6
TfiL CIRCULAR SUIRCASC
BKmary V
V- uoberTS
❖ MNE
nu/srm/om dY
a.*/ /VOM ot MOO&i /UA&lir CO> J
SYNOPSIS.
Mis ImifH, spinster mul guardian of
Gcvtrudt aiid IliilMy. established summer |
headquarters at Sunnyslde, Tlservants
desert. < Jet trade and Halsey arrive with i
Jack Bailey. The house waa awakened by
8 revolver shot and Arnold Armstrong
was found shot to death in the hall. Miss
Innes found Ilalsey's revolver on the
lawn. He and Jaek Bailey had disap
peared. Gertrude revealed that she was
engaged to Jaek Bailey, with whom she ;
talked In the billiard room shortly before
tlx- murder. Detective Jamieson accused j
Miss Inn' , of holding back evidence. Ho
Imprisoned an intruder In an empty room. |
The prisoner escaped. Gertrude was sus- |
peeted because of an injured foot. Hal- j
spy reappears and says he and Bailey |
w. re .all- ii away by a telegram- Cashier
Bailey of I'aul Armstrong's bank, de
funct. was arrested for embezzlement. 1
Paul Armstrong's death was announced.
Halsey"s lianccc, Louise Armstrong, told i
Halsey that while she still loved him, she :
was to marry another, it developed that j
I)r. Walker was the man. Louise was
found iit the bottom of the circular stair- 1
case. Recovering consciousness, she said i
something had brushed by her on the :
stairway and she fainted. Bailey is sus
pected of Armstrong's murder. Alter
"seeing a ghost," Thomas, the lodgekeep- i
er, was found dead with a slip in his :
pocket bearing tlie name of "I,ucien Wal- 1
lace." Dr. Walker asked Miss Innes to |
vacate In favor of Mrs. Armstrong. She
refused. A note from Bailey to Gertrude i
arranging a meeting at night was found.
CHAPTER XXl—Continued.
"Grossmutter," he said. And I saw j
Mr. Jamleson's eyebrows go up.
"German," he commented. "Well,
young man, you don't seem to know j
much about yourself."
"I've tried it all the week," Mrs. 1
Tate broke in."The boys knows a
word or two of German, but he doesn't j
know where he lived, or anything;
about himself."
Mr. Jamieson wrote something on a
card and ga% f e It to her.
"Mrs. Tate," he said, "I want you '
to do something. Here is some money j
for the telephone call. The instant
the boy's mother appears here, call up
that number and ask for the person
whose name is there. You can run
across to the drug store on an errand
and do it quietly. Just say, 'The lady
has come.'"
" 'The lady has come,' " repeated
Mrs. Tate. "Very well, sir, and I hope
it will be soon. The milk bill alone
is almost double what it was."
"How much is the child's board?" I
asked.
"Three dollars a week, including his
washing."
"Very well," I said. "Now, Mrs.
Tate, I am going to pay last week's
board and a week in advance. If the
mother comes she is to know nothing
of this visit—absolutely not a word,
and, in return for your silence, you
may use this money for —something
lor your own children."
Her tired, faded face lighted tip, and
I saw her glance at the little Tates'
small feet. Shoes, I divined —the feet
of the genteel poor being almost as ex
pensive as their stomachs.
As we went back Mr. Jamieson
made only one remark; I think he
was laboring under the weight of a
great disappointment.
"is King's a children's outfitting
place?" he asked.
"Not especially. It is a general de
partment store."
He was silent after that, but he
went to the telephone ns soon as we
got home, and called up King & Co. in
the city.
After a time he got tho general
manager, and they talked for some
time. When Mr. Jamieson hung up
the receiver he turned to me.
"The plot thickens," he said with
his ready smile. "There are four
women named Wallace at King's, none
of them married, and none over 20. I
think I shall go up to the city to-night.
I want togo to the Children's hospital.
But before I go, Mi ss Innes. I wish you
would be more frank with me than
you have been yet. I want you to
show me the revolver you picked up
In the tulip bed."
So he had knojvn all along!
"It was a revolver, Mr. Jamieson," I
admitted, cornered at last, "but I can
not show it to you. It is not in my
possession."
CHAPTER XXII.
