TIC CIRCULAR STAIRCASE
Dvmary ❖
' ROBERTS
♦ RENE
ILLI/JWATTOm BY
\rrmCHT not or aw t ruKMiif .*o ' /
SYNOPSIS.
Miss Innes, spinster and guardian of
Gertrude am! lialsey, established sum
mer headquarters at Sunnyside. Arnold
Armstrong was found shot to death In
the hall. Gertrude and her fiance. Jack |
Bailey, had conversed in the billiard
room shortly before the murder, detec
tive Jamleson accused Miss Innes of hold
ing back evidence. Cashier Bailey of Paul
Armstrong's bank, defunct, was arrested
for embezzlement. Paul Armstrongs
d ath was announced, llalsey's fiancee,
l.oulse Armstrong, told lialsey that while
Mhe still loved him, she was to marry an
other. It developed that l>r. Walker was
the mm Uouise was found unconscious
at tie 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 "I.ucien Wal
lace." A ladder found out of place deep
ens the mvstery. The stables were
burned, and in the dark Miss lanes shot
an intruder, lialsey mysteriously disap
peared. His auto was found wrecked by
a freight train. It developed lialsey had
an argument in the library with a woman
before his disappearance. New cook dis
appears Miss l;*ies learned lialsey was
alive. 1 >r. 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
empty box car. Gertrude was missing.
Hunting for her, Miss Innes ran into a
man and fainted. A confederate of l">r.
Walker confessed his part in the mys
terv. He stated that the Carrlngton wo
man had been killed, that Walker feared
her. and that he believed that Paul Arm
strong had been killed by a hand guided
by Walker. Halsey was found in a dis
tant hospitr.l. Paul Armstrong was not
dead. Mise Innes discovered secret rooms
In which the Traders' bank treasure was
believed to be. Mrs. Watson, dying, said
she killed Arnold Armstrong, who years
before had married her sister under the
alias of Wallace. I.ucien Wallace was
born of the marriage.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
At the Foot of the Stairs.
As I drove rapidly up to the house
from Casanova station in the hack, I
saw the detective Burns loitering
across the street from the Walker
place. So Jamleson was putting the
screws on—lightly now, but ready to
give them a twist or two, I felt cer
tain. very soon.
The house was quiet. Two steps of
the circular staircase had been pried
off without result, and beyond a sec
ond message from Gertrude that Hal
sey insisted on coming home and they
would arrive that night there was
nothing new. Mr. Jamieson, having
failed to locate the secret room, had
gone to the village. I learned after
wards that he called at Dr. Walker's,
under pretense of an attack of acute
Indigestion, and before he left had in
quired about the evening trains to the
city. He said he had wasted a lot
of time on the case, and a good bit of
the mystery was in my imagination!
The doctor was under the impression
that the house was gtiarded day and
night. Well, give a place a reputation
like that, and you don't need a guard
at all—thus Jamleson. And sure
enough, late in the afternoon, the two
private detectives, accompanied by
Mr. Jamleson, walked down the main
street of Casanova and took a city
bound train.
That they got off at the next station
and walked back again to Sunnyside
lit dusk was not known at the time.
Personally, I knew nothing of either
move; I had other things to absorb
me at that time.
Liddy brought me some tea while I
rested after my trip, and on the tray
was a small book from the Casanova
library. It was called "The Unseen
World" and had a cheerful cover, on
which a half-dozen sheeted figures
linked hands around a headstone.
At this point in my story, Halsey
always says: "Trust a woman to add
two and two together, and make six."
To which I retort that if two and two
plus X makes six, then to discover the
unknown quantity is the simplest
thing In the world. That a houseful
of detectives missed it entirely was
because they were busy trying to
prove that two and two make four.
The depression due to my visit to
the hospital left me at the prospect of
seeing Halsey again that night. It
was about five o'clock when Liddy
left me for a nap before dinner, hav
ing put me into a gray silk dressing
gown and a pair of slippers. I listened
to her retreating footsteps, and as
soon as she was safely below stairs
I went up to the trunkroom. The
place had not been disturbed, and 1
proceeded at once to try to discover
the entrance to the hidden room. The
openings on either side, as I have
said, showed nothing but perhaps
three feet of brick wall. There was
no sign of an entrance —no levers, no
hinges, to give a hint. Either the
mantel or the roof, I decided, and aft
er a half-hour at the mantel, produc
tive of absolutely no result, I decided
to try the roof.
