OCR Text |
Show THE RICH COUNTY NEWS, RANDOLPH, UTAH The MAHD1 GRAS MYSTERY by RBedfordiJones Illusirations by Irwin Mtjei-Copyright by CHAPTER VH I 12 Continued. ' Ah, here are Fell and Ansdeyl ex-- ! claimed Maillard, almost with Telfef. I ah my friends, I don't suppose youve seen Boh recently? j Ansley was silent. Jachin Fell, however, responded with a cold nod of assent. Yes, he said in his peculiarly toneless manner. Yes, we have. At least, I believe It was he Im worried, said Maillard, anxiously, hurriedly. He made an expressive gesture of despair. Hes in costume, of course. ' Ive been given to understand that well, that he has been well, drinking. "He has, said Jachin Fell, without A number any trace of compassion. of the Krewe are occupying one of the rooms in the building, and they must have been visiting it frequently. I trust for your sake that the fact hasnt become generally known inside? Maillard nodded. Shame and anger lay heavily in his eyes. Judge Forester, in his kindly way, laid his hand on the bankers arm. Tut, tut, Joseph, he said, gently, a fund of sympathy in his voice. Boys will be boys, you know; really, this is no great matter! Dont let it hit you so hard. Ill go with you to find the room, of course. Where is I it, Jachin? Well all go," put in Ansley. Well have a little party of our own, gentlemen. Come on, I believe well be able to discover the place. The four men left the foyer and started through the corridors. 1 hear, said Judge Forester to Doctor Ansley, as they followed the other two, that there has been astonishing news today from the Midnight Masquer. It seems that a number of people have received back property this afternoon loot the bandit had taken. It appears to have been gome sort of a carnival Joke, after all. A poor one, then," responded AnsIve ley, and In doubtful taste. heard nothing of it I wouldnt mind getting back the little cash I lost, though I must say Ill believe the story when I see the money He broke off quickly. As they turned a corner of the corridor to the four men came realization that they had attained their goal. From one of the rooms ahead there sounded snatches of a boisterous chorus being roared forth lustily. As they halted, to distinguish from which door the singing proceeded, the chorus was broken off by an abrupt and sudden silence. This silence was accentuated by the preceding noise, as though the singers had checked their maudlin song in "D n It! muttered Maillard. Did No, that they hear us coming? wouldnt matter a hang to them but what checked them so quickly?" This door, said Fell, Indicating one to their right. He paused at it, listening, and over his features came a singular expression. As the others Joined him, they caught a low murmur of voices, a hushed sound of talk, a rattle as a number, of chips fell from a table. Cursed queer! observed Jachin I wonder what hapFell, frowning. pened to them so abruptly? Perhaps , DouibTeclay.Pagv and s Compdroj Perhaps because the Masquer did not fire instantly, and perhaps because MafflaTds mad action shamed them, the nearer members ef the drinking party hurled themselves at the bandit. The threat of the weapon was forgotten, unheeded hi the sweeping lust of t. 'It seemed that, the felthe low feared to fire; and about him closed the party in a surging mass, with a burst of sudden shouts, striking and clutching to pull him down and put him under foot. Then, when it seemed that they had him without a struggle, the Masquer broke from them, swept them apart and threw them off, hurled them clear away. He moved as though to leap through the side 'doorway whence he had come. With an oath, Maillard hurled himself forward, struck blindly and furl ously at the bandit, and fastened upon him about the waist. There was a surge forward of bodies as the others crowded in to pull down the Masquer before he could escape. It looked then as though he were indeed lost until the automatic flamed and roared In his hand, its choking fumes bursting at them. The report thundered in the room; a second report thun dered, deafeningly, as a second bullet. sought its mark. Like a faint echo to those shots came the slam of a door. The Masquer was gone! ' After him, into the farther room, rushed some of the party ; but he had vanished utterly. There was no trace of him. His complete disappearance man-hun- the deal was finished theyre having a game. Well, go ahead, Joseph Well back you up as a deputation from the biackcoats, and if you need ! any moral support, call on Judge Forester. That gentleman flung open the door, and Maillard entered at his side. They then came to a startled halt, at view of the scene which greeted them. The room was large and well lighted, windows and transom darkened Tobacco smoke for the occasion. made a bluish haze in the air. In the center of the room stood a large table, littered wjjth glasses and bottles, with scattered cards, with chips and money. About this table had been sitting half a dozen members of the Krewe of Comus.