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PETER BLAKE, seeking ad- venture in the South Seas, has taken a job with Tom Murchi- the night and a stock of pearls stolen by assassins, who over- power Peter and carry him off to sca insemsible in am open boat. Meanwhile, he has been saddled with the murder and robbery, the mews of which is brought to Australia by Her- man Rand whén he calls on Humphrey Grath, the' wealthi- est man in Sydney, and his at- tractive daughter, Marion. The news compietely upsets fother and daughter, and Garth sume mons his secretary and in- structs him to offer £5000 re- ward for the apprehension of Peter Blake as the murderer of his friend, Tom Murchison. When Blake comes to himself, it is in a crude tent on a lonely island, where he has been nurs. ed back to life by natives, and his first lucid moments bring him a coll from Captain Jose- phus Mumm, master of a tramp vessel, with the startling intel« ligence that he is wanted for a crime which he never commit. ted. Accused 'Peter's face went suddenly white beyond the pallor of his illness, aid his hands knotted into tight- ¢lgnched fists at his sides: ,&*If 1 had the strength I'd ram thope words 'down your 'throat, you swine!" He swayed a little--and brushed the other, across his eyes. "But you're mad--or I'm mad." He tried to think. This man--this Captain Mumm -----was accusing him of killing Tom Murchison--of taking Tom Murchi- son's pearls, So Tom Murchison was dead! 'He hadn't been sure. Everything that night had pointed to it, of course, but he hadn't been sure, And now this man was ac- cusing him of killing Tom Murchi- son--accusing him of murder. "Do you hear," he repeated furiously, "I'd ram those words down your throat if I had the strength!' "Thats all right," said Captain Josephus Mumm coolly, 'but we'll handle this affair in as orderly a fashion as may be." Onne thing at a time, The pearls naw!" Peter's nails bit into the pane of his hands. All this was gro- tesque, unreal, like those snatches of delirium that lingered in the memory from the long illness--this hut, these natives, this red-haired gargoyle. It was all preposterous-- hiddously so.' But it was no good letting: himself get out of hand. He wasn't strong enough to kick up a fuss; He was damnably tired, as it was. He sat down on the mat again, Ah, that was better! He steeled himself to speak quietly, ""¥ou say that I killed Tom Mur- chison, and that I've got his pearls," he said, *"F don't know you say that, and I don't under- stand. I didn't kill Tom Murchi- son, and I haven't got his pearls-- and this last, at least, is easily proved. Ask the natives here. I must have been unconseious when they found me. Ask them if I had any pearls. "As for my pockets, or as for the pearls being on my person, they've been decent enough to wash my things once or twice and I suppose have had me stripped to my pelt. That. ought to be proof enough, oughtn't it?" "Where Did You Hide Them" Captain Josephus Mumm plucked at his beard. "H'm!" he grupted. 'Well, I suppose you'd hardly be fool enough to keep 'em about you, and I'm willing to admit them clothes of yours must have been washed; 'cause they wouldn't look like that it you'd lain in 'em sick for a mrat- ter of mear three weeks as you must have done, according to what these chaps say. We'll let that go. So where did you hide them, eh? That's the question now." "I don't remember getting here at all," Peter answered evenly, "so I must have been unconscious when they found me. Therefore, I could- n't have hidden them, and unless they were on my person or in the motor-beat, I couldn't have had them." : "H'm!" grunted Captain -Jose- phus Mumm again. He turned and began to talk to Hafu in the na- tive tomgue. 4 Peter did not understand. There were many gesticulations. The red- headed man, while not fluent, seem- ed, however, to possess a passable DEVIL'S MANTLE He tried to think. TRis man was Tom Murchison--of taking Murchison's pearls THE OSHAWA DAILY TIMES, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 1928 + By Frank L. Packard ® Copyright by Public Ledger acewsing him -of Iillin dl i a J tongue. At the end of a few mo- ments he addressed himself to Pe- ter again, "He says they found the motor- boat on the other side of the island away from the village here, and you wangdering around amongst the trees. He says you were off your nut, but he never saw any pearls-- the which is as it may be." Captain Josephus Mumm smiled a little sar- castically, "It's proof, anyhow, that you got out of the hoat be- fore you were found, and that you had a chance to hide the pearls." "If you think so," said Peter curtly, "you'd better go look for them!" Luck! "Not me!" said Captain Jose- phus Mumm grimly. "I'm hard- ly fool enough to tsart in digging up an island, and particularly when there ain't any profit in it for me--and, besides, I ain't any too sure his royal highness here is sticking strictly to the truth. How do I know but that he found them pearls on you when you were off your head, and that he's got 'em now? That's one, thing the natives in these parts know the value of--pearls, You bet!" Captain Josephus Mumm pushed his cap to the hack of his head and drew his forearm across a dripping forehead. "Come to think of it, I guess I've lost inter- est in them pearls, If you've hid 'em and won't tell where they are it ain't my job to hunt for 'em; and if his imperial nibs here has got them, it ain't my joh to make him