It looks like we don't have any summaries for this title yet. Be the first to contribute.
Learn more- Thaddeus Barrington, owner of the Goddard Steamship Company, disappears while on his yacht off the coast of Florida. He often had guests aboard and the story as telegraphed to the newspapers hints that perhaps his enemies have engineered the affair to prevent his being present at a meeting of the board of directors. When Tom Grant, reporter of the Chronicle, arrives in Florida, Barrington's daughter Martha is almost ready to collapse. She is able to throw very little light upon the case. Grant's arrival has been reported to the "Spider," who had directed many similar affairs but always eluded the police. Barrington, a prisoner on his own yacht, writes on a slip of paper, places it in a bottle and drops it through a porthole. The message is fished out by a negro who is able to decipher the address. Refused admittance to the hotel, he appeals to Grant, who hurries to the wireless station and calls one of the submarines lying off the coast. He also ascertains that a wireless outfit has been sold to a certain address. Meantime, the "Spider" has instructed bis henchmen to "get the girl, too," and when Grant tries to see her she is already a prisoner. Reasoning that Martha has been taken to the house of which he has the address. Grant hurries there, but finds all the doors locked. Bracing his hands on one wall of a narrow alley-way, and his feet on the other, he mounts to the roof with his body in a horizontal position. He is not a moment too soon, for the gangsters have left Martha a prisoner in a sealed room into which fumes of a deadly gas are pouring. Making a bridge of his body, Grant gets Martha across the areaway. When they return to the hotel they are just in time to greet Martha's father, who has been rescued by the submarine commander. Barrington arrives in New York in time to cast his vote in the annual meeting, and foil the "Spider."
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content