THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE
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SYNOPSIS.
jrisi Innes, spinster nnd guardian of
Gertrmi' and Halsey, established sum
mer headquarters at Sunnysidt. Arnold
Armstrong was found shot to death In
tlx' iial! Gertrude and In r Hancc, Jack
11 iilev, had conversed in the billiard
i.i'im shortly before the murder. I>etec
•i .i .I.tmleson accused Miss Innes of liold
h ti'k evidence. fashier Kailcy of Paul
ri.i>:i m.-.'s bank, defunct, was arreted
" r embezzlement. Paul Armstrong's
death v ..s announced. Hulsey's llanee,-,
I.oulsi Armstrong, told Halsey that while
she still loved linn, she was to marry an
other. It develojitd that 1 >r. Walker was
•he man. Louise was found unconscious
at the bottom «.f the circular staircase.
,"i.e said something had brusl.od by her
in the darl; <n the stairway and she
fainted. Bailey is suspected Of Arm
strong's inurdi r. Thomas, the lodgekeep
er, was found dead with a note In bit
pocket bearing the name "Lucien Wal
lace." a ladtli r found out of place deep
en-: the mystery. The stables wire
burn-d. and In the dark Miss Innes shot
a Intruder. Halsey mysteriously dlsap-
I ared. His auto was found wrecked by
u freight train. It develop.-d Halsey had
an argument In the library with a woman
before his disappearance. New cook dis
appears. Miss Innes learned Halsey was
alive. I »r. Walker's face becomes livid
at mention of the r.ame of Nina Carrlnsr
lori. Evidence was secured from a tramp
' I;■ 11 a man, supposedl.v Hals y. had been
bound and gagged and thrown into tin
e ipty box ear. Gertrude was missing.
! fuming for her. Miss Innes ran into a
man and fainted. A confederate of l>r.
Walker confessed Ills part In the mys
tery. He stated that the t'arrington wo
man had been killed, that Walker feared
her. and that he believed that Paul Arm
ronsr had been killed by a hard guided
l>. Walker. Halsey was found in a dis
t at hospital. Paul Armstrong was not
dead. M:ss Innes discovered secret rooms
in which the Traders' bank treasure was
belli*, ed to be. Mrs. Watson, dying, said
she killed Arnold Armstrong; who years
befor ■ had married her sister under the
albs of Wallace. I„ucien Wallace w.«3
lorn of lln marriage. Miss Innes discov
ered a secret panel to the mysterious
room and unwittingly locked herself with
in Paring the hunt for her the search
ers ran across I'aul Armstrong. Arm
strong pitched forward down the circular
staircase, breaking Ills neck. In the se
cret room was found the Traders' bank
loot, which Armstrong-had taken.
CHAPTER XXXlll.—Continued.
As Alex and I reached the second
floor, Mr. Jamieson met us. He was
grave and quiet, and he nodded com
prehendingly when he saw the safe.
"Will you come with me for a mo
ment, Miss Innes?" he asked soberly,
and on my assenting, he led the way
to the east wing. There were lights
moving around below, and some of
the maids were standing gaping down.
They screamed when they saw me,
and drew back to let me pass. There
■was a sort of hush over the scene;
Uex, behind me, muttered something
I could not hear, and brushed past me
without ceremony. Then I realized
that a man was lying doubled up at
the foot of the staircase, and that
Alex was stooping over him.
As 1 came slowly down, Winters
>;ti pped back, and Alex straightened
himself, looking at me across the
body with impenetrable eyes. In his
hand lie held a shaggy gray wig, and
before me on the iloor lay the man
whose headstone stood in Casanova
churchyard—Paul Armstrong.
Winters told the story in a dozen
words. In his headlong flight down
the circular staircase, with Winters
just, behind, Paul Armstrong had
pitched forward violently, struck his
head against the door to the east ver
anda. and probably broken his neck.
He had died as Winters reached him.
As the detective finished, I saw Hal
sey, pale and shaken, in the card
room doorway, and for the first time :
that night I lost my self-control. I put j
my arms around my boy, and for a j
!<:oment he had to support me. A sec- I
'Hid later, over ilnlsey's shoulder, I I
i.iw something that turned my emo- I
ion into other channels, for behind \
■ ■ mi, in the shadowy cardroom, were |
■ ieitrude and Alex, the gardener, and
there is no use mincing matters —he
was kissing her!
I was unable to speak. Twice 1 j
opened my mouth; thin I turned 11;il- ;
v around and pointed. They were
quite unconscious oi us; her head was j
•n his shoulder, his face against her
hair. As it happened it was .Mr.
