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THE OBSERVER & STAR, DRYDEN, ONTARIO. -- | = ih] | i HE FOUR FINGERS By FRED M. WHITE, > Author of 5 The Crimson Blind; The Cardinal Moth; The Weight of the Crown; » The Corner House; The Slaves of Silence. Craven Fortune; The Fatal Dose; Netta. ; (Continueda.) ""'And now comes a further develop- ment. Soon after the death of Le y Fenu, it was noted that Van Fort "$pent most of his time away from his farm iv the mountains, no doubt prospecting for. Le Fenu's mine. Whether he ever found it or not will never be known. Please to bear in mind: the fact that for "a couple of centuries at least Le KFenu's myster- ious property was known as the Four . Finger Mine. With this digression, TT will go on to speak further of Van Fort's movements. To make a long story short, from his' last journey to the mountains he never returned. His widow searched for him everywhere; - I have seen her--a big suilen woman, with a cruel mouth and a heavy eye. From whit I have heard, I have not the slightest doubt that it was she who inspired the murder of the Frenchman. "She had practically given up all idea of ever seeing her husband again; when, one dark and stormy night, j st as she was preparing for bed, she heard her husband outside, screaming assistance. From h's tone he was evi- dentl> in some dire and deadly peril. The woman was by no means devoid of courage; she rushed out into the nicht and searched far and near, but no trace of Van Fort could be found, nor did that imploring cry for assist- ance come again. But the next morn- ing, on the doo: lay a bleeding forefinger i e woman recog- nised as 's hand. T tity absolutelv certain nger was a ring of nn ich the Dutchman alwa C hat thi st for a moment to fect to his point. nothing; he was too e narrative to deeply intereste make any comm "That was what act in the dram "Six months ha Fort's widow was get all about t whey, eh rth and lin ast ; stanges, came that for assistance outsi » farm. Half y ror the wom She did not she knew rould 50, she knew quite well hat was going to happen in the 'morning. She sat up half the night in ay call the first Venner went on. a state bordering on madness. I need not insult your intelligence, my dear fellow by asking you to guess what she found on the doorstep in day- light." : v : "Of course, I can guess," Gurdon said. "Bevond all question, it was the third finger of the Dutchmanss "hand." "Quite so," Venner resumed. need not over elaborate my stroy or bore you by telling how, six months later, the second finger of the hand appeared in the same sensational eir- cumstances, and how, at the end of > a year, the four fingers were complete. Let me once more impress upon you the amazing fact that this mine was called the Four Finger Mine for more. than a century before these strange things happened." ; : "It is certainly an extraordinary thing," Gurdon muttered. "I don't think I ever listened to a wierdar tale. And did the Dutch woman con- fess to her crime? This strikes me as being a fitting end to the story. | suppose it came from her lips." "She didn't confess, for the simple reason that she had no mind to con- fess with," Venner explained. Of course, certain ighbors knew some- thing of what going on, but they 'never knew the whole truth, because, . after ii pearance of the last finger, Mrs; n Fort went stark raving ole 0d. She lived for a few days, and be end of that time her b-dy was 'in a waterfall close by her That is the story of the Four ine so far as it goes, though not be surprised if we man- i the last chapter yet. Nhw, n observant man--did. iyo fhing peculiar in Fenw t0-nig . Please to remember ne was known . | tdanger." treated him as an absolute stranger whom I had met for the first time. You will sce presently why I treated him in this fashion. I am glad 1 spoke 'to him, because I noticed a slight thing that throws a flood of light upon the mystery. Now, did it escape your observation, or did yor notice that Fenwick took the box I gave him in his right hand?" © "Oh, dear, no," Gurdon said. "A little thing like that would be almost too trivial for the typical detective of the cheap story." 5 "AN tne same. it is very import- ant," Venner said. "He took the box in his right hand; he made as if to extend his left, then suddenly changed his mind, and put it in his pocket. "But he was too late to dis guise from me that he had rr "I know." Gurdon shouted. "He had lost all the fingers o nhis left! hand. What an amazing thing! iy fellow, we must get to 'he botton of this business at all costs." ; "That is precisely what we are go- ing to do," Venner said grimly. "I am glad you are so quick in taking | up the point. When I noted the loss of those fingers, I was absolutely staggered fora moment. If he had been less agitated than he was, Fen- wick would have guessed what I had seen. I need not tell you when I last saw Fenwick his left hand was as sound as yours or mine. The infer- ence of this is, that Fenwick has fal- len under the ban of the same strange vengeance that overtook Van Fort and his wife. There is not the slightest doubt that he discovered the mine, and that he has not yet paid the pen- alty of his temerity > py "I presume the penalty is coming," Gurdon said. 'What a creepy sort of idea it is, that terrible vengeance reaching across a contient in such a 'sinister fashion. But don't forget that we know something as to the way in which this thing is to be brought about. Don't forget the crip- ple who sat at yonder table to-night." "I am not likely to forget him," Venner. observed. 