Harold Ward

“ The only other member of the household is Mrs. Casey, Mr. Grime's sister—and she's a semi-invalid. Of course there's Miss Joan, his niece—but one might as well suspect Grimes, himself, as a kid like her. Crank or no crank, Mr. Larson, the man who wrote those letters is a smooth proposition or he couldn't have planted them as he did, right under the noses of everybody. Take my advice and do as I do—suspect everybody. ”

“ I asked.
"Your ankle chained to the wall."
"But how do you know that I'll keep my parole?"
Another chuckle from behind the mask. "I know you by reputation. You are a man of your word. Give it to me and I know you'll keep it. Honestly, I hate to think of chaining you up like a wild beast—but you understand it's necessary—under certain conditions. What's your decision?" ”

“ Some one has betrayed you. The cave is surrounded!"
Before he could continue, there came a glad scream from the masked man who was bending over the dead leader, and Joan Marne, her mask falling from her face, threw her arms about her uncle's neck, sobbing with happiness.
"Hands up! All of you!"
From every direction armed men poured into the cave, surrounding us, menacing us with their guns, taking us all prisoners. And, at their head was the man who had given the terse command—Innis, the company attorney— the man I had suspected of being the "Man in the Black Mask" himself. ”

“ Are you injured, Uncle Grimes?" she demanded, sobbingly.
The little man patted the girl's shoulder.
"Not by a darned sight," he chuckled. "It was worth the bump I got to prove to Slocum that I'm not such a darned old fool as he claims I am. Now dry your eyes and meet Mr. Larson—Captain Larson, my niece Joan—Miss Marne, I should say."
He turned to the assembled directors with a beatific smile on his wrinkled face. ”

“ Our trip of inspection over, Travis and I returned to the others, when suddenly the curtain which marked the entrance to the tunnel used by the masked man parted and he appeared before us. He nodded curtly to me and asked me to step aside for a second.
"Larson," he said jerkily—almost nervously I thought—"they have discovered Backus' body and are raising the devil. Things are getting more complicated all the time. What are we going to do?"
"Indeed," I smiled. "You hardly thought that as big a thing as the murder of the chief of police would pass unnoticed, did you? ”

“ Johnson was a machine gunner. Travis and Snell were both experts with the rifle. McGinnis was Pedro's assistant and a gunner of extraordinary ability himself, while Jenkins, the negro chef, was known, so he informed me, from one end of the country to the other as the best cook in the American Expeditionary Forces.
All were men from the lower walks of life—crooks, probably, thugs, gunmen—yet, strange as it may seem, proud of their records as soldiers. They had made good in the army, then, discipline relaxed, they had again fallen into their evil ways. ”

“ Too astonished for utterance, Grimes hastened away, laboring under the belief that Joan was, herself, "The Man in the Black Mask." She had always been a romantic young woman and the old man feared that she had, at last, given way to her inclination. ”

“ It would be a pleasure to work with a man like you—but of course, as you realize, that is an impossibility. You are worth money to me—all kinds of it. Grimes and his bunch ought to be willing to put up at least ten thousand ransom for you. Meanwhile, will you give me your parole—your liberty inside the cave with certain restrictions—or won't you? ”

“ Grimes exclaimed. "For all we know, there may be spies lurking about. Why not let Joan and me drive you back to the house. From there you can skirt the hill in a southwesterly direction and come down the creek instead of going up. Such a move will divert suspicion."
"You're right," I answered, while the chief nodded a grudging assent. "Let us get busy at once—that is if you are through here, Mr. Grimes."
The little president proved himself a man of action by calling to Joan and hastily climbing back into the machine. Ten minutes later we were at home. ”

“ As a child, she had played in the old tunnel. She remembered it now and shrewdly deduced it as the entrance to the hiding-place of "The Man in the Black Mask," following Backus' discovery of the shell fragment and my remark about the shot being fired down the creek. She had attempted to dissuade me from entering into the case because of her fear that I would unmask her uncle. This led her, also, to imitate the notes which had by means of the bribed cook been sent to Grimes, and to write and pin the counterfeit on my door.
There is nothing more to write. ”

“ They shot down the creek. They are located in the hills south of town. It's me to investigate."
"On the contrary," I returned, "you'll do nothing of the sort, Chief. You're too well known. I am a stranger here and my face is unfamiliar, probably, even to the leader of the mysterious band. Let me look over the ground first. I am likely to see things that might be hidden from you. It's my business to search for the hidden things."
"But it's my place—"
"Larson's right," interrupted Grimes. "A stranger is much more likely to succeed than a person so well known as yourself." ”

