Frank James in St. Louis OR The Mysteries of a Great City

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume V, Issue 1405, 16 August 1905, Page 4

Frank James in St. Louis OR The Mysteries of a Great City

BY W. B. LAWSON,

CHAPTER IF. i TAKING TO THE KOOF. I (Continued) Her manner shows excitement; she , gcems to bo listening intently. " This is too bad 1" slits exclaims. "What is tho matter?" " I bear foouteps without, ana Ins (top." " lour husband ? "Yes-hehasretnrnod unexpestcdlyi( he find? yon hero tbero will be murder dcnel' 1 II FraDk James begins to suspect tba'after all lie has wejkod into the trap; still bo does not scaro worth a oen*. " Can I leavo by any back ttiirs 1" "Thore are none." " Then I must go down as T cauio up." " You will meet him." 11 1 pwumo so." '.' Thero will be bloodshed" " Well, that depends on bim only." "It must not be. Fool that I was to enter into any such tcbtme." ■ Vbo presses her bands against her bead 'as though lo calm ber bvain. Just then'tho door below closet. The woman starts up wildly; she rushes to one of the curtains and draws it aside, motioning with her hand for him to pass beyond. He obeys; there is no other way, As be passes her sbewhispors hoarsely, "For heaven's take got out of the house in some way; ho will kill you." Then the curtain drops, He is in darkness. In that one moment of time, however, he has beori able to soo what lies bojond; a narrow passage with stairs ascending, Shall ho go on ? Ho feels an impnlso to remain and liston ore taking bis depatturo. As yet he finds himself unable to decide whether Mary Powell has been tolling him (he truth, or taking part m a oloverly plannol game, bucU as 'tho wic'ied oity boasts of. A little eavesdropping will cltar up thiß matter without any question. So he remains. " Somo one ascends tho ttaira, ' A. man enters tho peculiar room and greets the bandscmo woman warmly. " Whal'« toe matter Mary ?" he asks. Frank James knows the voice; it is be--1 yonr 1 all doubt that of Carpenter; he would recognise it among a thousand tongues. " I was feeling a lit lo b'uo, ihat was ■all, Matt," "That is ho lal, I tl.ou.jhtycuwro happy." "And so I am; you know a fit of lie] • blues is liablo to oome on at any time, There, your coming has chased it away, , What brought you home sooner than yon expected?" " Important news," "Connected with that man?" •" Its, News that will put him in my power before twenty hours go by." The man in question nods bis hoad iogtly " I've had a report from Dob, and ho has watohed bim up to noon. Then Scully took his placo; he'll hand in his re. port by morning. Then all will bo ready; we will Bpring the trap and bag our bird." The woman is anxious, as though she begins to see that the visit of Frank James to iho house may yet be known. l She must invont some way later on of ' showing how she meant to anticipate her husband's game and made a bungle of it. He speaks of other things, The man behind the cumin takes no interest in what is said now, and thinks it high time he left his dangerous quarters. It is almost pitch dark boyond, and a false step will surely botray him, but ho has no ehoico in tho matter, and must proceed, So ho gropes along, The narrow stairs are reached, Ascending he is at the top; the gloom now is fearful, and ho knows not which way to turn, Escape ho must, In his pockets are ina'chei, one of which ho lights to serve as a torch, As tbo flame shoots up ho cast a quick glauco around and sees Eevora! doors, Stepping toward one a board creaks nndor his weight. He wondorß whethor the sound .would bB heard by those below, After he reaches the door it ij only lo find it locked. Ho goes on to tbo next which opous readily at his touch, Whore is ho now. In a room of some kind, he catches tho outline of a window, and in advancing that way, runs his hoad agiinst the ceiling. It strikes him as offering a chance to leave tbo house, if ho can only, find somo other means of reaching the solid ground, so be immediately proceeds to open it, Just below is the gutter; he tests it,

then crawls out, glad f) leave tbo house tbftt holds t'io trap. Where will ho ro bow ? Other windows there arc Ho must tako the risk of entering somo vnknown house and descending to ibe street, with a ohanee of being shot at for a burglar. (To k continual I