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HOTEL DEVON J. L. KEHR, Proprietor

South Lafayette Street

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Stitea York '

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8YNOP81S. On Windward Island Palldorl lntrtnwe Mis. Golden Into an appearance of evil which ceusea Golden to capture end torture the Itellan by breading Me fees and the general nieh to escape tta flood U4naps Golden'a .lx-y ear-old daughter Mar-s^rs.-ssr.s.ssrw skims Legar baa delivered her, and takes her to the home of Enoch Golden, millions ire, whence she Is recaptured by Legar. Lo«ar and Btaln are discovered by Manley. Golden'a secretary, setting Are to Golden'a buildings, but eacapa. Margery's mother frultleealy Implores Enoch Golden to find their daughter. The Masked One fiegar loo? thsTtKSl U 0 naJ° bankT^rat again the Laughing Maak frustrates bis puna Legar eenda Golden "The Spotted ' - warning." demanding a portion of a chart j : of the windward Uland. Margery meets her mother. The chart la lost during a light between Manley and one of Lager's henchmen, but U recovered by the Laughing Mask. EIGHTH EPISODE The Stroke of Twelve. Enoch Golden had never been known as a half-hearted fighter. He was. In fact, of that pertinacious breed who fight best when half defeated. And as he grew Into a fuller realization of the virulence of Jules Legar's hatred for him and his house, he proceeded to take more effective steps to protect himself. One of his precautions was to place " an armed guard about the home which had been repeatedly and audaciously Invaded by Legar and his agents. But the mere posting of a couple of paid sentinels about his doors did not marie the limit of his activities. He strove for still more substantial protection by 'Installing In one of the upper rooms of his house a huge bur-glar-proof vault of chromium steeL The Installation of so ponderous a vault, however. Involved much material strengthening of a structure not primarily designed for the support of 1 ' seven-ton safes, and for days a small body of expert workmen had been busy * putting In pillars and girders and disguising these ponderous supports | under a veneer of mahogany ceiling beams and oriental teakwood columns. In the ornamentation of the' latter, In fact, the owner of the house found a valued assistant in Count Luigl Da Espares who, with his finished taste r and his knowledge of the fine arts, advanced many suggestions for beautify- { lng what might otherwise have been an ungainly and cumbersome lnnovatlon. j It was Margery Golden, even more : than her father, to whom Da Espares, ' In these small efforts, looked for grati- ] tude. And the more Margery Golden - 1 saw of that gallant young antiquarian the more mysteriously impressed she _ ' became. , David Manley, who was not alto- . • gether ignorant of this new turn in I ; the tide of events, found little to add 1 to his happiness In this evergrowing Intimacy between Margery and her i I guest. For Manley, by this time, did . more than merely distrust Da Es- , pares; he hated him. | These vague misgivings of Man- ! ley's extended even to the costume dinner-dance which this esthetic for- j eigner undertook to engineer for Mar- I gery's amusement. And in talking over his plans with Golden himself, , as the latter was making ready for | one of his hurried trips to Washing- ( ton, the young nobleman even ven- 1 tured the hope that this fete might | be made the occasion of an even more I auspicious announcement. But the morose-eyed old millionaire | did not quite follow the other's line j of thought. So Da Espares was driven 1 to the expedient of openly yet cour- [ teously requesting the privilege of pressing his suit for the hand of this | fairest daughter of America, i "What d'you mean by that?" demanded the astounded financier. "Are you trying to tell me that you want to marry my daughter?" "That Is the honor of which I have 1 dreamed," was Da Espares" quietly ln- ] toned reply. 1 "Well, the point Is, has my ftargery 1 been dreaming along the same line?" j "That I cannot venture to say," replied that unctuously gallant suitor. ; j "Well, In America that's about the j I first thing that counts! And I guess j I we'd better call off this courtship talk j r until we find out hew the girl feels I about It!" I The disappointed, but not disheartened, count, accordingly, proceeded quietly yet earnestly to sound Margery Golden herself as to her feelings In the matter. But here, to9, he was met with a reply which. If graciously worded, was at least noncommittal. "But you at. least know that I wish to bring you happiness, that I was your friend In the past, that always In the future I want to be youi friend!" "But when friendship remains masked. It remains harder to under stand!" "Then the mask may be withdrawn and withdrawn sooner than you ex pect" I "Just what does that mean?" askec k the clear-eyed girl, studying his face