I am not fond of a height. The few
occasions on which I have climbed a
step-ladder have always left me dizzy
and weak in the knees. The top of
the Washington monument is as im
possible to me as the elevation to the
presidential chair. And yet—l
climbed out on the Sunnyside roof
vithout a second's hesitation. Like
a dog on a scent, like my bear-skin
progenitor, with his spear and his
wild boar, to me now there was the
lust of the chase, the frenzy of pur
suit, the dust of battle. I got quite a
little of the latter on me as I climbed
from the unfinished ballroom out
through a window to the roof of the
east wing of the building, which was
only two stories In height.
Once out there, access to the top of
the main building was rendered er.3.v
least It looked easy—by a small
vertical Iron ladder, fastened to the
wall outside of the ballroom, and per
haps 12 feet high. The 12 feet looked
short from below, but they were dif
ficult to climb. I gathered my silk
gown around me, and succeeded final
ly in making the top of the ladder.
Once there, however, I was complete
ly out of breath. I sat down, my feet
on the top rung, and put my hair-pins
In more securely, while the wind bel
lowed my dressing-gown out like a
sail. I had torn a great strip of the
silk loose, and now I ruthlessly fin
ished the destruction of my gown by
jerking it free and tying it around my
head.
Luckily, the roof was flat, and I
was able togo over every inch of it. But
the result was disappointing; no trap
door revealed itself, no glass window;
nothing but a couple of pipes two
inches across, and standing perhaps
18 inches high and three feet apart,
with a cap to prevent rain from en
tering and raised to permit the pas
sage of air. I picked up a pebble
from the roof and dropped it down,
listening with my ear at one of the
pipes. I could hear it strike on some
thing with a sharp, metallic sound,
but it was impossible for me to tell
how far it had gone.
I gave up finally and went down the
ladder again, getting In through the
ballroom window without being ob
served. I went back at once to the
trunkroom, and, sitting down on a
box, gave my mind, as consistently as
I could, to the problem before me. If
the pipes in the roof were ventilators
to the secret room, and there was no
trap-door above, the entrance was
probably In one of the two rooms be
tween which it lay—unless, indeed,
the room had been built, and the open
ing closed with a brick and mortar
wall.
The mantel fascinated me. Made of
wood and carved, the more I lookec}
the more I wondered that I had not
noticed before the absurdity of such
a mantel in such a place. It was cov
ered with scrolls and panels, and fin
ally, by the merest accident, I pushed
one of the panels at the side. It
moved easily, revealing a small brass
knob.
It is not necessary to detail the
fluctuations of hope and despair, and
not a little fear of what lay beyond,
with which I twisted and turned the
kjiob. It moved, but nothing seemed
to happen, and then I discovered the
trouble. 1 pushed the knob vigorous
ly to one side, and the whole mantel
swung loose from the wall almost a
foot, revealing a cavernous space be
yond.
I took a long breath, closed the
door from the trunkroom into the hall
—thank heaven, I did not lock it—and
pulling the mantel-door wide open, I
stepped into the chimney-room. I had
time to get a hazy view of a small
portable safe, a common wooden table
and a chair —then the mantel door
swung to, and clicked behind me. I
stood quite still for a moment, in the
darkness, unable to comprehend what
had happened. Then I turned and beat
furiously at the door with my fists.
It was closed and locked again, and
my fingers in the darkness slid over a
smooth wooden surface without a sign
of a knob.
I was furiously angry—at myself, at
the mantel-door, at everything. I did
not fear suffocation; before the
thought had come to me I had already
seen a gleam of light from the two
small ventilating pipes in the roof.
They supplied air, but nothing else.
The room itself was shrouded in
blackness.
I must have dozed off. I am sure
I did not faint. I was never more
composed in my life. I remember
Mr# 1
I [i\T|hxjC
J
No Trap-Door Revealed Itself.
