| Show TH aw R OR CR atif a BY ayrs A ara e MS CY ZY AM eca SYNOPSIS M qa innes spinster and guardian of gert ude and halsey estabi shed summer I 1 ead quarters at Sunny sunnyside side amidst nu n erous difficulties the servants deserted As al ss innes locked up for the n it 1 t sl 61 e was startled by a dark figure on the veranda unseemly noises d st abed her durin during the night in tie tl e morning M sa ss innes found a strange I 1 cuff button in a I 1 tamper amper gertrude and halsey arrived arr v ed with u iab jack bale iea tl TI e house was m as a vak ened bi b a revel er shot and arnold arm strong was found slot sl ot to beati in the hall bliss innes found halsey s revolver on the lawn he and jack bailey had dis aphea ed xa e I 1 nh cuff b aton n bously disappeared dete tave ja janneson arrived gertrude re baled she was en 4 gad to jack baley ba ley ft aith ath v horn she tal ed in tl 11 e b illard room a few mo ments before the murder jamieson Jam leson ac aused M ss innes of 1 back evi dence dene he ile imer an intruder in an empt empty room tl TI e pr escaped down a laundry cl ci ute ie ic N as suspected A reg 0 found tl e 0 her half of what A hat pro ed to be jack I 1 a leys ley s cult cuff lutton I 1 halsey r appears and sacs he and balle left in response to a telegram tele telez eram ram gertrude bald said sl e I 1 ad given ba i an unloaded re revolver fearing to gl gi e him a loaded weapon callier cast bailey ot of paul arm strong strongs s bank defunct was mas arrested tor for embezzlement halsey said armstrong wrecked its 1 is own bani ani an 1 could cleir clear ba le lei pa I 1 ar s death vas an bounced halsey s fiancee louise arm strong was found at tl e lode lodle tie tl e lodge keeper said sald bouse and arnold had a long talk t the he n 1 t of the murder I 1 0 ise vas var prostrated prost ratel 1 lo 10 ise told halsey that v I 1 ie sl e st 11 lo 10 ed I 1 im sl p was to marry another and I 1 at he be woul I 1 desp deg V SP her wl en he lear ed tl tie e whole story CHAPTER XIV cont continued aued gertrude and halsey went for a long walk that afternoon and louise slept time hung heavy on my hands and I 1 did as I 1 had fallen into a habit of doing lately I 1 sat down and tl ti cugat things over one result of my meditations was w as that I 1 got up sud denly and went to the telephone I 1 I 1 ad taken the most intense dislike to this dr walked whom I 1 had never seen and who was being taked talked of in the countryside as the fiance of louise at Aims asti tiong ong I 1 knew sam huston well there had been a time when sam was ras a good dial di al younger than he is now be fore he had married anne endicott when I 1 I 1 new him even better so now I 1 felt no hesitation in calling him over the telephone but when h s off offee ce boy had given way to his confident al clerk and that functional functionary had conde scented to connect his employer employers s desk telephone I 1 was somewhat at a loss as to how to begin aly wl how are you sam said sonorously going to build that house at rock views it was mas a 20 cearold year old joke of his sometime perhaps I 1 said just now I 1 want to ask yoa a question about so ing which is none of my bis his ness ners I 1 see you haven t changed on n iota in a quarter of a century rachel th s was intended to be another jest As c ahead everything but my do n estic affairs is at your service try to be serious I 1 said and tell me this has yo ir firm made any I 1 lans tor for a ho bo ise recently for a dr A alker at canova yes we have where was it to be builte I 1 have a reason for asking it was to be I 1 believe on the arm strong place mr air armstrong him himself elf consulted consult cd me and the inference was in fact I 1 am quite certain the ho ise was to be occupied by mr air arm strong s da ahter who was engaged to marry dr IN walker alker when the architect had inq tired for the different members of my family and had finally rung off I 1 was certain of one thing louise armstrong was in loe love with halsey and the man she was going to marry was di walker moreover this decision was vms not new marriage had been contemplated for some time there m st certainly be some explanation but what was ita it that day I 1 repeated to I 1 tl e tele telegram giam mr air harton had opened sl e seemed to under stand but in I 1 chap 1 j 1 p er face I 1 I 1 ave never dever seen she looked like a criminal whose reli ee eve is over and the day of execution ap I 1 rmel ing CHAPTER XV L L addy G ves the alarm the next day friday pi iday gertry gerende de broke the news of her stepfathers death to lo 10 lise itse she did it as gently as she could telling her f fi st that I 1 e 71 wa wai very ill and fin illy that he wis dead louise received the news neus in the most unexpected macnei ind and when gertrude came 0 it to tell me how she had stood it I 1 thin she was almost shocked she j lay and stared at me auit aai t raa ka sl e said do ou on knor I 1 bel eve she Is glad glad and she is too I 1 onest to pretend anything else what sort of a man baj mr dir pa I 1 armstrong anyhow lie ile was a b illy as well as a ras cal gertrude I 1 said but I 1 am co i y vinced ol 01 0 one thing louisa louise will send for halsey now new and they will make it lt all up for louise had steadily refused to see halsey all that