The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1924-06-14
BY FRED V.
VILLA Ms

sasped incoherenily instead.
suppose. lie unused. that mornIng
should find him fighting hack on ti,s
same trail he had taken ana da,
iEh' should show him the china.
mems camp again.
lie knew that IN his present con.
dilion he could not stand ID. and
that within All probability he would
SO mad az tho sight o. them again.
He Thought 81 Marian and thanked
God that sho was safe and sur.
rounded by the security 81 cIvinsa
ton. out here he seemed a. Far
from human hahiiation as tho hc had
been on tho island or the Amarons.
Clark mustered what strength
rcmamed and struggled on. The
sharp blades of grass tore hi,
clothes and puncturcd his flesh.
\ swarm Of mosquitoes ailghted
on him and stung him "a the
quick. Tortured he fought them
blindiy and fell into a hin Of ants
ON a bit Of dry ground. Under
the sting Of these lie ran. pluns.
ing. crashing. smashing his way
thru tho jungle. not needing the
noise he made.
Then. OF sudden, when no all but
gave up hope. Clark Jaw ahead Of
him n crack OF yellow light. Human
kind again, With tho discovery i,e
heard the rush OF water and De
knew he had reached tho hank Of The
Columbia. or a, least living stream
adjacent 20 Il.
The ground was firm beneath his
feet now, lie crawlsd IN the dire,
ton og tho light. n was u cabin.
hut he was afraid that Il might b.
occupied by Chinese. II 20 and they
were brother tongrnen, or the orien
tails he had Jus, len they would no
doubt BE- advised Of his escape and
would b. on the lookout for him.
Clark put aside the fear that
grippod his heart and crawicd
cautiously across the ground Of
the house To the base Of tile
building. There I've found the win.
dow and glued his ear To Il.
Voices came irum Within
At first he could only distinguish
faint murmur. now and then a low
rumble. lie was unable 70 tell
whether they were speaking In Eng.
llsh or Chinese.
Then his heart bounded with 10Y
A man was speaking IN English.
good English. clear dlctlon. force
fully and rosolutely. Ills first i'm.
pulse was 10 cry out with Joy and
make known his plight TO them.
Then the dropping OF a word
sealed his lips and held him rigid.
Renartli \ man had mentioned
the name Of Rcnard. And coup
led IL with an oath. lie stood
now and found = crack In the
curtain and looked In.
Five men were seated about a
table. Another stood over them. He
was a big man. clean featured
square shouldered. An arm shot out.
right. hand cieuched.
\ candle burned on the table and
BY its light Clark examined this
mans face closely Now. as hs
turned his face partly toward him.
Clark saw that his nose was crooked
and marred a face which would
otherwise have been handsome.
The man spoke again. lie talked
with deep vehemencc.
"Renard Il In Seattle ho
said. And 50 Is his daughter.
| Marian Page"
Clark grew weak, His knees
tremhlcd Ills daughter. Marian
Page Why. Marian Page was not
Renard'a daughter. Marian Page was
the girl lie was going 70 marry
Marian Page was tho girl whom
Rcnard might have put to torture OF
death.
MOI This man was mistaken. He
was mislnformed. And II so7
/ Even II Marian were his enemy,
daughter. what interest could this
man have in herr
I'VE thought Benson had her
safely In Shanghai and then
when we didn't hear from Ben.
son for long time. some OF you
thought he had doubie-crossed
gone back on Black
Cramer' the man smiled
land married her.
A laugh went up.
No." reminded the speaker
sharply. Benson Is gone. still miss
ing. but have definite information
that she is back in Seattle and. foi
some strange reason. with her father
You remember" he went on
musingiy. "that Renard never saw
his daughter. never let her know
she was the daughter OF Black Ora
mer's' rival in little matters not con
cerned with tho lava smlle wen.
tho rounds-"but now she Is with
him. living I'm his house out In the
University district In Seattle.
we nj least accomplished this
much, We made Ronard show his
hand TO this girl. But from all re
ports they arc reconcicd, fairly
happy and we have failed there"
There was long silence. This,
then. was the reason Marian had
left him at Moclips. This, then,
WIS why Marian could not marry
him. She was the daughter OF
an arch criminal, an interna-
tionaI crook and she had found
IT out and gone her way, because
she could not find n way 10 break
tho news to him
| Poor little girl What shs hat
suffered. And she had thought tina
he could not overlook the fact thu
her father was a criminal!
lilo buried his face In his hand
and would have cried aloud IL Ii,
could have done so without warnini
tho men In that room OF lis pres
ence.
Now Inc feared 10 lot them know
who he was. He wanted. first, 4
! find olIt who they were. what the,