'All the more be- cause he evidently knows more abou! this matter than we do ourselvey When he came here to-night, he little dreamt that there was one man in the oni, at least, who had a fairly good knowledge of the Four Finger Mys- _| tery. We shall have to look him out, and, if necessary, force him to speak. . {But it is a delicate matter, and as far as I can see, one not unattended with Gurdon smoked in thoughtful sil- ence for some little time, turning the strange . thing 'over in his mind. .The more he dwelt upon it, the more wild and dramatic did it seem. "There is one thing in our favor," he said, presently. "The mysterious hi 2k cripple with the handsome face is revidently a deadly enemy of Fen- iwick"s. We shall doubtless 'find him {ready to accept this offer, provided we put it in the right way." "I am not so sure of that," Ven- ner replied. "At any rate, we ean make no move in that direction with- out thinking the thing out carefully and thoroughly. Our crippled friend is evidently a fanatic in his way, and he is not alone in his scheme. Do not forget that we have also the little man who played the part of the waiter to deal with. T am sorry I did not off a thing like that with such splen- did audacity is certainly a force to be reckoned with." 'Gurdon rose from hig seat with a yawn, and intimated the fact that it was time to go to bed. It was long past twelve now, the hotel was grad- ually retiring to rest. The Grand Empire was not the sort of house to cater to. the frivolous type of guest, and usually within an hour of the closing of the theatres the whole of the vast building was wrapped in silence. Te "I think T will get off now," Gur- don said. "Come and lunch with me to-morrow, and then you can tell me something about your own romance. What sort of a night is it, waiter?" ~ "Very bad, sir," the waiter replied. "It's pouring torveuts. Shall I call a cab, sir?" | ; CHAPTER 1V. Jn In The Lift. of roaring on the pavement. Nothing but eady plash of the s as they rattled on the pave- To walk .A mile on such (keep 1m close touch with the leading 'underhand was going on in the next | liantly lighted; and for the lad had had the temerity to go {had come into his mind, and in the office, and made his way up- stairs to Venner's bedroom. - "I'll just have one cigarette before I turn in," he said. 'It seems. as if Fate had ordained it that I am to characters of the mystery. By the way, we never took the trouble to find out who the handsome cripple was." g : "That is very easily done in the morning," Venner replied. "A strik- ing peronality like that is not soon lost sight of. Besides, he has doubt- less been here before, for, if you will recollect, his attendants took him to the right table as if it had been ord- ered before hand. And now, if you don't mind, I'll turn in--not that I expect to sleep much after an excit- ing evening like this. Good night, old fellow." Gurdon went out to his own room, where he slowly undressed and sat thinking the whole thing out on. the edge of his bed. Perhaps he was suf- fering from the same suppressed ex- citement which at that moment was keeping Venner awake, for he felt not the slightest disposition to turn in.. Usually he was a sound sleeper, | but this night seemed likely to prove exception to the rule. : An hour passed, and Gurdon was still sitting there, asking himself whether it would not be better to go to bed and compel sleep to come to him. Impatiently he flicked out his light and laid his head reolutely on the pillow. But it was oll in vain--sleep was out of the question. The room was not altogether in darkness, either; for. the sleeping appartments on that land-* ing had been arranged back to back with a large, open ventilator between them. Through this ventilator came a stream of light; evidently the occu- pant of the adjoining room had not yet retired. The light worried Gur- don; he asked himself irritably why his ueighbor should be permitted to annoy him in this way. A moment or two later the sound of suppressed voices came through the ventilator, followed by the noise of a heavy fall. At any ordinary time Gurdon would have thought nothing of this, but his imagination was aflame now; his mind was full of hidden mysteries. It seem- ed to him that something sinister and room. : Joi: : Usually, no one would identify the Grand Empire Hotel with crime and intrigue; but that did na deter Gur- don from rising from his bed and making a determined effort to see through the ventilator into the ad- joining room. It was not an easy matter, but by dint of balancing two chairs one on top of the other the thing was accomplished. Very cau- tiously Gurdon pushed back the glass | slide and looked through. So far as he could see, there was nothing to. justify any suspicion. The room was absolutely empty, though it was bril- Gurdon felt ashamed of su ions, and turned away, half deter- mined to fry and sleep. It was at that instant that he noticed some- thing out of the common. - To his quickened ear there came a sound un- mistakably like a snore, and pushing his body hal® through the ventilator, he managed to make out the bed in the next room. On it lay the body of a boy in uniform, unmistakably a messenger boy or a hotel attendant of that kind. For Gurdon could see the hotel name embroidered in gold letters on his collar. Toa Perhaps there was nothing so very mysterious in this, except that the lad was lying on the bed fully dress- ed, even in his boots. It was a lux- urious room; not at all the class of apartment to which the hotel manage- ment would relegate one of their mes- senger boys, nor was it possible that into the vacant room and sleep. 