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Show THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE ROBERTS RmVIIAllT ILLmrffATlONS BY 'RYWtlrfJ' SYNOPSIS. Miss Tnnes, spinster and gruardian of G.-rtrmle and Hals. -v. established summer Poaiiquan.-rs at Sunnyside. Amidst ini-iik-i'ihis diflP ultii-s the servants deserted. As .Miss Innes locked up tor the niitht. File was startled by a dark li'-tiue on the veranda. She passed a terrible nieltt, whieh was filled with unseemly noises. In the morning Miss Innes found a siranLte link ruff button in a clothes hamper. Gertrude and llalsey arrived with .lack Hailev. The house was awakened awak-ened bv a revolver shot. A stranKu man was found shot to death, in the hall. t proved to be the body of Arnold Armstrong, Arm-strong, whose banker father owned the country house. .Miss Innes found FTal-sev's FTal-sev's revolver on the lawn. He and Jack Bailev had disappeared. The link cuff button mysteriously disappeared. Detective De-tective Jamieson and the coroner arrived. Gertrude revealed that she was engaged to Jack Bailev. with whom she had talked in the billiard room a tew moments mo-ments before the murder. Jamieson told Miss Innes that she was hidiiis evidence from him. He Imprisoned an intruder in an emptv room. The prisoner escaped down a laundry chute. It developed that the intruder was probably a woman. Gertrude Ger-trude was suspected, for the intruder left a print of a bare foot. Gertrude returned re-turned home with her right ankle sprained. A negro found the other halt of what proved to, be Jack Bailey's cuff button. Halsev suddenly reappeared. He said he and Bailey had left because they had received a telegram. Gertrude said that she had Riven Bailey an unloaded un-loaded revolver, fearing to give him Hal-sev's Hal-sev's loaded weapon. Cashier Bailey of Paul Armstrong's bank, defunct, was arrested, ar-rested, charged with embezzlement. Halsev Hal-sev said Armstrong had wrecked his own bank, and was able to clear Bailey. A. telegram contained news that Paul Armstrong Arm-strong was dead. Halsey trapped Mrs. Watson, the housekeeper, while she was stealing from the house. ly, by sending him to fix up the car as a sort of ambulance, in case the doctor would allow the sick girl to be moved. He sent Gertrude down to the lodge loaded with all manner of impossible things, including an armful arm-ful of Turkish towels and a box of mustard plasters, and as the two girls had known each other somewhat before, be-fore, Louise brightened perceptibly when she saw Gertrude. When the doctor from Englewood the Casanova doctor, Dr. Walker, being be-ing away had started for Sunnyside, and I had got Thomas to stop trying to explain what he did not understand himself, I had a long talk with the old man, and this is what I learned. On Saturday evening before, about ten o'clock, he had been reading in the sitting room downstairs, when some one rapped at the door. The old man was alone, Warner not having arrived, and at first he was uncertain about opening the door. He did so finally, and was amazed at being confronted con-fronted by Louise Armstrong. Thomas was an old family servant, having been with the present Mrs. Armstrong since she was a child, and he was overwhelmed at seeing Louise. He saw that she was excited and tired, and he drew her into the sitting room and made her sit down. After a while he went to the house and brought Mrs. Watson, and they talked until late. The old man said Louise was In trouble, and seemed frightened. Mrs. Watson made some tea and took it to the lodge, hut Louise made them both promise to keep her presence a secret. She had not known that Sunnyside was rented, and whatever her trouble her stepfather and the prospect of the immediate rcurn of the family, things had become more and more , impossible. I gathered that Thomas was as relieved as I at the turn events had taken. No, she did not know of either of the deaths in the family. Taken all around, I had only substituted substi-tuted one mystery for another. If I knew now why Rosie had taken the basket of dishes, I did not know who had spoken to her and followed her along the drive. If I knew that Louise was in the lodge, I did not know why she was there. If I knew that Arnold Armstrong had spent some time in the lodge the night before he was murdered, mur-dered, I was no nearer the solution of the crime. Who was the midnight intruder in-truder who had so alarmed Liddy and myself? Who had fallen down the clothes chute? Was Gertrude's lover a villain or a victim? Time was to answer all these things. CHAPTER XIII. Louise. The doctor from Englewood came very soon, and I went up to see the sick girl with him. Halsey had gone to supervise the fitting of the car with blankets and pillows, and Gertrude was opening and airing Louise's own rooms at the house. Her private sitting sit-ting room, bedroom and dressing room were as they had been when we came. They occupied the end of the east wing, beyond the circular staircase, and we had not even opened them. The girl herself was too ill to notice what was being done. When, with the help of the doctor, who vas a fa- fill" ' ' ! ,J I m U1I-FIIW . "" 'jLt" rW.l Old Ladies' home and ruins their digestion di-gestion by sending them ice cream and cake on every holiday. Beyond that, and her reputation at bridge, which is insufferably bad she ;a the worst player at the bridge club I know little of her. It was she who had taken charge of Arnold Armstrong's Arm-strong's funeral, however, and 1 went at once to the telephone. "Yes," I said, "this is Miss Innes." "Miss Innes," she said volubly, "I have just received a very strange telegram tele-gram from my cousin. Mrs. Arm strong. Her husband died yesterday in California and wait, I will read you the message." 