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Show TIC CIRCULAR ST1IRCASE standing at the foot of that staircase i shootin' through the door I'll never be the same woman again." "Well, I'm glad of that anything for a change," I said. And in came Eliza, flanked by Rosle and Mary Anne. Her story, broken with sobs and corrections cor-rections from the other two, was this: At two o'clock (2:15, Rosie Insisted) she had gone upstairs to get a picture from her room to show Mary Anne. (A picture of a lady, Mary Anne Interposed.) Inter-posed.) She went up the servants' staircase and along the corridor to her room, which lay between the trunk-room trunk-room and the unfinished ballroom. She heard a sound as she-went down the corridor like some one moving furniture, furni-ture, but she was not nervous. She thought it might be men examining the house after the fire the night before, but she looked In the trunkroom and saw nobody. She went into her room quietly. The noise had ceased and everything was quiet. Then she sat down on the side of her bed, and, feeling faint she was subject to spells ("I told you that came to come up for two girls and I their trunks I supposed there was something doing, and as this here woman had been looking for work in the village I thought I'd bring her along." j Already I had acquired the true j suburbanite ability to take servants on faith; I no longer demanded written writ-ten and unimpeachable references. I, Rachel Innes, have learned not vo mind if the cook sits down comfortably comfort-ably In my sitting room when she is taking the orders for the day, and 1 am grateful If the silver is not cleaned with scouring soap. And so that day I merely told Liddy to send the new applicant ap-plicant in. When she came, however, I could hardly restrain a gasp of surprise. sur-prise. It was the woman with the pitted face. She stood somewhat awkwardly Just inside the door, and she had an air of self-confidence that was inspiring. Yes, she could cook; was not a fancy cook, but could make good soups and desserts If there was any one to take charge of the salads. And so, In the end, I took her. As Halsey said, when trude burst out, "tell us what is wrong. Halsey is not here. He has gone to the station for Mr. Jamieson. What has happened?" "To the station, Gertrude? You are sure?" "Yes." I said. "Listen. There is the whistle of the train now." She relaxed a little at our matter-of-fact tone, and allowed herself tov sink into a chair. "Perhaps I was wrong," she said heavily. "He will be here In a few moments If everything Is right." We sat there, the three of us, without with-out attempt at conversation. Both Gertrude Ger-trude and I recognized the futility ol asking Louisa any questions; her reticence was a part of a role she had assumed. Our ears were strained for' the first throb of the motor as it turned into the drive and commenced the climb to the house. Ten minutes passed, 15, 20. I saw Louise's hand? grow rigid as they clutched the arms of her chair. I watched Gertrude's bright color slowly ebbing away, and around my own heart I seemed to feel the grasp of a giant hand. Twenty-five minutes, and then a sound. But it was not the chug of the motor; it was the unmistakable rumble rum-ble of the Casanova hack. Gertrude drew aside the curtain and peered into the darkness. "It's the hack, I am sure," she saidr evidently relieved. "Something has gone wrong with the car, and no wonder won-der the way Halsey went down the hill." It seemed a long time before the creaking vehicle came to a stop at the door. Louise rose and stood watching; her hand to her throat. And then-: Gertrude opened the door, admitting Mr. Jamieson and a stocky, middle-aged middle-aged man. Halsey was not with them. Yv'hen the door had closed and Louise-realized Louise-realized that Halsey had not come,, her expression changed. From tense -watchfulness to relief, and now again to absolute despair, her face was an open page. "Halsey?" I asked unceremoniously, ignoring the stranger. "Did he not meet you?" "No." Mr. Jamieson looked slightly surprised. "I rather expected the ' car, but we got up all right." "You didn't see him at all?" Louise demanded breathlessly. Mr. Jamieson knew her at once, although al-though he had not seen her before-She before-She had kept to her rooms until the morning she left. "No, Miss Armstrong," he said. "X saw nothing of him. What is wrong?" "Then we shall have to find him," she asserted. "Every instant is precious. pre-cious. Mr. Jamieson,. I have reason for believing that he is in danger, but I don't know what it is. Only ho must be found." The stocky man had said nothing. Now, however, he went quickly toward to-ward the door. "I'll catch the hack down the road and hold it," he said. "Is the gentleman gentle-man down in the town?" "Mr. Jamieson," Louise said impulsively, impul-sively, "I can use the hack. Take my horse and trap outside and drive like-mad. like-mad. Try to find the Dragon Fly it ought to be easy to trace. I can think of no other way. Only, don't lose a moment." The new detective had gone, and a moment later Jamieson went rapidly down the drive, the cob's feet striking fire at every step. Louise stood looking look-ing after them. When she turned around she faced Gertrude, who stootS indignant, almost tragic, in the hall.