6 THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE BKmahy ❖ ROBERT <» niNEHART lummmm BY c* ■ymr /tea ar SOA9J ■«»»«/» » SYNOPSIS. Miss Tnnoa, spinster and guardian of Gertrude und llalsey, established summer headquarters at Sunnyside. Amidst nu merous difficulties the servants deserted. As Miss Innes locked up for tiio night, she was aturtled by a dark figure on the veranda. She passed a terrible night, which was tilled with unseemly noises. CHAPTER ll.—Continued. "Them's going to be a death!" she wailed. "Oh, Miss Rachel, there's go ing to bo a death!" "There will be," I said grimly, "If you don't keep quiet, Liddy Allen." And so we sat there until morning, wondering if the candle would last until dawn, and arranging what trains we could take back to town. If we had only stuck to that decision and gone back before it was too late! The sun came finally, and from my window I watched the trees along the drive take shadowy form, gradually lose their ghostlike appearance, be come gray and then green. The Greenwood club showed itself a dab of white against the hill across the valley, and an early robin or two hopped around in the dew. Not un til the milk-boy and the sun came, about the same time, did I dare to open the door into the hall and look around. Everything was as we had left it. Trunks were heaped here and there, ready for the trunk-room, and through an end window of stained glass came a streak of red and yel low daylight that was eminently cheerful. The milk-boy was pound ing somewhere below, and the day had begun. Thomas Johnson came ambling up the drive about half-past six, and we could hear him clattering around on the lower floor, opening shutters. I had to take Llddy to her room up stairs, however—she was quite sure she would find something uncanny. In fact, when she did not, having now the courage of daylight, she was actu ally disappointed. Well, we did not go back to town that day. I warned Liddy not to mention what had happened to anybody, and tele phoned to town for servants. Then, after a breakfast which did more credit to Thomas' heart than his head, I went on a short tour of investiga tion. The sounds had come from the east wing, and not without some qualms I began there. At first I found nothing. Since then I have developed my powers of observation, but at that time 1 was a novice, The small card room seemed undisturbed. I looked for footprints, which is, I believe, the con ventional thing to do, although my experience has been that as clews both footprints and thumb marks are more useful in fiction than in fact. ISut the stairs in that wing offered something. At the top of the flight had been placed a tall wicker hamper, packed with linen that had couie from town. It stood at the edge of the top step, almost barring passage, and on the step below It was a long, fresh scratch. For three steps the scratch was repeated, gradually diminishing, an If some object had fallen, striking each one Then lor four steps nothing. On the fifth step below was a round dent in the hard wood. That was all, and It seemed little enough, except that I was positive the marks bad not been there the day before. It bore out my theory of the sound, which had been for all the world like the bumping ot a metallic object down u (light of steps. The four stops had been skipped I reasoued that an iron bar, for Instance, would do something of the sort —strike two or three steps, end down, then turn over, Jumping a few stairs, and landing with a thud. Iron bars, however, do not fall down stairs In the middle of the night alone Coupled with the figure on the veranda the agi-ncy by which It climbed might be assumed Hut—and here was the thing that pustzled me most—the doors w«re all fastened that morning, ih. windows unmolest ed, and the particular door from the card room 10 the veranda had a com bination lock oi whli h I held the key, and which had not been tampered with I lined on an attempt at burglary, as the mo * natural explanation an attempt fru -irati d by the falling of the object, whatever It was, that had rou*«d u»e Two things I could not understand; how ihi Intruder bad «» taped with . verything