a move which will deliver you and your father from his enemy. And this time I think the plan will succeed." Mysterious as that plan was, It developed through an Incident which soon brought things down to the plane of the practicaL For when the masons and Ironworkers who were completing the installation of the new Golden vault returned from their midday meal a tar-from-attractlve stranger stole Into the bouse at their heels. And when David "Manley happened to catch sight of this stranger deep In talk with Count Da Es pares, he promptly lumped to the conclusion that he had at last discovered some- • thing on which to concentrate all his earlier Scotch-mists of suspicion. For Da Espares' visitor unmistakably bore the earmarks of the unkempt denizen of the hop-joint and the Bowery saloon. "What U this man doing here?" he asked as he confronted the intruder. "This man Is here at my request. And the happiness of this house depends much on his visit," was Da Espares' retort "What has a crook like Red Egan got to do with the happiness of this house?" scoffed the lsate Manley. "And what right have you to bring a tool of Legar's Into this room?" But still Da Espares remained outwardly calm. "Pardon," he replied. "But this man you call Red Egan is no longer a crook and no longer a tool of Legar's!" "Then what Is he doing here?" "That monsieur, concerns mostly the young lady for whom I have sent!" The soft-spoken foreigner swung about as Margery Golden stepped a little wonderingly Into the room. "This, Miss Golden," said Da Espares, "Is the man of whom I spoke to you. As your friend here protests, this man has been a tool of Legar's. But he has tired of being, the servant of so evil a man. He now seeks to have the state extend Its pardon to him. And as a price for this pardon he Is willing to deliver Into our hands Jules Legar!" "But what Is the plan?" asked the girl, with a touch of Impatience. Da Espares, with upthrust shoulders, looked from the one to the other. "It Is a plan which we had thought It wise to keep a secret," he suavely explained. "Mr. Manley has earned the right to be Included in any secrets which may Involve the capture of Legar," Margery Golden quietly assured the faintly smiling count, who bowed In acquiescence. And realizing the note of authority In that reply, he outlined the plan In as few words as possible. That plan, with Red Egan as their emissary, was not a complicated one. i This renegade from Legar's gang was to go to his old-time chief and report that Margery Golden might be found at such and such a spot, at such and such a time. She would be-alone. And | to Legar and his men, waiting there, j It would seem a simple enough matter j to recapture the girl. But that cap- | ture would never be effected. For a squad of police would be held there, la hiding, and when the moment ar- | rived, they would promptly surround Legar and his men and put them where they belonged, "In other words, monsieur, what we propose to do Is to set a trap, and when this Iron Claw is about to gather '

j In his prey, he himself will be gath- ' ered In." 1 "You propose to set a trap," repeatI ed the Incredulous Manley, "and you 1 | also calmly propose to take this un- 1 protected young girl and use her as 1 I the bait for that trap!" j "On the contrary, monsieur, she will I not be unprotected. Many duly ap1 pointed officers of the law will be 1 I there. And, as I have already ex- J 1 plained to her, I also will be there. ' 1 And Miss Golden. I think, knows that j | I would readily give up my life for the j 1 i sake of keeping her from harm!" "Is that the way you feel about It?" ' • demanded Manley, swinging about to the slightly frowning glrL ■ - "Count Da Espares and 1 will carry . out this plan, and we will carry It : . out, I hope, quite as successfully as , j we may carry out still other plans. 1 1 I And In the count's hands I shall al- ; ways feel that I am fully protected!" 1 I David Manley, thus dismissed, bad I the dubious satisfaction of knowing . that he had once more made a mess 1 of things. r Yet he did not remain altogether ln1 active. He watched his chance and 1 quietly .Installed a dictaphone In the t roonj, attaching the transmitter-disk to the underside of the desk ledge 1 where Da Espares did most of his talk- ! lng, and running his well-hidden wires i down through' the floor to a linen t closet, which the ever-dependable Wilson threw open for him. There Mans ley made the discovery that police • headquarters had actually been communicated with and that the feint for Legar's capture," however Tts end, was Intended to carry every si£n of sincerity. Before another hour slipped by. how- , ever. Manley made two further dls-

turoplk^b^dS and \ her old-time enemy of the Iron Claw. ] And the police. Da Espares assured her, had been duly warned aa to the change of location. Manley, aa overhearing that declaration. promptly called up headquarters and made the startling discovery that no such message had gone in to the authorities there. In five minutes he was In his own car, hastening to a conference with central office Itself. In another five minutea, on learning from Wilson over the wire that Da Espares and Margery had already left the house tn the limousine, Manley had his car filled with armed plain-clothes men from the central office and was speeding out through the city aa fast aa a motor could cany him. As they swept up the dusty approach to the bridge they even saw that they were none too soon. For already, in the bright afternoon sunlight, they could make out a glimmering limousine as It came to a stop at the end of the bridge. They could : aee a somewhat hesitating and whitefaced girl step from this limousine at the same moment that they caught sight of a group of men emerge quickly from the shrubbery at the end of the bridge itself. These, men, spreading out fanlike, swept past the limousine In which Da Espares and the chauffeur were still seated. Four of them, rounding the car, cut off the girl's avenue of retreat Another fopr advanced on her from the bridge-end, at the same time that a fifth man leaped to the running board and started to struggle with the chauffeur. Even as he stared at that quicaly shifting scene Manley could make out the figure of Legat himself. He could see the Iron Claw reach out for the startled figure of the girl, crouched back against the bridge railing, even as his own car-wheels leaped from the approach to the bridge timbers themselves. He could also make out Da Espares' sudden leap from the waiting limousine. Manley, on beholding this, gave a cry of warning to tne plainclothes men about him, for he could plainly see the glint of a revolver In Da Espares' hand. But Da Espares, as that car of deliverance thundered on across the bridge, did not turn to face it Instead, he fought his way through the circle of burly figures surrounding Margery Golden. He fought