- "You know what threatens Halsey, Louise," she said accusingly. "I. believe be-lieve you know this whole horrible 1 Si.'Aa ROBERTS RINZNART 'tuusrxATiom BY wVr'V SYNOPSIS. . fiss Innes, spinster and guardian of Gertrude and Halsey, established summer headquarters at Sunnyside. The servants desert. Gertrude and Halsey arrive with Jack Bailey. The house was awakened by a revolver shot and Arnold Armstrong was found shot to death in the hall. Miss Innes found ITalsey's revolver on the lawn. He and Jack Bailey had disappeared. disap-peared. Gertrude revealed that she was engaged to Jack Bailey, with whom she talked in the billiard room shortly before the murder. Detective Jamieson accused Miss Innes of holding back evidence. He Imprisoned an intruder in an empty room. The prisoner escaped. Gertrude was suspected sus-pected because of an Injured foot. Halsey Hal-sey reappears and says he and Bev ley-were ley-were called away by a telegram. Cashier Bailey of Paul Armstrong's bank, defunct, de-funct, was arrested for embezzlement. Paul Armstrong's death was announced. Halsey's fiancee. Louise Armstrong, tejd Halsey that while she still loved him, she ttas to marry another. It developed that Dr. Walker was the man. Ioulse was found at the bottom of the circular sta-.r-case. Recovering consciousness, she said something had brushed by her on the stairway and she fainted. Bailey is suspected sus-pected of Armstrong's murder. After .seeing a ghost," Thomas, the lodgekeep-or, lodgekeep-or, was found dead with a slip in his f locket bearing the name of "Lucien Wal-ace." Wal-ace." Dr. Walker asked Miss Innes to vacate In favor of Mrs. Armstrong. She refused. A note from Bailey to Gertrude arranging a meeting at night was found. A ladder out of place deepens the mystery. mys-tery. The stables were burned. During the excitement a man stole into the house. A search failed to reveal him. Miss Innes shot an intruder. A man limping was seen on the road. CHAPTER XXIV Continued. "Did they go toward the club?" Gertrude asked suddenly, leaning forward. for-ward. "No, miss. I think they came into the village. I didn't get a look at their faces, but I know every chick and child in the place, and everybody knows me. When they didn't shout at me in my uniform, you know I took it they were strangers." So all we had for our afternoon's work was this: Some one had been shot by the bullet that went through the door; he had not left the village, and he had not called in a physician. Also, Dr. Walker knew who Lucien Wallace was, and his very denial made me confident that, in that one direction at least, we were on the right track. "Gertrude," I said, "I have been a very selfish old woman. You are going go-ing to leave this miserable house tonight. to-night. Annie Morton is going to Scotland Scot-land next week, and you shall go right with her." To my surprise, she flushed painfully. pain-fully. "I don't want to go, Aunt Ray," she said. "Don't make me leave now." "You are losing your health and your good looks," I said decidedly. "You should have a change." "I shan't stir a foot." She was equally decided. Then, more lightly: "Why, you and Liddy need me to arbitrate ar-bitrate between you every day in the week." Perhaps I was growing suspicious of every one, but it seemed to me that Gertrude's gayety was forced and artificial. ar-tificial. I watched her covertly during the rest of the drive, and I did not like the two spots of crimson in her pale cheeks. But I said nothing more about sending her to Scotland; I knew she would not go. CHAPTER XXV. A Visit from Louise. That day was destined to be an eventful one, for when I entered the house and found Eliza ensconsed in the upper hall on a chair, with Mary Anne doing her best to stifle her with household ammonia, and Liddy rub bing her wrists whatever good thn: is supposed to do I knew that thi ghost had been walking again, an " this time in daylight. Eliza was in a frenzy of fear. SI. clutched at my sleeve when I wer close to her, and refused to let g until she had told her story. Comir -just after the fire, the household was demoralized, and it was no surprise to me to find Alex and the under-gardener under-gardener struggling downstairs with a heavy trunk between them. "I didn't want to do it, Miss Innes," Alex said. "But she was so excited I was afraid she would do as she said drag it down herself, and scratch the staircase." I was trying to get my bonnet off and to keep the maids quiet at the same time. "Now, Eliza, when you have washed your face and stopped bawling," I said, "come into my sitting room and tell me what has happened." Liddy put away my things without speaking. The very set of her shoulders shoul-ders expressed disapproval. "Well,"I said, when the silence became be-came uncomfortable, "things seem to be warming up." Silence from Liddy, and a long sigh. "If Eliza goes, I don't know where to look for another cook." More silence. si-lence. "Rosle Is probably a good cook " Sniff. "Liddy," I said at last, "don't dare to deny that you are having the time of your life. You positively gloat in this excitement. You never looked better. It's my opinion all this running around, and getting jolted out of a rut, has stirred up that torpid liver of yours." "It's not myself I'm thinking about," she