S©MLLDN DOLLAR MYS»« SIO,OOO FOR ONE HUNDRED WORDS. "The Million Dollar Mystery" itory will run for twenty-two co**ecutive weeks in this paper. By an ai with the Thanhouser Film company it has been mode possible not only to read the story in this paper but also to see it each week in the various moving picture theaters. For the solution of this mystery story SIO,OOO will be given by the Thanhouser Film corporation. CONDITIONS GOVERNING THE 1 CONTEST. T\« prise of SIO,OOO will be won by the man, woman, or child who writes the most acceptable solution of the mystery, from wkioh the last two reels of motion picture drama wiU be made and the last two chapters of tht story written by Harold MaoGrath^ Solutions *n«y be sent to the Thanhouser Film corporation, either at Ckioapo or New York, any time up to midnight, Jan. 14. {This allows several weeks after the last chapter hat been published. A board of three judge* toill determine which of the many solutions received it the most acceptable. The judges are to be Harold MacQrath, Lloyd Lonergan, and Hiss Mae Tinee, The judgment of thit board uill be absolute and final. Nothing SYNOPSIS OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS. Stanley HaT*reave, millionaire, alter • the water front and succeeds la drop. Miraculous eacape from the den of tko plnf the box Into the sea. ■an* of brilliant thtevea known aa the Black Hundred, Uvea the life of t re triune for eighteen yea re. HargrenTe ac- Irldentally meeta Bralne, leader of the tDlark Hundred. Knowing Bralne will fltry to aret htm, he eacapes from hla own itme by a balloon. Before escaping he * letter to the girls' achool where Vlghteen yeara before he mysteriously (eft en the doorstep hla baby daughter, Florence Gray. That day Hargreave Li.n (raw* *1.000.000 from the bank, bnt kt la reported that thla dropped Into the £iea when the balloon he esraped la was Florence arrlTea from the atria' achool. iCounteaa Olga. Bralne'a companion, Ita her and clalma her ae a relative. Two k'n> deteetlves rail, bnt their plot la foiled by Norton, a newspaper maa. j By bribing the captala of the Orient, Norton lnya a trap for Bralne and hla gaag. Countess Olga also visits the Orl. eat's captain, and ahe easily falls Into the reporter'a anare. The plan proves abortive through Bratne's good lurk and only hirelings fall Into the hands of the police. After falling In their flrut attempt, the Black Hundred trap Florence. They ask her for money, bnt she escapes, again foiling them. Norton and the countess call on Flor ence the next day. once more ssfe st home. The visitors having gone. Jones removes a section of flooring and from a cavity takes a bo*. Pursued by mem bers of the Black Hundred, he rnsfcen to fOoryrlffht: 1P14: By RaroM MficGrath.} PHAPTFR XIV. NORTON MAKES A DISCOVERY. PERHAPS the most amusing phase of the secret agent's discomfiture was the fact that neither Jones nor Florence had the least Idea what had happened in the mmmer house nor that anything had hap pened. Florence regretted a hundred times during the evening that she had not gone out to the summer house. It might really have been her father. Her regret grew so deep in her that just before going to bed she con fessed to Jones. " Ton received a letter of that sort and did not show it to me?" said Jones, astonished. " Tou warned me never to pay any atten tion to them." "No; I warned you never *o act upon tliem •without first consulting me. And we might tave made a enpture! My child, always show ■me these things. I will advise you whether to tear them up or not." " Jones, I believe you are going a little too Yar," Mid Florence haughtily. "It might have been from my father." "Never in this wide world, Miss Florence. Still, I beg your pardon for raising my voice. What I Jo and have done is only for your own sake. There are two things I wish to Impress upon your mind before I go. This ca.n be made a comedy o~ a terrible tragedy. Tou have already had a taste of the latter; and each time you escaped because God was good to us. But He is rarely kind to thought less people. They have to look out for them selves. I am acting under orders; always re member that." "Forgive me; I acted wrongly. But I'm so weary and tired of this eternal suspicion of everybody and everything. Can't I go some where, some place where I can have rest?" "If I thought for a single moment it was possible to take you thousands of miles from this spot, it would be done this very night. But this is our fortress. So far it has been Impregnable. The police are watching it; and that prevents a general assault by the scoun drels. If we tried to leave we would be fol lowed ; and they play that game exceedingly well. Now, good-night. We'll have ynu out of all this doubt and suspicion one of these days. There will not be any past; that will b» lopped off as you'd lop a limb from a tree." " Please let it be quick. I want to see my father." i Jones'* eyes sparkled. " And you have my word that he wants to see you. But more I daro not tell you." " Do you think he would object to Mr. Nor ton?" she asked, studying the rug. "In what capacity?" he countered, forcing her hand. '• As—us a husband?" bravely. Jones in his turn studied the patterns In the rujr. "It is only natural for a father to look high for his daughter's husband. Rut, after all, an honest man is worth a* much as any thtnr I know of. And Norton is honest and loyal and brave." 