'Something wrong here,"" Gurdon | muttered. "Hang me if. T don't get a the ventilator and see what it is." oy 3 Jt was no difficult matter for an athlete like Gurdon to push his way through and drop on the bed on the other side. Then he shook the form of the slumbering lad without reward. The boy seemed to be plunged in. a sleep. almost like death. As Gurdon turned him over. he noticed on the other side of the lad's collar the sing- le word "Lift."' It began to dawn up- on Gurdon exactly what had hap- pened. In large hotels like the Grand Empire there is no fixed period when the lift is suspended, and consequent- lv, it has its attendants day and night. For some reason, this bey had evi- dently been drugged and carried into the room where he now lay. There was no dowbt whatever about it, for it was impossible to shake the lad into the slightest semblance of life. Gurdon crossed to the door, and found, not to his surprise, that it was locked. His first impulse was to re- turn to his own room and call the night porter; but a strange, wild idea he frained eant getting w saw that the cage was once more be- ginning to ascend. It came up slowly and smoothly without the least noise, until it was level with the floor on which Gurdon was standing. It w=3 one of the open kind of lifts, so tnat he could see inside quite clearly. To all practical purposes, the lift was; empty, save for the presence of one man, who lay unconcious on the floor. The cage was ascending so leisurely that Gurdon was in make quite close examination -of a a a position to | the figure before the whole structure! had risen to .the next floor. It did not need a second glance to tell Gur- don that the man in the cage was the lift attendant, and that he was suffering from the same which had placed his boy assistant beyond all power of interfering. "Now, what does all this mean?" Gurdon muttered. "Who is there on the floor above who is interested in getting these two people out of the way? What do they want to bring up or send down which it is not safe to dispose of bythe ordinary means? I think I'll wait and see. No sleep for me to-night." The lift vanished in the same silent way. It hung over head for some little time, and once more appeared in sight, this time absolutely empty, save for a small square box with iron bands at the corners, which lay upon the floor. As the cage descended, Gudron suddenly made up his mind wheat to do. He sprang lightly on to the top the falling cage and grasped the rope with both hands. A moment later and he was descending in the dark- ness. : As far as he couid judge, the lift went absolutely down to the base- ment, where, for the time being, t remained. There was a warm, damp smell in the air, suggestive of fungus, whereby Gurdon knew that he must be in the vaults benezth the hotel. As bis eyes became accustomed to the gloom, he could make out just in front of him a circular patch of light, which evidently was a coal shoot. He had no need to wait now for the full development of the adventure. He could hear whispered voices and the clang of metal, as if somebody had opened the door of the lift. One of the voices he failed to understand, but with a thrill he recognised the fact that the speaker was talking in either Spanish or Portuguese. Ins- tantly it flashed into his mind that this was the language most familiar to the man who called himself Mark Fenwick. Beyond doubt he was quite right when he identified this last dev- elopment with the actors in the dra- matic events earlier in the evening. "Now, don't be long about it,' a hoarse voice whispered. "There are two more cases to send up, ana two more to come down here. Has that van come along, or shall we nave to wait until morning?' z "The van is there right enough," another hoarse voice answered. "We have got the stuff out un the pave ent. Lel's have that last lot here, and get it up at once." : : 'Gurdon could hear the sound of la- oured beathing as if the unseen man was struggling with some heavy bur- den. Presently some square object was deposited on the floor of the lift. It slipped from some one's hands, and dropped with a heavy thud that caused the lift to vibrate like a thing of Wile, = el "Clumsy* fool," a voice muttered. "You might have dropped that on my foot. What did you want to let go for?' «J : - : "I couldn't help it." another voice grumbled. "I didn't know it was half so heavy. Besides, , the rope broke." yi! : 'Oh, are you going to be there all night? '--another voice with a sugges- tion of a foreign accent in it, asked impatiently. "Don't forget you have got to bring the man down yet, and see that the boy is taken to his place. Now, up with it." Standing there, holding on to the rope and quivering with excitement, Gurdon wondered what was going to happen next. Once more he felt him- self rising, and an instant later he was in the light again. He waited till the lift had reached his own floor; then he jumped quickly down, tak- ing care as he went to note the box which lay on the floor of the lift. A corner of it had been split open by the heavy jar, and some shininy material like sand lay in a little heap, glitter- ing in the rays of the electric light. Gurdon stood there panting for a moment, and rather at a lost to know what to do next. Once mre the lift came down, this time with