1 knew what was coming, and 1 made up my mind at once. If Louise Armstrong had a good and stillic.ient reason for leaving her people and coming home, a reason, moreover, that kept her from going at once to Mrs. Ogden Fitghugh, and brought, her to the lodge at Sunnyside instead, it was not my intention to betray her. Louise herself must notify her people. I do not justify myself now, but remember, re-member, I was in a peculiar position toward the Armstrong family. 1 was connected most unpleasantly with a cold-blooded crime, and my niece and nephew were practically beggared, either directly or indirectly, through the head of the family. V kSU' f n II Mrs. Fitznugli naa lounu me massage. mas-sage. " 'Paul died yesterday. Heart disease,' dis-ease,' " she read. " 'Wire at once ii Louise is with you.' You see, Miss Innes, Louise must have started east, and Fanny is alarmed about her." "Yes," I said. "Louise is not here," Mrs. Fitzhugh went on, "and none of her friends the few who are still in town have seen her. I called you because Sunnyside Sunny-side was not rented wiien she went away, and Louise might have gone there." "I am sorry, M'rs. Flty-hut-h, but I cannot help you," I said, and was immediately im-mediately iiiied with compuDcLion. Suppose Louise grew worse? Who was I to play Providence in this case? The anxious niothcr certainly had a right to know that her daughter ! was in good hands. So I broke in on Mrs. Fitzhugh's voluble excuses for disturbing me. "Mrs. Fitzhugh," I said. "I was go ing to let you think I knew nothing about Louise Armstrong, but I "have changed my mind. Louise is here, with me." There was a clatter of ejaculations at the other end of the wire. "She is ill, and not able to be moved. Moreover, she is unable to see any one. I wish you would wire her mother that she is with me, and tell her not to worry. No, I do not know why she came east." "Put my dear Miss Innes!" Mrs. Fitzhugh began. I cut in ruthlessly. "I will send for you as soon as she can see you," I said. "No, she is not in a critical state now, but the doctor . says she must have absolute quiet. When I had hung up the receiver, I sat down to think. So Louise had fled from her people in California, and had come east alone! It occurred to me that Dr. Walker might be concerned in it, might possibly have bothered her with unwelcome attentions; but it seemed to me that Louise was hardly hard-ly a girl to take refuge in flight under such circumstances. She had always been high-spirited, with the well-poised well-poised head and buoyant step of the outdoors girl. It must have been much more in keeping with Louise's char- Amazed ai Being Confronted by Louise Armstrong, t CHAPTER XII. Continued. "I reckon you bettah come in Mis' Innes," he said, speaking cautiously. "It's got so I dunno what to do, and it's boun' to come out some time er ruther." He threw the door open then, and I stepped inside, Halsey close behind. In the sitting room the old negro turned with quiet dignity to Halsey. "You bettah sit down, sah," he said. "It's a place for a woman, sah." Things were not turning out the way Halsey expected. He sat down on the center-table, with his hands thrust in his pockets, and watched me as I followed Thomas up the narrow nar-row stairs. At the top a woman was standing, and a second glance showed me it was Rosie. She shrank back a little, but I said nothing. And then Thomas motioned to a partly open door, and I went in. The lodge boasted of three bedrooms bed-rooms upstairs, all comfortably furnished. fur-nished. In this one, the largest and airiest, a night lamp was burning, and by its light I could make out a plain white metal bed. A girl was asleep there or in a half stupor, for she muttered something now and then. Rosie had taken her courage in her hands, and coming in had turned up the light. It was only then that I knew. Fever-flushed, ill as she was, I recognized Louise Armstrong. I stood gazing down at her in a stupor of amazement. Louise here,, hiding at the lodge, ill and alone! Rosie came up to the bed and smoothed the white counterpane. 1 "I am afraid she is worse to-night," she ventured at last. 1 put my hand on the sick girl's forehead. It was burning with fever, and I turned to where Thomas lingered in the hallway. hall-way. "Will you tell me what you mean, Thomas Johnson, by not telling me this before?" I demanded indignantly.; Thomas quailed. "Mis' Louise wouldn't let me," he said earnestly. "I wanted to. She ought to 'a' had a doctor the night she came, but she wouldn' hear to it. Is she very bad, Mis' Innes?" "Bad enough," I said coldly. "Send Mr. Innes up." Halsey came up the staii's slowly, looking rather Interested and inclined to be amused. For a moment he could not see anything distinctly in the darkened room; he stopped, glanced at Rosie and at me, and then his eyes fell on the restless head on the pillow. pil-low. I think he felt who it was before he really saw her; he crossed the room in a couple of strides and bent over the bed. "Louise!" he said softly; but she did not reply, and her eyes showed no recognition. Halsey was young, and illness was new to him. He straightened straight-ened himself slowly, still watching her. and caught my arm. "She's dying, Aunt Ray!" he said huskily. "Dying! Why, she doesn't know me ! " "Fudge!" I