“ Innis laughed good-humoredly.
"The chief really takes the matter seriously, too," he declared. "He's even stationed men around the factory entrances to keep the crowd back at the noon hour, and he's placed a man at the foot of the ladder leading up to the tower, to keep anyone from getting up there and planting explosives."
"Taking no chances," growled Backus.
"No chance of explosives being already placed in the tower, is there?" I inquired. "I mean a bomb of some kind that could be set off by electricity?" ”

“ Grimes ignored the interruptions. Waiting a second for the others, none of whom seemed to care to venture an opinion: "Probably no other company in the world has guarded the interests of its employes as has this one," he went on. "For that reason we have never had labor troubles of any kind. Seemingly, our workmen are all satisfied and I cannot bring myself to believe that it is one of them. My fellow directors do not agree with me, but I want your opinion." ”

“ There was constantly revolving through my mind the question of who the mysterious leader was—if he was a man. There was enough evidence against Innis, Grimes and Joan to have convicted any one of them before an average jury. ”

“ As for Joan's part in the affair—it was purely accidental. Like all women, she imagined that she possessed detective ability and, because of Grimes' odd actions, due to worry, she had formed the conclusion that he was in financial straits and was, himself, the mysterious blackmailer. ”

“ As will be seen by this sketch, practically all of the wealthier residents of Elkhorn, most of whom were directors and stockholders in the chemical company, resided along this country road where the contour of the land gave them better opportunities for spacious grounds and broad lawns than did the little town itself, huddled as it was between the hills. Grimes' home was at the extreme south end of the road which ran from the factory around the hills. ”

“ On the other hand we, as directors, should vote to give him a clearance if anything happens—and we are all of us confident that nothing will."
President Grimes shrugged his shoulders and turned to me as if to ask my advice.
"I would suggest that you hold off your decision for a few seconds," I answered to his implied question. "If your mysterious blackmailer is as prompt as he claims to be we will have but a short time to wait developments. In just thirty seconds it will be twelve o'clock." ”

“ They forgeta their troubles an quita friends. McGinnis, he sleepa wit' me. Getta up and go ona guard when Travis wakea him. Travis, he cornea t' bed. All th' while Snell, he sleepa sound."
I stooped over and examined the dead man. It was as Jenkins had said. He had been literally hacked to pieces. Even his hands and face had been cut and slashed in a hundred places. His murder was not the work of an ordinary man, but a fiend—a maniac.
The masked leader scratched his cheek perplexedly. "It's a hell of a mess, Larson—a hell of a mess! ”

“ I got the gun here by express, in parts, as I did all of my other equipment. We are prepared to withstand almost any ordinary attack, for we have several machine guns and a large quantity of ammunition. Food we have in plenty. There is a spring of fresh water bubbling out of the ground at the other end of the cave.
"My men are all experts. Although I must confess that Pedro, my gunner—he was trained in the Italian army and is an artist in his line—miscalculated slightly and hit the tower a trifle too low. ”

“ As I understand it, you received your first communication from this mysterious blackmailer—what did you say he calls himself?"
"'The Man in the Black Mask,'" answered Grimes.
"His first letter came several days ago, as I understand it, warning you of what to expect. Three days ago you received a second communication demanding the sum of fifty thousand dollars, payment to be made in a manner to be designated later. If you agreed, you were to run up a small, white flag on the flag pole. If not, the factory was to be slightly damaged as a proof that he is able to carry out his threats. ”

“ I replied. "In other words, that same piece of metal is a bit of the shell that kicked down your tower. Where did you find it, Chief?"
"In the upper room just over the office," replied the officer. "It wasn't there this morning, for I made a personal inspection and locked the door myself before stationing Mitchell at the foot of the stairs."
"Shell?" jerked Grimes. "Nonsense!"
"Nevertheless," I reiterated, "your tower was blown up with some kind of a shell. You can't get away from the evidence." ”

“ For, following the finding of Backus' body, the board of directors had capitulated despite the protests of Grimes, who suddenly became panic-stricken on Joan's account, as I will explain later, and had hoisted the white flag and, acting under instructions telephoned from what was afterwards discovered to have been a tapped wire near his residence, had left the package of money on a stump close to the tunnel entrance. ”

“ Workmen had already completed the job of cleaning away the debris in the office. A truck load of gravel and a pile of bricks gave evidence that, despite the threats of the mysterious blackmailer to destroy the entire plant, it was Grimes's intention to rush repairs as rapidly as possible. ”