A Ladder Out of Place.
At dinner Mr. Jamieson suggested
■ending a man out in his place for a
couple of days, but Halsey was cer
tain there would be nothing more,
and felt that fce and Alex could man
age the .situation The detective went
hack to town early in the evening, and
by nin< o'clock llnl.ey, who had been
playing golf as a man does anything
to take his mind away from trouble
was slei ping soundly on the big leath
er davenport in the living room,
I sat ami knitted, pretending not to
notlei when Gertrude got up and wan
dered out Into the starlight. As soon
• s 1 waa satisfied that she hud gone,
kowevor, I went out cautiously. 1 had
no Intention of eaves dropping, but I
* mt< d to be certain that It was Jack
Bailey she vsus meeting Too uiuny
thing had occurred in which Ger
trude was, or appeared to be. Involved,
t<> allow anything to be left In ques
tion
I went . lowly across tho lawn, skir*
».l »le hedg to a break i»«it far from
th lodge and found myself on tin
-o|> n rood I'eiliHpf 1110 teet l« the
left the patll Ivd across the vitll-y ti)
tho Country elub. and only a little
ai "v.i t re< k But jut n I an* about
U> lu' ti down the path I heard tu y*
coming toward me, and I shrank into
the bushes. It waß Gertrude, going
back quickly toward the house.
I waa surprised. I waited until she
had had time to get almost to the
house before I started. And then I
stepped back again into the shadows.
The reason why Gertrude had not
kept her tryst was evident. Leaning
on the parapet of the bridge in the
moonlight, and smoking a pipe, was
Alex, the gardener. I could have
throttled Liddy for her carelessness
in reading the torn note where he
could hear. And I could cheerfully
have choked Alex to death for his
audacity.
But there was no help for it; I
turned and followed Gertrude slowly
back to the house.
The frequent invasions of the house
had effectually prevented any relaxa
tion after dusk. We had redoubled our
vigilance as to bolts and window
locks, but, as Mr. Jamieson had sug
gested, we allowed the door at the
east entry to remain as before, locked
by the Yale lock only. To provide only
one possible entrance for the invader,
and to keep a constant guard in the
dark at the foot of the circular stair
case, seemed to be the only method.
In the absence of the detective,
Alex and Halsey arranged to change
off, Halsey to be on duty from ten to
two, and Alex from two until six.
Each man was armed, and, as an ad
ditional precaution, the one off duty
slept in a room near the head of the
circular staircase and kept his door
open, to be ready for emergency.
These arrangements were carefully
kept from the servants, who were only
commencing to sleep at night, and
who retired, one and all, with barred
doors and lamps that burned full until
morning.
The house was quiet again Wednes
day night. It was almost a week since
Louise had encountered some one on
the stairs, and it was four days since
the discovery of the hole in the trunk
room wall. Arnold Armstrong and
his father rested side by side in the
Casanova churchyard, and at the Zion
African church, on the hill, a new
mound marked the last resting-place
of poor Thomas.
Ixiuise was with her mother in
town, and, beyond a polite note of
thanks to ine, we had heard nothing
from her. Dr. Walker had taken up
his practice again, and we saw him
now and then flying along the road,
always at top speed. The murder of
Arnold Armstrong was still unavenged,
and I remained firm in the position I
had taken—to stay at Sunnyside until
the thing was at least partly cleared.
And yet, for all its quiet, it was on
Wednesday night that perhaps the
boldest attempt was made to enter
the house. On Thursday afternoon
the laundress sent word she would
like to speak to me, and I saw her in
my private sitting room, a small room
beyond the dressing room.
Mary Anne was embarrassed. She
had rolled down her sleeves and tried
a white apron around her waist, and
she stood making folds in it with fin
gers that were red and shiny from her
soap-suds.
"Well, Mary," I said encouragingly,
"what's the matter? Don't dare to
tell me the soap is out."
"No, ma'am, Miss Innes." She had
a nervous habit of looking first at my
one eye and then at the other, her
own optics shifting ceaselessly, right
eye. left eye, right eye, until I found
myself doing the same thing. "No,
ma'am. I was askin' did you want the
ladder left up the clothes chute?"
