The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1919-05-02
THE IRON test
CHAPTER 2

Bert, n;d incurred over AlAn
,olatile LIQUID on p Is be slept by Red
.murderous! l tnined his grip in the
Mask mal man. several seconds after ms
tra lpEeIous leap tnroug4 torch into the
r1arVsttben fell, living e Z unconscious ms,
hoop sr Of the circus rlhs' un'o
and Darn nf horror swept through LINE sae
Cries vi Those in nearby seats
great ct toTard the senseless rider , out
rushed l1 tnoined by attendants. Inere
we're restraln oa there who did not cry
was o Nv lose her presence vi Part
out t.s Gs i ewes bent close on 5 ta1
Edltats +be first flash as MS satura tea
caught 'no come in contact with the
costume edge of the hoop, ana tney
famlns, oft him until he crashed TO
never r r Then, pale but COOL she
the ear - the nearest exit, tore away
rusheu lore " and was first to kneel
the ~, pO eide of the death-menaced man.
%atr All the heavy drapeTy .t 4eoG.
Wrapp nth the assistance OF attend-
him. " .ba quickly smothered the
s s,ss needless that her own hlmsy
I ,'ir+ had caught ire.
sK nt., I caught her and crushed out
re a n and together they carried
t pnrt to his dressing room, WINE , tne
per- itonce treasured, resumed tnelr
a 'n4s and the performance conIlnueu'
Se%.9 utinq hack in the crowd, Craven
L paaEv watched the development
anu tbair murder plot and as Bert was
VI . ,i away, the latter, an evil trl-
cailt' in his eyes, whispered:
uiL nr,,ose Forde's a goner this time. "
,-d craven with bitterness that
..artInd even the consequences
Peaky, replied: -, eon,os, ),
e ..%ot unless he inhaled the names.
Avn attendant passing through the
-;nr shortly after Bert's fiery plunge
I'M! inSod nm a locket and realizing Bert
p have lost it, he sought Edlth
and handed it to her saying:
Here's something Forde must nave
dronped. viii you return it to him (!
Edfth assuring him she would, nat
,,ro1Iv examined the trinket, when
Hnro the BeresfOrd coat OF arms and
mo letter b" set in diamonds on the
outside. Opening 1t, she saw the
faces of a youngish man and woman,
whom she took to be Bert and ms
sweetheart and an expression Of pain
crossed her face at the thought OF
his having a sweetheart. Then hur-
ripdIv closing the locket, she started
for town to fill q prescription 10
Rprr whose condition was pronounc-
ed to be not serious.
But Craven, ever watchful OF the
girl and Bert, had seen her examine
the locket, and stepping up to her
said:
AS custodian OF lost property
III take charge of that locket."
Edith, however, had no intention o.
gurrendering the trinket and firmly
refused, replying:
1T belongs to Mr. Ford-has his
picture in it. | will return it my
self" Turning quickly, she failed tc
see the look of anger on the mans
face, nor did she dream into what
peril the possession of the locket soor
was to plunge her.
Craven was scheming how best tC
get the trinket from the girl WheI
they ran into Peaky, who halted hin
and with unaccustomed .bOldnesS de-
manded ten dollars, accompanying
the request with a significant remarF
that it was "a mighty curious acct
dent" that happened to Forde. era
ven. cOwardly as his name, fearing
the other suspected any part NJ
might have played in the tragedy
produced the money and added witt
forced pleasantnesS:
There's twice $40 in it for you i
you'll get for me the locket Miss
Paige has"
Edith had walked a half mile to
ward the town, keeping well in the
shadows of the trees, for it was
lonely road, when a woman's intul
ton told her of impending peril. Sht
fastened her steps and had reached
bright light in front of three-st0r1
fiat rooted house when Red Mask
stepped from behind a tree and seiz,
ed her in his arms, exclaiming.
Give me the locket, or III"
Terror did not rob the girl of hel
strength. There was brief struggle
and Edith, using a trick of the ring
threw the man heavily to the grounC
and before he could regain his feet
dashed into the house, the front dool
being open. Up three flights of stairs
she raced, then up a ladder and In a
frenzy of fear threw her weight
against a trap door leading to- the
roof. 1t gave way and sne sprang out
on the roof. Along the four edges
she ran looking for an avenue OF es-
cape for she knew Red Mask soon
would be upon her.
In the light from the lamp below
her eyes caught a wire stretching to
the house opposite and without paus-
ing TO count the risk, she swung out
into space and began to make her
way across just as her pursuer gain
ed the roof to pause aghast at heI
deadly peril.
Hand over hand she made her way
until she could see where the wire
disappeared into the side of the
house, giving no hope of escape, only
sheer drop of thirty feet to the
street. The brave girl was almost in
despair when she caught sight of an
other wire, ten feet distant which
lead to a porch and mastering her re-
naming strength She swung back
and forth until certain of her mo-
mentum, she released her hold, flew
through the intervening space, and
caught the second wire in her firing
grasp. Two minutes later, she had
reached the sidewalk. Then, her So
slcltude for Bert overcoming her own
lears, she continued to town, got the
prescription and returned safely to
ner van, in which she hid the locket
anu made her way to Bert's side.
NeXt morning tho nirn,nr rtarfnd