6
THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE
❖ ;
ROBERTS
❖ RisrtiAßT ;
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ,
tbPrtVCHT /fC» Or OO&Ai niRRIiJciX T
SYNOPSIS. <
ns innes, spinster and guardian of |
G-rtru.lc .in.l ilalaey, established sum
rner headquarters at Sunnyside. Arnold 1
Ai'iiriilong was found shot to death in ,
the hull. Hertrude and her Mance, Jack
Bailey, had conversed in the billiard <
i,,.an shortly before the murder. Detec- ,
the Jamieson accused Miss Innes of hold
ins back evidence. Cashier Bailey of Paul 1
Armstrong's hank, defunct, was arrested ]
for embezzlement. Paul Armstrong's
death was announced, Tlalsey's fiancee, *
Louise Armstrong, told Halsey that while
she still loved him. she was to marry an- .
other. It developed tiiat Dr. Walker was 1
the min Louise was found unconscious (
at the bottom of the circular staircase.
She said something had brushed by her
in the dark on the stairway and she ,
fainted Bailey is suspected of Arm
strong's murder. Thomas, the lodgekeep
er, was found dead with a note in his
pocket bearing the name "Luolen Wal
lace." A ladder found out of place deep- '
ons the mystery. The stables were :
burned, and in the dark Miss Innes shot
an intruder. Halsey mysteriously disap
peared. His auto was found wrecked by
a freight train. It developed Halsey had
an argumejit In the library with a woman
before his disappearance. New cook dis
appears. Miss Innes learned Halsey was
alive, nr. Walker's face becomes livid
at mention of the name of Nina Carring
ton Evidence was secured from a tramp
that a man, supposedly Halsey, had been
bound and gagged and thrown into an '
entpty box car. Gertrude was missing.
Hunting for her. Miss Innes ran into a
man and fainted. A confederate of Dr.
Walker confessed his part in the mys
tery.
CHAPTER XXlX.—Continued.
"She struck me as being an ugly
customer, and when she left, about 11
o'clock, and went across to the Arm
strong place, I was not far behind her.
She walked all around the house first,
looking up at the windows. Then she
rang the bell, and the minute the door
■was opened she was through it, and
into the hall."
"How long did she stay?"
"That's the queer part of it," Riggs
said eagerly. "She didn't come out j
that night at all. 1 went to bed at
daylight, and that was the last I
heard of her until the next day, when
I saw her on a truck at the station,
covered with a sheet. She'd been
struck by the express and you would
hardly have known her —dead, of
course. 1 think she stayed all night
in the Armstrong house, and the
agent said she was crossing the track
to take the up- f -Miin to town when the
express struck her."
"Another cl*o!e!" I exclaimed.
"Then we are just where we started."
"Not so bad as that, Miss Innes,"
Riggs said eagerly. "Nina Carrington
came from the town in California
where Mr. Armstrong died. Why was
the doctor so afraid of her? The Car
rington woman knew something. I
lived with Dr. Walker seven years,
and I know him well. There are few
things he is afraid of. I think he killed
Mr. Armstrong out in the west some
where, that's what I think. What else
he did I don't know—but he dismissed
me and pretty nearly throttled me—
for telling Mr. Jatnieson here about
Mr. Innes' having been at his office
the night he disappeared and about
my' hearing them quarreling."
"What was it Warner overheard the
woman say to Mr. Innes in the li
brary?" the detective asked me.
"She said I knew thefc? was some
thing wrong from the start. A man
isn't well one day and dead the next,
without some reason.' "
How perfectly it all seemed to fit!
CHAPTER XXX.
When Churchyards Yawn.
I) was on Wednesday lliggs told us
the tory of his connection with some
lucid' : ' • that lih<) been previously utr
explained llalsi'y had been gone
since the Friday night before, and
with tin- passage of each day I felt
that lie might bi» carried thousands
of miles In the box-car, locked in. per- !
hai , without waiter or food. I had
r-ud of ei, . s where bodies had been
found i<>ck<*d In cars on Isolated sid
ItigH in the west, and my spirits went
down widi every hour.
