■M&IHB
SIO,OOO FOR ONE HUNDRED WORDS.
"The Million Dollar Mystery" story
will r«n for twenty-two consecutive weeks
ill this paper. By an arrangement with
the Thanhouser Film company it has been
made possible not only to read the story
in this paper but also to see it each week
in ihe various moving picture theaters.
For the solution of this mystery story
SIO,OOO will be given by the Thanhouser
Film corporation.
CONDITIONS GOVERNING THE
CONTEST.
The prize of SIO,OOO will be won by the
man, woman, or child who writes the most
acceptable solution of the mystery, from
uhicli the last tico reels of motion picture
drama will be made and the I<M lf (too
chapters of the story written by Harold
MacOrath.
Solutions may be sent to the Than
houser Film corporation at 5 South TTo
lash avenue, Chicago, 111., or Thanhouser
Film corporation, 71 West Twenty-third
street, New York City, N. Y., any time up
to midnight, Jan. 11), 1916. This allows
several weeks after the last ohapter has
been published.
A board of three /udges will determine
irhich of the many solutions received is the
trost acceptable. The judges are to bo
Harold MaoGrath, Lloyd Lonergan. and
Miss Mae Tinee. The judgment of this
SYNOPSIS OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS.
Stanley Buimre, millionaire, after a
miraculous r>cap« front the <» «f tbe
gang of brilliant thieve* known an the
Black Hundred. Uvea the life of a re
cluse for eighteen yearn. Hargreave ac
cidentally meeta Bralne, leader of the
Black Hundred. Knowing Bralne will
try to get him, he escape* from his own
home by a balloon. Before escaping he
wrltea a letter to the girls' school where
eighteen years before he mysteriously
left on the doonstep his baby danshter,
Florence Gray. That day Hargreave
also draws $1,000,000 from the bank, but
it Is reported that this dropped Into the
•ea when the balloon he escaped In was
punctured.
Florence arrives from the ilrls' school.
Countess Olga, Bralne's companion, vis-
Its her and rlatw her as n relative. Two
bogus detectives cnll, but their plot Is
foiled by Norton, a newspaper man.
After falilnK In their flrst attempt, the
Black Hundred trap Florence. They ask
her for money, but she escapes, again
(oiling them.
Norton nnd the countess call on Flor
ence the next day, once more safe at
home. The visitors hnvlng gone, Jones
removes a section of flooring and from
a cavity takes a box. Pursued by mem
bers of the Black Hundred, he rushes to
tbe water front and aucceeds in drop
ping the box into the sea.
(Copyright: 1914: by Harold Mac Grath.)
CHAPTER XVI.
TREACHERY IN TUB HOUSEHOLD.
THE mairl stole into the house, wondering
if she had been seen. She wanted to
be loyal to this girl, but she was
tired of the life; she wanted to be
oer own mistress, and the small for
tune offered her would put her on the way
to realize her ambition. What had she not
seen and been of life since she joined tbe great
detective's force! Lady's maid, cook, ship
stewardess, flash woman, actress, clerk, and a
dozen other employments. Her pay, until she
secured some fat reward, was but twelve hun
dred the year; and here was five thousand in
advance, with the promise of five thousand
more the minute her work was done. And it
was simple work, without any real harm to
ward Florence as far as she was concerned.
The whole thing rested upon one difficulty:
would Jones permit the girls to leave the
house?
One day Florence found Susan sitting in a
chair, her head In her hands.
" Why, Busan, what'a the matter?" cried
Florence.
" I don't know what la the matter, dear, but
I haven't felt well for two or three days.
I'm *iz*y all the time. I can't read or sew or
eat or sleep.
"Why didn't yon tell me?" said Florence,
reproachfully. She rang for the detective
maid. ** Ella, I don't know anything about
doctors hereabouta."
" I know a good one, Miss Florence. Shall
I send for him? "
" Do ; Susan is ill."
Jones was not prepared for treachery in his
own household; so when he heard that a
doctor had been called to attend Susan he was
without the least suspicion that he had been
betrayed. More than this, there had been no
occasion to summon a doctor in the seven
years Mr. Hargreave had lived here. So Jones
went about his petty household affairs without
more thought upon the matter. The maid had
been recommended to him as one of the
s'.ircwdest young women in the detective busi
ness.