hand 'em over, I'm no hog, I'll have you know. If I got 'em, I'd only have to pass 'em on to the police when I got to Sydney, and nothing in my pocket to show for 'em. I guess I'm satisfied the way it is. Luck I was sore In need of, and finding you is luck beyond any caleulations I've had since T was a kid and dreamed that one day I was going to be rich." Peter passed his hand across his eyes wearily. The man was mad. He looked like some character out of a comic oryra. ic opera setting anyway--the hut was nearly full of natives now, naked but for their lava-lavas (some of which were extremely scant!); and a couple of chaps that looked like Lascars, who had on white pants, and one of these had an abominable squint eye---a couple of the schooner's crew, of course, Beyond, through the en~ trance to the hut, as heads and shoulders moved occasionally, he could catch a glimpse of a tall, gracefully bended palm, and the shimmer from the blue lagoon-- like the painted scenery that would 'make the background of the stage. There should be some dusky beauties, though, making love to this man of the outrageously red hair, and the outrageously wide shoulders. A Profitable Cargo "I'm glad you look on it 2s a piece of luck -- finding me, I mean," said Peter evenly, "You've been kind enough to accuse me of theft and of being a murderer, and when you get around to searching my pockets, as you prob- ably will, you'll find my worldly wealth consists of some six or seven shillings, which, as passage money to Sydney, will be about as unprofitable, if not more so, than the freight rates you have been eomplaining about on the pearls you haven't got. I bad a wrist watch, but, unfortunately for you, I am sorry to say it's gone--lost or stolen -- I don't know which. Therefore, you must either leave me here or feed and nurse me at a loss on the voyage to Sydney. I can't see where your luck comes in." Peter's voice grew sudden- working knowledge of the mative ly savage. "I think you'd better A -------- ------ S------ For. Flavour! The spicy flavour of a dash of fresh mustard will blend with almost any sandwich filling -- and add to it new zest and flavour. Next time KEEN'S MUSTARD COLMAN/KEEN (Canads) Ligited, 1015 Amberst St; --_-- . _ GR Montreal It was a com-, leave me here, and run along!" "No perishing fear, my lad!" sald Captain Josephus Mumm, with a low chuckle, "Luck, I said; and luck, I mean, Trading's been very poor of late. Even ran out of water--that's how I came to put in here. And the first thing I see is a bit of a motorboat, with the name Marion on her, moored out there in the lagoon. 'Luck!' says I. 'But it's too much to 'hope for--he'll have gone weeks ago.! But you weren't! And now, my lad, you're going to be the most profitable cargo that I've handled since ever I've been at sea." \ "You're talking in riddles to me," said Peter coldly, "What de you mean by profitable?" "Five thousand pounds," said Captain Josephus Mumm, with a short laugh. "That's profitable, ain't it? Five thousand pounds --that's the reward that's out for you ,my lad; and paid on the nail too, 'just for handing you over to the police in Sydney." . The Reward! Peter stared at the other blankly for, a moment, then he broke into a contemptuous laugh, "You're mad!" he said, "1 thought you were from the first:. I know it now, You--you're a comic-opera skipper sailing around the coral-girt isles of the sunlit seas, and You're supposed to have escaped from a lunatic asylum, aren't you? Well, you're a bally hit in the role -- Five thousand pounds for me because I killed Tom = Murchison! The police wouldn't offer that much for a regiment of murderers!" '"Mahbe they would, and mabbe they wouldn't," returned Captain Mumm with a shrug of his shoul- ders. "But it's all posted up shipshape and official in Fiji, Saw it in Suva with my own eyes. And a description of you when you'd got more flesh on your bones than you got now. And the details of the crime." Peter rose painfully to his feet again. His hands were clenched once more at his sides, "I'd like to hear those de- tails," he said through tight lips. "Got a bad memory, have you?" inquired Captain Mumm sarcastically. "Well, right yon are! Anything to oblige. Mur- chison had a lot of pearls with him the day he came hack---may- be you'll remember that! That afternoon you and he had a hasty bit of a row that was witnessed by a lot of your natives and--' "Nonsense!" interrupted Peter shortly. "It didn't amount to anything at all. There was some work that Mr. Murchison had wanted dome in his absence--anad it hadn't been done. He was quick tempered, and so was I. Iie flew off the handle about it wit) out asking for reasons, and so I flew off too--without giving the reasons, "It was a special bit of road we were building across the plan- tation and a beastly spell of weather had jacked us up. Natur- ally, the natives didn't under- stapd a word we were saving, and no doubt the row sounded a lot worse than it really was; but, as I say, it didnt amount to any- thing, and when we had both cooled down, we both apologiz- ed." The Cat's Paw "You can tell that to the jury," said Captain Josephus Mumm la- conically ,The next morning Tom Murchison was found murdered in his room, stabbed to death, and the knife that did it, a sheath- knife, was identified as yours, and it was found covered with blood just outside the door where you dropped it without kmowing it, or maybe couldn't find it again in the dark, or because