The Elk Mountain pilot., 1922-05-25
OopYriqht by fdN~iN BoImer )
SYNOPSIS

StiNSTStS
placed in the Chicago business world.
BENJAMIN Corvet is something Of a re-
cluse and q mystery to his associates.
ner. Henry Spearman. Corvet seeks Con-
stance Sheriff.. daughter of his other
secures from her a promise not to marry
Epearman. He then disappears. Sheriff.
learns Corvet has written to certain
Alan Conrad, in Blue Rapids, Kansas,
and exhibited strange agitation over the
matter.
CHAPTER II.-Corvet's letter summons
Conrad. a youth of unknown parentage.
to Chicago.
CHAPTER III.-From statement OF
Sheriff. it seems probable Conrad is Cor
vets illegitimate son. Corvet has decided
his house and its contents to Alan.
CHAPTER Iv.-Alan takes possession
Of his new home.
CHAPTER What night Alan discov-
ers man ransacking the desks and bu-
reau drawers In Corvet's apartments. The
appearance of Alan tremendously agitates
the intruder. who appears to think him
ghost and raves of "the Miwaka-" After
struggle the man escapes.
Whoever 1t was that was moving
about downstairs, even If he was not
one who had a right to be there, at
least felt secure from interruption
He was going with heavy step from
window to window; where he found
shade up, he pulled 1t down brusquely
and with a violence which suggested
great strength under a nervous strain:
a shade, v''.h had been pulled down,
flew up, u..d the man damned it as
though 1t had startled him: then. after
an instant, he pulled it down again.
Alan crept still farther down and at
last caught sight of him. He was
big, young-looking man, with broad
shoulders and very evident vigor;
Alan guessed his age at thirty-five; he
was handsOme-he had straight
forehead over daring. deep-set eyes:
his nose, lips and chin were power
fully formed; and he was expensively
and very carefully dressed. The light
from a fiat little pocket searchlight
that the man carried in one han,'
which threw little brilliant circle of
light as he directed it; and now, as
the light CHANGED to fall on his other
hand-powerful and heavily muscled
Alan recollected the look and size
Of the finger prints on the chest of
drawers upstairs. He did NOT donh'
that this was the same man who had
gone through the desk; but since he
had already rified the desks, what did
he want here now7 AS the man moved
out of sight. Alan crept on down as
far as the door to the library; the
man had gone on into the rear room.
and Alan went far enough into the
library SO he could see him.
He had pulled open one of the draw
ers in the big table in the rear room
and with his light held so high as to
show what was in it he was tumhling
over its contents and examining them.
He went through one after another Of
the dra wers of the table like rhis
after examining them, he rose and
kicked the last one shut disgustedly;
he stood looking about the room ques-
tioningly. then he started toward the
front room.
He had. as vet. neither seen nor
heard anything to alarm him, and as
he went to the desk in the front room
and peered impnttently into the draw
ers, he slammed them shut, one nftn
another. He Strengthened and stared
about. "D-n Ben! D-n Ben" he
calculated violently and returned to
the rear room. Alan. again following
him, found him on his knees in front
of one Of the drawers under the book
cases, AS he continued searching
through the drawers, his irritation be-
came grenter and greater. He jerked
one drawer entirely out of Its case.
and the contents flew in every direc-
ton; swearing at it, he gathered up
the letters. One suddenly caught his
attention he began reading 1t closely,
then snapped II bnck into the drawer.
crammed the rest on top Of 1t, and
went on to the next Of the files. He
searched In this manner through half
u dozen drawers, plainly finding moth
ing at all he wanted he dragged some
Of the books from their cases, felt be-
hind them and showed back some Of
the books but dropped others on the
floor and blasphemy burst from him.
The beam of light from the torch in
his hand swayed aside and back and
forth. Without warning, suddenly it
caught Alan as he stood in the dark
Of the front room; and as the dim
white circle of light cleaned into Al
ans face, the man looked that way
and saw him.
The effect of this upon the man was
so strange and so bewildering to Alan
that Alan could only stare at him.
The big man seemed to shrink into
III rvx, ,;v,ly ho und
from Alan. He roared out something
in below thick with fear and hor-
ror; he seemed to choke with terror.
There was nothing In his look akin to
mere surprise or alarm at realizing
that another was there and had been
seeing and overhearing him. The