The doctor arrived. He was a real doctor;
no doubt of that. He investigated Susan's con
dition —brought about by a subtle though not
dangeroug poison—and instantly recommended
the aeashore. Susan was not used to being
confined to the house; she was essentially an
out of doors little body. The seashore would
bring her about In no time. The doctor sug
gested Atlantic City because of its mildness
throughout the year and ita nearness to Nevi
York.
" I'm afraid 6he'll have to £• alone," said
Jones, gravely
MILLION BDLLAP MYSTERY
board trill be absolute and final. Nothing
cf a literary nature will be considered in
the decision, nor given any preference in
the selection of the winner of the SIO,OOO
prize. The last tico reels, which icill giro
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 proit'ee the same. The story corre
sponding to these motion pictures icill ap
pear in the newspapers coincident ally, 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
uith the mystery as an aid to a solution:
Xo. I—What becomes of the millionairef
No. 2 —TT/iat becomes of the 51,000,000f
No. 3—lVhom does Florence marryT
No.i —What becomes of the Russian
countess T
Nobody connected either directly or in
directly ux'th " The Million Dollar Mys
tery " will be considered as a contestant.
Accomplices of Bralne kidnap Florence
and hurry her off to sea. She leaps over
board and Is plcke# np la a daaed con
dition by fishermen. Bralne, disguised
a* her father, takes her back to aea with
him. Florence sets Ire to the boat aud
la rescued hy a ship on which Norton has
besn shanghaied.
Concealed above the rendaavoua of the
Black Hundred, a man learna of the re
covery of the box from the aea by a
sal'or nnd of Its subsequent aetnra to
the bottom of the sea, and he qnlckly
communicates the fact to Joaea. A dupli
cate box la planted and later aecured by
the band, but before Its contents are ex
amined the box myateriously disappears,
Finding himself checkmated at every
tarn, Bralne endeavors to enmesh the
Hargreave household In tbe law In or
der to gain free access to the house.
The timely discovery of the plot by Nor
ton aeta the police at the heela of the
pack and results In a raid on the gang's
rendesvous, which, however, proves to be
barren of results.
Following n telephone message Jones
received from a mysterious person whom
he addressed as " sir," Florence Is agntn
lured from her home nnd taken out to
sea. Through Norton's daring and skill
as an aviator she Is rescued and returns
to her h"me in time to confront an agent
of the Black Hundred.
" I shan't stir! " declared Susan. " I shan't
leave my girl even if I am sick." Susan
caught Florence's hand and pressed it.
" Would you like to go with her, Florence? "
asked Jones, with a shy glance at the strange
doctor. The sby glance was wasted. The
doctor evinced no sign that it mattered one
way or the other to him.
"It is nothing very seriouß now," he vol
unteered. " But it may turn out serious if it
is not taken care of at once."
" What is the trouble?" inquired Jones,
who was growing fond of Susan.
" Weak heart. Sunshine and good sea air
will strengthen her up again. No, no! " as
Jones drew forth his wallet. " I'll send in my
bill the first of the month. Sunshine and sea
air; that's all that's necessary. And now,
good-day."
All very businesslike; not the least cause in
the world for any one to suspect that a new
trap was being set by the snarers. The maid
returned to the sewing room, while Fk>rence
coddled her companion and made much of her.
Jones was suspicious, but dig in his mi©d
as he would he could find no earthly reason
for this suspicion save that this attribute was
now instinctive, that it was always near the
top. If Susan was 111 she must be given
good care ; there was no getting around this
fact. Later, he telephoned several prominent
physicians. The strange doctor was recom
mended as a good ordinary practitioner and in
good standing; and so Jones dismissed his sus
picions as having no hook to hang them on.
His hair would have tingled at the roots,
however, hau he known that this same physi
cian was one of the two who had signed the
document which l.ad accredited Florence with
insanity and had all but succeeded in making
a supposition a fact Nor was Jones aware
of the fact that the telephone wire had been
tapped recently. So when he finally concluded
to permit Florence to accompany Susan to
Atlantic City he telephoned to the detective
agency to send up a trosty man, who wag
shadowed from the moment he entered the
Hargreave home till he started for the railway
station. He became lost in the shuffle and
was not heard from till weeks later, in Ha
vana. The Black Hundred found a good profit
in the shanghai ing business.