Ills HMUfJf was d. sillied to he at
niost iis sudden as lits disappearance,
and was due directly to the trump
Alex had brought to Sunnyside. It
m< .'ins the uiun was grateful fur his
relea-e, and when lie learned some
thing of tlalsey's whereabout* from
anoth* r number of his fraternity—
for It is a fraternity In wm prompt
In letting us know
t ill \\ > die I.iv evening Mr Jamie
»ou, who hud been down at Ibe Arm
strong house trying to see Umis.—
and failing »> t met mar the gate at
Sunayslde by an Individual precisely
as repul lvc and unkempt as the one
Alex had captured The man knew
the del. ctive, and lis gave him a
plei e of duty paper, on whi«h was
' sera*led th« words: "He's at City
tuispliul. JohmtvllUi" Tb« tramp who
brought the paper pretended to know
nothing ■ ept this: Tb« paper had
been pi st d along from a "ln»bo" In
Information would b> taluablw to us
Again the long distant » twlephuae
ism. into requisition Mr Jamiesua
i .tiled the b<> pttal, while *• > iuwd«d
around him lad when there was uo
and that k« would probably mover,
• » alt la »g*t< 4 and tried t« s> ta«i I
•iu mm 1 fcii • d l.tddr. sad i bat.
bad terrible n»o«« ats •»»*> e wb«*
J*i« "'a. i<«< la tie -tt ><• ue at
Aaybuta b/ || u«i«» k ibat night
(«*<•> «-to an b*t »* «» lo .}<»»*»
Rosie. The domestic force was now i
down to Mary Anne and Liddy, with
the under-gardener's wife coming
every day to help out. Fortunately,
Warner and the detectives were keep
ing bachelor hall in the lodge. Out
of deference to Liddy they washed
their dishes once a day, and they con
cocted queer messes, according to
tiieir several abilities. They had one
triumph that they ate regularly for
breakfast, and that clung to their
clothes and thefr hair the rest of the
day. It was bacon, hardtack and
onions, fried together. They were al
most pathetically grateful, however, I
noticed, for an occasional broiled ten
derloin.
It was not until Gertrude and Rosie
had gone and Sunnyside had settled
down for the night, with Winters at
the foot of the staircase, that Mr.
Jamieson broached a subject he had
evidently planned before he came.
"'Miss Innes," he said, stopping me
as 1 was about togo to my room up
stairs, "how are your nerves to
night?"
"I have none," I said happily. "With
Halsey found, my troubles have gone."
"I mean," he persisted, "do you feel
as though you could go through with
something rather unusual?"
"The most unusual thing I can think
of would be a peaceful night. But if
anything is going to occur, don't dare
to let me miss it."
"Something is going to occur," he
said. "And you're the only woman I
can think of that I can take along."
He looked at his watch. "Don't ask
me any questions, Miss Innes. Put on
pli wjl A
ffl'" 8
"She Walked All Around the House First, Looking Up at the Windows."
heavy shoes, and some old dark
clothes, and make up your mind not ,
to be surprised at anything." <
Liddy was sleeping the sleep of the I
Just when 1 went upstairs, and 1 I
hunted out my things cautiously The I
detective was waiting in tiie hall, and
1 was astonished to see Dr. Stewart i
witli him. They were talking con <
fldentially together, but when I came
down they ceased. There were- a few
preparations to hi- made: the locks to |
be gone over, Winters to be instructed
as to renewed vigilance, and then,
after extinguishing the hall light, we
crept, in the darkness, through the
front door, urn! into the night.