day and the boy was frantic we ne had a quiet hour halsey and I 1 that evening and I 1 told him several I 1 things about the request that we give up the lease 1 to S about the telegram to louise about the ri n mors of an approaching marriage I 1 pt neen the girl and dr walker and r elj 1 n T v 0 on n interview with her I 1 t 0 e II 11 n i i I 1 g ealr ch air ith his I 1 face cace in the shadow and my heart fair ly IY ached for him he was so b g and boyish when I 1 had finished he drew a long breath 11 hatel er louise does he said bothin no thin will convince me aunt ray that sue doesn doean t care tor for me and up to two months ago when she and her mother went west I 1 was the happiest fellow on earth then something made a d fforence she wrote me th that t her people were opposed to the mar nage that her feeling for me was what it had abw always ays been but that something had h happened hipp ipp ened which had changed her ideas as to the future I 1 was not to write until she wrote me and whatever occurred i 1 vis vi s to think the best I 1 could of her it sounded I 1 le a puzzle when I 1 saw hei her yes berday it was mas the same thing only worse halsey I 1 asked lave 1 ave aou s ou any idea of tl e nature of the interview between lo 10 se armstrong and arn old the n he was murdered 7 it was stormy thomas says once or taice h almost broke into the room he was so alarmed for louise another thing halsey I 1 said have jou ou ever heard louise mention a woman named carrington nina car I 1 ring ton never he sa d pos lively for try as we would our thoughts always came back to that fatal sat ir day night and the murder every con veratio er ationo nl rath bath led to it and we all fe t tl ti t jimieson Ji was tighten ng t tie ie ahr ids of ev dence a aund john bailey the detective detec detectives e s absence was hardly ir ng he mi hai had something bom ething to work on oil in own or he would have returned tome to have a sinister appearance but v e kept that wing well lighted and until the lights went out at midnight it was really cheerful if one d d not I 1 now dow its history on friday night then I 1 bad had gone to bed resolved to go at once to sleep thoughts that insisted on obtrude ng themselves I 1 pushed resolutely to the back of my mind and I 1 systematically relaxed every muscle I 1 fell asleep soon and was dreaming that dr walker was building his new house immediately in front of my windo vs I 1 could hear the thump thump of the I 1 ammers and then I 1 waked to a know edge that somebody was poi pot nd ing on my door I 1 was up at once and with ith th 0 sound of my footstep on the floor the low knocking ceased to be followed immediately by sibilant whispering through the keyhole misa ills rachel miss rachel some body was saying over and over Is that you liddy I 1 asked my I 1 and on the knob for the love of mercy let me in she said in a low tone she was leaning aga ast the door for when I 1 opened it she fellin fell in she waa wa greenish white and she had a red and black barred flannel petticoat over hr shoulders listen she said standing in the middle of the floor and holding on to me oh miss rachel it s the ghost of abat dead man hammering to get in sure enot enright there was a dull thud thud thud it came apparently from the wall its it s not a gho t I 1 sa d decidedly if it was a ghost it t rap it k U we had a qu et hour halsey and I 1 the papers reported that the cash ler of the traders bank in was as ill in his apartments at the knickerbocker a cond tion not surprising considering ev e grything ery thing tl TI e guilt of the defunct president pies ident was no longer in doubt the ni asing bonds I 1 ad been ad and some of them d sc in it every dinst instance ince they hal ha 1 been used as colla collateral for laige large loans and the 1 ellef was carrent ci arent that not less than i i mi dal I 1 on and a half dollars hid ben u realized every one connected with the bank I 1 ad been placed under dr ar ie lel iel L and released on heavy bond ivas as he alone in his guilt or wi w wis i the fishier hit dacon where was the thre moncy 9 the estate of the dead man anas ft as comparatively si snail aall a city ho ise ire on a fashionable street sunn side a large estate largely mortgaged an ins arance of oa 00 and some personal property this was all the rest lost in speculation i rob abb tl e I 1 apers said tl TI ere was one aling tl ing which looked uncomfortable table for acl bailey lie ile and paul armstrong toge cogell LI er I 1 ad pi promoted pio a railroad corn com lany in ne e mexico and it was lu iti ii oi ed that together they I 1 lad ad s tik large s ms of money there the busi busl ness all ance between the tu two 0 men added to the bel ef that bailey knew something om ething of the looting ills anex llaine 1 gaind d absence from the bank on monday lent color to the c on against him the strange thing seemed to be his surrendering himself on the point of departure depart me to me it seemed the shrewd calculation caleL lation of a clever rascal I 1 was not fictively an to gertrude s lover but I 1 meant to be convinced one way or the oti er I 1 took no one on faith that night the sunnyside Sunny side ghost be gan to walk again liddy had been sleeping in louise louises s dressing room on a couch and tl e approach of dusk v was as