lf fa ir MARV 44 BY adjo r iwo ar fuses mem ca SYNOPSIS 1 innes spinster and guardian of gertrude oertrude and halsey estabi shed summer headquarters at Sunny sunnyside side amidst nu berous difficulties the servants deserted As miss innes locked up tor for the night she was startled by a dark figure on the veranda she passed a terrible night which was filled with unseemly no aes es in the morn ng M ss innes found a strange 1 cuff button in a clothes hamper gertrude and halsey arrived with ith jack bailey the house was awak ened by a revolver shot A strange man was found shot to death in the hall it proved to be the body of arnold arm strong whose banker father owned the country house miss innes found hal sey s revolver on the lawn he and jack bailey had disappeared the link cuff button mysteriously disappeared de v e jamieson Jam leson and the coroner arrived gert gertrude rude revealed that she was engaged to jack bailey with s e had talked in the bill ard room a few mo in ments e ants before the murder jamieson Jam leson told M ss innes that she was hid ng ev dence from him he imprisoned an intruder in an empty room the prisoner escaped down a laundry chute it developed that the intruder was probably a woman ger trude was suspected for the intruder left a prat of a bare foot gertrude re turned biome home w th her right ani ie IP sprained A negro found the other halt of what proved to be jack bailey s cuff button halsey suddenly reappeared he a said he and bailey had left beca se they had received a telegram gertrude hys said that she had given bailey an un loaded revolver fearing to give him hal aey s loaded weapon casher cash er ba baley ley of paul armstrong s bank defunct was ar rested charged with embezzlement CHAPTER X continued in cash in cash but the man who did it he would be known yes I 1 tell yo i both as sure as I 1 stand here I 1 bel bet eve that paul arm strong looted his own bank I 1 believe he has a million at least as the re suit and that he will never come back I 1 in worse than a pauper now I 1 can t ask louise to share nothing a bear ear with me and when 1 I think of this disgrace for her I 1 im in crazy the most ordinary events of life seemed pregnant with possibilities that day and when halsey was called to the telephone I 1 ceased all pretense at eating when he came back from the telephone his face showed that something had occurred he waited however until thomas left the din ing oom j then he told us paul armstrong is dead he an bounced gravely he died this moi mom 11 ing in california whatever he did he is beyond the law now gertrude turned pale and the only man who could have cleared jack can never do it she said despairingly also I 1 1 I replied coldly mr arm strong Is for ever beyond the power of defending himself when your jack comes to me with some in his hands which Is about what you have lost I 1 shall believe him in CHAPTER XI halsey makes a capture it was about halt half past eight when we left the dining room and still en grossed with one subject tl e failure of the bank and its attendant evils halsey and I 1 went out into the grounds for a stroll gertrude tol fol lowed i is s shortly the I 1 was thickening to appropriate shakes peare s description of atwil and once again the tree toads and the crickets were mal ing n throb with their tiny I 1 fe it was almost op pies lonely in spite of its beau ty and I 1 felt a sickening pang of homesickness for my city at n for the clatter of horses feet on ce dented paying paving for the lights the vo ces the sound of ch idren playing the country after dark oppresses me the stars quite eclipsed in the city by the electric lights here become in sistena assertive whether I 1 want to or not I 1 find myself looking for the few I 1 know by name and feeling ri new and small by contrast always an unpleasant sensation after gertrude jo ned us we avo mo d ed any further mention of the murder to halsey as to me there was ever present I 1 am sure the thought of our conversation of the night before s we strolled back and forth along the drive mr jamieson emerged from the shadow of the trees good eden even ng he said managing 0 0 include gertrude in his bow ger trude had never been even ordinarily courteous to him and she nodded cold ly halsey however was more cor dial altho gh we were all constrained enough he ile and gertrude went on together leaving the d to walk with me As soon as they m were ere out of arshat he turned to me do you know miss innes he aid the deeper I 1 go into this thing the more strange it seems to me I 1 am very sorry for miss gertrude it looks as it if bailey whom she has tried to io hard to save is worse than a ras cal and after her y fight for him it seems hard I 1 looked through the dusk to where gertrudes light dinner dress gleamed among the trees she had made a plucky fight poor child whatever she night m hae hane been duven to do I 1 could find nothing but a deep sym pathy for her if she had only come to ar wp with the whole truth then miss innes mr jamieson was say gay ing in the last three days haic yo i seen a any suspicious figures albund the grounds 9 any boman no I 1 replied I 1 have a house t A iw tul u I 1 of maids that will bear watching 0 one ne and all but there has been no strange woman near the house or liddy would have seen her