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Show Lu MARY ROBERTS R.INEHARJ vjjly J and AVEP.Y HOPWOOO "THE eAT COPYRIGHT. I930. MAP.Y ROBERTS RIHEHART and AVfRY HOPWOOD WN.U. SERVICE STORY FROM THE START DftfylnK nil ffforta to capture tilni, afu-r a lmig soi-Ioh of murders mur-ders u rid ru liberies, a super-crook super-crook known to the police only ns '"I'll ft Hut" has brought about ft voil t alilo reln of terror. At his w It h" end, a nd at the rnnn'n own rrqucHt, the chief of notice a.ssipna his bent operative, An-derhiiti, An-derhiiti, to pet on tho trail of the Hat. With her niece, Dale Ok-den, Ok-den, Miss Cornelia Van f"; order Is livlner In the country home of the l:ite Courtlelpli Fleming, who until bis recent death had been president of the Union bank, wrecked because of the theft of n laiKft sum of currency. Miss Van Clorder receives a note warning her to vacate the place at once on pain of death. Dale returns from the city, where she had been to hire a gardener. CHAPTER III Continued Tt was too much. Miss Cornelia found vent for her feelings in crisp exasperation. "Wlnit's tho mnltor with you anyhow, any-how, t.izzie Allen?" The nervousness In her own tones Infected Lizzie's. She shivered, frankly. "Oh, Miss Kei'.y Miss Nelly!" she pleaded. "I don't lil;e It! I want to go hack to the city !" Miss Cornelia braced herself. "1 have rented this house for four months and I am (Ming to stay," she said, (irmly. Iter eye sought Lizzie's, Ft riving to pour some of her own Inflexible In-flexible courage into the latter's quaking form. But Lizzie would not look at her. Suddenly she started and gave a low scream. "There's somebody on the terrace!" she breathed In a ghastly whisper, clutching at Miss Cornelia's arm. For a second Miss Cornelia sat frozen. Then, "Don't do that!" she s::ld sharply. "What nonsense!" but the looked over her shoulder as she said It, and Lizzie saw the look. Hoth waited, in pulsing stillness one sec-md sec-md two. "I guess It was the wind," said Lizzie, at last, relieved, her grip en Miss Cornelia relaxing. She began to lo.ik a trifle ashamed of herself and Miss Cornelia seized the opportunity. "You were born on a brick pavement," pave-ment," she said erushingly. "You get i ervous out here at night whenever a cricket begins to sing or scrape his legs or whatever It Is they do !" Lizzie bowed before the blast of I. cr mistress' scorn and began to r::ove gingerly toward the alcove (h.or. I'.ut obviously she was not entirely en-tirely convinced. "Oil. It's more than that, Miss Neily," she mumbled, "I " Miss Cornelia turned to her fiercely. fierce-ly. If Lizzie was going to behave I ke this, they might as well have It o !t now between them before Dale came home. "What did you really see, last night:"' she said in a minatory voice. The Instant relief on Lizzie's face was ludicrous she so obviously preferred pre-ferred discussing any subject at any length to braving the dangers of the other part of the house unaccompanied. unaccom-panied. "1 was standing right there at the top of that there staircase," she began, be-gan, gesticulating toward the alcove stairs, in t lie manner of one who embarks em-barks upon t lie narration of an epic. "Standing there with your switch in my hand. Miss Neily and then 1 looked down and," her voice dropped, "I saw a gleaming eye! It looked at me and winked! I tell you this house Is haunted !" "A flirtatious ghost?" queried Miss Cornelia skeptically. She snorted. "Humph! Why didn't you yell?" "I was too scared to yell ! And I'm rot the only one." She started to back away from the alcove her eyes still fixed upon Its haunted stairs. "Why do you think the servants left ko suddenly this morning?" she went on. "Do you really believe the housemaid house-maid had appv-mlycitis? Or the cook's sister had twins?" She turned and gestured at her mistress mis-tress with a long, pointed forefinger. Her voice had a note of doom. "I bet a cent the cook never had any sister and the sister never had any twins," she said, impressively. "No, Miss Neily, they couldn't put it over on me like that! They were scared awry. They saw It!" She concluded her epic and stood DoJding her head an Irish Cassandra Cassan-dra who had pronhcsied the evil to come. "Fiddlesticks!" said Miss Cornelia, briskly more shaken by the recital than she would have "''mined. She tried to think of another topic of conversation. con-versation. "What time Is it?" she asked. Lizzie g)ai.ced at the mantel clock. "Halt-past ten. Miss Neily." Miss Cornelia yawned, a little dis-mallr dis-mallr She felt as 1 the lust Iwe hours had not been Injurs but years. "Miss Dale won't he home for half an hour," she said relleclively. "Anil