6 THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE ❖ ROBERTS <♦ rtnthaut ILLUSTfiATIOm 3Y R*yWtf r *^ WYHICHT /tot a* itOOAf -HtK*u/c thing devolves on me; and, us you can understand, it I-* an unpleasant duty." "No doubt," I said absently. "Mr. Han i>u. 1 aui going to ask you some qui iluui, and I hope >ou will answer them. I l> I that I aui entitled to »oni«i knowledge, because I and my family art- j.mt now in a iuost ai.tblgu ous position." I don i knuw blether he under stood ;«« or not; h. took olt his gla»»e>> and wiped them 'I itiall be v.ry happy." he said With old» t »hioii> .1 court- • • rhmk -• *u Mr Ilarton, did Mr Amtld Ann4trang know lut Sunny nlde hid t»< n rut..) ' "I think ye*, he did lu fact, I uty mM told hint about it" Mid b« kt>< v* who that tenants we» w ?" "M« had not b-«n living with the fsiotly lot «i uu > ii , |, w "N.» t ulurtnasiety, Hurt; bad U«»m trouble I tw ,ii \n Id atel hU fa th' 1 •' •* >k MI. I «>l Ilk I lu lu« H " * f'fceli || wo .ld lie mtllgcdy that k« rui.-e U" ilast nitht to «««i p«,> i.iit at a»4 .iUtin t,. lot.-lug lu hlut? I tj !'•»* h> If i n n#4>:' iii'-mmit I ®r^ ■■ "The Quarrel, I Believe." and I felt that this dried-up little man was the repository of much that he had not told me. I gave up trying to elicit any information from him, and we went together to view the body before it was taken to tho city. It had been lifted onto the billiard ta ble and a sheet thrown over it; oth erwise nothing had been touched. A soft hat lay beside it, and the collar of the dinner-coat was still turned up. The handsome, dissipated face of Ar nold Armstrong, purged of its ugly lines, was now only pathetic. As we went in Mrs. Watson appeared at the card-room door. "Come in, Mrs. Watson," the lawyer said. Hut she shook her head and withdrew; she was the only one in the house who seemed to regret the dead man, and even she seemed rath er shocked than sorry. Before Mr. Ilarton left, he told me something of the Armstrong family. Paul Armstrong, the father, had been married twice. Arnold was a son by the first marriage. The second Mrs. Armstrong had been a widow, with a child, a little girl. This child, now perhaps 20, was Louise Armstrong, having taken her stepfather's name, and was at present in California with the family. "They will probably return at once," he concluded, "and part of my errand h«»re to-day is to see If you will relin quish your lease hero In their favor." "We would better wait and see If they wish to come," I said. "It seems unlikely, und my town house is being remodeled." At that he let the mat ter drop, but It came up unpleasantly enough, later. At six o'clock the body was taken away, and ut seven thirty, after an early dinner, Mr. Ilarton went. Ger trude had not come down, and there was no news of Halsey. Mr. Jamie son had taken a lodging in the vll la ice. and I had not seen him »lncu mid-afternoon It was about nine o'clock. I think, wh.-n the bell rang and he was ushered iuto the living room. "Sit down," I said grimly. "Have you tound a clew that will luciimluate me, Mr. J unlet, on *" lb- had til.- grace to look uncomfort able "No," be said. "If you hud killed Mr Armstrong, you would have bit no dews You would have had too much Intelligence." After that We got (-.long belter lb was tilling In his |mii ket, uud ufter a minute he brought out (wo senilis of paper "1 have been to tho club hoi. . he..lid, and among Mr Arm Strong's . ffei 1 - 1 (omul tie . Due In curious; tit- other Is pm/liug" Th first wit a h< - t of club uote paper on whi-ii wa» writteu, over uud over, then.tine liaise) 11. Inn. s " It was llaUey* Hosing signature to a dot, but it lu< k< d Hal .. s |u».