CAMERON COUNTY PRESS. THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 1911.
planning, If I were not discovered,
who would have my tilings. 1 knew
Liddy would want my heliotrope pop
lin, and she's a fright In lavender.
Once or twice I heard mice In the par
titions, and so I sat on the table, with
my feet on the chair. I imagined 1
could hear the search going on
through the house, and once some
one came into the trunkroom; I could
distinctly hear footsteps.
"In the chimney! In the chimney!"
I called with all my might, and was
rewarded by a piercing shriek from
Liddy and the slam of the trunkroom
door.
I felt easier after that, although the
room was oppressively hot and
enervating. I had no doubt the search
for me would now come In the right
direction, and after a little, I dropped
Into a doze. How long I slept I do
not know.
It must have been several hours,
for I had been tired from a busy day,
and I waked stifT from my awkward
position. I could not remember
where I was for a few minutes, and
my head felt heavy and congested.
Gradually I roused to my surround
ings, and to the fact that In spite of
ventilators, the air was bad and grow
ing worse. I was breathing long,
gasping respirations, and my face was
damp and clammy. I must have been
there a long time, and the searchers
were probably hunting outside the
house, dredging the creek, or beating
the woodland. I knew that another
hour or two would find me uncon
scious, and with my inability to cry
out would go my only chance of res
cue. It was the combination of bad air
and heat, probably, for some inade
quate ventilation was coming through
the pipes. I tried to retain my con
sciousness by walking the length of
the room and back, over and over, but
I had not the strength to keep it up,
so I sat down on the table again, my
back against the wall.
The house was very still. Once my
straining ears seemed to catch a foot
fall beneath me, possibly in my own
room. I groped for the chair from
the table, and pounded with it frantic
ally on the floor. But nothing hap
pened; I realized bitterly that if the
sound was heard at all, no doubt it
was classed with the other rappings
that had so alarmed us recently.
And then —I heard sounds from be
low me, in the house. There was a
peculiar throbbing, vibrating noise
that I felt rather than heard, much
like the pulsing beat of fire engines ?n
the city. For one awful moment I
thought the house was on fire, and
every drop of blood in my body gath
ered around my heart; then I knew. It
was the engine of the automobile, and
Halsey had come back. Hope sprang
up afresh. Halsey's clear head and
Gertrude's intuition might do what
Liddy's hysteria and three detectives
had failed in.
After a time I thought I had been
right. There was certainly something
going on down below; doors were
slamming, people were hurrying
through the halls, and certain high
notes of excited voices penetrated to
me shrilly. I hoped they were coming
closer, but after a time the sounds
died away below, and I was left to the
silence and heat, to the weight of the
darkness, to the oppression of walls
that seemed to close in on me and
stifle me.
The first warning I had was a
stealthy fumbling at the lock of the
mantel-door. With my mouth open
to scream, I stopped. Perhaps the sit
uation had rendered me acute, per
haps It was instinctive. Whatever it
was, I sat without moving, and some
one outside, In absolute stillness, ran
his fingers over the carving of the
mantel and—found the panel.
Now the sounds below redoubled;
from the clatter and Jarring I knew
that several people were running up
the stairs, and as the sounds ap
proached, I could even hear what they
said.
"Watch the end staircases!" Jamie
son shouted. "Damnation—there's no
light here!" And then a second later.
"All together now. One two
three—"
The door into the trunkroom had
been locked from the inside. At the
second that it gave, opening against
the wall with a crash and evidently
tumbling somebody into the room, the
stealthy fingers beyond the mantel
door gave the knob the proper Im
petus, and —the door swung open, and
closed again. Only—and Liddy al
ways screams and puts her fingers In
her ears at this point—only now I
was not alone in the chimney room.
There was some one else in the dark
ness, some one who breathed hard,
and who was so close I could have
touched him with my hand.
I was in a paralysis of terror. Out
side there were excited voices and in
credulous oaths. The trunks were
being jerked around in a frantic
search, the windows were thrown
open, only to show a sheer drop of 40
feet. And the man in the room with
me leaned against the mantel-door
and listened. His pursuers were plain
ly baffled; I heard him draw a long
breath, and turn to grope his way
through the blackness. Then —he
touched my hand, cold, clammy, death
like.