a signal for her to barricade the entire suite situated as it was mas be yond the circular sta rease nothing but an extremity of excitement would have made bw her pass it after dark I 1 confess n ebelt that the place seemed I 1 wo id come through the keyl ole liddy looked at the keyhole but it sounds rounds N very ery much as ta ot gh someone is trying to bleik into the I 1 ouse I 1 idoy iday wis sl slivering v clenty I 1 told her to get me my sl apers and she bro me a pair of kid gloeb so I 1 foul four d my things myself and pre pared to call halsey As before the night alarm had found the electric I 1 gats gone ta tie e hall save u for its night lamp anas a as in darkness as ident I 1 vi ent across to haley halsey s loom room I 1 hardly know 1 I 1 at I 1 feared but it was a re lief to find him there very so ind asleep and with lis door unlocked nake ake up hilsey I 1 said sl slaking aking him lie ile stirred a little L addy N as I 1 alt in and I 1 alt 0 it of the door afra d is i h b al to be left alone and not qu te larar g to enter her oples seemed to fade however all at once she gave a suppressed yell bolted into the iorii 1 oo 00 11 and stood tightly clutching the footboard oe of the bed wis inas gradually gia dually waking I 1 ve seen it liddy walled wailed it ft oman woman in N lute hite down the hall I 1 paid no attention 11 ilsey I 1 so sone lie one is breaking bie aking in 0 the house get up wont won t loua it isn t 0 r ho se he sa d sleep ly and then be he roused to the ex exi gency of ti tie e occasion ill 11 right aunt ray he said still awning if aull let mf get into something it was all I 1 could do to get liddy out of tl e room tl TI e dema demands rids of the on had no influence on her hel she buu ad seen the ghost she persisted and she wasn gasn t going into the hall but I 1 got her over to my room at last more dead than alive and made her lie ile down on the bed the mappings tap pings which seemed to have cease ceased d lo 10 a while had commenced again but they were fainter halsey came over in a few minutes and stood listening and trying to locate the sound souad give me my revolver aunt ray he said and I 1 got it the one I 1 had 4 01 LL found in the tulip bed and gave it to him he saw liddy there and divined at once that louise was alone you let me attend to this fellow wl oever it is aunt ray and go tu louise will oua she may be awake and alar alarmed m ed so in spite of her protests I 1 left liddy alone and went back to the east wing perhaps I 1 went a little faster past the yawning blackness ol 01 the circular staircase and I 1 could hear halsey creaking cautiously down the mim staircase the rapp ng or pouncing poun jing aing had ceased and the silence N as almost painful and then sud denly from apparently under my very feet there rose a woman s scream a cry of terror that broke off as sudden ly as it came I 1 stood alro en and still avery drop of blood in my body seemed ta leave the surface and gath er around my heart in the dead si st lence that followed it throbbed as it if it would b arst more afore dead than alive I 1 stumbled into louise s bedroom she was not there CHAPTER XVI in the early morning I 1 stood looking at the emi empty ply bed the coverings had been thrown bach and I 1 ouise s pink silk dressing gown I 1 I 1 was as gone from tl e foot where it had I 1 lain the night lamp burned diml repealing revealing the emptiness of the place I 1 picked it up but my hand shook so that I 1 put it down again and got somehow to the door there were vo ces in the hall and gertride gaertn de came running toward tow ard me what Is it ita she cried what was that sound where is louise she is not in her room I 1 said stupidly I 1 think it was she who screamed I 1 addy I 1 ad joined us now carrying a light ne e stood huddled together it the head of the circular staircase looking down into its shadows there was nothing to be seen and it was absolutely quiet down there then we e heard halsey running up the main sta rease he came quickly down the hall to where we were standing ng there s no one try ng to get 1 in 1 I thought I 1 heard some one shriek who was as it ita our stricken fa es told him the tr etli borne some one screamed down there 1 I sad aa d and and louise Is not in hei her room with a jerk halsey took the light from liddy and ran down the circular sta rease I 1 followed urn lim more slow ly my nerves seemed to be in a state of i paralysis ara lysis I 1 could scarcely step at the foot of the stairs halsey gave an exclamation and put down the light aunt ray he called sl amply at the toot foot of the staircase h id d died in a heap I 1 er head on the lower stair was lo 10 ise armstrong she lay lin p and white her dressing gown dragging loose from one sleeve of her nightdress night dress and the heavy braid of her dark hair stretching its length a co pie of steps above her head as if sl e had slipped dow dor n bhe she was yas not dead hilsey put her down on the floor and began to rub her cold hands while gertrude and liddy i ian an for stimulants As tor for me I 1 sat there at the foot of that ghostly stair cise ibe sat because my knee knees vo ilan t I 1 old me and w N 1 I ere it would all end louise was still i unconscious but she was breath ing better and I 1 suggested that we get her bach back to bed before |