'Thank you. Junes. 1 intend to marry him when the time com«s : so you may as well pre pare father for this eventuality." "There is an old a.lase —" But she. interrupted him. "If rou hare a of a literary nature will be considered in the decisiou, nor fiven any preference in the selection of the winner of the SIO,OOO prise. The last two reels, which will give the most acceptable solution to the mys tery, will be presented in the theaters having this feature as soon as it is pos sible to produce the same. The story corre sponding to these motion pictures will ap pear »* the newspapers coinoidentally, or as soon after the appearance of the pic tures as practicable. With the last two reels will be shown the pictures of the win- ner, his or her home, and other interesting features. It is understood that the news papers, so far as practicable, in printing the last two chapters of the story by Har old MacGrath, will also show a picture of the successful contestant. Solutions to the mystery must not be more than 100 words long. Here are some questions to be kept in mind in connection with the mystery as an aid to a solution: No.l—What becomes of the millionairet No. 2—Wh<it becomes of the 51,000,000 No.S—lTtom does Florence marry? Jio. I —What becomes of the Ruttian countess T Nobody connected either direotly or in direct irith " The Million Dollar Mys tery" will be considered as a contestant. Countess Olga causes an cstragement between Morion and Florence. Accomplices of Bralne kidnap Florence while ahe Is shopping and hurry her ofT to sea. She leaps overboard and Is picked op In a dazed condition by flsh rrmen. The Black Hundred locate her nnd Bralne, disguised as her father, taken her bark to sea with him. Florence acts lire to the boat and Is rescued by a ship on which Morton hns been shanghaied. Norton and Florence, aafely ashore nnd with no longer any misunderstand ing between them, take the train for home. The train la wrecked and the Black Hundred carry the Injured Flor ence to a deserted but. Norton, who tries to rescue her. Is tied to the railroad tracks. Florence saves blm and Anally Jonrs comes to the rescue of both. Concealed above the rendetvona of the Black Hundred, a man learns of the re covery from the sea of the box of jew els by a sailor nnd of Its subsequent re turn to the bottom of the sea, and he quickly communicates the fact to Jones. A duplicate box Is planted and later se cured by the bnnd, but before Its eon tents are examined the box mysteriously disappears. Owing to the falling off of contribu tion* to the parent organization In Rus sia. sn agent arrives nnd assumes the leadership of the American branch of the Black Hundred. Through the conniv ance of the conntcss, the new head la thoroughly humiliated. Brnlne pursues hla own plnns pending restoration to power. new adage, Jones, 1 shouldn't mind bearing it. But I'm only just out of school, where old adages are served from soup to pudding. Good-night." And Jones wont to the rear of the house, chuckling. In the passing it. might well be observed that the Ilargreave house hnd a remarkable me nage. There was a gardener, a cook, and a maid; nn,l the three of them reported to Jones each night before going to bed. They vyere all three detectives from one ot the greatest or ganizations in America.- Finding themselves unable to lure Florence away from the environs of the Ilargreave home, the Black Hundred set some new ma chinery in motion. They proposed to rid the house of every one in it by a perfectly logical device. But the first step in this new move was going to be extremely delicate and risky. It was no small adventure to enter the Har greave home ; and yet this must be done. So finally " Spider" Beggs was selected for the work. The man could practically walk over crockery without causing a sound; he could climb a house by thp window ledges; and he could hold his breath like those professional tank swimmers. Three or four nights after the Paroff fiasco, Jones started the rounds, putting out the lights. He left the erne in the hall till the last, for it was his habit, after having turned off that light, to stand by the door for several minutes, watching. One never could tell. On the other hand. " Spider " Bpggs never approached a house till an hour after the lights went out. Persons were likely to move about for some minutes later; they might want something to eat, a drink of water. So he remained bidden behind the summer house till long after midnight. When at last he felt assured that all in the Hargreave house were asleep, he moved out cautiously. Both his future and his pocketbook depended upon t'ne success of this venture. It took him ten minutes to crawl from the summer houso to the veranda, and to have detected this approach Jones, had he been watching, would have needed a searchlight. Beggs hugged the lattice work for another ten minutes and then drew himself up and wriggled to one of the windows. Here was an operation that needed all his art and skill; to lift this win dow without sound. But he was an old 'p.nnd and windows with ordinary locks were playthings under his deft touch. He raised the window, stepped over the sill into the library, and crouched down. He did not close the window; house thieves never do. They leave windows and doors open, because sooner or later they have