The spider's web

“Eight days I have haunted this beehive, fought my way through the multitude, looked into tens of thousands of faces, and yet failed to find her. I’m afraid, Aleck Craig, you’re...

Craig turns and looks squarely in the face of his companion. His Canadian sense of humor does not grasp the situation as readily as would have been the case with an American, bu...

“What I have told you reflects only honor upon the name of an American. I now come to the part that is hard to believe, and yet I swear every word is true as gospel.

To falter, to lose his grasp upon the cold iron of the immense wheel means instantaneous death, since he is now high above the battlements of the Midway, whose loftiest structur...

The excitement gradually dies away when the fair inmates of the car realize that they are no longer in danger from the crazy professor, whose brain cannot stand the exhilarating...

Upon the narrow streets of Stamboul a Turkish pasha may appear a very exalted personage, and command respect--upon the Midway Plaisance of the great Chicago World’s Fair he is q...

The idea seems too preposterous to be entertained for a moment, and yet he must give some credence to what his eyes have seen. Besides, the strange presence of Dorothy in the Mi...

The popularity of the Midway was something of a joke during the life of the Fair, but never questioned. It is since the close of the great Exposition that the people of this cou...

Wycherley is right; Aleck has recognized the cloaked figure. There is some undefinable quality about her carriage that betrays her--a gliding movement, so totally unlike the act...

Craig makes no remark, but hands the picture back. Somehow, instead of feeling exultant over the fall of a possible rival, his thoughts are wholly of Dorothy. It looks as if she...

When the full meaning of what has happened flashes into Craig’s mind--when he sees Aroun Scutari, lord of the harem and pasha in the Sultan’s service, about to take Dorothy Cere...

Dorothy is recovering; already she has moved, and it is evident that the influence of the drug, whatever it may have been, is wearing away. The jolting of the carriage may have...

“Ah! this is solid comfort,” he muses, stretching his legs out on the front seat as if eager to fill the whole vehicle; “it is my dream realized: a private carriage, a fine weed...

When the man who hangs there with such a weight upon his left arm feels that he cannot endure the strain five seconds longer, a voice shouts out just at his feet:

No wonder Wycherley stops eating and looks at his companion in a dazed way. The announcement made by the other is of a nature to take his breath away. What sort of man can Samso...

Both Craig and Wycherley spring to their feet. The latter smiles in a peculiar way, as though he sees in this a heaven-sent chance to rise. Perhaps his education in stocks, his...

Ablaze with light is the palatial mansion of the millionaire operator. Sweet strains of music float out upon the misty moonlight, and are lost in dying cadence upon the waters o...

The words, the tone in which they are spoken, and what he knows of the woman cause Aleck to sympathize with her. At the same time he is surprised to find her in Samson Cereal’s...

“Then just cast your eyes on that 'ere enwelope, from a distance like, an’ tell me if you kin make Bob Rocket or Davy Crockett or any other firework show out o’ it.”

Unseen by any of them the door has opened a trifle. Colonel Bob’s curiosity has been aroused by such singular happenings, and he is determined to see for himself what it means....

Turning his head at hearing the door open Aleck sees one whom he knows, and a cold chill passes over him as he recognizes the face of the Colorado colonel.

Thus he bows himself out, this strange Sheriff Bob. For once at least he has made a serious blunder, and almost precipitated a most unseemly disturbance. No wonder he is wrathy...

“Happy Jack” knows enough of dramatic rules of rhetoric to pause after this climax. He changes his posture, thrusts one hand into the breast of his coat, _à la_ Napoleon, while...

The strains of music from the hidden orchestra rise and fall to the time of a popular march. No longer the low serenade or the sad sweet lullaby that falls like the rippling of...

Craig is as good as his word. At the hour appointed he appears at the house of the great grain manipulator. John meets him at the door and welcomes him, but is on the way down t...

Another summer day is drawing to a close, and lights are springing up along the merry Midway as if by magic. If a strange, eerie place during the day, with its curious inhabitan...

“Jove! there he is, sure enough, and riding a camel too. What is come over Samson Cereal, the sedate king of the wheat pit? I am amazed!” declares the Canadian.

The ex-actor has reported matters in pretty much the way they occur. Samson plays his part in a manner that need never shame him, and perhaps secretly enjoys the situation. To a...

Wycherley has not been able to hear the conversation inside the booth, but he catches the martial music from the streets, and is just about to inform the Canadian that they must...

In all Eastern countries, where call bells are unknown, servants are summoned by the clapping of hands, a custom handed down from Bible times. So when Aroun Scutari makes this s...