h« ked, aud wh> hi had left the small silver, which In tin it of u butler, had remain* d do »n-.talr* over ulght in lb* uit* rui.'i'B 4 hack tame up fioui .. .us .u, with a fr« h leiay oi servant» Ih. drlv-r too* thiia with a flourish iu ilin vMiU' > utrauce, and dtov« atuutid to the front of the hoi.! , *hi'ti I was awaiting hint fw o JolK.i I,'' he l aid in reply la «4a- *tluii • | Uon t i barge fuij lat>». Uiau e. UIH.HU, Vrn up «|| • « ...ei as I do. It paya io make a •I'Ual P ""lit ' i«-nd (oi lb* ' *'* 4 * J '"«• »*•"» It'i—, I l%i kuU ** to M4I 'w'v yi at !ti« as ■ "I Was Roused by a Revolver Shot." "bunch" of servants my courage re vived, and late in the afternoon came a message from Gertrude that she and Halsey would arrive that night at about 11 o'clock, coming In the car from Richfield. Things were looking up; and when Beulah, my cat, a most intelligent animal, found some early catnip on a bank near the house and rolled in it in a feline ecstasy, I de cided that getting back to nature was the thing to do. While I was dressing for dinner, Liddy rapped at the door. She was hardly herself yet, but privately I think she was worrying about the bro ken mirror and its augury, more than anything else. When she came In she was holding something in her hand, and she laid it on the dressing table carefully. "I found it in the linen hamper," she said. "It must be Mr. Halsey's, but it seems queer how it got there." It was the half of a link cuff but ton of unique design, and I looked at it carefully. "Where was It? In the bottom of the hamper?" I asked. "On the very top," she replied. "It's a mercy it didn't fall out on the way." When Liddy had gone I examined the fragment attentively. I had never seen It before, and I was certain it was not Ilalsey's. It was of Italian workmanship, and consisted of a mother-of-pearl foundation, encrusted with tiny seed-pearls, strung on horsehair to hold them. In the cen ter was a small ruby. The trinket was odd enough, but not intrinsically of great value. Its Interest for me lay In this: I.iddy had found it lying In the top of the hamper which had blocked the east-wing stairs. That afternoon the Armstrongs' housekeeper, a youngish good-looking woman, applied for Mrs. Ralston's place, and I was glad enough to take her. She looked as though she might be equal to a dozen of Llddy, with her snapping black eyes and heavy jaw. Her name was Anne Watson, and I dined that evening for the first time in three days. CHAPTER 111. Mr. John Bailey Appears. I had dinner served in the break fast room. Somehow the huge diulng room depressed me, and Thomas, cheerful enough all day. allowed his spirits togo down with the sun. He had a habit of watching the corners of thi> room, left shadowy by the can dles on the table, and altogether it was not a festive meal. Dinner over I went Into the living room I had three hours before the children could possibly arrive, aud I got out my kutttlng The chug of the automobile as it climbed the hill was the most wel come sound 1 had heard for a long time, and with (jertrude aud llulsey actually before me, my troubles ■ • im-d over lor good, liurtrude stood smiling iu thi' hall, with her hat quite over urn ear, and her hair In every dtriitioti under her pink veil Oer trude U a very pretty girl, no matter bow her hat Is, and I was not sur pili il whin Mali • » presented a good looking young mail, who l>ow>-d at me and looked at Trude that la tln t ldi< ilous nti kuumu Uertrudi brough' from school, I hav (nought a guest, Aunt Itay, Hal < > said "I wuut yon to adopt bit.i into jour affections and your Hat Uida; to Honday II .t l.et me premni iohii ltail«*), only you must call hliu latfc in i i hours b« II be •■ailing you Aunt'. I know Mm." W» shook bands, aud I got a t bate iu Uimli at Mr Bailey, be was a tali i 'iloa, nfl..i|n o. and wi-i* a I CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, JULY 28, 1910. small mustache. I remember wonder ing why; he seemed to have a good mouth and when he smiled his teeth were above the average. One never knows why certain men cling to a messy upper lip that must get into things, any more than one under