got to make their escape that way. Presently lie stood up, flashed his torch, found the library shelves, and tiptoed toward them. He then selected three or four vol umes, opened them at random and laid neat packages of money between tiie leaves. It was not real money, but only a bank clerk could have told you that. This done, he moved toward the window Benin. "Stop!" said .Tones quietly. "Spider" RCJTKS si sped, it was so unex pected; but at the same time almost instinct ively he plnnßed headlong throueh the win- and the bullet w'nich followed snipped *rTTB nSLEGRAFH, HARRISBTTRG, PA.. SEPTEMBER 1914. a lock of his hair. He threw himself off the veranda and scurried across the lawn, itig *ag fashion. But no more bullets followed. Jones turned on the lights and investigated the room, but 'ne could not find anything disturbed, and naturally came to the conclu sion that the intruder had been interrupted before he had begun his work. He turned off the lights and sat up the major portion of the nig'nt. Nothing more happened. Flor ence came down, but he sent her back to bed, explaining that some one had attempted to enter the house and he had taken a shot at him. " Spider" Beggs had a letter to write. He was in 'nigh feathers. He had tackled a difficult job and had come away without a scratch. But he had the misfortune to write his letter to the secret service officials in a hotel often frequented by Norton. And so .Tim, on finishing his own letter, Wotted it and casually glanced at the blotter. A single word caught his eye. Being an alert newspaper man, always on the hunt, for stories, he examined the blotter with care. It was an easy matter for him to read writ ing backward, having fooled away many an hour in the composing rooms. The word which 'nad awakened the reportorial sense in him was " counterfeit." He held the blot ter toward tKe mirror and rend enough to satisfy himself that the Black Hundred had become active once more. And this was one of toe best ideas they had yet conceived. Hargreave had always been something of a mystery to bis neighbors. Where be had lived in other days was unknown; neither had any one the remotest idea from what source 'tils riches had been obtained. And nothing was known of Jones or the daughter. It was a very shrewd method of clearing every one out of the house and leaving It to be examined at leisure. And he had fallen upon this thing: he, Norton, all because uis tailor had written him a sharp note about his bill and he had been provoked to reply In kind! Counterfeit money. There was quite a flurry these days over certain issues of spurious paper. It vras so good that only experts could detect it. Tnere were two plates, one for ten and another for twenty. For a while he was pulied between duty and love. Well, it would only ndd another in teresting chaper to the genera! story when he published it. He started out to Riverdale to acquaint .Tones with the discovery. "Humph!" said .Tones; "not a bad Idea this. So that's what the sneak was doing here last night. I've been wondering and wondering. Let's have a look." He went through the books and at length came across the three volumes. These held a thousand in excellent counterfeit. "Mighty good work that What are you going to do?" asked the reporter. •Tones rubbed his chin reflectively. " How long may a counterfeiter be sent up?" "Anywhere from ten to twenty years." " That will serve. My boy, this time we'll go and take Mr. Black Hundred right in his cubby hole." "You know where it is?" "Every nook and corner of It. Now you go at once to the chief of the local branch of the secret service aud put the matter to him frankly. I, Florence, Susan, and the rest of us must be arrested. The weetches must believe that the house is empty. They'll rove about fruitlessly and will return to tneir den to report the success of the coup. All the while you and some detectives will be in hiding upstairs, dictagraph and nil that. When the time conies you will follow. This will not reach the bends, perhaps, but it will demoralize t'ne organization in sncli a way ns to make it helpless for several months to come. There is a tunnel from the stable* to this house." "What, a tunuelZ* "Yes, Mr. Hargreave had it built several years ago. I don't know what his idea was; possibly he anticipated an event like this. Von and your men will find entrance by t'ais method. It can be done without exciting the suspicions of the watchers." " Looks as if my yaru wasn't going to be delayed so long after all. Jones, you ought to have been in the secret sen ice yourself," admiringly. Jones smiled and shrugged. " I am per fectly satisfied with my lot —or would be if the Black Hundred could be wiped out of existence." " I'll see the secret service people at once. I stand in well wit'fl them all." " And good luck to you. We'll need good luck." Norton was welcomed cordially by the chief. The secret service men trusted him and told him lots of tales that never saw light on the printed page. The reporter went directly to the point of his story, without elaboration, and fne chief smiled and handed him the original letter. "Norton, I've been after this gang of counterfeiters for months and they are clever beyond words. I've never been able to get anywhere near their presses. And for a mo ment I thought this note was from a squealer. I ve a dozen men scouring the country. They