-. The ones tow.nd the hot out of the i heel wvre muck better thau tb« top oues Mr laiui- on suill-d at ii.» (ac< "Ills old tritks," hi suit. "That '* • CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, AUGUST n, 1910. ought to be able to change the plan of his house without becoming an ob pect of suspicion." "There is little in the paper itself," he admitted; "but why should Arnold Armstrong carry that around, unless it meant something? He never built a house, you may be sure of that. If it is this house, it may mean anything from a secret room—" "To an extra bathroom," I said scornfully. "Haven't you a thumb print, too?" "I have,"he said with a smile, "and the print of a foot in a tulip bed, and a number of other things. The odd est part Is, Miss Innes, that the thumb-mark is probably yours and the footprint certainly." His audacity was the only thing that saved me; his amused smile put me on my mettle, and I ripped out a perfectly good scallop before I an swered. "Why did I step into the tulip bed?" I asked with interest. "You picked up something," he said good-hutnoredly, "which you are go ing to tell me about later." "Am I, indeed?" I was politely cu rious. "With this remarkable insight of yours, I wish you would tell me where 1 shall find my four thousand dollar motorcar." "I was Just coming to that," he said. "You will find it about 30 miles away, at Andrews Station, in a black smith shop, where it is being im paired." 1 laid down my knitting then and looked at him. "And Halsey?" 1 managed to say. "Wo are going to exchange infor mation," he said. "I am going to tell you that, when you tell me what you picked up In the tulip bed." Wo looked steadily ut each other; It was not an unfriendly stare; we were only measuring weapons. Then he smiled a little and got up. "With your permission," he suld, "I aui going to examine the curd room and the itilrcu A It , a Co hiatal Uaiue, mixed up with a vulgar und revolting crime, and even at tempting to lii.oUwlnk the law! Cer tainly I had leit the stiulght and nar row aay. 1 was routed by hearing Mr. Jamle kuii coming rapidly bat k through the draw lug luoiu He stopped ut the door. "Ml » luii* ~" he said uukkly, Mill you coiue with utu and light the e.ist corridor? I bavtt fa tleaed souu*l»ody lu the small room at tin h< .id of the I jump, d up si once You m« in i.e. murderer?" | "HusatUy,** lie said quietly, as «• «to i| I ». tit If.li lt I •iH.ifetf 11. it.id Trembling as I was, I was deter mined to see that door opened. I hardly knew what I feared, but so many terrible and inexplicable things had happened that suspense was worse than certainty. "I am perfectly cool," I said, "and I am going to remain here." The lights flashed up along that end of the corridor, throwing the doors into relief. At the intersection of the small hallway with the larger, the cir cular staircase wound its way up, as if it had been an afterthought of the architect. And just around the cor ner, in the small corridor, was the door Mr. Jamieson had indicated. I was still unfamiliar with the house, and I did not remember the door. My heart was thumping wildly in my ears, but I nodded to him togo ahead. I was perhaps eight or ten feet away— and then he threw the bolt back. "Come out," he said quietly. There was no response. "Come—out," he repeated. Then —I think he had a re volver, but I am not sure —he stepped aside and threw the door open. From where I stood I could not see beyond the door, but I saw Mr. Jamie son's face change and heard him mut ter something, then he bolted down the stairs, three at a time. When my knees had stopped shaking, I moved forward, slowly, nervously, until I had a partial view of what was beyond the door. It seemed at first to be a clos et, empty. Then I went close and ex amined it, to stop with a shudder. Where the floor should have been was black void and darkness, from which came the indescribable damp smell of the cellars. Mr. Jamieson had locked somebody in the clothes chute. As I leaned over I fancied I heard a groan—or waa it the wind? CHAPTER VII. A Sprained Ankle. I was panic-stricken. As Iran along the corridor I was confident that the mysterious intruder and probable mur derer had been found, and that he lay dead or dying at the foot of the chute. I got down the staircase some how, and through the kitchen to the basement stairs. Mr. Jamieson had been before me, and the door stood open. Liddy was standing in the mid dle of the kitchen holding a frying pan by the handle as a weapon. "Don't go down there," she yelled, when she saw me moving toward the basement sairs. "Don't you do it, Miss Rachel. That Jamieson's down there now. There's