A hand in an empty room! He drew
in his breath, the sharp intaking of
horror that fills lungs suddenly col
lapsed. Beyond jerking his hand away
instantly, he made no movement. I
think absolute terror had him by the
throat. Then he stepped back, with
out turning, retreating foot by foot
from The Dread in the corner, and I
do not think he breathed.
Then, with the relief of space be
tween us, I screamed, ear-splittingly,
madly, and they heard me outside.
"In the chimney!" I shrieked. "Re
hind the mantel! The mantel!"
With an oath the figure hurled itself
across the room at me, and I
screamed again. In his blind fury he
had missed me; I heard him strike
the wall. That one time I eluded
him: I was across the room, and I had
got the chair. He stood for a second,
listening, then —he made another rush
and I struck out with my weapon. I
think it stunned him, for I had a sec
ond's respite when I could hear him
breathing, and some one shouted out
side:
"We —can't —get—In. How—does —it
open?"
But the man in the room had
changed his tactics. I knew he was
creeping on me, inch by Inch, and I
could not tell from where. And then
—he caught me. He held his hand
over my mouth, and I bit him. I was
helpless, strangling—and some one
was trying to break in the mantel
from outside. It began to yield some
where, for a thin wedge of yellowish
light was reflected on the opposite
wall. When he saw that, my assailant
dropped me with a curse; then—the
opposite wall swung open noiselessly,
closed again without a sound, and I
was alone. The intruder was gone.
"In the next room!" I called wildly.
"The next room!" But the sound of
blows on the mantel drowned my
voice. By the time I had made them
understand, a couple of minutes had
elapsed. The pursuit was taken up
then, by all except Alex, who was de
termined to liberate me. When I
stepped out into the trunkroom a free
woman again I could hear the chase
far below.
I mu3t say, for all Alex's anxiety to
set me free, he paid little enough at
tention to my plight. He jumped
through the opening into the secret
room and picked up the portable safe.
"I am going to put this in Mr. Hal
sey's room, Miss Innes," he said, "and
I shall send one of the deteotives to
guard it."
I hardly heard him. I wanted to
laugh and cry in the same breath —
to crawl into bed and have a cup of
tea, and scold Liddy, and do any of
the thousand natural things that I had
never expected to do again. And the
air! The touch of the cool night air
on my face!
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
Worried Over His Trousers.
The humors and tragedies of New
York East side life are delineated by
Frank Marshall White in an article in
Harper's Weekly. Master Jacob Ros
enberg, eleven or twelve years of
age, was suffering from a broken leg.
"His supreme agony came, however,
when Dr. M. ripped up one side of
the juvenile trousers with a pair of
scissors to make room for bandages.
'My new pants! My new pants! He's
cutting my new pants!' Jacob
shrieked, and almost wriggled himself
out of the grasp of the policeman and
the driver in his efforts to prevent the
mutilation of his raiment. All the
way to his home in the ambulance the
boy bewailed his mangled trousers
more than he did his broken leg.
We think that preachers ought tg
say more about hell fire and brim
stone; people are feeling allogothw
100 easy about Uiwmselvu*.
AND GO AHEAD BLOWLY.
Philosopher- And now, after having
reviewed all philosophy with yoa,
there is only one law that I can lay
down for your guidance.
Student—What is that?
Philosopher—When you are sura
you are right, you should suspect that
you are wrong.
Two Bad Cases In England Cured by
Resinol Ointment.
I have been using Resinol Ointment
during the last few weeks for a
varicose ulcer on leg and can bear tes
timony to its cooling and curative qual
ities. Have never found anything to
equal it. I was recommended by my
Bister, Mrs. Cairus Ladykirk, Norham
on Tweed, to try it. She had been
treated 14 months previously without
effect, but was entirely cured by Res
inol Ointment.
Robert Davidson, Gateshead on Tyne.
Not What He Asked For.