"The what?" I screeched, and was
sorry the next minute. Seeing her
suspicions were verified, Mary Anne
had gone white, and stood with her
eyes shifting more wildly than ever.
WJ! M£\ Tj-
BBS |
Mairy Ann* Had Ciona Whit*
CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1910.
"There's a ladder up the clothes
chute, Miss Innes," she said. "It's
up that tight I can't move it, and I
didn't like to ask for help until I spoke
to you."
It was useless to dissemble; Mary
Anne knew now as well as I did that
the ladder had no business to be
there. I did the best I could, how
ever. I put her on the defensive at
once.
"Then you didn't lock tho laundry
last night?"
"I locked it tight, and put the key
in the kitchen on its nail."
"Very well, then you forgot a win
dow."
Mary Anne hesitated.
"Yes'm," she said at last. "I thought
I locked them all, but there was one
open this morning."
I went out of the room and down
the hall, followed by Mary Anne. The
door into the clothes chute was se
curely-bolted, and when I opened it
I saw the evidence of the woman's
story. A pruning ladder had been
brought from where it had lain
against the stable and now stood up
right in the clothes shaft, its end rest
ing against the wall between the first
and second floors.
I turned to Mary.
"This is due to your carelessness,"
I said. "If we had all been murdered
in our beds it would have been your
fault." She shivered. "Now, not a
word of this through the house, and
send Alex to me."
The effect on Alex was to make him
apoplectic with rage, and with it all I
fancied there was an element of satis
faction. As I look back, so many
things are plain to me that I wonder
I could not see at the time. It is all
known now, and yet the whole thing
was so remarkable that perhaps my
stupidity was excusable.
Alex leaned down the chute and ex
amined the ladder carefully.
"It is caught," he said with a grim
smile. "The fools, to have left a
warning like that! The only trouble
is, Miss Innes, they won't be apt to
come back for a while."
"I shouldn't regard that in the light
of a calamity," I replied.
Until late that evening Halsey and
Alex worked at tho chute. They
forced down the ladder at .last, and
put a new bolt on the door. As for
myself, I sat and wondered if I had
a deadly enemy, intent on my destruc
tion.
I was growing more and more nerv
ous. Liddy had given up all pretense
at bravery, and slept regularly in my
dressing room on the couch, with a
prayer-book and a game knife from
the kitchen under her pillow, thus pro
paring for both the natural and the
supernatural. That was the way
things stood that Thursday night,
when I myself took a hand in the
struggle.
CHAPTER XXIII.
While the Stables Burned.
About nine o'clock that night Liddy
came into the living room and re
ported that one of the housemaids de
clared she had seen two men slip
around the corner of the stable. Ger
trude had been sitting staring in front
of her, jumping at every sound. Now
she turned on Liddy pettishly.
"I declare, Liddy," she said, "you
are a bundle of nerves. What if Eliza
did see some men around the stable?
It may have been Warner and Alex."
"Warner is in the kitchen, miss,"
Liddy said with dignity. "And if you
had come through what I have, you
would be a bundle of nerves, too. Miss
Rachel, I'd bo thankful if you'd give
me my month's wages to-morrow. I'll
be going to my sister's."
"Very well," I said, to her evident
amazement. "I will make out the
check. Wainer can take you down to
the noon train."
Liddy's face was really funny.
"You'll have a nice time at your
sister's," I went on. "Five children,
hasn't she?"
"That's It," Liddy said, suddenly
bursting into tears. "Send me away,
after all these years, and your new
shawl only half done, and nobody
knowin' how to fix the water for your
bath."
"It's time I learned to prepare my
own bath." I was knitting compla
cently. Hut Gertrude got up and put
her arms around Liddy's shaking
shoulders.
"You are two big babies," she said
soothingly. "Neither one of you could
get along for an hour without the oth
er. So stop quarreling and be good.
Liddy, go right up and lay out aunty's
night things. She is going to bed
early."
After Liddy had gone I began to
think about the men at the stable, and
I grew more and more anxious, Hal
sey was aimlessly knocking the bil
liard balls around in the billiard room,
and I called to him.
"Halsey," I said when he sauntered
in, *is there a policeman in Casa
nova?"
"Constable," he said laconically,
"veteran of the war, one arm; In of
fice to conciliate the G. A. R. element.
