Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1917-08-17
FlFTEENT-..f EPfSoD
The CoioneI's Orderly.

LIE Suenb mooece wan unmaSaoG
On the roof OF the srmy admiuistnas'
ton building. helpless, huddled. his
eyes closed. his face partly concealed
In the crook OF his. unbroken arm, he
lay In the oentsr OF. an awed- group.
dying.
uIn. thin spoups was Major phorntenI
Brsnc and his wife, HRS. Thornton
Brent, formerly Miss Bertha Bonn
Even In that tragic moment a gold
lockst was conspicuous at her throat.
At last had Bertha come into her own
aud the inscription on the miniature
In the locket bscome o. fact, Indeed.
Colonel Richard' III. Dare and the chief
Of the army star were also In the
group, speilbound before the revela-
ton they bsheld.-
Kneeling beside the dying man,
from whom consciousness had not en-
tireiy fed, was Miss PEARL Dares and
her fathers orderly and her lover. T.
D. Adams, about whom the shrouds OF
mystery had not altogether been re-
moved
The flag which the silent Menace
had attempted to despoh again nut-
tered In its place on the army adminis.-
tration building pole.
The dying man opened his eyes and
gazed upon IL In intense hatred. 1T
will yet come down." he growled, as
II fOretelling the future.
A gust of wind shook the nag and
unfurled Its stars and stripes before
the gaze OF the stricken man, as IL 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 Quit"
A shudder Of horror ran through the
spectators. Pearl Dare and Il. o.
Adams gave the dead mans face one
lndescribable 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
ful servant, the never suspected or
questioned.
TolS.s was the Silent Menace.
Toxic was the leader Of the Foreign
Alliance, the master political criminal,
the man Of distinguished characters
tics OF bearing, speech, physical Prov
ess and illimitable power; a ruler, an
international dreamer, superclever
and supercunning, a genius IN shaping
events, In intrigue. an arehplOtter for
crowns and sceptres against demOc-
rscy and personal freedom.
Toxic, the quiet and unassuming
chsuffeur was all this, the man who
shook America and foiled 1t to the last
with a thick black muller.
That he diSd a mailman there was
not the slightest doubt; for no sane
person, no matter how revengeful or
desperate, would have hazarded dis
covcry when he must have known that
svery 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 O. subordinate addressing his su-
perior but as an eQnal, he requested
the major to bring his wife to the
Dares as soon as possible: and he also
asked the colonel II he would try and
arranfs to be at home at an early
hour. y
Both the colonel and Brent took Il
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 he's mind, but IL was 20
prsposterpus that II 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 tho 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 been taken
from the hospital on q written order
purporting to come from Csienst Dare.
nothfus strsass being thossht Of that.
This cleared the last but one Of the
only two missing links IN the mystery
OF Toks, ths other bseuU sesmtngly In
possible Of solution.
Il wNs thu: How did Toxic lessn
tins ne C9nal DsfsuSs ptsus wsss con-
csafsd ~andsr ne left shouldsv strap
ana thof chemfcHi waters IN me wxtciI-
fob loeket OF Captain Ralph Payne on
that day. In July when the latter Lest
the secret eoaneu chssmbes Of the Gen-
erxl sssny staR, the only pessop eutsids
Of lfhoBs On the sssstou 20 WHOM this
ssevst vas hBown? And wuS tfss Gra-
nadian ambassador murdered by To
kof
someone must have told ToAoT
dsslszsd Pearl, psspleued, - they hur-
riex hsmewmrh. "Yst not o soul had
left the council chambev wbss cspsstu
80 -------. ->-----~-- $500
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