A small boy hurried into the cor
ner butcher shop and told the propri
etor his mother wanted a nice, ten
der turkey for Thanksgiving, and she
wanted it dressed. The butcher se
lected just such a bird from the lot
in the window, and said, with satisfac
tion:
"Here's a dandy, my boy—just what
your mother wants!"
"No, it ain't!" returned the youth.
"That turkey hasn't any clothes on."
—Judge.
Mean of Her.
Mrs. Galey (back from the moun
tains) —Well, my dear, did you keep
open house during my absence?
Galey (earnestly)—l should say I
didn't, Louise; why, there wasn't a
night that I didn't lock the doors at
nine o'clock.
Mrs. Galey—Yes? And where did
you go th~n?
A Great Invention.
Vance —I think Ferdle ranks with
Edison as an inventor and benefactor
of man.
Luella —What did he invent?
Vance —He invented a device to pwe
vent cigawette papers fwom blowing
away in a stwong breeze.—Scraps.
Important to Mothers
Examine carefully every bottle of
CASTORIA, a safe and sure remedy for
Infants and children, and see that it
In Use For Over B<> Years.
The Kind You Have Always Bought.
Reverse Art.
"An actress in her makeup re
verses the usual rules of art."
"How so?"
"She paints first so she can draw
afterward."
Household Hints.
By taking one hobble skirt and
sewing up one end of it a very pretty
ragbag may be made in which to put
the others.
Stop guessing! Try the best nnd most
certain remedy for all painful ailments—
Hamlins Wizard Oil. The way it re
lieves all soreness from sprains, cuts,
wounds, bums, scalds, etc., is wonderful.
It is often a shorter way, and more
useful, to fashion ourselves to others
than for them to adjust themselves to
us.—La Fontaine.
No Man is Stronger
Than His Stoma & Jpferi
A. strong man is strong all over. No man can be
strong who is suffering from weak stomach with its
consequent indigestion, or from some other disease
of the stomach and its associated organs, which im
pairs digestion and nutrition. For when the stomach fflL'l JlCn X
is weak or diseased there is a loss of the nutrition (
contained In food, which is the source of all physical JffiS v
strength. When a man "doesn't feel just right," rewfc'li;\V'>'
when he doesn't sleep well, has an uncomfortable
feeling in the stomach after eating, is languid, nervous, irritable and despond*
ent, he is losing the nutrition needed to make strength.
Such a man should use Dr. Pierce's Golden Medical
Discovery. It cures diseases of the stomach and other
organs of digestion and nutrition. It enriches the blood.
Invigorates the liver, strengthens the kidneys, nourishes
the nerves, and so GIVES III'TILTH AXI) STRENGTH TO
THE WHOLE BODY.
You can't afford to accept a lecrit nostrum as a substitute lor this non
alcoholic medicine op KNOWN COMPOSITION, not even though the urgent dealer
may thereby make a little bigger profit. Ingredients printed on wrapper.
W. L. DOUGL A $
•3.00 >3.50&>4.00 SHOES FSoKEii / fift
Boys' SHOES. $2.00. $2.60 AND $3.00. BEST IN THE WORLD. FL • .
TTieTieiieilts of frvelihlesTl If I could take you Into my
which apply principally to lur ß e factories u t lirockton, pv / * -
sole leather.aiul therodliced Ma*"., ami shuw you how CHIC- U . WFLJ
tariff on solo leather, now ' u "y "• Douglas shoe* are , j
enables mo to glvo the .U The LialSe£%{£!!',JlßWlL., T
wearer more value for lib 112 u WO uid then understand why ]
money, better nncl longer tioiiarforiioiinr l f;uurant<-« Xfc i
wearing an<l $4 i".v Nhoos to hold their shape, 1 A
shoes than I could give pre- flt better nn.l w.ir iNt : 1
vlons to the t arid revision. «''» n any other »<<*•. *1.60 jj*"\ . 1J %'Sk
wnunMHHMaHismraMnnV "T f4.(K) allots you i'»n l>uy. t. 1 r J-.'l
Do you realize that my shoos have heen the standard fororerSO .*ri£RW 13
years; that I make and mora $3.00. s:|.so and *4.00 .hoes than , C P t a r ' r ,
NO SUBSTITUTE
V% . L. DOtUIiAM, I \ "» fcpurl* He., lirockton. Mass.