Susan began to pick up, as they say, the
day after the arrival at Atlantic City, due,
doubtless, to the cessation of the poison she
had been takjuc unawares. The two young
women began to enjoy life for the first,time
since they bad left Miss Farlow's. They were
up with the sun every day and went to bed
tired but happy. No on? bothered them. If
some stray reporter encountered their signa
tures on the hotel register, he saw nothing to
excite his reportorial senses. All this, of
■ (J3y HAROLD MAC GRATH*
course, was due to Norton's policy of keeping
the afTalr out of the papers.
Following Jones' orders, they made friends
with no one. Those about the hotel—especial
ly the young men—when they made any ad
vances were politely snubbed. Every nlgl.t
Florence would write to her good butler to
report what had taken place during the day,
and he was left to judge for himself if there
was anything to arouse tils suspicions. He, of
course, believed the two were covertly guarded
by the detective he bad sent after them.
When Bralne called upon Olga he found Lis
doctor there.
" Well, what's the news? " he asked.
" I had better run down and Inquire how
' EXCU4
the young lady is progressing," said the doctor,
who was really a first rate surgeon and who
had performed a number of skilled operations
upon various members of the Black Hundred
anent their encounters with the police. " I've
got Miss Florence where you want her. It's
up to you now."
" She ought to be separated from her com
panion. We have left them alone for a whole
week, so Jones will not worry particularly.
A mighty curious thing has turned up. Be
fore Hargreave's disappearance not a dozen
persons could recollect what Jones looked like.
He was rarely ever in sight. What do you
suppose that signifies?"
" Don't ask me," shrugged the man of medi
cine. " I shouldn't worry over Jones."
" But we can't stir the old fool. We can't
get ljim out of that house. I've tried to get
that maid to j*it a little something in his
coffee, but she stands off at that. She says
that she did as she agreed in regard to Flor
ence, but her agreement ended there. We
have given the jade five thousand already and
sl.e is clamoring for the balance."
"Have you threatened her?" asked Olga.
Braine smiled a little. "My dear woman,
It is fifty-fifty. While I have a hold on her,
It is not quite so good as she has on me. We
are not dealing with an ordinary servant we
could threaten and scare. No, indeed; a
shrewd little won}pn who desperately wanted
money. And <fce will be paid ; no getting out
of it. She will not move another step, one
way or the other, after she receives the bal
ance. nargreave will have a pretty steep bill
to pay when the time comes."
" She has no idea where the million is ? "
" If she Lad, she's quite capable of lugging
it off all by herself,'' said Braine. «
The doctor laughed.
" Olga," went on Braine, " you must look at
it as I do: that it is still in the middle of the
game, and we have neither lost nor won."
" llow do you know that Ilargreave may
not have at his beck and call an organization
quite as capable if not as large as ours?"
■uggested the physician.
" That is not possible," Braine declared
without hesitation.
"Well, it begins to look that way to me.
We've never made a move yet that hasn't
been blocked."
" Pure luck each time, I tell you ; the devil's
own luck always at the critical moment, when
everything seems to be in our hands. Now, we
want Florence, and we've tried a hundred
ways to accomplish this fact and failed. The
question is, how to get her away from her
companion? "
" Simple enough," said the doctor com
placently.
V " Out with it, if you hive an idea/
The doctor leaned forward and whispered
a few words.
" Well, I'm hanged! " Braine laughed and
slapped the doctor on the shoulder. " Tha
simplest thing in the world. Mnd
be in it. I always said that you had gray
matter if you cared to exert yourself."
" Thanks," replied the doctor dryly. " I'll
drop down there tomorrow, if you wy so,
ostensibly to see the other patient. It will
make a deuce of a disturbance."
" Not if you scare the hotel people."
" That is what I propose to do. They will
not want such a thing known. It would scare
every one away for the rest of the season.
But of course this depends upon whether they
j- ——==W^ === V
• X
%' " •
4 V
I ■' ' I
' ' 4 V
FLORENCE FALLS INTO A BED OF OKKSAMD
are honest or in the hotel business to make
money."