Why?"
"Because I am uneasy tonight."
And I told him what Liddy had said.
"Is there any one you can think of
who could be relied onto watch the
outside of the house to-night?"
"We might get Sam Bohannon from
the club,"he said thoughtfully. "It
wouldn't be a bad scheme. He's a
smart darky, and with his mouth shut
and his shirt-front covered, you could
n't see him a yard off in the dark."
Halsey conferred with Alex, and
the result, In an hour, was Sam. His
instructions were simple. There had
been numerous attempts to break into
the house; it was the intention, not
to drive intruders away, but to cap
ture them. If Sam saw anything sus
picious outside, he was to tap at the
east entry, where Alex and Halsey
were to alternate in keeping watch
through the night.
As before, Halsey watched the east
entry from ten until two. He had an
eye to comfort, and he kept vigil In a
heavy oak chair, very large and deep.
We went upstairs rather early, and
through the open door Gertrude and I
kept up a running fire of conversation.
Liddy was brushing my hair, and Ger
trude was doing her own, with a long
free sweep of her strong, round arms.
"Did you know Mrs. Armstrong and
Louise are in the village?" she called.
"No," I replied, startled. "How did
you hear it?"
"I met the oldest Stewart girl to
day, the doctor's daughter, and she
told me they had not gone back to
town after the funeral. They went di
rectly to that little yellow house next
to Dr. Walker's, and are apparently
settled there. They took the house
furnished for the summer."
"Why, it's a bandbox," I said. "I
can't imagine Fanny Armstrong In
such a place."
"It's true, nevertheless. Ella Stew
art says Mrs. Armstrong has aged ter
ribly, and looks as If she Is hardly
able to walk."
I lay and thought over some of
these things until midnight. The elec
tric lights went out then, fading slow
ly until there was only a red-hot loop
to be seen in the bulbs, and then even
that died away and we were embarked
on the darkness of another night.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
Condemns Sunshine Fad.
A well-known medical man con
demns emphatically tho form of vani
ty that leads people on their holidays
to do their utmost to get sunburned
"Workers In city offices," he says,
"who go Into the country or to the
seashore for only one or two weeks
will deliberately sit about hatless in
the blazing sun, so that they may
come back looking brown and healthy.
As often as not this pructlce will send
them home far less fit for work than
they were when they started, for
even If one escapes sunstroke the ef
fects of the sun's rays upon the un
covered head nre very bad. They
will cause dizziness, headache, nausea
and loss of appetite and will often up
set the digestive system for many
days. There are ways of avoiding the
more serious effects of the sun. but
personally I would advise the city
dweller who must have a brown face
to stain it with walnut Juice and wear
a broad brimmed hat like a sane and
sensible Individual."
Making Him Qo.
"I don't think I shall goto the
poker party to-night."
"That's one of the truest thinks you
have done for quite awhile."
"Jinx oviri me f.~, which be waste
pay me at the parly tonight, and
which 1 had decided to give to you tu
go shopping with, but i am really too
tired lo go out; goum I'll lut It go this
tltue."
"That Is Just like you! If It was
anything you % anted to do you would
go In a minute, but when It Is ao'tt"
thing for your wife you am too tir.d'
You will goto that poker party u
mglii or )ou will htar tiwut uiol"
A RARE SHEEP OPPORTUNITY
Enormous Receipts at Market —Farm-
ers and Sheep Feeders Can Stock
Up at Bargain Prices.
CAUSES OF THE RUN.
200,000 sheep and lambs received in
three days—such, in round numbers,
is the record-breaking run thus l'ar
this week on the Chicago market!
This 'enormous over-marketing oi
sheep is the result of temporary and
peculiar causes, and offers a rare op
portunity for farmers and sheep feed
ers to stock up at bargain prices.
This great rush of sheep to market
comes mainly from Montana and ad
joining western range country, and
cannot last more than two or three
weeks longer. It is no evidence of
over-production. Its principal causes
are the recent drought, which sc
burned out the grass that there will
be very little winter feed on the ran;re,
and which prevented the putting up o.'
sufficient hay to carry any consider
able number of sheep over winter,
while last winter was a very severe
one and hay was so closely fed that
there is no old hay left bver for tho
purpose. The consequence is that
sheep owners are forced to market
the bulk of their sheep this fall, or
else lose them In the fierce storms of
winter.
