v : " : THE DAILY BRITISH WHIG, SATURDAY, --~ THE MASTER KE CHAPTER XxX1, "Only an idol" HEN the chest deck, dripping was with oe 3 slime, corroded and mysteri vus, Hurry Wilkerson stared pidly. His mind went down the years to that night when Thomas Gallon--scheming for his iit He daughter--had dra plan 'by candlelight, to the quo desperate flight and ¢ pe. And now he wus about to see for the first time the fatal paper--to know the secret of the wealth of the "Master Key." He forgot his surroundings. It was Jean Darnell who recalled blm to the present. She leaned over back wn a ai s Bg Thomas Gallon and His Littis Oaughter, his shoulder as be knelt, and the per fume of her breathed into his nostrils. * Me Tooked up, laughed and then or dered the Lox taken aft. "lI was dreaming," he said slowly. Then be looked at her directly, and she saw the flame In his eyes "Why dream when things are com- Ing trae?" she pared "1 wonder whether they will all come true," he sald moodily and followed the chest aft. The curious sallors set the box down and waltegd It was evident from their attitudes "they expected to see nothing less than great treasure. Oth erwise, why this costly expedition? But Wilkerson did not start immedi ately to open the chest. Its very ap pearance seemed to bewilder him, and his hands shook. It was Jean Darnell who stirred Lim to activity. "Now you've got it," she sald Impa. tently, "hurry and open it! The other launch is chasing us!" Wilkerson stared around and picked up a marlinspike. He began to pry at the lock. Mrs, Darnell angrily jerked at bis shoulder. "Harry, you fool, here is the key!" He took the article she banded him and nodded. "Sure enough," he assent ed, "we have the key! Fuuny.l had forgot that." With some difficulty he managed to clear the lock and insert the key. It turned with difficulty, A moment later he had pried the ia back from its setting of rust and slime and they were all staring at the sod- den contents. There was no sonnd except the trun- dling of the swiftly revolving propel- ler and the heavy breathing of the sailors. Suddenly Wilkerson swung round ap- grily and ordered everybody forward Then he began his slow search. Old jackets almost disintegrated by the action of water, pulpy papers and Wilkerson Stared at It Stupidly. various odds and ends came to his band. The pulp be carefully laid aside | as being possibly what he was look: ing for. "I'm afraid the plans are gone," Jean | whispered. "We must find them! he snarled and | went on with his task. Halfway down be came upon a gro- | tesque figure dripping with woody ooze. It stifly stared up at him as he held it. | *A dol" lsughed Mrs. Dammell » a to his own we -sallor's - enrlo. s don't talk.' hour afterward » his feet ar ed vsutents of the pers The .idol rolled away and cawe to a stop upright aguiust the bulwarks, it presented glazed, mysterious Well, go on. Hairy Wilkerson d Kicked the scafrer- chest. luto the scup when eyes No plans!" muttered Wilkerson with a curse. "Only an idol!" lnughed Jeap in wild derision Then her handsome face flamed with wrath She turned her back con- teniptuously on Wilkerson and stared across the water at the lauuch. which was pursuing them, In the bitterness of her heart was no mingling of pity for her tool; only self contempt that she had depended on bim, belped bim. When she could control herself she went forward to get out of sight of the mocking heap of rubbih that had cost so much. Presently a sailor made excuse to come aft and peered at "the pile of junk. The idol caught his eye, and he steaithily caught it up and bid it in his shirt, "Good In a pawnshop," he chuckled. Thus once more the plans of the --mother lode of the "Master Key" mine escaped from Wilkersou's filching tin gers. : When the launch put into San Pedro Mrs, Darnell did pot wait for Wilker son. - "I'm going to Los Angeles," she said "You'll find me at tbe hotel--if you | think it worth your while' He looked up from bis business of settling with the divers and made a gesture to detain ber. He seemed to call out some inarticulate plea. She merely smiled again and left. She paid no attention, to one of the sailors who brushed by ber, clutching a concealed object bepeath his jacket This individual, once clear of the wa ter front, quickly made way to a pawnbroker's shop, and the idol changed hands for a small sum after much haggling Before Wilkerson had settled he diver John Dorr's launch made its landing, and the two enemies would bave met except that Wilkerson had to go to bank to cash a draft As he slipped away he saw the other boat and laughed "bitterly. Dorr was welcome to what there was in the old chest. "There is just one thing to do," John told the broken hearted Ruth, "and his with also a "I'm going to Los Angeles," she said. 9 Pia that is to find out what Wilkerson did with what he got from your fatlfer's chest." The captain of the other boat re ceived