note from the Silen
|; Menace was found not two minute
r after he entered and disappearedT'
"No'm, hut l w-wlll. l got the I'D
dress l-left by the Silent Menace a
the newspaper Office when he answers
1.-THE governments adj
Even Toxic was obliged to adml
how simple and clever a thing to d
this was.
81 don't know yet, colonel, VIII
n-nailed Miss Dare in the box wit
the b-bomb," Adams went on, seeln
the doubts about him dlssolvlng SOM
what. ut m-might have been tina
there Silent Menace, but l d-don
think It was" For a brief second hi
eyes enveloped the nervous majoI
ut mlghtn been the c-cabln boy, Jus
to g-get even. He's dead anyhow an
so are them there munltiOn m-manV
fa%cturers. They were killed in tn
explosion"
"wnat were their namesY" interJec
ed the colonel.
~ don't know. And l DIDN'T kno'
the names OF the Foreign Allianc
nuther. Except Karnayi, which
flake. II they're alive after that e.
ploslon, They've got the Canal d
, Tense plans, that's dead sure. 81
. they haven't got the chemicals so the
Il can't use the p7plans."
d Then for the first time Adams WI
told how the box OF waters from Pea
y reached Colonel Dare through BERT
Bonn and were subsequently stole
d from Major Brent. The major did Il
IT talking.
Adams made Brent repeat the stol
d several times before he could belle'
z II to be true. He watched Brent na
rowly while the latter told how he HI
le been drugged and questioned him p
Is lltely but lnslstently al to the plaI
81 and time. Brent's answers we're terra