The most serious cause of the pres
ent general liquidation, however, is
the restriction of the range through
occupation and fencing by dry farm
ers, who are grain growers, and not
live stock raisers. The tremendous
rush of these settlers upon the range
within the last three years, and espe
cially within the last twelve months.
Is hard for eastern people to realize.
It is not alone the area actually en
closed by these settlers, but the break
ing up thereby of vast regions of
grazing lands into such small sections
that they are no longer available to
stockmen for grazing their flocks,
which Is one of the main reasons why
the sheep supplies of the western
range country are being more closely
marketed this year than ever before
In the history of the trade.
This means an inevitable shortage
at market later on and next year, and
with a constantly growing demand for
both mutton and wool, it would seem
that, future good prices are assured.
The western range country has
heretofore been the chief source of
sheep market supplies, but unless tho
farmers of the corn belt begin at once
to raise many more sheep than they
have ever done before, there will be
a great scarcity of both mutton and
wool before long In this country.
Moreover, there is a world-shortage
of live stock of all kinds. All Europe
Is short of sheep, and even Australia's
supply is declining with rapidity. The
same general causes that exist in this
country are operating in other coun
tries also. Populations are growing
rapidly everywhere, while grazing
areas are being reduced. As pasture
land is turned to production of cereals,
sheep raising declines.
Thousands of American farmers can
turn this situation to their benefit,
through increase of both soil fertility
and money profit, by beginning right
now each to keep a small flock of
sheep upon his farm. And by taking
advantage of the present opportunity
to buy healthy, thrifty, growing west
ern range sheep at bargain prices up
on the heavily supplied Chicago mar
ket, they can stock up at minimum
cost, whether they want foundation
stock for breeding or tho growing kind
to fatten for market.
A Distant Compliment.
They were talking about a certain
man who did not seem to be particu
larly popular. At last one of the group
decided that It was time for him to
say something complimentary about
the subject of the conversation.
"That stepchild of bis is a good lit
tie feller," ho remarked, "and they say
that he takes after his father, too."—
Youth's Companion.
"Smoke" Was Mosquitoes.
A cloud of "smoke" which appeared
to he arising fronj the cathedral tower
nt Belgrade was found, when the fir"
brigade arrived, to be a large cluster
of mosquitoes, compact at the base
and tnperlng toward the top.
New Idea for Pontoon Bridge,
Denmark Is trying out a new pon
toon bridge In which the pontoons art*
anchored beneath the surface of the
water, the bridge remaining motion
less Irrespective of the rise and fall
of the tide.
Chinese Seek Education.
The sudden demand for popular edu
cation In China Is show II by the f.tct
tha' the school attendance In one prov
ince has Increased 8,000 pt»r cent In
fUe years.
Say Raisins Impart Energy.
Speaking of the announcement by
scientists that people may become en
erretlc bv eating raisins, the Chicago
Record-Herald puts In the comment
that the trouble 1h that most of the
energy produced by eating ralMii* bus
to be expended In removing th • eds
Abraham's Predicament.
The Sunday school el*** had r» ach
ed the part In the lon wu.re "Ab
raham ■ atertalued the a ii. I una tti <•'
"\ml what i <w Is the ne .inln of
'unaware'"" " a kid Ihe teacher.
There *a bashful silence, tin
the miinlh t girl In the r|» piped up
"I nVrtvnre It what you tak- t off be
for. m..i puis nu rout aiglttte i ip
phieott's.
Wh a a uian seals up hi* h>nd He
I <:t to think he la holding tha
foil
TERRIBLE SUFFERING ENDED.
How An Allegan, Mich., Woman Re.
gained Her Health.
Mrs. Robert Schwabe, R. F. D. No.
8, Allegan, Mich., says: "Doctors could
not cure me and I was rapidly running
Into Blight's disease. Kidney secre
ttions were like blood
and I arose 8 to 10
times at night to void
them. I became fright
ened at my condition.
My sight began to
fail and pains in my
back were Ilko knife-
V thrusts. I cried for
hours, unable to con
trol my nerves. After I started using
Doan's Kidney Pills, I began to feel
better and soon I was cured. I am a
living testimonial of their merit."