1 n» riBurc sree suiiigi and shouldered his way through to 1 1 the side of the girl even as Legar 1 reached for her shrinking body. He | struck blindly at that outstretched i ! struck still again at Legar's face, j 1 at the same moment that Manley's car 1 , shuddered to a stop and the armed men from its tonneau leaped into the | 1 fight. ! : It was a brief fight, but a bitter one, j and much of It escaped Manley's at- I ; ten tlon. The one thing that held him j transfixed was the sudden vision of 1 Da Espares dodging through the Iron 1 : girders In sudden pursuit of Legar. as the latter, breaking free from his ene- . 1 miet. ran to the opposite side of the , bridge. There, seeing retreat on el- • ! ther quarter already cut off, that blaster criminal nimbly mounted the Iron railing and gave one glance towards [ the water below him. Yet, as he poised | there, ready to leap. Da Espares levj eled his weapon and fired. Hanley cctfid hear the shrill scream of the girl, and the shouts of the startled men, the great splash of the tumbling body as it catapulted down in - the black-running water. The next moment the captain and his uniformed squad from the Greenock clubhouse were charging across the bridge, Joining in with their plainclothes colleagues already forcing the ; last of Legar's adherents to flight. And ■ as Manley made his way toward the glimmering limousine and Margery Golden ho could hear the latter's nervous sobs as she leaned weakly against the bridge railing and wept. "Did yau kill him?" she asked with a voice tremulous with horror as Da Espares stepped to her side. "Your enemy Is' dead!" was tile lat-' tor's quiet-toned reply. "He sank at once. And this time he will never The Figure Waa 8trengely Stoop-Shouldered.

tary still* regarded that impending j 1 function as a danger in disguise. Jus* as be SUM nursed very substantial doubts aa to the actual death of Legar. So fixed was Manley in his suspicions, however, that he insisted on a ' conference with Etooch Golden himself. FTOm that conference he wrung small consolation for his suspicions. Manley, In fact, had gtvem up any hope of further argument on the question. when a trivial yet disquieting Incident occurred, and In occurring brought about a slight change in Enoch Golden'a attitude. Thin incident involved the receipt of a strange missive bearing the signature of that elusive interloper in the affaire of the house of Golden known es the Langb- . lng Mask. It read as follows; I, Count Luigl Da Es pares le not only , an Impostor, but also your enemy. And ea e friend I herewith warn you that he le not to be trusted. | Even this epistle, which bore only the emblem of a Laughing Meek for signature, might have been accepted as of no great Importance, had not Enoch Golden been the recipient of still another communication. This time It was a telephone message from a stranger, acknowledging himself to be an active colleague of the Iron Clew's. "Legar may be gone," said this unknown voice over the wire, "but his work la going to go on, and dont you forget It! You still hold that chart If the chief didn't get his chart, before he cashed in, I'm the guy who's going to get It!" "All right," was Golden'a shouted response. "You come up here and get It! And at the same time you'll get what you deserve!" Then, having slammed down the receiver, the deliverer of that ultimatum promptly sent for his secretary. "I want extra guards put around this house!" was Golden's command. "And I want nobody to come into it who can't be accounted tor." "Tonight will be a hard time, I'm afraid, to put that order Into execution," explained Manley. "What d'you mean by that?" "You can't give a masked ball and put every guest on a microscope-slide as he comes In!" "Manley. how are we to know Just who or what those guests are. if

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they're coming Into this house with j all sorts of make-up on?" j "That's exactly what I've been trying to make you see for the last four : days!" was Manley's reply. "And It's, exactly what that man Da Espares has been maneuvering for, or I lose m^i one last bet! And If this man Legar is still alive, all we've been doing la putting a strip of red carpet down for to walk In on!" I "Well, 111 be at the other end of that carpet waiting for him!" was the old fighter's thunderous retort. "That's exactly what I want you to do, what I ask you to do. That's our one chance, If what I suspect proves to be the case! You can disguise faces, In an affair like this tonight, but you can't disguise a lost hand." Golden stood slowly shaking his head up and down In comprehension. ."And If our Iron Claw Is there, Davy, we'll give him a welcome that he's going to remember!"* Two hours later, as Enoch Golden stood with his daughter at his side receiving their guests, It would have taken a particular penetrating eye to detect any darker undercurrent of Intrigue to that rippling tide of color and mirth "which eddied about them. So punctilious was Golden In his hearty Jjand-grasp to each of those incoming visitors, that Margery herself made note of this newer phase In her father's character. Side by side with a Flemish nun walked a Paris Apache, then came s Montenegrin peasant and a flowingrobed Oriental Swaml, then a redsashed pirate and a velvet clad Venetltfi Doge. Then, following a man OQ "fitters;" who laughingly proclaimed himself to be Holly Gee, the Chinese Grtnt. came an equally tall figure la a gold-braided Arabian burnoose. Thlg