find t'ne bogus notes, but never the men who pass them. Ton see, it's new stuff. I know what all the old timers are at; but none of them has had a hand in this issue. Rome foreigners, I take it. under the leadership of a man I'd very much like to know. Now, what's your sc'neme?" ■Tim outlined it briefly. "It nil depends," said the cliief. "upon the fact that they will be impntient. If they have the ability to wait, we lose. But we can afford to risk the chance. The man w'no wrote this letter is not a counterfeiter. He's an oid yeggman. We haven't heard anything of him lately. We tried to corner him on a postoflico job, but he slipped bv. He may be a stool. Anyhow, I'll draw hiro in somehow." "There'll be some excitement." "We're used to that: you, too. AH we've got to do is to locate this man Beggs. Toere are signs of spite in this letter. Very well played, if yon want my opinion. What's this Black Hundred?" " I'm not at liberty to tell just yet. It's a strange game; half political, half blackmail. It's a pretty strong organization. But if they're back of this counterfeiting, there's a fine chance of landing thom all." Here t'ne chief's assistant came in. " Got Bcggs on the wire. Says he'll conduct you to the home if you'll promise him immunity for some other offenses." " Tell him he shall have immunity on the word of the c'uief. But also say that he must come to see me in person." "All right, sir." " I don't believe it would be wise for Bcggs to see me here. I gave him a good send-off—Sing Sing—five years ago. lie may recollect," said Norton. " Suit yourself about that. Only, keep into communication with me by telephone slid I'll tip you off as to when the raid shall take place. Lucky you came in. I should have honestly gone there and arrested In nocent people, and they would have had a devil of a time explaining. It would have taken thom nt least a week to clear them selves. That would leave the Rouse empty all thnt time." Norton did not reply, but he put t'ne blotter nway carefully. There was no getting away from the fact, but the god of luck was with him. "Do you know what's back of it all?" " I can't tell you any more thnn 1 have,™ said Norton. " Then 1 pass. I know yon well enough. If you've made up your mind not to talE a man couldn't get anything out of you wit'a a can-opener. And that's why we trust you, my boy. Don't forget the telephone." " I shan't. So long." That same night Braine paid the Russian woman a brief visit. " I think that here's w'nere we go forward. The secret service will raid the house to morrow and then for a few days well roam about as we bally please. I'm hanged If I don't have every plank torn up and all the walls pulled down. More and more I'm con vinced that the money is in t'nat house." " Don't be too confident," warned Olga. " So many times have we been tripped up when everything seemed In our hands. The house should be guarded but not entered for a day or two; at least not till after the raid is cold. I'm beginning to see traps every* where." " Nonsense! L*ave it to me. We shan't stick our 'oeads inside the Hargreave house till we are dead certain that it is absolutely empty. Olga, you're a gem. I don't think Russia will bother us for awhile. Eh? Paroff will not dare tell how he was flim flammed. The least he can do to save his own skin is to say that we are fully capa ble of taking care of ourselves." Olga laughed. "To t'nink of his writing a note like that! Florence would have recog nized—and no doubt did —a palpable attempt to play an old game twice." "How does she act toward you?" "Cordial as ever; and yet . . ." " Tet what? " " I thought her an ordiuary school girl, and yet every once in awhile she makes what you billiard players call a professional snot. What matter? So long as they do not shut the door in my face. I ask nothing more. But do you want my opinion? I feel it in my bones that something will go wrong tomorrow." "Good lord, are you losing your nerve?" cried Braine impatiently. "The secret serv ice has the warning; they will find the green stuff, and Jones & Co. will mog off to the police station. And there'll be a week of red tape before they are turned loose again. They'll dig into Ilargreave's finances and ail that. We'll have all the security in the worlJ to find out if the money is in the house or not. Why worry?" " It's only the way I feel. There is some thing uncanny in the regularity of that girl's good luck." "Ah, but we're not after her this time; it's the whole family." "The servants, too?" " Everybody in the house will be under suspicion." "And you can trust Beggs?" " His life is in the hollow of my hand. You can always trust a man when you hold the rope that's around his neck." Still the frown did not leave Olga's brow. With all her soul she longed to be out of this tangle. It had all looked so easy at the start; yet here they were, weeks later, no further forward than at the beginning, and added to this thc.v had paid much in lives and money. Well, if she would bo fool enough to love this man she must abide with the con sequences. She wanted him all by 'norself, out of danger, in a far country. He might tire, but she knew in her heart that she never would. This was her one great passion, and while her mode of living was not as honest as might be, her love was honest enough and unswerving, though it was not gilded by the pleasant