The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1931-03-27
Black Mask Nearly
Upset Johnny


Copyright,
T~HERE was quote group stand
l. ing near the electric switch when
1t all began to happen-Rita Marr ana
Johnny Montgomery, and their hostess,
Mrs. Stone-Morris, and cluster OF
young girls, and butler at side.
Throughout the room the guests
| were dancing to the radio music, or
talking in groups, or pairing Oft In
cozy corners.
Mrs. Stone Morris had been telling
the history of the matchless string OF
| pearls that encircled her lovely neck.
| 1t had been the proud possession OF
| queens. Crime and bloodshed had fol-
| lowed in it's wake across the CONT
nents. Its price could build small
| empire.
"They are so beautiful" exclaimed
Rita. "But if they were mine, I'd be
afraid to wear them, with the history
they have. Aren't you afraid OF
thieves?"
Mrs. Stone-M Norris smiled calmly.
| She was an unusual woman.
"Thieves," she repeated in amuse-
| ment and shrugged, as though at an
inconceivable likelihood.
Johnny Montgomery eyed the neck
| lace contemplatively.
"Now, if they were mine," he said,
with the humorous candor that made
| him so dear to Rita, II don't think I'd
wear them around my neck"
"rm sure you wouldn't" put In his
| hostess.
'I'd sell them," he said, pearl by
pearl, and I'd buy us a castle of am
| ber and roses, with sky hung low
| with moons, and a brand new-a
| brand new"
''Ukulele," assisted Rita.
Mrs. Stone Morris laughed, and was
about to speak, when suddenly the
| lights went out. In the silence that
followed broken only by the wall OF
| waltz from the radio, there came
sudden crash of glass and the sound
of suppressed tumult.
Some one struck match, and Rita
| cried out in terror as she saw Mrs.
/ Stone-Morris struggling with the figure
of man in evening clothes, shad-
owy silhouette of man, with but one
outstanding feature-a black mask
that covered the upper half of his
| face.
| There was a sudden rush as a NUM-
ber of the men joined in the fray.
Then as suddenly as they had gone
off, the lights were flashed on.
'I've got him!" shouted several OF
the men at once, only to discover that
they had captured their own fellow
guests in the struggle for the intruder
Rita turned to her hostess. Mrs
! Stone-Morris' hands were at heI
throat. The pearls were gone!
There was a rush to the telephone
| The police were called. Johnny Mont
gomery and several other young mer
ran out to search the grounds. But
the pearls had vanished, and Mrs
Stone Morris, with the stoicism of one
to whom life meant more than the
jewels she wore around her neck
helped the party resume it's gayety.
Rita and Johnny sought corner In
which to discuss the excitement OF
| the theft.
"Just think" said Rita. mo one
even knows what the thief looks like
except that he wore a black mask
How can they hope to catch him?"
Johnny nodded thoughtfully, an(
Rita, CHANGING to look down, was sud
denly aware of a queer piece of black
silk that protruded from his pocket
Her heart skipped beat. Her senses
whirled
There came to her ears the shril
siren of police car-the answer tC
the telephone call of alarm. At any
moment the police would burst into
the room, questioning, perhaps search.
ing the guests.
Swiftly, stealthily, she removed the
black mask from Johnny's pocket She
was about to crumple it in her palms
when Jobnny's voice arrested her.
Rita" Johnny muttered, where
did you get that? We've got to hide
ii! The police"
But at that moment the police burst
into the room. Rita leaped to her
| feet in excitement. For, disheveled
handcuffed to an officer, stood a sui.
en-eyed stranger in evening clothes
from whose pocket another officer was
producing the precious necklace OF
| pearls.
The police. in making a thorough
search of the grounds before entering
| the house. had discovered the thief
| lying under the back veranda. whittier
he had crawled to await the oppor-
tunity for safe getaway.
A confession followed, duplicating
the butler as the accomplice who
| switched off the lights at an agreed
upon time, thus giving the thief the
opportunity to rush in and make of
with the pearls. Finding the mask 8
hindrance in the unexpected struggle
that followed, the criminal had deftly
removed it and had slipped it into the
| pocket of his nearest assailant.
"Rita," asked Johnny with sudden
| jealousy, "out of whose pocket die
| you get that mask?"
"Yours, johnny" she answered.
"Mine?" he stammered. Good grief
And thought-and | thought"
But Johnny had nothing more tt
say. He embraced Rita with fervol