said, goaded into speech. "Maybe "May-be my liver was torpid, and maybe it wasn't; but I know this: I've got ome feelings left, and to see you Struggling Down-Stairs with a . Heavy Trunk. Jill ' L B DQB when I came, didn't I, Rosie?'" "Yes'm, indeed she did!") she put her head down' on her pillow and "Took a nap. All right!" I said. "Go on." "When I came to, Miss Innes, sure as I'm sittin' here, I thought I'd die. Somethin' hit me in the face, and I set up, sudden. And then I seen the plaster drop, droppin' from a little hole in the wall. And the first thing I knew, an iron bar that long (fully two yards by her measure) "shot through that, hole and tumbled on the bed. If I'd been still sleeping" ("Fainting," corrected Rosie) "I'd 'a' been hit on the head and killed!" "I wisht you'd heard her scream," put in Mary Anne. "And her face as white as a pillow-slip when she tumbled tum-bled down the stairs." "No doubt there is some natural explanation ex-planation for it, Eliza," I said. "You may have dreamed it, in your 'fainting' 'faint-ing' attack. But if it is true, the metal rod and the hole in the wall will show it." Eliza looked a little bit sheepish. "The nole's there all right, Miss Innes," In-nes," she said. "But the bar was gone when Mary Anne and Rosie went up to pack my trunk." "That wasn't all," Liddy's voice came funereally from a corner. "Eliza said that from the hole in the wall a burning eye looked down at her!" "The wall must be at least six inches thick," 1 said with asperity. "Unless the person who drilled the hole carried his eyes on the ends of a stick, Eliza couldn't possibly have seen them." Hut the fact remained, and a visit to Eliza's room proved it. I might jeer ail I wished; some one had drilled a hole in the unfinished wali of the ballroom, passing between the bricks of the partition, and shooting through the unresisting plaster of Eliza's room w ith such force as to j send the rod flying on to her bed. I had gone upstairs alone, and I confess the thing puzzled me; in two or three places in the wall small apertures had been made, none of them of any depth. Not the least mysterious thing was the disa ppear:i uce of the Iron implement imple-ment th. . had been used. Mary Anne and Eliza left that afternoon, after-noon, but Rosie decided to stay. It was about five o'clock when the back came from the station to get them, and, to my amazement, it had an occupant. oc-cupant. Matthew Geist, the driver, asked for me, and explained his errand er-rand with pride. "I've brought you a cook, Miss ln-: ln-: ness." he said. "When the message we told him, it didn't matter much about the cook's face if it was clean. I have spoken of Halsey's restlessness. restless-ness. On that day it seemed to be more than ever a resistless impulse that kept him nut until after luncheon. I think he hoped constantly that he might meet Louise driving over the hills in her runabout; possibly he did meet her occasionally, but from his continued gloom I felt sure the situation situa-tion between them was unchanged. . Part of the afternoon I believe he read Gertrude and I were out, as I have said, and at dinner we both noticed no-ticed that something had occurred to distract him. He was disagreeable, which is unlike him, nervous, looking at his watch every few minutes, and he ate almost nothing. He asked twice during the meal on what train Mr. Jamieson and the other detective were coming, and had long periods of abstraction ab-straction during which he dug his fork into my damask cloth and did not hear when he was spoken to. He refused dessert, and left the table early, excusing himself on the ground that he wanted to see Alex. Alex, however, was not to be found. It was after eight when Halsey ordered or-dered the car and started down the hill at a pace that, even for him, was unusually reckless. Shortly after Alex reported that he was-ready to go over the house preparatory to closing it for the night. Sam Bohannon came at a quarter before nine and began his patrol of the grounds, and with the arrival of the two detectives to look forward to I was not especially apprehensive. appre-hensive. At half-past nine I heard the sound of a horse driven furiously up the drive. It came to a stop in front of '.he house and immediately after there were hurried steps on the veranda. Our nerves were not what they should have been, and Gertrude, always apprehensive ap-prehensive lately, was at the door almost al-most instantly. A moment later Louise had burst into the room and stood there hareheaded and breathing hard. "Where is Halsey?" she demanded. Above her plain black gown her eyes looked big and somber, and the rapid drive had brought no color to her face. I got up and drew forward a chair. "He has not come back," I said quietly. "Sit down, child; you are not strong enough for this kind of thing." I don't think she even heard me. "He has not come back?" she asked, looking from me to Gertrude. "Do you know where he went? Where can I find him?" "For heaven's sake, Louise," Ger- "1 Believe You Know This Whole Hor--. rible Thing, Thl Mystery." thing, this mystery that we are struggling strug-gling with. If anything happens to Halsey, I shall never forgive you." , Louise only raised her hands do-gpairingly do-gpairingly and dropped them agalu. (TO BE CONTINUED.) |