- Now, however, they were standing, their various identities completely concealed by the grotesque cosTheir tumes which cloaked them. hands were in the air. ' Standing at another doorway, midway between their group and that of the four unexpected intruders, was the Midnight Masquer holding them up at the point of his automatic! Maillard was the first to break the silence of stupefaction. he cried, furiously. By heavens! Heres that d d villain again hold him, you ! at him. everybody ! In a blind rage, transported out of himself by his sudden access of passion, the banker hurled himself forward. From the bandit burst a cry of futile warning; the pistol in his hand veered toward his assailant. This action precipitated the event. - . tag-end- d mid-caree- 1 desolate, so far as Its offices were concerned. The cleaners and scrubwomen had long since finished their tasks and departed. Out in the streets s of carnival were running the on a swiftly ebbing tide. A single elevator in the building was, however, in use. A single suite of offices, withi carefully drawn blinds, was lighted and occupied. They were not ornate, these offices. They consisted of two rooms, a small reception room and a large private office, both lined to the ceiling with books, chiefly law books. In the larger room were sitting three men. One of the three, Ban Chacherre, sat in a chair tipped back against the wall, his eyes closed. From time to time he opened those sparkling black eyes lids of his. and through narrovy-slitte- d directed keen glances at the other two men. One of the men was the chief of police. The second was Jachin Fell, whose offices these were. Even if things are as you say, which I don't doubt at all, said the chief, slowly, I cant believe the boy did it! And darn it all, if I pinch him theres goin to be a h of a scandal ! Fell shrugged his shoulders, and made response in his toneless voice: Chief, youre up against facts. Those facts are bound to come out and the newspapers will nail your hide to the wall in a minute. Youve a bare chance to save yourself by taking in young Maillard at once. The chief chewed hard on his cigar. I dont want to save myself by putting the wrong man behind the bars, he returned. It sure looks like he was the Masquer all the while, but you say that he wasnt. You say this was his only job a joke that turned out bad. Those are the facts, said Fell. I don't want to accuse a man of crimes I know he did not commit. We have the best of evidence that he did commit this crime. . If the newspapers fasten the entire Midnight Masquer business on him, as theyre sure to do, we cant very well help him. I have no sympathy for the boy. Of course hq did it, put in Ben Chacherre, sleepily. Wasnt he caught with the goods? ' The others paid no heed. The chief Indicated two early editions of the morning papers, which lay on the desk in front of Fell. These papers carried full accounts of the return of the Midnight Masquers loot, explaining his robberies as part of a carnival jest. The later editions, cornin out now," said the chief, will crowd all that stuff off the front page with the Mail-larmurder. Darn It, Fell! Whether I believe it or not. Ill have to arrest the young fool. Chacherre chuckled. Jachin Fell smiled faintly. Nothing could be plainer, chief, he responded. First, Bob Maillard comes to us in front of the opera house, and talks about a great joke that hes going to spring on his friends across the way Howd you know who he was? in terjected the chief, shrewdly. Gramont recognized him; Ansley and I confirmed the recognition. He was more or less intoxicated chiefly more. Now, young Maillard was not in the room at the moment of the murder unless he was the Masquer. Five minutes afterward he was found in a nearby room, hastily changing out of an aviators uniform into his masquerade costume.- - Obviously, he had assumed the guise of the Masquer as a joke on his friends, and the joke had a tragic ending. Further, he was in the aviation service during the war, and so had the uniform ready to hand. You couldnt make anybody believe that lie hasnt been the Masquer all the time ! , Of course, and the chief nodded Itd be a clear case-o- nly perplexedly. you call me In, and say that he wasnt the Masquer! D n it. Fell, this thing has my goat! Whats Maillards story? struck in Ben Chacherre. He denies the whole thing," said the worried chief. According to his story, which sounded straight the way he tells It, he meant to pull off the joke on his friends and was dressing in the Masquers costume when he heard the shots. He claims that the shots startled him and made him change back. He swears that he had not entered the other room at