'amie. on who broke up the tableau.
lie stepped over to Alex and
touched him on the arm.
And now," he said quit tly, how
long are you and 1 to play our little
| iituedy, Mr. Ilailey?"
CHAPTER XXXIV.
The Odds and Ends.
Of Dr. Walker's ei; -at tonal escape
that night to South America, of the !
recovery of over (1,000,000 in cash
and HI curltles in the safe from the
i lilnili) v room—the papers have kept
the public well Informed. Of my slian
in discovering the secret chamber
tlii ■. havi been singularly silent, Th«
lnn< i hi dory las never be. n told Mr
Jamb mn M>t all kinds ot credit, and
sum* of H he deserved, but If Jack
Ilailey. a< Alex, had not traced liaise)
and in ,-Med on the disiiititrriiiK ot
I'ti'il Armstrong's casket. If he had
not suspected the truth from the
•art. whera would th« detective hart
In en?
When llalsey learned the truth, h<
misted on Kolntt the n.M morning
weak as he was, to lionise, and lr,
night she was at felittsoy*)de. under
(i'-rtrwde's particular cure, while hct
What Halsey said to Mr* Arm
»m»o, I never liih », but ih*i he **»
•••»!» ..derato and chivalrous I feet eon
lllli ftl It With I 1.1 IO y i H alvv
He Was Kissing Her.
He and Louise had no conversation
together until that night. Gertrude
ind Alex—l mean Jack —had gone for
i walk, although it was nine o'clock,
*nd anybody but a pair of young geese
would have known that dew was fall
ing, and that it is next to impossible
to get rid of a summer cold.
At half after nine, growing weary
r j[ my own company, I went down
stairs to find the young people. At
the door of the living room I paused.
Sertrude and Jack had returned and
were there, sitting together on a
Jivan, with only one lamp lighted.
They did not see or hear me, and I
beat a hasty retreat to the library,
[hit here again I was driven back.
Louise was sitting in a deep chair,
looking the happiest I had ever seen
ler, with Halsey on the arm of the
•hair, holding her close.
Tiie next day, by degrees, I got the
whole story.
Paul Armstrong had a besetting ■
?vil—the love of money. Common |
mough, but he loved money, not for |
vhat it would buy, but for its own sake, j
\n examination of the books showed i
10 irregularities in the past year
>ince John bad been cashier, but be- J
ore that, in the time of Anderson, the |
>ld cashier, who had died, much I
strange juggling had been done with j
lie records. The railroad In New I
Mexico had apparently drained the j
canker's private fortune, and he de- j
ermined to retrieve it by one stroke. I
rhis was nothing less than the loot-!
ng of the bank's securities, turning |
hem into money, and making his es j
:ape.
Hut the law lias long arms. Paul j
Vrm.strong evidently studied the situa-'
ion carefully. Just as the only good j
ndian is a dead Indian, so the only ,
safe defaulter is a.dead defaulter. He!
leeided to die, lo all appearand s. and
vhen tiie hue and cry subsided, he
vould be able to enjoy his money al
nost anywhere he wished.
The first necessity was mi accom-1
dice. The connivance of Dr. Walk* r
vns suggested by his love for l»uise
I'he man was unscrupulous, and with
lie fjlrl as a bait, i*;iul Armstrong
loon had him fast The plau was ap
parently the acme of simplicity: A I
imall town in the west, an attack of j
Kurt dbeaao, u body from a medical
•ollego dlMsectlnK room ahl|tpcd in it
runk to l>r. Walker by a eoll.-aKue lit
inn I'ntin isio. ami palmed off for tlx-
MiplMj.-i'd banker. What wan
dmpler?
The woman. Nina CiurinKton. was
he cog that What ahe onl;.
« impeded. what *he really knew, we {
H'ver burned. Hhe wax a chamber
nabl in the hotel at C and It ua
•vbb-nifS Ini.-ntlon to bla< kluall
»r Walker His position at that time
■> an uncomfortable: To pa) the vmu
HI LO k<i*|t unlet would he ■ ..nr. ..ion
In denied th. whole IHIUK. and ahe
A#»t to lln lacy
It wax that (hat had ink.-n Italno) !
io Iha dm-tor the night IK- dl«ap i
M URT.I HA MMHI I!.. .1.,, >.,1 ~I HI
I* «■» I'tion, and. i-r<MsltiK th*- lawn, had
'inn thin cruel ti. I.oiil' I hen
'urloiiH at her apparent ronulvaoce,
in* had atari - d 'or the latinn IH
Walker and I'aul XriualroUM Ikn 'at
'i mil .111. w h.r. I h .til .-let hint -
"iirrb-d acroaa to the # iuliaiikin. nl j
■ Hun . 11. i \ ..I iiii' i iii it a li.ii' . intuit
ii.ii i.-ii ili.- ii.i. . »i>what h«* »ua-1
.••I i.tl until the Hl. .lie Y had IH-«K re
noted from the chimney nmiii Tltwy
<< MtH'd int.. th.' r.»st.| In trout of the
.tr tn tu|i ||, mtd Nlf played imn
in Ir itandti The mr »truck lh« lull.