Again limine laughed. " Bring her back to
New York alone, .-Esculapius, and a fht check
is yours. Nothing could be simpler than an
idea like this. It's a fact; no roan can think
of everything, and you've just proved it to
me. I've tried to do a general's work without
aids. Olga, does any one watch me come and
go any more?"
" No; I've watched a dozen nigl.ts. The
man has gone. Either he found out what he
wanted or he gave up the job. To my mind
he found out what he wanted."
"And what's that?"
" Heaven knows! " discouragedly.
" Come, doctor, suppose you and I go down
to Daly's for a little turn at billiards? "
" Nothing would suit me better."
" All aboard, then ! Good-night, Olga. Keep
your Lair on; I mean your own hair. We're
going to win out, don't you worry. In «J1
games the minute you begin to doubt you
begin to lose."
That same night Norton sat at his desk, in
his shirt sleeves, pounding away at his type-
writer. From time to time lie paused and
teetered his chair and scowled over his pipe
at the starlit night outside. Bang! would go
his chair again, aof) clickit.v-click would sing
the keys of the machine. The story he was
writing was In the ordinary routine; the ar
rival of a gTeat ocean liner with some political
notables who were not adverse to denouncing
the present administration. You will have
noticed, no doubt, that some disgruntled Qpli
tician is always denouncing the present ad
ministration, it matters not if it be Repub
lican or Democratic. 'When you arc out of a
good job you are alawys prone to denounce.
The yarn bored Norton because his thoughts
were miles southward.
He completed the story, yanked out the final
sheet, called for a copy boy, rose and saun
tered over to the managing editor's door, be
fore which he paused indecisively. The " old
man " had been after him lately regarding the
Hargreave story, and he doubted if his er
rand would prove successful.
However, he boldly opened the door and
walked In.
" Humph ! ' said the " old man," twisting
his cigar into the corner of his mouth. " Got
that story?"
Norton sat down. " Y*s, but I have not got
it fo» print yet. Mr. Blair, when you gave
me the Hargreare Job you gave me carte
blanche."
" I did." grimly. " But, on the other hand,
I did not give you ten years to clear it up in."
" Have I ever (alien down on a good story T"
Quietly.
" M\ cnn't remember," grudgingly.
" Well, if you'll have patience I'll not fall
down on this one. It's the greatest criminal
story I ever handled, but it's so big that it's
going to take time."
" Gimme «n outline."
" I have promised not to," with a primness
equal to the "old man's." "If a line of this
story trickles out it will mean that every other
paper will be moving around, and in the end
will discover enough to spoil my end of it.
I'll tell yeu this much: The most colossal
band of thieves this country ever saw is at
one end of the stick. And when I say that
counterfeiting and politics and millions aw
all involved, you'll understand how big it is.
This gang has city protection. We are run-
ning them all into a corner; but we want that
corner so deep that none of them can wriggla
out of it.
" Uhm. Go op."
" I want two months more."
The " old man " beat a tattoo with his fat
pencil. " Sixty days, then. And if the yarn
isn't on my desk at midnight, you "
" riunt for another job. All right. I came
in to ask for three days' leave."
" You're your own boss, Jim, for sixty days
more. Whadda y' mean counterfeiting?
" Those new tens and twenties. If I stum
ble on that right, why, I can turn it over
without conflicting with the other story."
" Well, go to it."
" I'm turning in my regular wo£, day in
and day out, and while doing it I've gon<»
through more hairbreadth escapes than you
ever heard of. They have been after me. I've
dodged falling safes; I've been shanghaied,
poisoned ; but I haven't said a word."
"Good Lord! Do you mean all that?"
" Every word, sir."
"IH make it ninety days, Jim; and if this
otory comes in I'll see that you get a corking
bonW
J
" T'm not looking for bonuses. I'm prood
of my work. To get this story is all I want
That'll be enough. Thanks for the extension
in time. Good-night."
So Florence received a long night letter in
the morning.
And the doctor arrived at about the sam*
time. And called promptly upon his patient.
" Fine " he said. " The sea air was Just
the thing. A doctor always likes to find his
advice turning out well."