stands some women building up their hair on wire atrocities. Otherwise, he was very good to look at, stalwart and tanned, with the direct gaze that I like. lam particular about Mr. Bai ley, because he was a prominent fig ure in what happened later. Gertrude was tired with the trip and went up to bed very soon. 1 made up my mind to tell them noth ing until the next day, and then to make as light of our excitement as possible. After all, what had I to tell? An inquisitive face peering in at a window; a crash in the night; a scratch or two on the stairs, and half a cuff-button! As for Thomas and his forebodings, it was always my belief that a negro is one part thief, one part pigment, and the rest supersti tion. It was Saturday night. The two men went to the billiard room, and I could hear them talking as I went up stairs. It seemed that Halsey had stopped at the Greenwood club for gasolene and found Jack Bailey there, with the Sunday golf crowd. Mr. Bai ley had not been hard to persuade— probably Gertrude knew why—and they had carried him off triumphant ly. 1 roused Liddy to get them some thing to eat —Thomas was beyond reach in the lodge—and paid no at tention to her evident terror of the kitchen regions. Then I went to bed. The men were still in the billiard room when I finally dozed off, and the last thing I remember was the howl of a dog in front of the house. It wailed a crescendo of woe that trailed off hopefully, only to break out afresh from a new point of the compass. At three o'clock in the morning I was roused by a revolver shot. The sound seemed to come from Just out side my door. For a moment I could not move. Then—l heard Gertrude stirring in her room, and the next moment she had thrown open the con necting door. "O, Aunt Ray! Aunt Hay!" she cried hysterically. "Home one has been killed!" "ThievM," I said shortly. "Thank gooduons, there are some men in the house tonight." I was getting into my slippers and a bath robe, and Ger trude with shaklug hands was lighting a lamp Then *« opened the door Into the hall, where, crowded on the upper landing ot the stairs, the maids, white-faced and trembling, were peer ing down, headed by I-lddy. I was greeted by a series of low screuius and questions, and I tried to quiet them Gertrude had dropped on a chair and sat there liiup and shiv ering I went at once across the hall to Halsey's room and knocked; then I pushed the Uuor open, it Has empty; the bed had not been occupied! "lie must be !u Mr lialiey's room." I said excitedly, and fallowed by I.id dy, we wont there. I.lke Hal. <7 *, it hud not been Occupied! Gertrude was u® her reel now. but she leaned against th« door for support They have been killed!" fche git ped Tie 11 she caught iue by the arm and dragtfed iue toward ilie stall* They may only be hurt, aud He must iliel them,'* she i>ald, her ••yes dilated with excitement I d<>n i rebieiuijt r how we got down the slain, | do remember expecting et ry moment tu be kill, d Thee..ok was at the telephone upotalis, (ailing the Greenwood i lub, and l.iddy was b« Mud me, afield u* tome *ud nu> daring to stay behind. We found the living room and the drawing room un disturbed. Somehow I felt that what ever we found would be in the card room or on the staircase, and nothing but the fear that Ilalsey was in dan ger drove me on; with every step my knees seemed to give way under me. Gertrude was ahead and in the card room she stopped, holding her can dle high. Then she pointed silently to the doorway into the hall beyond. Huddled there on the lloor, face down, with his arms extended, was a man. Gertrude ran forward with a gasp ing sob. "Jack," she cried, "Oh, Jack!" LJddy had run, screaming, and the two of us were there alone. It was Gertrude who turned him over, final ly, until we could see his white face, and then she drew a deep breath and dropped limply to her knees. It was tho body of a man, a gentleman, in a dinner coat and white waistcoat, stained now with blood —the body of a man I had never seen before. CHAPTER IV. Where Is Halsey? Gertrude gazed at the face in a kind of fascination. Then she put out her hands blindly, and I thought she was going