them with a good bumored grin and in answer to their inquiries { pointed to the open box and the arth cles scattered on the deck. "So far as 1 could make out" he went on, "there wasn't auythiug in the old chest worth the trouble of golug after. At pny rate Mr. Wihkerson and the lady\seemed disappointed and put "Didn't they take anything?" de manded Ruth, peering curiously at the mods sea chest % | "Not a thing, so far as 1 could dis- | | cover," was the reply. "In fact, | heard the two of them Kind of quar i reling, und the lady went off by ber- | self." | The three of them stared down at i the mementos of the long past trage | dy, and then the captain suddenly ejac t ulated, "Yes, there is one thing miss | ing." {2 What 1s that?" demanded John. | "An old Wl. But I'm sere neither | of them took IL." . | "But what became of it?" John con tinued, trying to conceal his antiety. "Maybe one ot the men picked it up for a curte," the skipper sald upolo- | getieally. "Everybody seemed to think { trew.™ ; | »@ that one of the sallors had. indeed | taken the Image and gone uptown with | It, apparently to sell it. | John thanked the captain, and when | | a and Ruth werp out of earshot 4: the old thing was worthless, aud you | know a saller will grab at just that | kind of thing. Better ask sume of the | A few moments later Dore had learn- | mourned We mu one by wan. Our best p pawnshops, | thiuk, swered. The first places they visited gave up no information of value. I'he third pawnbroker looked at Borr curiously when he asked whether a man had been In to dispose of an idol "That thing seems to He wanted pret ty much," be remarked. "Bdt.1 bought it in good faith and sold it to a Hindu a little while after for a rug. Maybe sou would like to buy a rug? + They made it plain that rugs did not interest them and departed with the poor satisfaction of knowing that the object of their search was in the hands of an unknown wandering peddler of rugs, who was presumably an East In- dian "We can't do any more just pow," John told Ruth. "No," was the response, "But | am going to keep an eye out for a Hindu rug seller. 1 don't imagine there are very many of them here, so it ought to be an easy matter to pick bim up." As they walked back to the hotel Ruth grew more cheerful. "At any rate, Wilkerson and Mrs. Darnell miss ed it," she remarked. "1 mpever understeod just why that woman mixed herself up in this," John e the sailor. Tea to I to a seconduaud | Is to 100K Into the Ruth, he an "Al she is after is money." said thoughtfully. "You must have got some notion, Ruth. Yon were with her some time." "Yes, | have an idea," she responded. "I'm not sure of all the details, but it seems Mrs. Darnell knew both fa ther and Harry Wikerson in the old days and--and"-- "And what?" "Well," she went on, blushing divine ly, "father didn't like Jean and wouldn't have anything to do with her gor aliow me to either. She always bated fatuor after that." "Wilkerson is certainly in love with her," John said presently. "I think he is," Ruth asserted. "But she doesn't care anything about him, Pm sure. All she is after is money." Later in the evening as they discuss ed the events of the day John brought up the subject of Wilkerson's anxiety for the papers again and recalled the fact that old Tour Gallon hdd always . insisted on Wilkerson's knowledge of something. "1 wonder just what it was," he went on. "If he knows just where that rich lode is he's concealed his knowl. edge preity well, and the eagerness he is showing to get hold of the plans is proof that he isn't sure." . "He Is spending lots of money," she sighed. "How much longer can we keep this up. John? Surely we are broke again?" : "Not so long as good old Everett sticks by us," was the response. "But--maybe father was mistaken, + and we can't pay it all back!" "Nonsense!" he said reassuringly. "I can make the mine pay just as it stands. Dut 1 promised your father I'd see that you got all your rights, and be certaluly meant for You to bave the wealth bidden somewhere fn the 'Mas ter Key' mine." "Aud we've lost the deeds and the Key, and we haven't found the plans," she sighed. - "I'l nd thet Hindo and his pre- cious idol if I have 10 go to India," he said promptly. "One tHing--we won't | bave Harry Wilkerson spoiling our schemes, He'll give up now." But Wilkerson had not given up. On his return from the bank he had learn. ed from the launch eaptain of Derr's interest in the idol, and he had prompt. i ly followed this clew, with the result | that be Knew ds much about its where | abouts as John and Ruth did, so far ms its getting into the hands of an | Bast Indian peddler was. concerned. | Whether Dorr had recovered the image | from him he did not know. CHAPTER XXIL The Quest of the Hindu, HAT night Wilkerson sought 'out Jean Darnell, She re ceived Lim in a manner that ==3 told him distinctly that she was in a towering rage, though she