• 'id they had only to tlM|ui.<. <>| m,
■in tia < l»»u» figure IN Ih<> toad Thin
ih. v .It.l I It,it • i"! I I' ~ tin**
CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 1911.
days Halsey lay In the box car, tied
hand and foot, suffering tortures of
thirst, delirious at times, and discov
ered by a tramp at Johnsville only in
time to save his life.
Togo back to Paul Armstrong. At
tho last moment his plans had been
frustrated. Sunnyside. with its hoard
in the chimney room, had been rented
without his knowledge! Attempts to
dislodge me having failed, he was
driven to breaking into his own house.
The ladder in the chute, the burning
of the stable and the entrance through
the cardroom window—all were in the
course of a desperate attempt to get
into the chimney room.
and her mother had, from
the first, been the great stumbling
blocks. The plan had been to send
Louise away until it was too late for
her to interfere, but she came back
to the hotel at C just at the
wrong time. There was a terrible
! scene. The girl was told that some
j thing of the kind was necessary; that
| the bank was about to close and her
j stepfather would either avoid arrest
I and disgrace in this way. or kill him
-1 self. Fanny Armstrong was a weak-
J ling, but Louise was more difficult to
j manage. She had no love for her step
j father, but her devotion to her moth
|or was entire, self-sacrificing. Forced
j into acquiescence by her mother's ap
peals, overwhelmed by the situation,
the girl consented and fled.
From somewhere in Colorado she
sent an anonymous telegram to Jnrk
Hailey at the Traders' bank. Trapped
as she was, she did not want to see
an Innocent man arrested. The tele-
I gram, received on Thursday, had sent
the cashier to the bank that night in
! a frenzy.
■ Louise arrived nt Sunnyside and
found the house rented. Not knowing
what to do. she sent for Arnold at the
Greenwood club, and told him a little.
I not all. She told him that there was
something wrong, and that the bank
was about to dose. That his father
i was responsible. Of the conspiracy
! she said nothing. To her surprise,
\rnold already knew, through Italley
Unit night, that things were not right.
Moreover, he suspected what Utilise
did not. that the money was hidden at
Sunnyside. lit' had a scrap of |iuper
that indicated a concealed room some
where.
His inherited eupidlty wa, aroused
Kuger to get Halsey and Jack Hailey
out of the house, he went up to the
east entry, and In the billiard room
gave the cashier what he had refuted
earlier !n the evening the address of
Paul Armstrong la California and a
telegram which had been forwarded
to the elub for Italley, from Mir Walk
er. It was in response to one Italley
had sent, and it said that Paul Arm
strong was very 111.
Italley was utmost d*«|M-rute lie
derided togo weal and Had Paul Arm
strong and to force him to dl*itorK>
ltd lie moment of sturtli », > .<
H* M• ■ where Mr. Jan.: mm
had hi al'il tie- i .ii\ he i. ad lliat II
John ltm|.-> had know a Paul Arav
*Mstt »• ll>* Ncvurilt 1 H«ml tiik* ii
VVbert* «u > II? %na fruit* am** » u.*i».
by Ar m«»M Atuifttrt»ft«t it » item* t
vwm* fcft IMf malum H
was Halsey's idea that, John Bailey
come to the house as a gardener, and
pursue lils investigations as he could.
His smooth upper lip had been suffi
cient disguise, with his change of
clothes, and a hair-cut by a country
barber.
So it was Alex, Jack Bailey, who
had been our ghost. Not only had he
alarmed Louise—and himself, he ad
mitted —on the circular staircase, but
he had dug the hole in the trunkroom
wall, and later sent Eliza into hysteria.
The note Liddy had found in Ger
trudes scrap-basket was from him,
and it was he who had startled me
into unconsciousness by the clothes
chute, and, with Gertrude's help, had
carried me to Louise's room. Ger
trude, I learned, had watched all
night beside me, in an extremity of
anxiety about me.
That old Thomas had seen his mas
ter, and thought he had seen the Sun
nyside ghost, there could be no doubt.