Remember tho name—Doan's.
For sale by all dealers. 50 cents a
box.
Foster-Milburn Co., Buffalo, N. Y,
The Place of Honor.
Farmer Hodge was of the good, old
fashioned school, and he always gave
a feast to his hands at harvest time.
It was harvest time and the feast
was about to commence.
Giles was the oldest hand and the
hostess, with beaming cordiality, mo
tioned him to the seat by her right
hand But Giles remained silently un
responsive.
"Come," said the hostess, "don't b©
bashful. Mr. Giles"—he was just Giles
on ordinary occasions—"you've a
right to the place of honor, you know."
Giles deliberated a moment, then
spoke.
"Thank you kindly, Mrs. Hodge,"
he said, "but if it's all the same to
you, I'd rather sit opposite this pud
den!"
Who Scratched the Bathtub?
Nice, porcelain bathtub, too; and all
the folks thought it was just lovely.
But somebody was washing It out and
used common laundry soap—the yellow
kind with rosin and strong caustic in
it —and away went the enamel and the
finish. (If that kind of soap will harm
porcelain enamel, what won't it do to
clothes?) "Easy Task Soap," the pure,
white, antiseptic, five-cents-a-cake kind,
will not harm anything but dirt. Try
two cakes and get your money back it
it isn't as represented.
History of Red Cross Seal.
"Charity stamps." first used In
Boston in 1862 for the soldiers' relief
funds during the Civil war, were the
original forerunners of the Red Cross
Christmas seal, which will be used
this year to bring happiness and cheer
to millions. The Delaware Anti-Tu
berculosis society In 1907 for the first
time in America made use of a stamp
for the purpose of getting revenue to
fight consumption. In a hastily or
ganized campaign of only three weeks
they realized $3,000. The next year,
1908, the American Red Cross con
ducted the first national tuberculosis
stamp campaign. From this sale $135,-
000 was realized for the anti-tubercu
losis movement. In 1909, under many
adverse conditions, $250,000 was rea
lized from these stamps. This year
the slogan of the tuberculosis fighters
and the Red Cross Is "A Million for
Turberculosis From Red Cross Seals
In 1910."
Prudent Bridegroom.
"The uncertainties of life In New
York are reflected In wedding rings,"
said the jeweler. "Of all the wedding
rings I have sold this season more
than half were brought back after the
ceremony to have the date put on. The
rest of tho inscription was engraved
when the ring was purchased, but In
order that tho date might be correct
It was cautiously omitted until after
the knot was tied."
News to Her.
He —Concerning love, everything
possible has been said and thought.
She (coyly)— But not to me.—Flie
gende Blaetter.
COFFEE WAS IT.
People Slowly Learn the Facts.
"All my Ufa I have been such a
slave to coffee that the very aroma
of It was enough to set my nerves
quivering. I kept gradually losing my
health but I used to say 'Nonsense, it
don't hurt me."
"Slowly 1 was forced to admit the
truth and the Una' result was that my
whole nervous force was shattered.
"My heart became weak and uncer
tain iu Us action and that frightened
me. Finally my physician told me,
about a year ago, that I must stop
drinking coffee or I could never ex
pect to be well again.
' I was In despair, for the very
thought of the medicines I had tried
so many times nauseated me. I
thought of l'ostunt but could hardly
bring myself to glvo up the coffee.
"Final!;. I concluded that I ow -d It
to myself to give l'ostum a trial. So I
rot a package un.l carefully followed
the directions, and what a delicious,
nourishing, rich drink It was! Do you
know 1 found It very easy to shift
from tiiffe'i to l'ostum and not mind
the chuugvt at all?
"Almost Immediately sfti-r ] made
the rhuitK" I found myself better, and
as the days weal by I kept on Improv
ing My uerves grew sound and
sieudy, 1 slept well and felt strotm
and well-balanced all (he time.
"Now l am completely cured, with
t!*> old nervousness and sick eras ah
gone. In every way 1 am well ones
It pays to give up the drink lbs*,
sets on some like a poison, for health
l!ea<t the little book, "The Ro*«l to
Wi llvllle, •In phgM "The.- « a Hea
ML"