He glanced quizzically at Florence, who was
the picture of glowing health. Suddenly h«
frowned anxiously.
"You need not look at me," she laughed.
" I never felt better in all my life."
"Are you quite sure?" he asked gravely.
"Why, what in the world do you mean?"
He did not speak, but stepped forward and
took her by the wrist, holding his watch in
his other hand. He shook his head. He
looked very solemn, indeed.
"What is it?" demanded Susan, with grow
ing terror.
" Go to your own room Immediately and re
main there for the present," he ordered. " 1
must see Miss Hargreave alone.' '
He opened the door and Susan passed out
bewilderedly. He returned to Florence, whfv
was even more bewildered than Ufcr companion.
The doctor began to n her questions; how
she slept, if she was thirsty, felt pains in her
back. She answered all these questions vague
ly. Not the slightest suspicion entered her
head that she was being hoodwinked. Why
should she entertain any suspicion? This
doctor, who seemed kindly and benevolent,
who had prescribed for Susan and benefited
her, why should she doubt him?"
"In heaven's name, tell me what is the
matter? " she pleaded.
" Stay here for a little while and I'll be
back. Under no circumstances leave your
ro'om till I return."
He paced out into the hall, to meet the
frantic Susan.
"We must see the manager at once," he
replied to her queries. " And we must be
extremely quiet about it. There must be no
excitement. You had better go to your room.
You must not go into Miss HargreaVe's. Tell
me, where Lave you been? Have you been
trying to do any charitable work among the
poorer clasps?"
" Only once," admitted Susan, now on the
verge of tears.
" Only once is sufficient. Come; we'll go
and see the manager together."
They arrived at the desk, and the manager
was summoned.
" I take it," began the doctor lowly, " that
a contagious disease, if it became known
among your guests, would create a good deal
of disturbance? "
" Disturbance! Good heavens, man, it
would ruin my business for the whole sea
son 1 " exclaimed the astounded manager.
" I am sorry, but this young lady's com
panion has been stricken with smallpox "
The manager fell back against his desk, his
jaw fallen. Susan turned as white as the
marble top.
" The only way to avoid trouble is to have
her conveyed immediately to some place where
she can be treated properly. Not a word to
any one now ; absolute secrecy or a panic."
The manager was glad enough to agree.
" She is not dangerous at present, but it la
only a matter of a few hours when the disease
will become virulent. If you will place a
porter before Miss Hargreave's door till v.
make arrangements to take her away, that
will simplify matters."
Smallpox! Susan wandered aimlessly
about, half out of her mind with terror.
There was no help against such a dread dis
ease. Her Florence, her pretty rosy cheeked
Florence, disfigured for life . . .!
"Miss Susan, where is Florence?"
Susan stopped abruptly and looked into
the friendly eyes of Noiton.
"O, Mr. Norton!" sh.- gasped.
"What's the trouble?" Instantly alert.
" Florence has the gmailpt r! "
"Impossible! Come with me."
But the porter, having had the strictest
orders from the manager, refused to let them
Into Florence's room.
" Never mind, Susan. Come along." Out
of earshot of the porter he said: "My room
Is directly ahove Florence's. We'll see what
csn be done. 'Biis (.mells of The Black Hun
dred a mile off. Smallpox! Only yesterday
she wrote me that she never felt better.
Have you wired Jones?"
" I never thought to! "
" Then I shall. Our old friends are at
work again."
" But it's the same doctor who sent m#
down here."
Norton fiowned.
What followed all appeared In the> re
porter's story, as written three months later,
lie and Susan went up to bis room, raised the
flooring, cut through the ceiling, and with ths
fire escape rope dropped below. One glance
at Florence's tear-stained face was enough
for him. Norton's subsequent battle with the
doctor and his accomplices made very Inter
esting rending. Their escape from the hotel,
their flight, their encounter with one of the
gang in the road, and Florence's blunder into
the bed of quicksand, gave a succession of
thrills to the readers of the Blade.
And all this while the million accumulated
dust, layer by layer. Perhaps an occasional
hai-dy roach scrambled over the packets, n#
doubt attracted by the peculiar odor of th*
ink.
£TO BE CONTINUED.}