Picture-Play Weekly (Apr-Oct 1915)

12 PICTURE-PLAV \\"E1-:KLY at the side of the child attracted her attention, and Helen picked it up, scanned it closely, and gave it back to the girl, who ran, frightened, to the corner. It was only an ordinary letter, with a Chicago address, but the return notice in the upper corner had been scratched out, and a part of a capital J was visible at the beginning of one of these erased lines. Suddenly Helen's plans were changed. She decided to follow the child, thinking that fortune had smiled graciously upon her. Having mailed the letter which hail so helped Helen's plan, the youngster turned a corner and ran with all speed down a side street, through an alley, and out to another street. A little way up this she entered a building, ordinary in appearance, though unpainted, and looking like one belonging to a laboring man. The child turned the knob and entered ; it was apparently her home. Helen, who had followed closely^ stepped out into the street just as the girl closed the door behind her. She hesitated for a moment, thinking whether it would be advisable for her safety to inform some of the detectives who were working on the case, before entering, But she smiled as she thought of how she could beat Fields, a detective friend, who was handling the robbery for the city bureau, and walked deliberately up the front steps. On the porch she stopped, realized the folly of going in openly, and, remembering that she was only a woman, went quietly around the back of the house. She tried the basement door, and it opened to her touch. Quickly she slipped inside, closing the door behind her. It was dark inside, but a small pocket electric light with which she had provided herself illuminated the place clearly. After a short search, Helen discovered a staircase in one corner of the earthen-paved room, and behind this was a stack of boxes. It was her plan to iind, if possible, some of the stolen goods, then to return to the police station and have the patrol sent to capture the thieves. Apropos of this, she went to the boxes behind the staircase and commenced an investigation of them. The top one she found empty, but the second revealed the identity of the tenants. In this was a quantity of silk gowns, thrown carelessly in a pile, and answering the de scription of some of the goods taken from the Jackson store. As she was about to look into another of the cases footsteps sounded on the floor above. She stopped a moment, listening to see whether the person would come down the stairs or remain on the upper floor. Soon the door at the head of the staircase was opened, and the ligure of a short, stout man appeared. Helen realized that to remain where she was would mean her certain discovery^ as no doubt the crook was coming to the very place where she was hiding. She placed all hope in a rush for the door by which she had entered, but just as she emerged from under the stairs the man caught sight of her, and darted in pursuit. She reached the door with him not more than fifteen feet away ; but she knew that if she reached the street in front of the house in safety, all would be well, as he would not dare to attract the attention of passers-by. The Herald bad the hrst story and Helen received full credit for it. Opening the door, she rushed blindly out, directly into the arms of another man. With a taunting laugh, he lifted her, and carried her bodily back into the basement, and up the stairs to the kitchen above. Here she was told that the little girl whom she had followed to the place had seen her come up the steps before she had gone around to the basement door and had given the warning. The two men had waited only long enough for one to go to the cellar door, anticipating that she would try to make her escape that way, and they then had gone to capture her. "And now, my fair one," said the man who had gone down the stairs, and whose name she had later learned was Ford, "von might as well make \ ourself at home, for w^e are going to tie yito a bedpost inside, with enough food i keep you alive long enough till some oi comes in to find you. That is, provide the rats don't eat more than you d' When we get out of this State we'll sen the police friends of j'ours a letter t tell them where you are. You see, w^e'r not altogether cruel. Quite considei ate, in fact." When she heard the words, Hele squirmed in her seat and made a fooHs dash for the door. "Oh, no, you don't, little miss," sneere Ransom, the other of the men, grabbin her. "Guess we'd better tie you up now for safety, and beat it before you; friends.get a line.on where you are." With this, they took her into the ad joining room, and carried out thei promise of tying her to the bedposi This done, they put on the coat the chili who had so helped both Helen and them selves, and who proved to be nothin;. but a neighbor's daughter, knowini nothing of their character, and who ha posted the letter as a favor, and thei told of Helen's presence in a matter-of fact way, nut suspecting the importanc( of what she was saying. Even now shi did not .know what had happened to th young newspaperwoman, as she had been carefully placed upstairs during the ex citement. \\'hen they had sent her home they put on their street clothes, themselves saw to it that Helen was secure and went out with their traveling bags, telling her they hoped she would be found alive, and then impressed upon her mind how kind they were to think such a thing. ( .Vs they walked to the aventie, where it was their intention to board a surface car to the railroad dei)ot. Ransom and Ford spoke earnestlj' al^ont their get-away, planning to go to Qiicago and meet a friend to whom the letter 'whicli had fallen into Helen's hands liad beeii'tiito sent. "By the way,'" said Ransom, while they were waiting for the car, "what is the address of this house of yours where ■\ve just left the girl? When we get into Illinois I'll write to the cops and! tell them where she is. You see, I've never been there before last night, and I did not see the number when we wenl in ; it was too dark." "When we get on the car I'll write it down for you. It's too risky to blurt it out in there, and if I tell you now few its ^ ttr, 71