all, except in his masquerade clothes. He says the murderer must have been the real Masquer. Its likely enough, because all young Maillards crowd knew about the party that was to be held in that room during the Comus ball No matter, said Fell, coldly. Chief, this is an open and shut case ; the boy was bound to lie. That he killed his father was an accident, of course, but none the less it did take place. Tle boys a wreck this minute. The chief held a match to his unlighted cigar. But you say that he aint the original Masquer? The No!" Fell spoke quietly. original Masquer was another person, and had nothing to do with the present case. This Information is confidential and between ourselves. Oh, of course, assented the chief. "Well, I suppose I got to pull Maillard, but I bate to do it. I got a hunch that he aint the right party. Virtuous man ! Fell smiled thinly. According to all the books, the chief of police is only too glad to fasten the crime on anybody The Threat of the Weapon Wat Forgotten, Unheeded in the Sweeping t. Luet of the Man-Hun- confused the searchers. After a moment, however, they returned to the lighted room. The Masquer had gone, but behinft him had remained a more grim and terrible masquer. In the room which he had Just left, however, there had fallen a dread si lence and consternation. One of the masqued drinkers held an arm that hung helpless, dripping blood; but his hurt passed unseen and uncared for, even by himself. Doctor Ansley was kneeling above a motionless figure, prone on the dirty floor; and it was the figure of The physician Joseph Maillard. glanced up, then rose slowly to his feet. He made a terribly significant gesture, and his crisp voice broke in upon the appalled silence. he said, curtly. Dead, Shot twice each bullet through the heart, Judge Forester. Im afraid there is no alternative hut to fcll in the police. Gentlemen, you will kindly unmask which one of you is Robert Maillard? Amid a stunned and horrified silence the members of the Krewe one by one removed their grotesque headgear, staring at the dead man whose white face looked up at them with an air of grim accusatlorCBut none of them came forward to claim kinship with the dead man. Bob Maillard was not in the room. I think," said the toneless, even voice of Jachin Fell, "that ail of you gentlemen had better be very careful to say only what you have seen And know. You will kindly remain here until I have summoned the police. He left the room, and if there were any dark implication hidden in his words, no one seemed to observe it. i (TO BE CONTINUED.) Goeij on Forever. Netley Was Boresom still ta'klng when you left ihe club? On the Bayou- Miller Really, I dont know. His At three oclock on the morning of conversation Is so unimportant that Ash Wednesday the great white Mai-so- n when he stops talking I always full to Blanche building was deserted and notice Answer! - CHAPTER IX. If isas ALGOHOt-- 3 PER CENT. - by Reulflf1 i tintheStomadisandBatfcistf Special Care of Baby. ilNFANTfCHlLPREKl That Baby should have a bed of its own all are agreed. Yet it - , Therein uv more is reasonable for an infant to sleep with grown-up-s j than to use Cheerfulness and RestContei a mans medicine in an attempt to regulate the delicate organism of neither Opinm(Morphlnenor. that same infant. Either practice is to be shunned, neither would Mineral, not Narcotic be tolerated by specialists in childrens diseases. ' Your Physician will tell you that Babys medicine must be prepared with even greater care than Babys food. A Babys stomach when in good health is tco often disarranged by improper food. Could you for a moment, then, think of giving to your ailing child anything but a medicine especially prepared for Infants and Children ? Dont be deceived. Make a mental note of this: It is important, Mothers, that should remember that to function well, the digestive organsof you Diarrhoe and Constipation your Baby must receive special care. No Baby is so abnormal that and Feverishness and I the desired results may he had from the use of medicines primarily Steep Loss of rcsfdtiniMherefrom-inlrfam- prepared for y YarSimiieSidnatnre.ot 1 jae Centavk grown-up-s. MOTHERS SHOULD READ THE BOOKLET THAT IS AROUND EVERY BOTTLE OF FLETCHER'S GENUINE Gohmst CASTOR I A ALWAYS Bears the Signature of jyEWYORlC. Exact Copy of Wrapper. rrtTCtTntwiiWMmami II lints CAST0R1A THE CENTAUR COMPANY. NEW YORK CITY. usautawaBsasasBi - Gives Cheerful lew Color Tone PUTNAM FADELESS DYES la Curtains Old dyes or tints as you wish WANTED TOO MUCH CHANGED HER MIND SUDDENLY SIMPLE MATTER TO ARRANGE Under the Circumstances, v Few Men Could Have Been Expected to Sma'I Runaway Probably Had Good Reasons for Withdrawing Objections to Going Home.. All Colored Woman Had to Do Waa to Go Home and Wait for Her Geneva, age three, had run away to visit her