I asked no questions. 1 felt that
they were doing me honor lu making
. me one of tli< I arty, ami I would show
them I could be as silent as they We
went across the fields, passing through
the woods that reached almost to the
i ruins of tiie stable, going over stiles
now and then, and sometimes step
t ping over low fetir ». Once only
somebody spoke, and then it was an '
emphatic bit of pr«d unity from Ur
Stewart when be ran Into a wire
. fence.
t welt. Joined at tin) end of Ave |
minute* by another utau, who full Into
step with thu dot tor silently, lie car
ried something over his shoulder |
i which I could not make out. In this I
< way we walked for perhaps 10 utilities i
■ The dm lor was putting somewhat
> when w«i Dually . uine to a halt I con
• 112. that just at that iiiliiulh MEN
I rfuimysldv seemed a cheerful >»put W«
• bid paUM-d at the edge of a level
i learcij plat n, bordered all around I
> with primly trimmed uvergroog irooa
|i> twees tbent I • aught s gllnip»« of
i I hi |(t ~i Myself I my
I >4l now both the man who bad
tl t . 111 I I '!■. iUttS)
CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1910.
of headstones, and although, when I
found myself last, I had an instinctive
desire to keep looking back over my
shoulder, I found that, the first uneasi
ness past, a cemetery at night is much
the same as any other country place, I
filled with vague shadows and unex- i
pccted noises. Once, indeed —but Mr.
Jamieson said it was an owl, and I
tried to believe him.
In the shadow of the Armstrong
granite shaft we stopped. I think the
doctor wanted to send me back. (
"It's no place for a woman," I heard
him protesting angrily. But the de- j
tective said something about wit- ;
nesses, and the doctor only came over
and felt my pulse.
"Anyhow, I don't believe you're any
worse off here than you would be in .
that nightmare of a house,"he said
finally, and put his coat on the steps
of the shaft for me to sit on.
There is a sense of desecration, of
a reversal of the everlasting fitness of
things, in resurrecting a body from its
mother clay. And yet that night, in
the Casanova churchyard, I sat quiet
ly by, and watched Alex and Mr.
Jamieson steaming over their work,
without a single qualm, except the
fear of detection.
The doctor kept a keen lookout, but
no one appeared. Once in a while
he came over to me, and gave me a
reassuring pat on the jp'or.
"I never expected to come *his," he
said once. "There's one thing sure—
I'll not be suspected of complicity. A
doctor is generally supposed to be
handier at burying folks than at dig
ging them up."
Tho uncanny moment came when
Alex and Jamieson tossed the spudes
on the grass, and I confess I hid my
face. There was a period of stress, I
think, while the heavy coffin was be
ing raised. 1 felt that my composure
was going, and, for fear 1 would
shriek, I tried to think of something
else —what time Gertrude would reach
Halsey—anything but the grisly reali
ty that lay just beyond me on the
grass.
And then 1 heard a low exclamation
from the detective and I felt the pres
sure of the doctor's lingers on my
arm.
"Now, Miss liitus," he said gently.
"If you will come over—"
1 held onto him frantically, and
somehow 1 got there and looked down
pMHntaMn* umrrnm
-
"Hut thu Thai in ihi
m« ltd ut » 4 it* t tt*4 u mil a
CHAPTER XXXI.
Between Two Fireplaces.
What witli the excitement of the dis
covery, the walk home under the stars
in wet shoes and draggled skirts, and
getting upstairs and undressed without
rousing Liddy, I was completely used
up. What to do with my boots was
the greatest puzzle of all, there being
no place in the house safe from Lid
dy, until I decided to slip upstairs the
next morning and drop them into the
hole the "ghost" had made in the
trunkroom wall.
I went asleep as soon as I reached
this decision, and in my dreams I
lived over again the events of the
night. Again I saw the group around
the silent figure on the grass, and
again, as had happened at the grave,
I heard Alex's voice, tense and tri
umphant:l
"Then we've got them," he said.
Only, in my dreams, he said It over
and over until he seemed to shriek it
in my ears.
I wakened early, In spite of my fa
tigue, and lay there thinking. Who
was Alex? I no longer believed that
he was a gardener. Who was the
man whose body we had resurrected?
And where was Paul Armstrong? Prob
ably living safely in some extradition
less country on the fortune he had
stolen. Did Louise and her mother
know of the shameful and wicked de
ception? What had Thomas known,
and Mrs. Watson? Who was Nina
Carrington ?