if I have to spend another thirty min utes listening to Lizzie shiver," she thought, "Dale will find me a nervous wreck when she does come home." She rolled up her knitting and put it back in her sewing bag it was no use going on, doing work that would have to he ripped out again and yet she must do something to occupy her thoughts. She raised her head and discovered Lizzie returning toward the alcove stairs, with the stealthy tread of a panther. The sight exasperated exas-perated her. "Now, Lizzie Allen !" she said sharply, "you forge all that superstitious super-stitious nonsense and stop looking for ghosts! There's nothing in that sort of thing." She smiled she would punish Lizzie for her obdurate timorousness. "Where's that ouija-board?'' ouija-board?'' she questioned, rising, with determination in her eye. Lizzie shuddered violently. "It's up there with a prayer book on it to keep it quiet !" she groaned, jerking jerk-ing her thumb In the direction of the further bookcase. "Bring it here!" said Miss Cornelia, Cor-nelia, implacably; then as Lizzie still hesitated, "Lizzie!" Shivering, every movement of her body a conscious protest, Lizzie slowly slow-ly went over to the bookcase, lifted the prayer book, and took dowu the ouija-board. Even then, she would not carry it normally, but bore It over to Miss Cornelia at arms'-length, as If any closer contact would blast her with lightning, hr face a comic mask of loathing and repulsion. She placed the lettered board in Miss Cornelia's lap with a sigh of re lief. "You can do It yourself! I'll have none of it 1" she said firmly. "It takes two people and you know It, Lizzie Allen!" Miss Cornelia's voice was stern but it was also amused. - Lizzie groaned, but she knew her mistress. She obeyed. "I've been working for you for twenty years," she muttered. "I've been your goat for twenty years and I've got a right to speak my mind " Miss Cornelia cut her off. "Y'ou haven't got a mind. Sit down," she commanded. Lizzie sat her hands at her sides. With a sigh of tried patience. Miss Cornelia put her unwilling fingers on the little moving-table that is used to point to the letters on the hoard itself. Then she placed her own hands on it. too, the tips of the fingers just touching touch-ing Lizzie's. "Now make your mind a blank!" she commanded her factotum. "Y'ou just said I haven't got any mind," complained the latter. "Well." said Miss Cornelia magnificently, magnifi-cently, "make what you haven't got a blank." The repartee silenced Lizzie for the moment but only for the moment. As soon as Miss Cornelia had settled herself her-self comfortably and tried to make her mind a suitable receiving station for ouija-messages, Lizzie began to mumble mum-ble the sorrows of her heart. "I've stood by you through thick and thin," she mourned in a low voice. "I stood by you when you were a the-osophist the-osophist and I seen you through socialism, so-cialism, (letcherism and rheumatism-hut rheumatism-hut when it comes to carrying on with ghosts" "lie still!" ordered Miss Cornelia "Nothing will come if you keep chattering chat-tering !" "That's why I'm chattering!" said Lizzie, driven to the wall. "My teetli are, too," she added. "I can hardly keep my upper set in," and a desolate clicking of artificial molars attested the truth of the remark. Then, to Miss Cornelia's relief, she was silit for nearly two minutes, only to start so violently at the end of the time that she nearly upset the ouija-board on her mistress' toes. 'Tve got a queer feeling in my fingers fin-gers all the way up my arms," she whispered in awed accents, wriggling the arms she spoke of violently. "Hush!" said Miss Cornelia Indignantly. Indig-nantly. Lizzie always exaggerated, of course yet now her own fingers felt prickly uncanny. There was a little pause while both sat tense, staring at the board. "Now, Ouija," said Miss Cornelia, defiantly, "is Lizzie Allen right about this house or is it all stuff and nonsense?" non-sense?" For one second two the ouija remained re-mained anchored to its resting place in the center of the board. Then "My Gawd! It's moving!" said Liz. zie in tones of pure horror, as the little pointer began to wander among the letters. "You shoved it !" "I did not tress my heart, Miss Neily I " Lizzie's eyes were round, her fingers glued rigidly and awkwardly awkward-ly f- ths ouija. As the movements of the pointer grew more rar id herm-.ith dropped open wider and wider prepared pre-pared for an ear-piercing scream. "Keep quiet!" said Miss Cornelia, tensely. There was a pause of a few seconds while the pointer darted from one letter to another, wildly. "li-M-C-X-P-Ii-S-K-Z " murmured Miss Cornelia, trying to follow the