to faint. "He has killed him!" she muttered almost inarticulately; and at that, be cause my nerves were going, I gave her a good shake. "What do you mean?" I said fran tically. There was a depth of grief and conviction in her tone that was worse than anything she could have said. Tho shake braced her, any how, and she seemed to pull herself together. Hut not another word would she say; she stood gazing down at that gruesome figure on the floor, while Liddy, ashamed of her flight and afraid to come back, drove before her three terrified women servants into the drawing room, which was as near as any of them would venture. Once in the drawing room, Gertrude collapsed and went from one fainting spell into another. I had all I could do to keep Liddy from drowning her with cold water, and the maids hud dled in a corner, as much use as so many sheep. In a short time, although it seemed hours, a car came rushing up, and Anne Watson, who had waited to dress, opened the door. Three men from the Greenwood club, in all kinds of costumes, hurried in. I recognized a Mr. Jarvis, but the others were strangers. "What's wrong?" the Jarvis man asked —and we made a strange pic ture, no doubt. "Nobody hurt, is there?" He was looking at Gertrude. "Worse than that, Mr. Jarvis," I said. "I think it is murder." At the word there was a commotion. The cook began to cry, and Mrs. Wat son knocked over a chair. The men were visibly impressed. "Not any member of the family?" Mr. Jarvis asked, when he had got his breath. "No," I said; and motioning Liddy to look after Gertrude, I led the way with a lamp to the cardroom door. One of the men gave an exclamation, and they all hurried across the room. Mr. Jarvis took the lamp from me—l remember that —and then feeling my ■elf getting dizzy and light-headed I closed my eyes. When I opened them their brief examination was over, and Mr. Jarvis was trying to put me in a chair. "You must get upstairs," he said (Irmly, "you and Miss Gertrude, too. This has been a terrible shock. In his own home, too." I stared at him without comprehen sion. "Who is It?" I asked with dlf. Acuity. There seemed a band drawn tight around my throat. "It Is Arnold Armstrong," he said, looking at me oddly, "and he has been murdered—in his father's house." After a minute 1 gathered myself together and Mr. Jarvis helped me Into the living room. I.iddy had got Gertrude upstairs, and the two strange men from the club stayed with the body. The reuctlon from the shock and slraiu was tremendous; I was collapsed—and then Mr. Jarvis asked me u question that brought back my wandering faculties. "Where Is llalsi-y?" he asked "llalsey!" Suddenly Gertrude's stricken face rose before me the empty room upstairs. Where was ilulsey? "lie was here, wasn't he?" Mr. Jar vis persisted. "He Stopped ut the club on his way over." "I don't know where lie la," Is tld feebly One of the iih'U from the club catuu in, u*k>d for the telephone, und t could hear him excitedly talking, ty ing something übout coroners und de tection. Mr Jarvis haued over to lue, "Why don't you tru-tt me, Miss In uv»? 'he .ihl "If |tau do iu.y thing I Will. Kill tell tile the whole tiling " I did. finally, from the b. giitninf, and when | told of Ja. It Hull. ) * i>* IIIK lit tie- boos.- Ut>tl bight lo givt 4 long whistle "I wish I hey w.-ra uotu h> re,"" h* said w butt I tltti in d Wkat> t«r m.J prank took it., iu It w«uM In** Lu tlvt ti 114• y *«•!"«♦ b ft' Uliy w ifu ate Relieves the PAIN of a BURN Instantly and takes out ail inflammation in one day. The most serious Burns and Scalds instantly relieved and quickly healed by D r.Porter's Antiseptic Healing: Oil A soothing antiseptic discovered by an Old Railroad Surgeon. All Druggists re fund money if it fails to cure. 25c, 50c & sl. I'arii Medicine Co. Deng, N. C. My wife was severely burned from a red hot cook stove. We applied DR. TORTER S ANTISEPTIC HEAL* INC. OIL. and In ten minutes her burns were relieved. We used It as directed and In a lew days the burns were entirely healed. We can strongly recommend it to heal the wurst burns and sores. (Signed) J. W. Church, Notary Public. Made by Maker of Laxative Bromo Quinine Notes and Comments. Chu! ch—Does your neighbor play that cornet without notes? Gotham—Yes; but not without com ments.