you may be sure she has a telescopic eye mr jamieson looked thoughtful it may not amount to anything he said slowly it is difficult to get any perspective on things around here because every one down in the village is sure he saw the murderer either before or since the crime and halt half of 0 them will stretch a point or two as to facts to be obliging but the man who drives the hack down there tells a story that may possibly prove to be important I 1 have heard it I 1 think was it the one the parlor maid brought up yesterday about a ghost wringing its hands on the roof oh perhaps it its s the one the milk boy heard a tramp washing a dirty shirt presumably bloody in the creek below the he bridge I 1 could see the gleam of mr jamie son sons S teeth as he smiled neither he said but matthew geist which is our friend s name claims that on saturday night at 9 30 a veiled lady I 1 knew it would be a veiled lady I 1 broke in A veiled lady he persisted who was apparently young and beautiful engaged his hack and asked to be driven to near Is ear the gate however she made him stop in spite of his saying she pre berred to walk to the house she paid A few feet away in iu the hall was the spot where the body of arnold arm strong had been found I 1 was a bit nervous and I 1 put my hand on hal sey s sleeve suddenly from the top of the staircase above us came the sound of a cautious footstep at first I 1 was not sure but halseys attitude told me he had heard and was listen ing theoster the Theo step slow measured in finitely cautious was nearer now halsey tried to loosen my fingers but I 1 was in a paralysis of fright rhe swish of a body against the curving rail as if for guidance was plain enough and now whoever it was had reached the foot of the staircase and had caught a glimpse of our rigid silhouettes against the billiard room doorway halsey threw me off then and strode forward who Is if he called imperiously and took a half dozen rapid strides to ward thet foot of the staircase then I 1 heard him mutter something there was the crash of a falling body the slam of the outer door and for an instant quiet I 1 screamed I 1 think then I 1 remember turning on the lights and finding halsey white with fury trying to untangle himself from something warm and fleecy he ile had cut his forehead a little on the lowest step of the stairs and he was rather a ghastly sight he ile flung the white object at me and jerking open the outer door raced into the darkness gertrude had come on hearing the noise and now we stood staring at each other over of all things on 0 blymn 0 C 1 07 the step slow measured n tely cautious ivas was nearer now him and he left her there now misa miss innes you had no such visitor I 1 be lieve none I 1 said decidedly geist thought it in be a maid as you had got a supply that day but he said her getting out near the gate puzzled I 1 im anyhow we have now one ve led lady who with mith the ghost ly intruder of friday night makes two assets that I 1 hardly know what to do u 0 with mith it is mystifying I 1 admitted al though I 1 can think of one poss ble ex the path from the green wood club to the village enters the road near the lodge gate A woman who wished to reach the country club unperceived might choose such a method there are plenty of worn wom en there I 1 think this gave him something to ponder for in a short time he said good night and left but I 1 myself was tar far from satisfied I 1 was determined however on one thing if my ions tons for I 1 had suspicions were true I 1 would make my own investigations and mr jamieson should learn only what was good for him to know U we e went back to the house and gertrude who was more like herself s nee nce her talk with halsey sat down at the mahogany desk in the living room to write a letter halsey prowl ed up and down the entire east wing now in the now in the bil liard hard room and now and then blow ing his clouds of tobacco smoke among the p and gold hangings of the dialing di awing room after a little I 1 jo ned him in the billiard room and to guther we me went over the details of the discovery of the body the was mas quite dark NN here we sat in the billiard room only one of the side brackets was lighted and we poke in subdued tones as the I 1 0 ir and the subject seemed to demand when 1 spoke of the figure liddy and I 1 had seen on the porch through the win dow friday night halsey sauntered into the dirk darkened ened room and together N e stood there much as liddy and I 1 I 1 1 id done that other night the window was mas the same grayish 1 i i ct anle in the blacine blac kne an before I 1 i A earth a white silk sill and wool blanket exquisitely fine it was the most un ghostly thing in the world with its lavender border and its faint scent gertrude was the first to speak somebody had if she asked yes halsey tried to stop whoever it was and fell gertrude that blink et is not mine I 1 have never seen it before she held it up and looked at it then she went to the door on to the veran da and threw it open perhaps feet from the house were mere two figures hat moved slowly toward us as we looked when they came within range of the light I 1 recognized halsey and with him mrs 1 watson atson the house keeper CHAPTER XII one mystery for another the most commonplace incident takes on a new