This last question, it seemed to me,
was answered. In some way the
woman had learned of the substitu
tion, and had tried to use her knowl
edge for blackmail. Nina Carrington's
own story died with her, but, however
it happened, it was clear that she had
carried her knowledge to Halsey the
afternoon Gertrude and I were look
ing for clews to the man I had shot
on the east veranda. Halsey had been
half crazed by what he heard; it was
evident that Louise was marrying Dr.
Walker to keep the shameful secret,
for her mother's sake. Halsey, al
> ways reckless, had gone at once to
Dr. Walker and denounced him. There
had been a scene, and he left on his
way to the station to meet and notify
Mr. Jamieson of what he had learned.
The doctor was active mentally and
physically. Accompanied perhaps by
Riggs, who had shown himself not
everscrupulous until he quarreled
with his employer, he had gone across
to the railroad embankment, and, by
jumping In front of the car, had
caused Halsey to swerve. The rest
of the story we knew.
That was my reconstructed theory
of that afternoon and evening; It was
almost correct—not quite.
There was a telegram that morning
from Gertrude.
Halsey conscious and Improving. Prob
ably hotne In day or so.
GERTRUDR.
With Halsey found and improving
| in health, and with at last something
I to work on, I began that day, Thurs- j
1 day, with fresh courage. As Mr. j
Jamieson had said, the lines were |
closing up. That I was to be caught j
and almost finished in the closing was {
happily unknown to us all.
It was late when I got up. I lay tn
my bed, looking around the four walls j
of the room, and trying to imagine be !
hind what one of them a secret cham- j
ber might lie. Certainly, in daylight. ;
Sunny side deserved its name; never j
was a house more cheery and open,'
less sinister in general appearance.
There was not a corner apparently
that was not open and aboveboard, '
and yet, somewhere behind its hand
somely papered walls I believed firmly j
that there lay a hidden room, with
all the possibilities it would involve.
I made a mental note to have the
house tnea-ured during the day to dls
cover any discrepancy between the
outer and Inner walls, and I tried to
recall again the exact wording ol the
paper JuiulcM>n had found.
(T<> 88 t'ONTINTKI>.)
At the Half-Century Mark,
Youth is eternal to hint w ho believe*
In eternity. To me youth means any
where from eight onward I was an
exceedingly old permit at eight and I
trust I violate no confidence when I
confess a youthful exuberance now
that I have bumped against the halt
way post Kilty is a splendid time for
youthful expauslun; one's fancy still
retains all Its Ingenuity while one's
judgment Is bettered by experience
When sitting on the So milestone the
vane o( man's Vision points southward
to thi past and northward to the fu
tore with a minimum o( ovulation ■
Rancorous thought and splenetic ex |
presslou give way to i|ut«tur nerve*
and calmer view, and the uielluw light
ed vista of the years that have goaa
»ulten the heart ol Ihe youth uf a halt
century of years John I'biliy tfuus*
lb Ute Circle
Different,
1 "I wrote htm that I was ready u
"If. .< • it . it.ut lie wo.ilti ha*t
lit! i-ii4 I** WMMili Iwif ImH I
, ** i i u.m iu • vu«tt • «iit* j
SUFFERED 30 YEARS.
But Chronic Kidney Trouble Was
Finally Cured.
Charles Von Soehnen, 201 A St.,
Colfax, Wash., says:"For 30 years I
Buffered from kidney trouble and was
laid up for days at a time. There was
ta dull ache through
the small of my
back and I had rheu
matlc pains in every
joint. The kidney
secretions passed
too freely and I ".vas
annoyed by having
to arise at night. 1
could not work without intense suf
fering. Through the use of Doan's
Kidney Pills, I was practically given a
new pair of kidneys. I cannot exag
gerate their virtues."
Remember the name—Doan's.
For sale by all dealers. 50 cents a
box. Foster-Milburn Co., Buffalo, N. Y.
UNKIND JOLT FROM ADAM
As If Eve Hadn't Sorrow Enough,
Her Partner Had to Add to
the Affliction.
Adam had Just received his notice
of ejectment.