—Yonkers Statesman. An Exception. Caller—ls Mrs. Brown at home? Artless Parlor Maid (smiling confi dentially)—No, ma'am —she really is out this afternoon. Annie Telford, "Queen's Nurse," o' Bailyantral, Ayrshire, England, Writes as Follows: I have great pleasure in testifying what a valuable remedy in various Skin Troubles I have found Resi'iol Ointment to be. I have used it in ex tremely bad cases of Eczema and in poisoned wounds, and always with most satisfactory results. I have 'ho highest opinion of its curative val le. Looked Like a Pattern. "My dear," asks the thoughtful hus band, "did you notice a large sheet of paper with a lot of diagrams o.n it about my desk?" "You mean that big piece with dotj and curves and diagonals and things all over it?" "Yes. It was my map of the of Halley's comet. I wanted to —" "My goodness! I thought it was thst pattern I asked yoa to get, and the dressmaker is cutting out my new shirtwaist by it!" —Chicago Evening Post. Well, Wasn't He Right? The minister was addressing the Sunday school. "Children, I want to talk to you for a few moments about one of the most wonderful, one of the most important organs in the whole world," he said. "What is that that throbs away, beats away, never stop ping, never ceasing, whether you wake or sleep, night or day, week in and week out, month in and month out, year in and year out, without any volition on your part, hidden away in the depths, as it were, unseen by you, throbbing, throbbing rhythmically all your life long?" During this pause for oratorical effect a small voice was heard: "I know. It's the gas meter." What's the Answer? We're ready to quit! After sending two perfectly rhymed, carefully scan ned. pleasurably sentimental pieces of poetic junk to seventeen magazines and having them returned seventeen times, we turn to the current issue of a new monthy and find a "pome" modeled after Kipling's "Vampire," and in which home is supposed to rhyme with alone, run on page eleven With all the swell eurlycues ordinarily surrounding a piece of real art. If poetizing is a gift we are convinced that this poet's must have been. As for us, we are on our way to the wood shed to study the psychology of the ax or any other old thing that hasn't to do with selling poetry to mag*, sines. Compound Interest comes to 1 ife? when the body feels the delicious glow of health, vigor und energy. That Certain Sense of vigor in the brain and easy poise of the nerves conies i when tin- improper foods are 1 cut out und prcdigest<-d Grape=Nuts take their place. 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BLAND Of Brewton, Oft., writtm: M 1 had bHB » sufTerer for a snnbtr of yun Willi Lumbago and Rhonaattpm tn my arms *>4 lags, and tried all the remedial that I oould gather from medical wonfcs, and also consulted with a number of the beet physicians. but found nothing that gave the relief obtained from "•■DROPS." 1 shall prescribe It In my praoUoe for rheumatism and Kindred dleeasea'' FREE If yon are suffering with Rheumatism. Neuralgia. Kidney Trouble or any kin dred disease, vrlte to us for a trial bottle of DROPS." and test it yourself. "••DROPS" can be used any length of time without acquiring a "drug habit." as It Is entirely frea of opium, oocaine, aleohol. laudanum, and other similar Ingredients. bun Uln Bottle, "5-DBOPS" (80S Desas) •1.00. Far •■!• by Draffliti. BWAISOR BHEDBMTIB BORE SOMPAIY, Beyt. 80. ISO Lake BuhL, H Rnsnnni THIS ad. is directed at the man who has all the business in his line in this community, q Mr. Merchant —You say you've got it all. You're sell ing them all they'll buy, any how. But at the same time you would like more business. •J Make this community buy more. •J Advertise strongly, consist ently, judiciously. out the quality of what you've got to sell, results in about as much satisfaction as your wile would K»*t it you pave her a box of cigars for Christmas, Advertising in This Paper t > fvrrvlxulv :t| once an ! makoa (hum uik t»*v k with muiiey sAim the it Ad. Gun + [TRUE \ J)