as ontwardly calm. : Wilkerson paid no attention appar | ently to ter lasing eyes nor to beg re Sed "The Motion Pi strained, "Well, schemes have "Not mit, we 1 once more your al, i said boldly. "I ad- | urly passed up what we were | looking for. Do you remember that | ido! that was in | Jean stopped ber nervous pacing of | the tioor sud fised her great, tawny | eyes on Wilk the chest?" » said hbuskily, "1 am moment," he pleaded. "When | went back to the launch I found that Dorr had been quizzing the men about tha age." "And I suppose he had got it." "No, he didn't. One of the sailors "Wait a moment," he pleaded. had picked it up and taken it to a pawnshop and sold it." She stamped her foot, "Where is it? What has it to do with the plans?" "1 don't know sponded sulle dler bought i "And Dorr bought it from him?" "Not yet," he said, risking the state- ment. "Now all I have to do is to find Mr, Peddler and get it back." Mrs. Darnell flung berself into a chair and laughed hysterically. "You mean to tell Tom Gallon hid his plans in a heathen idol and that we overlooked them and that' a rug peddler has them now?" She leaned forward, clinching soft hands on her knees, "Do you know all you have made me go through, Harry? Kidnaping, theft, murder--yes, murder--and at the end of it all, when we neither of us' dare breathe for fear of the police fin- ally getting us, you tell me that a tramp bas got what we want! I'm done!" Wilkerson had expected and feared this. He saw his wild efforts going for vothing, Without her assistance and her money he was helpless. And profounder even than his hatred of Dorr and bis desire for the hidden wealth was his agony at the thought of his failure to win this woman whom he loved. Love is a noun which conveys to the ordinary mortal no definite meaning without an adjective. There is, indeed, an essence of love, a complete and all absorbing passion, before which even the gods bow and against which the world is powerless. Too often we must describe it as lawless. Yet it also exists when it evokes the reverence of the most cynical. Wil- kerson's love for Jean Darnell was the very essence of his being. It had made a Lravo of a coward It had welded a dozen strands of vi clousness, weakness, wickedness and treacherousness into a strong charac- ter--strong only in its relation to the wesmnan. The past few weeks, with their wild- ness, risk, crime and continual plot- ting, bad made the Harry Wilkerson who was a weakling and sport of cir- cumstances into a personality who must be dealt with, Jean" Darnell realized something of this when he next spoke. i "All this bas been disappointing," he said quietly, his eyes burning steadily on hers. "But the more disappoint. ments I have to dvercome the more worth while it will make you." "Quite an old time knight," she said scornfully, but with an effort. "l am going to get that idol" he went on. "I know just two things-- where "it is," he re- "A Hindu rug ped- me her _APRIL 10, 1915. He left immediately without uncov- ering his plans. He knew that the | final victory would not be won until | be could till Jean Darpeil's soft and | avaricious palms with glittering gold, | heaps of goid, gold that ran over, that | spilled. in luxuriant streams over ber | clutching fingers; gold that rahg under her feet, that mounted like an envel- oping flood about ber till her flesh was bathed In it. That night he paced the floor of his room, dreaming of gold and of blood. So the next morning when John Dorr fared forth on his guest for the rug peddler Harry Wilkerson was not far behind him, watching his every move, studying him, trying to read what was in his mind. And all with the great question before him: Had John Dorr the.idol? While these two were seeking for the strange jmage of an unknown god there was a third who had found in it the goal of his life's toil. When God conceals himself from us in time of stress and agony, when he has closed his brazen heavens and our prayers die in the empty air it is hu man to build for ourselves a tangible God, one whom we van see and feel, into whose face we can look and be fore whose feet we can-lay our offer ings and our petitions. In a far city in India men had died of farhine. The earth had turned to fron under their plows and the heavens to brass above them, They "bad implored a bundred gods for L.lp and made offerings at a thou- sand shrines. There had been no re sponse. The smoke of the burning ghats by the side of the shrunken riv- er told the sorry talé of prayer unan- swered. And in their last misery mech turned, as men will, to one who dréamed. Re- ality was death. Dreams held out the promise of life. And this dreamer, as do all who fol- low a vision, made his dream into a god. People listened to his tale of a deity who was merciful to listen and power- ful to save, They fed on the dream- €r's words and called"him a prophet." Yet still the earth refused food, and