He stared at It a long time In
silence, while Eve, crouched In a
dusky corner, softly whimpered
Presently the father of mankind
looked around.
As Eve caught his angry eye her
whimper changed to a gulping sob.
"Well," he sternly said, "you've cer
tainly put us In a fine mess with
your silly curiosity! And yet when I
refused to have anything to do with
your apple scheme you called me a
poor fool. Do you remember that
you called me a poor fool?"
"Ye-es," sobbed Eve.
"Well, there's but one question I
want to ask you?" said Adam.
"What Is It?" gasped the first
mother.
"Who's looney now?" he harshly
demanded.
Then he turned away abruptly and
started to pick up the family gourds
and the tent poles.—Cleveland Plain
Dealer.
Couldn't Be Thankful.
Bishop Charles W. Smith at a har
vest dinner In Portland said of the
harvest spirit:
"The harvest spirit Is one of thank
fulness, but there are some crabbed
old farmers who couldn't be thankful
If they tried.
"I said to such an old fellow as he
conducted me over his farm on a gold
en autumn afternoon and showed ms
& record harvest:
" 'Well, sir, this year, at least,
you've got nothing, nothing whatever
to complain of.'
" 'I don't know about that, bishop,'
he answered, with a shake of tha
head. 'l'm afraid there'll be no spoilt
hay for the young calves.'"
BUSINESS 18 BUSINESS.
Mr. Kicker —Your 1)111 actually ;
makes my blood boll.
Doctor Slick—Then, rlr, I must 1
charge you S2O more (or sterilizing
your system.
NEWSPAPERS TAKING IT UP
Metropolitan Dailies Giving Advice
How to Check Rheumatism and
Kidney Trouble.
This 1H a simple houm recipe now
Iiik made known In all the larger
cltUs through the newspapers. It Is
Intended to cheek tl-.o many cases of
Kheutnal'sm and dread kidney trouble
which have made so many cripples,
Invalids and weaklings of some of our
brightest and strongest people
The druggist* everywhere, even In
the sinulle>t communities, have been
notified to supply themselves with the
Ingredients, and the sufferer will have
no trouble to obtain them. The pre
scription 1.-i us follows: fluid K*tract j
Ifendelion, one half ounce; Compound
Karg< ii, ene ounce, and I'onitxiuld !
Syrup of Sarnaparllla, tkree ounce*
Mu by shaking well In a bottle The
di e Is one teasiionutul after each ,
I meal and at bedtime.
Htcent experiments In hospital
! ee»es pfevH tht» almide mlitum ef
1 fee live In Nhtumillili He causa ot
Its positive action upon thw elimlna
live tissues of the ktdueva, It compels
thf*e most vital iimutis to niter from
the blend sml system the waste Im
purities and uric add which ere the
I must' uf rheumatism It clean*** (he
I kid' eys. strength- »s theut anil re
| moves qulcklv such »vm»»toios as
| hsrk-,. he hltMs) disorder*, h* uMW
I WMsktleSS fl'eMUr nt UHmsIION <*> <ful
scu'd'n* ami <l«i»>i»f 4 nrt«M It Set»
•s s MMtle thorough regulator to Ik
li. >e who suffer slid ir» MNHM
I to fni > has* a le-ttle of m< dl
elt,. ' ..eld hoi lei a IMttft lueoe
I •• tM. if.re with M .kit..; iki
' 4y of Uavs |Poor druggist ito It tui »«»
COLDS
Cured in One Day
"l regard my cold cure as being better thai
a Life Insurance Policy. " —MUNYON.
A few doses of Munyon's C' 11 Cure will
breal; up any cold and proven l pneumonia,
It relieves tlie head, throat ar. i lungs al
most instantly. These little sugar pelleta
can be conveniently carried in the vest
pocket for use at any time or anywhere.
Price 25 cents at any druggists.
If you need Medical Advice write to
Munyon's Doctors. They will carefully
diagnose your case and give you advio*
by mail, absolute}? fnje. They put you
under no obligations.