only trouble comes of hunting ghosts; they lead you into bottomless pits and things like that. Oh, Miss Rachel, don't —" as I tried to get past her. She was interrupted by Mr. Jamie son's reappearance. He ran up the stairs two at a time, and his face was flushed and furious. "The whole place is locked," he said angrily, "Where's the laundry key kept?" "It's kept in the door," Liddy snapped. "That whole end of the cel lar is kept locked, so nobody can get at the clothes, and then the key's left in the door, so that unless a thief : --Ma I Bolted Down Stairs, Three at a Time. was as blind as us some detectives, he could walk right la." "Liddy," I said sharply, ' come down with us and turn ou all ill- lights." Hhu offered her residual ion, as us ual, on the spot, but I look her by the arm, and she caute ulous tin.illy Sim ■wlti'heii ou all tlu lights and pointed to a door just ahead. I hat's the door," #Ue said sulkily '"the ki jr's in It." Hut the ke> was not in It Mr J.imleauii sfeuuk It, hut it u heavy door, well lock, d Aud thett he sloop d and Ihhuii |iun. hilt* around Ihe key hole tbtth the •nd of a had |H licit. Win# he «iood u|i his face was wsul- It 4 luck. d »u the iiMtd"," he said Wkiii It tivM. LEADING MISTAKES IN LIFE Writer Has Recorded Ten, of Which Most of U8 Assuredly Have Our Share. Some of us may be glad to bo told that there are only ten life mistakes, for 'there seem to be so many more, but a recent writer has catalogued then. Perhaps these are only the ten ieading ones from which the smaller errors arise. Let's look over the list and see how many of them are ours: First, to set up our own standard of right and wrong and Judge people ac cordingly; second, to measure the en joyment of others by our own; third, to expect uniformity of opinion in this world; fourth, to look for judgment and experience in youth; fifth, to en deavor to mold all dispositions alike; sixth, to look for perfection in our own actions; seventh, to worry our selves and others with what cannot be remedied; eighth, to refuse to yield in immaterial matters; ninth, to re fuse to alleviate, so far as it lies in our power, all which needs allevia tion; tenth, to refuse to make allow ance for the infirmities of others. SKIN TROUBLES A Healing Ointment With a Wid« Range of Usefulness A letter from Mrs. I. E. Cameron, Graduate Nurse, Augusta, Me., says: "I must write and tell you the good Reslnol Ointment has done. I applied it to an ulcerated leg of six months' standing. Almost everything had been tried to heal It. Hesiuol was applied twice a day for four weeks, and the ul cers are entirely healed. It Is now six months since the treatment and nc indication of a return of the trouble I have used Reslnol for eruptions on children's faces, and for everything that seemed to need an ointment, wltfc satisfactory results In every case." Mrs. F. Cox, Chicago, 111., says in another letter: "I cannot speak too highly of Resinol Ointment and Soap. They cured my baby boy of Eczema. He had a very severe case. Numerous other remedies had been tried and failed to do any good. I would not bo without them in the house. " The llrat application will relieve the Itching; and Irrllnllun In akin dlacaaea, nnd atop the pnln In burna or aealda. Chaflnjc, Sunburn, I'olaon Ivy eruptions are often cured by an overnight ap plication. IteMlnol Ointment, Realnol ffoap and Realnol Medicated Shavlnir Sdclt are nold ut nil Drug 1 Store*. 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"Quite right, quite light, «on," mused father, retrospectively, "JuHt ?o," returned Hcb, brMkly. "Now, you had better busy und work for yourself a bit—th, dud?"— Life. Initials. "What are Mr. \V|H<*'« Inltlala?" "Can't say. lb' hurt been taking HO ninny college «]• gr< e* that nobody can keep truck of litem." There's vitality, snap and"go" In a breakfast cf Crape-Nuts and cream, Why? Because nature stores up In wheat and barley The Potassium Phosphate In such form as to Nourish brain ai\J nerves. The iood expert who originated Grape-Nuts Retained this valuable i 'wiiunt in the iood. *• fheie's a KeaW Head the famous little bt>ok, * 11 k Road to Wellviik," Found in Packages.