two boxes of a smaller size. They vanished; and as the lift rose once again, 'Gurdon had barely time to hide himself be- hind the bedroom door, and thus es- cape the observation of two now occupied the cage.' caught a fleeting * and saw that stranger, bu > fe ing slightly faster as COZ] in thé other the now familiar forn [ark Fenwick. The mystery was be ginning to unfold itself. i "That was » close thing," Gurdon muttered as he wiped his hot face. "I think I had belter go back to. my own room, anf wait developnients: Ona can't be ton careful." jt The lift-boy was still sleeping sgund- bed; but his features wer g now, 0s if 'already the drug eginning to lose e CAL , 80- Gurdon shrewdly thougl d subsequently events proved tha he was not far wrong. He was stan ing in his own room now, waiting b the ventilator, when h sound of 2 "1 should think about fiv more would do it," one of "Better carry him out, and him in that little sentry box When he comes to himself a won't know but what he has asleep ;uorring a headache; the beggar won't be any the worse ft adventure." ¢ A "Have we got all the stuff up 1 the other man asked. "Every bit of it," was the whis reply. : "1 hope the old man is satisfi now. Ut was not a bad idea of h work his little game in, a big of this kind. But, all the same, not without risks, and x should be glad to get awey to t place in the country where we going in a week or two." : Gurdon heard no more. the best part of half-an-hour to p before he ventured once more to cree; through the ventilator and reach thi landing in the neighborhood of t lift. Everything looked quite normal now, and as if nothing had happened The lift boy sat in his little h yawning and stretching himself. It wag quite evident that he knew noth: ing of the vile uses he had been pu to. A sudden idea occurred to Gu aon. - "I want you to bring the lift u t, this fleor," he said to the bn' lost something,. and it occurs to me that I might have left it in the lift.' In the usual unconcerned manner of his class the boy touched an elec- tric button, and the lift slowly rose from the basement. : cellars?" Gurdon asked. replied. "Only it very seldom does: You see, we only use this lift for our customers. It's fitted with what they call a pneumatic cushion--I mean, If anything goes wrong, the lift falls into a funnel shaped well, made of conerete, which forms a cushion of alr, and so breaks the fall. They say you could cut the rope and let it down without so much as upsetting a glass of wine. Not that I should like to try it, sir, but there you are." Gurdon entered the 1ift, where he pretended to be searching for some- thing, for a moment or two. In real- ity, he was scraping up some of the yellow sand which had fallen from the box on to the floor of the lift, and this he proceeded to place in a scrap of paper. Then he decided that it wae absolutely necessary to retire to bed, though he was still in full possession of his waking faculties. As a matter of fact, he was asleep almost as soon as his head touched the pillow. Nev- ertheless, he was up early the follow- Ing morning, and in Venner's bed- room long before breakfast. He had an exciting story to tell, and he could anything but an interested listener. - "We are getting on," the latter said grimly. "But before you say any- thing more, I should like. to ha look at that yellow sand you speak of. Bring it over near the light. Venner let the yellow stuff through his hands; then he turned tc Gurdon with a smile. ASS Ce , "You look upon this as suppose?" he said. agine that it is of no grea "Well, js it?' Gurdon asked is it?" hn a "Gold," Venner said curtly. "Pure virgin gold, of the very finest quality I never saw a better sample." (T) be Conunued.) Not Quite 2ure, . The elder of the two salesgirls, who had some pretensions to good looks, was inspecting her features in ihe mirror. "Admiring yourself, queried the other girl. "No, I'm studying myself," "What for?" "You won't tell?" "Never I" "Well, T was' standing before this looking glass the other morning, wip- a smudge of soot or something off my cheek, and the floorwalker saw me. "There's no use in your trying to im- prove on that face, Miss Ackley," he are you?" ing just what he meant by it--whether it was a compliment or a knock."'-- Chicago Tribune. i Sn ing of election ds just It was thee and Hnggle -home. v, "No, I don't want to use it; I have | "Does this go right down to the : "It can if it's wanted to," the boy giving power of the province, and the not complain that in Venner he had | 'box with a private entrance, said; 'it can't be done." , I'm wonder- | returned | \ "Well, m he kissed day?" "Yes. r ~ ""'Straigh her hus a all the h more beautii building in w ence was held. t Nova Scotia, although the diocese in any British colony hitherto had only a wooden pro- dral, now burnt down. The building will be an historic one memorating the first Anghice=" in Canada. al The cost will be $175,000, of $135,000 has been raised chie Nova Scotia; this has exhaust balance of $40,000 must be obtained from generous friends outside : Among the well-known speaker the congress were the Rev. and 5. Lyttelton, the headmaster of the Bishop of London, th i Montreal, the Bishop of Niag Rev. Arthur French, of St. Joh Evangelist Church, Montreal; the Rev. Herbert Symonds, 2.D., and th : Paterson Smythe. : London's Royal Box Every London theatre has the King's for all en ter for th ments visit, aj also my trance, room fu where th refreshment When King Lane Theatre cial box: wa tre of t