Address Munyon's Doctors. Munyon'i
Laboratory, 53d and Jefferson streets, Phil
adelphia. Pa.
AS REPRESENTED.
Patient —Look here, doctor; you
eaid If I took a bottle of your tonic
I would have a remarkable appetite.
Why, I only eat one soda cracker
each week.
Doctor —Well, don't you call that •
remarkable appetite?
BABY'S SCALP CRUSTED
"Our little daughter, when three
months old, began to break out on the
head and we had the best doctors to
treat her, but they did not do her any
good. They said she had eczema. Her
scalp was a solid scale all over. The
burning and itching was so severe that
she could not rest, day or night. We
had about given up all hopes when we
read of the Cuticura Remedies. We at
once got a cake of Cuticura Soap, a
box of Cuticura Ointment and one bot
tle of Cuticura Resolvent, and fol
lowed directions carefully. After the
first dose of the Cuticura Resolvent,
we used the Cuticura Soap freely and
applied the Cuticura Ointment. Then
she began to improve rapidly and In
two weeks the scale came off her
head and new hair began to grow. In
a very short time she was well. She is
now sixteen years of age and a pic
ture of health. We used the Cuti
cura Remedies about five weeks, reg
ularly, and then we could not tell she
had been affected by the disease We
used no other treatment after we
found out what the Cuticura Remedies
would do for hpr. J Pish and Ella M.
Fish, Mt. Vernon, Ky. Oct. 12, 1909."
Some One Must Do It.
J. Plerpont Morgan, at one of the
sumptuous dinners that he gave in
Cincinnati during the recent church
congress, praised the power of adver
tising.
Mr. Morgan's eulogy concluded with
an t plgram quite good and quite true
enough to be pasted In every business
man's hat.
"If a dealer." he said, "does not ad
j vertise his wares, it is ten to one that
the sheriff will do It for him."
Th*r+ la mor»* Catarrh In fhb* -teflon of th«% emir try
thru* a.i oliuT u.MMM i putt«. »>i., r. u ul until ll»«* ;a»t
112. \ art I- - It » I'M I M'urut* •• I r a *r. f-t
I many >< \r* dortora pr».n«»uiu»«l It a local »<<t
| j.'t v 4 local r<un*4te*. ami by constant i> !u: g
to eun «lth local treatment. prabixiM'tl it inruraMa.
112. . .• tut* proven Catarrh I•u« ac« .«tltutt<>i a.
I* i ai»<t tli> r-P#r* raquir#* const it'itional treatment
I litm « t» *rfh Cure, tniU»ufactttrc4 by 1.1
I.v »• . l 11»m1o. Otafe* in th« only • onvtitutf»it*l run? a
ti •• tttarart It la tak<m Intern*!!)* in « -«•» from 10
Ur »ps t . * tetanuonful. *'"»• «!trect \ on th» !• <«* l
t i mil- w eurfocr* of y»« l»ir\ .fftr on#
litm tr I doilftfi for a»«y c:ut« It tail* to cur- heiwl
I tcr nrralart ami testinxtntaia.
AiiUr. ** I I « 111 MY k CO.. Toledo* OWo.
H.>M by l>r>i 'MM*. 78#.
iua U»!n l amity PHM tor eoajtlpaUuo.
He Never Slaved Again.
Marmaduke What do >ou auppoe*
'h:«t wretched barbt*r said when lie
•havfit me*
Mettle I don't know.
Marmuduk*' tie nald It reminded
Mm of a KHtue he used to play when
a luty called "Hunt the Hare"
Important to Mother*
Kmudlum laretully every bottle of *
I (\\S roHIA, m »afe mid sure r* iuml y for
| imaiiia and clilldiill, and »«« that It
: s '
111 l . I r Ovrr :*» V- ir»
'fh« Klud You Have Al» a>* Uu isht.
The Simple Wife
Ur linliker You villi have tu g<t
KnU-kev Inn... aery my dr.tr; I
D#v*r eniokw before breakfaet
!
I.» In.pi.»» hoi 4« e»H» S*« «l
j 0 «a miH