snapped, being apt to grow irritable when my sympathies are aroused. "She's doing nothing of the sort and don't pinch my arm. If you want something to do, go and choke Thomas." But at that moment Louise roused from her stupor to cough, and at the end of the paroxysm, as Rosie laid her back, exhausted, she knew us. That was all Halsey wanted; to him consciousness con-sciousness was recovery. He dropped on his knees beside the bed, and tried to tell her she was all right, and we would bring her around in a hurry, and how beautiful she looked only to break down utterly and have to stop. And at that I came to my senses, and put him out. "This instant!" I ordered, as he hesitated. hes-itated. "And send Rosie here." He did not go far. He sat on the top step of the stairs, only leaving to telephone for a doctor, and getting in everybody's way in his eagerness tc I fetch rind ca-rv. I got him nwny final-1 acter, as I knew it, to resent vigorously vigorous-ly any unwelcome attentions from Dr. Walker. It 'was the suitor whom r should have expected to see in head-! head-! long flight, not the lady in the case. The puzzle was no clearer at the end of the half hour. I picked up the morning papers, which were still full of the looting of the Traders' bank, the interest at fever height again, on account of Paul Armstrong's death. The bank examiners Here working on (he books, and said nothing for publication: publi-cation: John P.ailey had been released on bond. The body of Paul Armstrong would arrive Sunday and would be buried from the Armstrong town hor.e-n. Thpre were rumors that the dead man's estate had been a comparatively com-paratively small one. The last paragraph para-graph was th- important one. Walter P. Kroadhurst of the Marine Ma-rine bank had produced 200 American Traction bonds, which had been placed as security with the Marine bank lor a loan of $1GOOOO. made to Paul Armstrong, Arm-strong, just before his California trip. The bonds were a part of the missing traction bonds from the Traders bank! While this involved the late president of the wrecked bank, to my mind ;t by no means cleared its cashier. 'TO ni.; roxTixL'iii! j was, this complicated things. She seemed puzzled. Her stepfather and her mother were still in California that was all she would say about them. Why she had run away no one could imagine. Mr. Arnold Armstrong was at the Greenwood club, and at last Thomas, not knowing what else to do, went over there along the path. It was almost midnight. Part way over he met Armstrong himself and brought him to the lodge. Mrs. Watson Wat-son had gone to the house for some bed linen, it having been arranged that under the circumstances Louise would be better at the lodge until morning. Arnold Armstrong and Louise had a long conference, during which he was heard to storm and become be-come very violent. When he left it was after two. He had gone up to the house Thomas did not know why and at three o'clock he was shot at the foot of the circular staircase. The following morning Louise had been ill. She had asked for Arnold, and was told he had left town. Thomas had not the moral courage to tell her of the crime. She refused a doctor, and shrank morbidly from having hav-ing her presence known. Mrs. Watson Wat-son and Thomas had had their hands full, and at last Rosie had been enlisted en-listed to help them. She carried necessary nec-essary provisions little enough to the lodge, and helped to keep the secret. Thomas told me quite frankly that he had been anxious to keep Louise's presence hidden for this reason: They had all seen Arnold Armstrong that night, and he, himself, for one, was known to have had no very friendly feeling for the dead man. As to the reason for Louise's flight from California, Cali-fornia, or why she had not gone to the Fitzhughs', or to some of her people peo-ple in town, he had no more informa-(!on informa-(!on that I had. With the death of therly man with a family of girls at home, we got her to the house and up the stairs into bed. she dropped into a feverish sleep, which lasted until morning. Dr. Stewart that was the Englewood doctor stayed almot-t all night, giving the medicine himself, and watching her closely. Afterward he told me that she had had a narrow escape from penuntonia, and that the cerebral symptoms had been rather alarming. I said 1 was glad it wasn't an "itis" of some kind, anyhow, and he smiled solemnly He left alter breakfast, saying that he thought the worst of the danger was over, and that she must be kept very quiet. "The shock of two deaths, I suppose, sup-pose, has done this," he remarked, picking up his case "It has been very deplojible." I hastened to set hiin right. "She does not know of either, doctor," doc-tor," I said. "Please do not mention them to her." He looked as surprised as a medical man ever does. "I do not know the family," he said, preparing to get into his top buggy. "Young Walker, down in Casanova, has been attending them. I understand under-stand he is going to marry this young lady." "You have been misinformed," I said stiffly. "Miss Armstrong is going go-ing to marry my nephew." The doctor smiled as he picked up the reins. "Young ladies are changeable these days," he said. "We thought the wedding wed-ding was to occur soon. Well, I will stop in this afternoon to see how my patient is getting along." Some time about noon of that day, Wednesday, Mrs. Ogden Fitzhugh telephoned tele-phoned me. I have the barest acquaintance ac-quaintance with her she managed to ; be put on the governing board of tht ', |