6
THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE
❖
ROBERTS
<♦ rtnthaut
ILLUSTfiATIOm 3Y R*yWtf r *^
WYHICHT /tot a* itOOAf -HtK*u/c<X T
SYNOPSIS.
Miss Innes, spinster ami guardian of
Gertrude anil Halsey, established summer
headquarters at Sunnyside. Amidst nu
merous difficulties the servants deserted.
As Miss Innes locked up for the night,
she was startled by a dark iigurc on the
veranda. She passed a terrible night,
which was tilled with unseemly noises.
In tho morning Miss Innes found a
strange link cuff button in a clothes
hamper. Gertrude and Halsey arrived
With Jack Bailey. The house was awak
■led bv a revolver shot. A strange man
was found shot to death in tho hall.
Jt proved to be tho body of Arnold Arm
strong. whose banker father owned the
country house. Miss Innes found Hal-
Bey's revolver on the lawn. He and Jack
Bailey had disappeared. The link cuff
button mysteriously disappeared. De
teetivv .Tamieson and the coroner arrived.
Gertruae revealed that she was engaged
to Jack Bailey, with whom she had
talked in the billiard room a few mo
ments before the murder.
CHAPTER V.—Continued.
"The quarrel, I believe," he per
sisted, "was about Mr. Armstrong's
conduct to you. Miss Gertrude. He
had been paying you unwelcome at
tentions."
And I had never seen the man!
When she nodded a "yes" I saw the
tremendous possibilities involved. If
this detective could prove that Ger
trude feared and disliked the mur
dered man, and that Mr. Armstrong
had been annoying and possibly pur
suing her with hateful attentions, all
that, added to Gertrude's confession
of her presence in the billiard room
at the time of the crime, looked
strange, to say the least. The promi
nence of the family assured a strenu
ous effort to find the murderer, and if
we had nothing worse to look forward
to, we were sure of a distasteful pub
licity.
Mr. Jamieson shut his note-book
with a snap and thanked lis.
"I have an idea," he said, apropos
■of nothing at all, "that at any rate the
ghost is laid here. Whatever the rap
plngs have been —and the colored man
says they began when the family went
west three months ago—they are like
ly to stop now."
Which shows how much he knew
about it. The ghost was not laid;
with the murder of Arnold Armstrong
he, or it, only seemed to take on fresh
vigor.
Mr. Jamieson left then, and when
Gertrude had gone upstairs, as she did
at once. 1 sat and thought over what
I had just heard. Her engagement,
once s6 - Pngrossing a matter, paled
now beside the significance of her
story. If Halsey and Jack Bailey had
left before the crime, how came Hal
•ey'B revolver in the tulip bed? What
was the mysterious cause of their sud
den flight? What had Gertrude left
In the billiard room? What was the
significance of the cuff-link and where
was It?
CHAPTER VI.
In the East Corridor.
When the detective left he enjoined
absolute secrecy on everybody in the
household. The Greenwood club
promised the sumo thing, and as there
are no Sunday afternoon papers, the
murder was not publicly known until
Monday The coroner himself notified
the Armstrong family lawyer, and
early in the afternoon he came out.
1 had not seen Mr. Jamieson since
morning, but 1 knew he had been in
terrogating the servants. Gertrude
was locked In her room with a head
ache, and i had luncheon alone.
Mr Ilarton, the lawyer, was a little,
thin u»«n, and he looked an if he did
not relish his busiue.- ; that day.
"This Is very unfortunate, Mi. ; In
ne»." he aid, alter wo had shaken
hands Moat unfortunate and mys
terious With the father and mother
lu the w. ',l find • ver> 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<ti »hl Mi 114 It || Uat "
&lm imt », i i ( || HMt Diluli u| iu*>
!'•»* 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<e again. You might
think ovtr my offer In the meantime."
He went on through the drawing
room, and I listened to his footsteps
growing gradually fainter. 1 dropped
my pretence ut knitting and, leaning
back, I thought over the last l* hours.
Here was I, Itachel Innes, spinster, a
granddaughter of old John lunes of
revolutionary days, a t> 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*.
Aak for booklet on care of the Skla
and Complexion, or aend atanip to ua
for aample and booklet. ttealnol
Chemical Co., Baltimore, Md.
A WARNING.
T~"
Man at Telephone—Let me have tha
gas office, please.
Operator—Certainly. Hut you know
we don't allow any sweuring over our
lines.
EPIDEMIC OF ITCH IN WELSH
VILLAGE
"In Dowlals, South Wales, about fif
teen years ago, futilities were strick
en wholesale by a disease known as
the Itch. Relieve me, It Is the most
terrible disease of Its kind that I
know of. as it Itches all through your
body and makes your life an Inferno.
Sleep Is out of the question and you
feel as If it million mosquitoes were
attacking you at the came time. I
knew a <lo/.eti families that wero so
affected.
"The doctors did their bast, but
their remedies wero of no avail what
av«*r. Then th« families tried adnig
glst who was noted far and wide for
lilt remarkable cures. People came
to tilm from all parts of the country
for treatment, but his medicine niada
matters i»tIII worsa, as a last resort
they were advised by u friend to usa
the t'utlcura Remedies. lam fflad to
tell you that after a few days' treat-
Blent with t'utlcura Snap, Olnimiit
and Resolvent, the effect was wonder,
ful and the result was a perfect cura
In all eases,
"I utity mid that my three brothera,
three sisters, myself and all our fam
ilies hate been us*rs of the Cutleun
liciuttdloH tor ItHeuii years Thoiuaa
II igh NSfto Want Huron St, Chicago^
111 . June s». 1X1)9 "
The Modern Ides.
AMI yuu don't love Mm?"
'Then wh) uiarry hliu?"
"Oh, I might as Well K«< iff (111
h»i to lot a "uil»h itt«<: > igu or two
Imoortatit to Mother*
■ 1,. . tit lu of
ftH I I ill A, it KUtu Mlid »k||t> 111 Ij lor
ti. i >ui I.lt u, it, and »•> iU*l it
In r t Ut i ;fti v
<l4 \U' INM/ lit:. *l# UiH till wit, M Hw. J
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A vacation necessity—the
EASY TO ANSWER.
€
The Teacher—Who was It that
climbed slowly up the ladder of suc
cess, carrying his burden with him as
he went; who, when lie reached the
top gazed upon those far beneath
him, and—
The Scholar (aged 8) —I know,
ma'am. It was Pat O'Rourke, presi
dent of the Hodcarrlers union.
Advice.
"Father," queried l!ob, Junt home
from college, "you've worked for me
pretty hard nearly all iny liie, haven't
you?"
"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.