you were in a burry, and the pearls were gone, and so was the Marion, and so was most of the extra supply of petrol from the store shed--and so was Peter Blake." For a moment Peter stared without a word. His brain was whirling in a riot of emotions. Hor- ror. and an insensate fury battled for supremacy; horror at the vile- ness of the deed--fury that he should be held the author of it. And then a strange mental calm came--and a night passed in re- | view again before him--and queer snatches of comversation, unintel- ligible then, ghastly clear now, came back to him: "So he won't float away--far enough out to sink her." And then that laugh, soft as a woman's, rippling out In duilcet, musical notes! And a stark understanding came. He was the cat's-paw! Peter tried to speak. Mis lips were parched and dry. He moisten ed them with tice tip of his tongue. "Listen!" he said hoarsely "I see it all now. That night I saw some one looking in through the window--looking at the pearls. . tried to catch him, but coulde't. Murchison didn't think it amount ed to anrthing; but I did. So I stayed awake, and once or twice 1 went outside and made the rounds of the bungalon, It must have been on one of those occasions that they crept in om Murchison, I was attacked in my room and wounded--look!" He tore his clothing away and showed the knife wound in his side. "I dare say Murchison put up a bit of a fight," drawled Captain Josephus Mumm. Tell It to the Jury "Damn you!" cried Peter fur- jously. "Damn you--listen! I be- came unconscious, The next I knew I was flung into a boat which I afterward discovered was the Mar. ion, I heard them say something about tying me to the thwart so they got the boat out far enough to sink it. I didn't understand then, but I do now--they were shoul- dering me with the crime. I'd never that I wouldn't float away when be heard of again; and it would be supposed that I had 'made good my escape in the Marion, and had likewise got rid of the Marion, too, when I was through with her. I lost consciousness once more. 'When I came to my senses again, 1 found I was being towed out to sea. 1 was pretty sick. I couldn't see very well. I think it was some sort of a large sailing vessel, | managed to free myself, and cut the boat adrift. Then I was toa weak to do much else. They lost me ,of course, in the night. After that--" Peter stopped abruptly, The red- haired man was sucking at his teeth with irritating persistency, Peter's face flushed. "Don't you understand?" he burst out. "They must have known about the pearls, and they sailed in under cover of darkness, and TERE is a satisfaction in driving the New Ford Car. You dre im- pressed with the remarkable ease with which gears are shifted; the smooth- ness of starting as the clutch is engaged; the vigorous acceleration. You ride in deep upholstery, Wide seats and ample leg-room ensure com- fort even on 2 long drive. Flexible springs and four hydraulic shock ab- sorbers protect you from the shocks of the road. they used me to cover up their tracks, and--" Again Peter stopped, and again he flushed. Somehow the story sounded lame, even in own ears He hadn't told it well--that was what was the matter--but his brain was sick and giddy, "They've made a cat's paw out of me," he sald, trying to steady his voice. "You don't say!" murmured Captain Josephus Mumm softly. "Well, I guess we'll get along-- s0's you .can tell that to the jury, too! No good you making auy fuss about it--what?* Peter found himself speaking in a dull sort of way. . "No--no good," said Peter. "No good making any fuss about it." Peter stared around the hut. His eyes met a ring of scowling faces. Very strange! Even Hafu was scowling. And yet Hafu and the rest of the' patives had been kind to him fdr 'beyond the ordina meaning of the word. He owe them his life. He was going way now, and he had very little with which to repay them. Just a few bob in his pocket. tie thrust his hand into his pocket and brought out the contents. There were six shillings and a long slender steel key. He had forgotten about the key. He stared at it for a moment, then put it back in his pocket, and extended the money to Hafu, The native, with a grunt, refused it. Of course! That's what a man who had acted the way Hafu had would do--only the man's eyes looked hard, Peter restored the money to his pocket and held out his hand. The native turned away. It was like a blow to Peter that had caught him unawares, and for a moment stunned him Then a white misery crept into his face. He was a pariah---even among savages! He swayed a little on his feet. "I fancy you and Durga had better carry him, Yar Lal," said Captain Josephus Mum:a. "He's too weak to walk, I'd say." The squint-eyed Lascar came for ward, Peter Blake's shoulders squared, his teeth were set. He pushed the man violently away. "Keep your filthy paws off me!" said Peter Blake--and walked uns aided out of the hut. (To Be Continued) IDEAL BACKGROUND A New Yorrk church sexton wha found his salary insufficient took up bootlegging on the side. One must admit that he had a perfectly good background. turn. Your Your hand on the steering wheel finds an instant response to the slightest foot on the brake pedal brings the car to a quick, safe stop. and a shatterless glass wigdshicld add to your safety, And when your drive is over and your car stands in front of your home, you feel the same pride in its handsome appearance that you desive from its mechanical excellence.