fancies of youth. "Of what are you thinking?" Vie asked when he concluded that the pause had been long enough. " lou." " H'm. Complimentary ? " " No; just ordinary everyday love." "Ah, Olga, why the deuc« must you p> and fall in love with a bundle of aaaes like myself? Ashes and bitter a&hes, too. Some times I regret. But the regretting only seems to make me all the more savage. What opium and dope are to other men, danger and excitement are to me. It i* not writ ten that I shall die in bed. I have told you that already. There is no other woman— now. And I do love you after a farfnion, «a a man loves a comrade. Wait till this dan cing bout is over and I may talk otherwise. And now I am going to a reception. I am going to shake hands and hobnob with the 01ite —beautiful word! And while X bow and smirk and crack witticisms, I and the devil will be chuckling in our sleeves. But this I'll tell you, while there's a drop of blood in my veins, a breat'n in my body. 111 stick to this fight if only to prove that I'm not a quitter." He caught her suddenly In hla arms, ktased her, ran lightly to the door, and w»s gone before she could recover from her astonlih ment. The affair went smoothly, without a hitch. Norton and his men gained the bouse through the tunnel without attracting the least at tention. The Blnck Hundred, watching the front and rear of the nouse, never dreamed that there existed another mode of entrance or that there was a secret cabinet room. Half an hour later the head of the secret service, accompanied by his men, together with "Sp'der" Begga, who was !n high feather over his success, arrived, demanded admittance, and went at the fount of the business at once. "Tour name is .Tones," began the chief. The butler nodded, thongh his face evinced no little bewilderment at the appearance of these men. "What Is it you wish, sir?" " I am from the secret service and I have It from a pretty good source that there ia counterfeit money hidden in this house. More than that. T can put my hand on the very place it is hidden." " That is impossible, air," declared Jonea indignantly. "T'm an old hand, Mr. Jones. It will not do you a bit of good to put on that bold ! front." Be-ggs smiled. How was he tx> know that this was a comedy set especially for hla benefit. " I should like to see that money," said Jones, not quite so bravely. "Come with me," said the secret service man. "Where's the library?" " Beyond that door, air." The c'nief, beckoning to his men, entered the library, went directly to a certain shelf, extracted three volumes, and there lay th« money in three neat packages. "Good heavens!" gasped Jones. " I shall have to request you and the fam ily to accompany me to the station." " But it is all utterly impossible, sir! I know nothing of fnat money, nor how it got there. It's a plot I declare on my oath, sir, that I am innocent, that Miss Florence and her companion know nothing about It." " You will have to tell all that to the fe<T eral Judge, sir. My duty is to take you all to the station. It would be just as well not to say anything more, sir." "Very well; but some one shall smart for this outrage." "That remains to be seen," was the terse comment of the secret service man. He led his prisoners away directly. Norton and his men had to wait far into the night. The Black Hundred did not in tpnd to make any mistake this time by a hasty move. At quarter after 10 they de scended. Braine was not with t'nem. This was due to the urgent request of Olga. who still had her doubts. The men rioted about the house, searching nooks and corners, ex amining floors and walls, opening books, pnll ing out drawers, but they found nothing. They talked freely, however, and t'ne dicta graph registered every word. The printing plant, which had so long defied discovery, was in the cellar of the house occupied by the Black Hundred. Norton and his men determined to follow and raid the building. And the reporter promised himself a good front page story without in any way con flicting with his promises to .Tones. Events came to pass as they expected. The trailing was not the easiest thing. Norton knew about where the building was, but he could not go to it directly. He was quite confident that its entrance was identical with that which had the trap door through which he had been flung that memorable day when he had been shanghaied. When they reached the building Tie warned the men to hug the wall to the stairs. The trap yawned, but no one was hurt. They scampered up the stairs like a lot of eager boys; broke the door in—to find tb* weird executive chamber dark and empty «nd an acrid smoke In their nostrils. This grew stifling as they blundered about In the dark. By luck Norton found the exit and called to the men to follow. They saw Beggs at the top of the stairway and called out to hhn to surrender. (He held np 'ais hands and the stairs collapsed. Real fire burst out and Norton and his companion had a desperate battle with flame and smoke to gain the street The lire was pnt out finally, but there was nothing In the rnlns to prove that tiwre had been a counterfeiting den there. There wts, however, at least eae consoling feature: in the future the Blact Hundred would have to hold their star-chambers elsewhere. It was cbeckmaU: or, rather. It wts m draw. [TO BE cotmnum)
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