the river shrank within its bed. Then théy went to the prophet and called on him to save them and to call his god to their aid. i Like many prophets, he found him- self forced to materialize bis dream in order that the common folk might see and believe, for he had taught them that unlesséthey believed there was no salvation. "How can we believe in a god whom we cannot see?" they cried. "1 believe, though 1 do not see nor feel," be told them. But they were not satisfied -and menaced him with death. ; So he took metais and fire and made an image of his god and made a shrine for it and set the Image In the shrine. where all might see and worship. And the people prayed to this new god and laid offerings at his feet and ctures of "This Story At "The IDEAL THEATRE, on Wednesdays and Thursdays | who had stolen it dead in a lane with 2 knife between his shoulders. And | Lis murderer they discovered in a Chi- nese seaport gaping horridly at the sky, with a rope twisted tightly abeut his neck. So the image passed from hand to band, always bringing with it death, until some sailor hid it in his chest, and when be had been washed overt side in a storm and his effects were distributed a captain bought the idol for a curio. It was in his chest that Thomas Gal- lon bad found it when seeking a safe place to hide his precious papers In time 'of mutiny and fire Now, at last, it bad fallen Into the bands of one of the seekers, and te took it to his Httle tenement room and prayed to it and swore that be would return it to its proper place in the tem- ple. There was no response from the im- age, but when the Indian fell asleep on his rug that night in the allen Ames Dores Oreams of Love. ican city he dreamed that his god ap- peared to him and spoke of death and destruction yet to follow, commanding him to start fustantly for the east. The next day, while Derr was seeks ing for a Hindu selling rugs and Wii kerson was shadowing bim the uew possessor of the idol was hastening to San Francisco to take steamer for Ine dia and the ¢ity. by the river, The Image Was onceuied with all reverence in bis bundle of rugs, and be moved cautiously, because of the dream. Strange destiny that centered old Tom Gallon's plans for bis daughters happiness, Dorr's dreams of love, Jeun Darnpell"s lust for wealth and Harry Wilkerson's passion for a woman with- out a heart in the possession of a gro~ tesque image made by a dreamer ia | faroff India centuries before when a : city died and a river waned within its | Bi ad pees A Hindu Selling Rugs. looked into his eyes and called upon him to save them, as his prophet had said he was able. Thus, with the folk believing on the god of his vision, the prophet prayed also to the spirit of the deity, and the , rains came from the hills, and the riv- er rose, and the earth grew green. When they bad Leen saved and thelr 'stomachs were full the people went away and left the prophet alone with bis god and his deserted shrine. Yet always in time of trouble and stress they remembered the god who bad saved them and returned to his worship, so that in season other proph- ets of him arose and erected a temple and taught the people to bring offer. Ings at all times. ' going to get that idol" 'here are millions in god hidden tn the "Master Key mite, and the plans ire roncetied In that image © "When will yon them? she ried, trying to fight against the wan's wil power t "Tomorrow," he returned "Even if Dorr and Ruth" = He nodded grasely Ste read the message tn bis eves and shuddered Wilkerson 1anghed. fle had won tle bad conquered not only the woman in that moment. but himself He was ready to de murder deliber- itely, avithont a quaim. There had Deen -bora in Rin anuther physical ibirst--the Diced Just. sk "I'm ave Thos the image became the image of the tutelary deity of the city and its river, with other Images to do him bomage and obey his commands. Centuries passed, and the god still maintained his place. His priesthood prospered; his temple was never empty. And one day a drunken sailor wan- dered into the temple to stare at the heathen wonders, and when be slipped away the niche of the god was vacant "He bas gone on a journey." said the terrified priests and concealed the theft. But the bigh priest sent several of his *hosen acolytes thronghont the world to seek for and recover the image. "How shall we find him?" they asked. ¥8y a path of death and destrue foun." was the answer. #0 they sét out and found the safier had, Continued on 8 -- Di "Zut Tuesday, April 20th. AEA AN Arr. dramas rt tan ass PACE THIRTEEN. inp, soma continues to arrive from Engla fd. There is no ad- vance in price. SALTS IS FINE FOR KONEYS, QUIT MEAT Flush the Kidneys at once when Back hurts or Bladder bothers. No man or woman who eats meat regularly can make a mistake by flushing the kidneys occasionally, says a well-known authority. 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