Of that story of Thomas, about see
ing Jack liailey in the footpath be
tween the club and Sunnyside, the
night Liddy and I heard the noise on
the circular staircase—tliat, too, was
right. On the night before Arnold
Armstrong was murdered. Jack Bailey
had made an attempt to search for
the secret room. He secured Arnold's
keys from his room at the club and
got into the house, armed with a golf
stick for sounding the walls. He ran
against the hamper at the head of
the stairs, caught his cuff-link in it,
and dropped the golf-stick with a
crash. He was glad enough to get
away without an alarm being raised,
and he took the "owl" train to town.
Ihe oddest thing to me was that
Mr. Jamieson had known for some
time that Alex was Jack Bailey. But
the tace of the pseudo-gardener was
very queer indeed when, that night,
in the cardroom, the detective turned
to him and said:
"How long are you and I going to
play our little comedy, Mr. Bailey?"
Well, it is all over now. Paul Arm
strong rests in Casanova churchyard,
and this time there is no mistake. 1
went to the funeral, because I wanted
to be sure he was really buried, and
I looked at the step of the shaft
where I had sat that night, and won
dered if it was all real. Sunnyside is
for sale—no, I shall not buy it. Littls
Lucien Armstrong is living with his
step-grandmother, who is recovering
gradually from troubles that had ex
tended over the entire period of her
second marriage. Anne Watson lies
not far from the man she killed, and
who as surely caused her death.
Thomas, the fourth victim of the con
spiracy. is buried on the hill. With
Nina Carrington, five lives were sac
rificed in the course of this grim con
spiracy.
I here will be two weddings before
long, and Liddy has asked for niy
heliotrope poplin to wear to the
church. I knew she would. She has
wanted it for three years, and she
was quite ugly the time I spilled eof
lee on it. We are very quiet, just the
two of us. Liddy still clings to her
ghost theory, and points to my wet
find muddy boots in the trunkroom as
proof. I am gray, I admit, but 1
haven't felt as well in a dozen years.
Sometimes, when I am bored, I ring
for Liddy, and we talk things over
When Warner married Kosle, Liddy
miffed and said what 1 took for faith
lu'nt ss in Kosle had been nothing but
tnawklshness. I have not yet outlived
Uddy's contempt because I gave them
-liver knives and forks as a wedding
Rift.
So we sit and talk, and sometimes
l.iddv threatens to leave, and often 1
Uncharge her. hut we stay together
omehow. 1 am talking of renting a
house next year, and Liddy says to In
ure there Is no ghost. To be perfect
ly frank. I never really lived until
ihat summer. Time has pa-sed since
I began this story. My neighbors are
l>ai king up for another aumnn'r. Liddy
■■ having the awninxn put up, and the
window boxes tilled. Liddy or no Lid
ly, I shall advertise to-morrow for a
hous* in tie < xutitry. and I dou't care
if it has a Circular Staircase.
TIIK KM).
Hunters Kill Big Cruily.
Thf monster grizzly bear that for
jfi am has been Utakltttt many d< • pbss
nights for th« farmer*. miners and
res|t)»n'« of the northwe-iera trinity
n iiluii bait at last been slain.
This monarch of Ibe forest sad
slay, r of small domestic animals Wits
killed by Thomas \|«-Ifcinahl a »■ alili)
minim matt *ho has b<*-u camping
lln Si hunt F&tti&i* in Trinity
mountaineer of marked ability, killed
the I H fcftel .1 Iht h tl nit
Tin bear weighed I ."MM pounds, sad
l. tfcw and blKKetl tpeeiuteit
trsr neeit hi He- Trinity mount.iHi r*
tt.rf all elfo.t l.» rapiunt or'klTfcli.l
i-tam Call.
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| It all happened on one of those few
surviving pay-after-you-enter cars.
"Oh, I insist on paying, Gladys," said
the brunette. "You paid coming
down."
"No. I shall pay," declared Gladys
with equal firmness. "What if I did
pay coming down —didn't you buy that
last package of gum?"
"Let me settle the quarrel, ladies,"
suggested the diplomatic conductor.
"Why not use tho denatured form of
Dutch treat?"
"What's that?"
"Well, you each pay the other's
fare."
And that was the way they solved
tt. —Cleveland Leader.
The Kind.
"I think that chauffeur had great i
nerve to make love to his employer's
daughter."
"So he had —motor nerve."
Blue Monday.
"Do you know why we call this day
Blue Monday?"
"Maybe it's because so much blueing
is usrd."—Judge.
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The mop' solitary, the more friend
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i[i* when they can «.-t Hamlin** Wuurd
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It Is right to be cod I < nt'-d with what
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■Sir .lames Mackintosh.
Mr*. '» »mm>iltinif Mvrun.
• Ml*
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