Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1920-10-07
The
Substitute
Millionaire
by
HUBERT FoOTNER

Alas for Jacks expectations! The
vault inside was as bare as Mothel
Hubbards cupboard. There was no
| so much as scrap of paper to ht
seen, let alone the dazzling stores ht
| had pictured. The wall down eaci
side We're lined with shelves Nor
which lay thick, undisturbed coat
| ing of dust. Apparently there never
had been anything kept there: al
least not for a long time.
Jack was thoroughly disgusted. AL
that chasing around town for moth
ing! Was his benefactor's only pur-
pose in taking those elaborate pre-
Perhaps the old man had been real
ly insane.
But having taken all that trouble
Jack did not mean to give up until
he had made Very SIRE there was
nothing to be gained from it. lie
examined the vault anew, and pres
emily made curious discovery in
the steel door. Differing from an.
safe he had eyer seen. the handle
which operated the bolt ran right
thru to the inside of the door, also
the dial and knob Of the combina-
ton were reproduced inside.
What did he want that for?''
thought Jack. with perplexed brow,
almost looks as If he wanted to
lock himself IN inside"
1t was dark within the, vault. and
Jack lit the oil lamp and carried 1t
in. He had not paid much attention
to the back of the vault, for his eye
had told him it was flush with the
outer wall of the building, but he
was now struck by the fact that
whereas the sides of the vault were
of concrete the back wall was OF
steel, and there were no shelves COW
ering it.
In short, the lamp revealed the
outline of door intthe back wall, a
steel door SO beautifully fitted that
only the tiniest of lines marked its
boundaries. In 1t was a tiny slit that
Jacks fourth and last key exactly
fitted. When it was pressed home
the door swung towards him on a
spring.
Here he received another surprise
Instead Of the shallow wall cupboard
he expected, for he knew he was
against the outer wall of the hotel
the beams of the lamp illuminated a
large cupboard heaped with rubbish
in the corners. At the same moment
he was greatly startled to hear an
electric bell start ringing somewhere
further within.
He realized OF course that he had
stumbled on a secret way into the
hotel. He remembered the aspect OF
that house from the street, suffered
neglected, dirty. What would the In.
side reveal? The feeble, fretfu
alarm of the electric bell perturbe6
him. He closed the steel door and il
stopped: he let it swing open and
the sound recommenced., For whom
was 1t warning? Inside the closet
on his right there was an ordinary
wooden door. It did not help t.
compose his nerves to hear a soft
urgent whining and scratching on the
other side of it. The lamp trembled
a little in his hand.
However there was nothing for II
but to advance. Jack was boy enough
to refuse to take a dare. He hao
been instructed to enter alone, and
he was not sufficiently frightened tC
disobey. There was a kind of fasci-
nation in entering upon this voyage
of discovery. alone. Moreover he had
no reason to suppose that a trap had
been prepared for him.
Before venturing in, he took a
careful survey Of the closet. The lit
ter i'm the corners consisted of old
clothes, old boots, newspapers A
musty smell arose from it. His at
tention was caught by a broad black
belt painted on the floor at his feet
STOPPING, he touched it, and the
black came off on his finger. 'Soot,'
he thought. He took care to ster
over it when he entered.
The scratching still continued on
the other side of the inner door but
Jack was treasured by the sound OF
an anxious little bark. That's not a
smiling, and opening the door.
Ills first impression was of little
black and tan terrier, who waited
lust inside the door with an express
sion of anxiety, human in it's inten-
sity At the sight of Jack the doc
snarled and attempted to retreat
but weakness overcame it and it fell
"Poor beastie!' murmured Jack.
The little animal, whether reas-
sured by Jacks voice or prompted
by his own great need, attempted tC
make friends. He. approached wag-
ging a feeble tail He dragged him
self towards the fireplace, and with
piteous, speaking glarces, directed
Jacks attention to a tin box upon
the mantel. A human voice could
scarcely have been palmer.
as that where they keep it, old
MANI" said Jack
In the box were some crusts. He
made haste to toss them to the lit
tie dog, and filled his dish with
water.
Jack found himself in a good sized
room to which no ray of daylight
penetrated. His sense Of direction
told him it must be the second floor
rear of the dwelling house There was
no lack of character here. The place
was both sordid and piteous, ant
very eloquent of Silas Gyde's strange
life
"This was his real home" thought
Jack, looking around. THE hote
apartment was simply a blind.
Poor old fe1low!"
CHAPTER V.
Jack as an instructive precautior
returned to close the vault door, ant
the inner steel door. The latter was
provided with a handle on the close
4