Your Liver
is Clogged up
That'* Why YonV. Tirod-Out of
Sort*— HAT* NO
CARTER'S
LIVER PILLS jßjjga^
d*lf.
Utsaest, Indigcitioa, Side Headsckc.
SHALL PILL. SMALL DOSE. SHALL ftICS
Genuine mmtbeM Signature
I Why Rent a Farm
I mod be compelled to pay to your landlord most
of your hard-earned profits? Own your own
. Secure a Free Homestead In
Saskatchewan or
Alberta, or purchase
land in one of these
LnliiKTl districts and hank it
I V!|k|fyiK|M profit of SIO.OO or
I ffi every year.
| Land purchased 3
* A years ago at SIO.OO an
I w acre has recently
1I » A p changed hands at
Cyj^^yTjLA/i U $25 00 an acre. The
B |fc|| crops prown on these
lands warrant the
advance. You can
gfef Become Rich
V? * VM"f&2 by cottleralsing,dairying,mixed
farming and grain growing in
r 'inllwi 1 provinces of Manitoba,
Saskatchewan and Alberta,
llyFree homestead ond pre
emptlon areas, as well as land
held by railway and land com
fjh QLPiI panies, will provide homes
/IMIDw for millions.
1 ' 1 Aduptable soil, healthful
C.iinnto, splendid s< hools
""k* churches,iood railways.
literature "Last Best West,'^how
>v «?? & 10 rea <>h Ibe country and ol her pa r
off tlcalurs, write to Sup't of linnil*
Br f JSEWIT? K rat lon, Ottawa, Canada, or to the
TLi«p' , vjS Canadian (Government Agent.
CANADIAN GOVERNMENT AGENT
BuiWi °l Toledo, Ohio
(Use address nearest yon ) 38
Keep Fit
Your brain, muscles and nerves
depend upon good physical
condition. Secure it by using
BEECHAM'S
PILLS
Said Evarywhera. In boiu 10a. tad ZSa.
Jk ATIIEU] a CUBEDTQBTAYCUREB
Ad I nlHAsxru&OThS
11 —— aathmatlo aymptoma.
Whetcel a?at«m of treatment approved by best U. rf.
medioalantborltlenaatheonl/eysiem known to perma-
TESf TREATMENT
Including mad iclne®,prepared foranyoneglrlng a fnll
description of thecane and ending naraew of 2 nothmv
tie ■ufferora. Address FRANK WHETZGUM.D.
Dept. Z, American txprca* Building. Chicago*'
MAKE MOBE MONEY
Than you ever dreamed possible decorating
china, burnt-wood, metal, pillow-tops, etc.,
in colors from photographs. Men success
ful as women. Learned at once; no talent
required. Takes like wildfire everywhere.
Send stamp quirk for praticulars.
C. M.VALLA.NCE COMI'ASV, IJkbart, Ind.
LAZY LIVEB
"I find Cascarets so good that I would
not be without them. I was troubled a
great deal with torpid liver and headache.
Now since taking Cascarets Candy CaUiar
tic I feel very much better. I shall cer
! tainly recommend them to my friends aa
| the best medicine I have ever seen."
Anna Bazinet,
Osborn Mill No. a, Fall River, Mass.
Pleasant, Palatable, Potent, Taste Good.
Do Good. Never Sicken. Weaken orGripe.
10c, 25c, 50c. Never Bold In bulk. Thetenu.
lne tablet stamped CCC, Guaranteed to
cure or your money back. 928
DEFIANCE STARCH—"™^
•—other atarchea only 12 ounce#—sumo price and
"DEFIANCE" IS BUPERIOR QUALITY.
A VP , ilTPy° nr Invention. Ftm prollmln
rF* 9 IN Pa I arysearcta. Booklet free. MILO
I M I bll I il. STKVKNH * CO., lisuib. ) -(.4,
8&3 Iklh t»L. Washington: *OU Dearborn Bt., Chicago.
W. N. U., CLEVELAND, NO. 53-1910.
7