aunt, who lived across the street. The aunt visualizing accidents, in which figured little children and automobiles, lectured the little girl. Then the aunt announced her intention of taking the runaway home at once as a punishment, All entreaties were in vain, the little guest was going to stay, and finally her aunt picked her up, her burden strenuously objecting, and started to the door. There the little girl saw her father, just leaving his home, on the trail of the fugitive. Genevas strident cries of objection died away as she stammered, I I must hurry back. Exchange. A colored woman entered a jpolica station and asked the sergeant at tha desk : Does you gin any advice here? Sometimes we do, was the reply. Den I want you to gin me some. I has got a husband, but he dont amount to much. He has got It in his head dat he wants to go up In de air wid one of dose flyin machines. If be goes up am he liable to fali? replied tha "Yes, he is sure to, sergeant. An will be killed? Yes, certainly he will be killed. An den I will be a widow? LANDLORD Carry Out Threat. Sir, said a colored man who entered a police station, I came here to tell you dat I was gn ine to suicide. For what reason? asked the sergeant at the desk. BeUise dur was no mo joys at my house. Am It agin de law to jump into de river? was the reply. No, not exactly, But if you get out again that is agaiust the law, and you also get very wet, and apt to catch cold over it. You had best find some empty old house and shoot yourself. Yes, sir, dat am de way, answered the colored man. He went out to return In an hour to say: You see, I didn't suicide arter all. I found de empty house and also found de landlord dur, and he wanted $75 a month rent an $10 extra fur holdin an inquest." Young Mart of Discrimination. My finest compliment was given me by a little newsboy. He was telling me about his school teacher and said: You know, this is the kind of a woman, she is. ""DouJt you mean lady?" I inter- rupted. " No; I mean woman, he answered, and then, with all the philosophy of eleven years old, added: Now, you are a lady; shes a woman. Anyone can be a woman, but not everyone cau be a lady, and that's what you are. Exchange. Gold Production In Russia. The Russian trade delegation reports that Siberia produced during the first four months of the present year over 16 poods (36.1 pound per pood) of gold according to the Engineering and Minof New York. This ing Journal-Pres- s times five is greater than the quantity total output for 1921. Gold is wortli approximately $10,800 per pood so that the total value is $172,800 or at an annual rate of only a little more than Tills compares with a pro$500,000. duction of $22,000,000 in 1916 since which time the output lias fallen steadily until tills slight revival. The gold syndicate has succeeded in restarting the gold mines at Elisatevinsk. Alevan-drovsIvanovsk and Youthnotaiginsk, which will insure an output of not less than three poods monthly. In the flat there is no place to put The Arabs of southern Egypt traded things away that you don't want, so with India 1000 B. C. you get rid of them. Next Husband. Yes. An arter a yar same smart cull'd man will want to marry me. Now, den, would you encourage my husband to fly? Yes, I think so. "All right, den, said the colored lady as she made for the door, I will go right home an encourage my husband to go up among de clouds an den I will sit down and wait fur my; ' next husband. Exchange. I These Days Are All Alike. On the Pacific Island of Nauru the sun rises at 6 and sets at 6 the year around ; there is no daylight-savin- g there. The only change of seasons is when the westerlies come in the rainy season. These tropical rains descend with great violence. In the year following the three years drought, them was a rainfall of 150 laches, 10 inches falling in one night. A merry heart goes all the day, sad tires in a miie. e Cap that neverfits can come to me from coffee or tea, is NO harmso many people say. Yet those same people are often quick to note the signs of coffee harm in others. How familiar the danger signals are upset digestion, sleepless nights and irritability all warnings of the nervous breakdown that lurks just a little way ahead. How easy and how delightful the escape by drinking delicious Instant Postum instead of the beverages that contain the irritant caffeine. Instant Postum is the tempting cereal drink made wheat It is prepared instantly in the cup of boiling water. Its addition the by flavor is unlike that of coffee. not snappy It is safe for everybody in your household including the children, and theres nothing ir. Postum to keep you awake even if you drink it at midnight from roasted ' There sa Reason Postum FOR SATISFACTION Postum Cereal Company, Inc. Battle Creek, Mich. SSTASJ "Postum everage fortrt parts of :asse fl fjf |