appearance it if the at circumstances are unusual there was no reason on earth why mrs watson should not have carried a blanket down the east wing staircase if she so desired but to take a blanket down at 11 0 clock at night with every precaution as to noise and when discovered to fling it at halsey and bolt halsey s word and a good one into the grounds this made the incident more than significant they moved slowly across the lawn and up the steps halsey was talking quietly and mrs watson was looking down and listening she was a woman of a certain amount of dignity most efficient so far as I 1 could see al though liddy would have found fault it if she dared but just now mrs wat sons son s face was an en gina she was defiant I 1 think under her mask of submission and she still showed shored the effect of nervous shock mrs watson I 1 said severely will you be so good as to explain this rather unusual occurrence 7 I 1 don t think it so unusual miss innes her oice voice was deep and very clear but it was somewhat tremulous iwas faking a blanket down to taomas who Is not well tonight and I 1 used this staircase as being nearer the path to the lodge when 7 vested and through an ugly stroy mr innes called and then rushed at me I 1 I 1 was alarmed and ff flung ung the blanket at him halsey was examining the vt ut on his forehead in a small mirror on the wall it was not much of an in jury but it had bled blell freely and his appearance was rather terrify ir thomas III 1119 he said over his shoulder why I 1 thought I 1 saw thomas out there as you made that cyclonic break out of the door and over the porch I 1 could see that under pretense ol 01 examining his injury be he was watch ing her through the mirror Is this one of the servants blank ets mrs watson I 1 asked holding up its luxurious folds to the light everything elbe else is locked away she replied which was true enough no doubt I 1 had rented the house without bed furnishings if thomas Is ill halsey said so some e member of the family ought to go down own to see h him I 1 in you needa t bother mrs watson I 1 will take the blanket she drew herself up quickly as it if in protest but she found nothing to say she stood smoothing the folds of her dead black dress her face as white as chalk above it then she seemed to make up her mind very well mr innes she said perhaps 3 a ou m would better go I 1 have done all I 1 could and then she turned and went up the circular staircase moving slowly and with a certain dignity gelow below the three of us stared at one another across the intervening white blanket i upon my word halsey broke out this place Is a walking nightmare 1 I have the feeling that we three out siders why have paid our money for the privilege of staying in this spook factory are living on the very top of were we re on the lid so to speak I 1 now and then we get a sight of the things inside but we are not a part of them do you suppose gertrude asked doubtfully that she really meant that blanket tor for thomasa thomas was standing beside that magnolia tree halsey replied when I 1 ran after mrs watson its down to this aunt ray s has bas ket and mrs watsons blanket can only mean one thing there is some body hiding 0 or being hidden in the lodge it wouldn t surprise me if we hold the key to the whole situation now anyhow I 1 in going to the lodge to investigate gertrude wanted to go too but she looked so shaken that I 1 insisted she should not I 1 sent for liddy to help her to bed and then halsey and I 1 started for the lodge the grass was heavy m with ith dew and manlike halsey chose the shortest way across the lawn halt half way however he stopped wed we d better go by the drive he said this isn t a lawn its a field where s the gardener these days 9 there isn t any I 1 said meekly we Us have been thankful enough so far to have our meals prepared and served and the beds aired the gard ener who belongs here Is working at the club 1 remind me tomorrow to morrow to send out a man from town he said I 1 know the very fellow I 1 record this scrap of conversation just as I 1 have tried to put down any hing thing and everything that had a bear ing on what followed because the gardener halsey sent the next day played an important Part in the events of the next few weeks events that culminated as you know by stirring the country profoundly at that time however I 1 was busy trying to keep my skirts dry and paid little or no attention lor to what seemed then a most trivial remark at the lodge everything was quiet there was a light in the sitting room downstairs and a faint gleam as it from rom a shaded lamp in one of the up per rooms halsey stopped and ex the lodge with calculating eyes I 1 dont don t know aunt ray he said dubiously this Is hardly a woman a f affair if there s a scrap of any kind eu wu hike for the timber which was halsey s solicitous care for me put nto into vernacular stay right here I 1 said and crossing the small veranda now shaded and fragrant with honey suckle I 1 hammered the knocker on he the door thomas opened the door himself homas thomas fully dressed and in his cus y health I 1 had the blanket over my arm I 1 brought the blanket thomas I 1 said I 1 am sorry you are so ill the old man stood staring at me and then at th blanket his ills con fusion under other circumstances