spelled letters. "It's Russian!" gasped Lizzie, breathlessly, and Miss Cornelia nearly disgraced herself In the eyes of any spirits that might be present by inappropriate inap-propriate laughter. The ouija continued contin-ued to move more letters what was it spelling? It couldn't be good heavens "!' A T Pat !" said Miss Cornelia Cor-nelia with a tiny catch in her voice. The pointer slopped moving. She took her hands from the board. "That's queer." she said with a forced laugh. She glanced at Lizzie to see how Lizzie was taking it. But the latter seemed too relieved to have her hands oil the ouija-board to make the mental connection that her mistress mis-tress had fetircd. All she said was, "Hats Indeed I That shows it's spirits there's been a hat Hying around this house all evening." She got up from her chair tentatively, tentative-ly, obviously hoping that the seance was over. "Oil, Miss Neily." she hurst out. "1'lease hi me sleep in your room tonight ! It's on'y when my jaw drops that I snore 1 can tie It up Willi a handkerchief." "1 wish you'd tie It up with a handkerchief now." said her mistress, mis-tress, absent-mindedly, still pondering the message that the pointer had spelled. "P. A T Hat!" she murmured. mur-mured. Thought-transference warning warn-ing accident? Whatever it was, it was nerve-shaking. She put the nuija-hoard aside accident or not. she was done with it for the evening. But she could not so easily dispose of the Pat. Sending a protesting ficST M &&m 1 " i hat's Queer," She Said, With a Forced Laugh. Lizzie off for her reading glasses, Miss Cornelia got the evening paper and settled down to what by now had become her obsession. She had not far to search, for a long black streamer stream-er ran across the front page "Bat Baffles Police Again." She skimmed through the article with eerie fascination, reading bits of it aloud for Lizzie's benefit. " 'Unique criminal long baffled the police record of his crimes shows him to be endowed with an almost diabolical ingenuity so far there is no clew to his identity '" "Pleasant reading for an old woman who's just received a threatening letter," she thought ironically an, here was something some-thing new, a black-bordered "box" on the front page a statement by the paper. She read it aloud. "We must cease combing the . criminal world for the Bat and look higher. He may be a merchant a lawyer a doctor honored hon-ored in liis commvnity by day and at night a bloodthirsty assassin " Tlie print blurred before her .eyes she could read no more for the moment. She thought of the revolver in ffie drawer of the table close at hand and ' felt glad that it was there, loaded. "''in going to take the butcher knife to bed with me !" Lizzie was saying. Miss Cornelia touched the ouija-board. ouija-board. "That thing certainly spelled Bat," she mused. "I wish I were a man. I'd like to see any lawyer, doctor doc-tor or merchant of my acquaintance leading a double life without my suspecting sus-pecting it." "Kvery man leads a double life, and some more than that," Lizzie observed. "I guess it rests them, like it does me to take off my corsets." Miss Cornelia opened her mouth to rebuke her, but just at that moment there was a clink of ice from the hall, and Billy, the Japanese, entered carrying a tray with a pitcher of water and. some glasses on it. Miss Cornelia Cor-nelia watched his Impassive progress, wondering If the Oriental races ever felt terror she coald not Imagine all Lizzie's banshees and kelpies producing produc-ing a single shiver from Billy. "Billy, what's all this about the cook's sister cot having twins?" she said in an offhand voice she had not really discussed the aeparture of the other servants with Billy before. "Did you happen to know that this interesting inter-esting event was anticipated?" Billy drew his breath with a polite little hiss. "Maybe she have twins," he admitted. "It happen sometime. Mostly not expected." "Do you think there was any other reason for her leaving?" ".Maybe," said Billy blandly. lie seemed quite unperturbed. "Well, what was the reason?" "All sau:'? the fame thing house hauni-Ml." Biily's reply was prompt as it was calm. Miss Cornelia gave a slight laugh. "You know better than xhat, though, don't you?" Billy's oriental placidity remained unruiiled. lie neither admitted nor denied. He shrugged his shoulders. "Funny house." he said laconically. "Find window open nobody there. Door slam nobody there!" On the heels of his words came a single, startling hanu' from the kitchen quarters the bang of a slammed door! Miss Cornelia dropped her newspaper. news-paper. Lizzie, franklyi frightened, gave a little squeal and moved closer to her mistress. Only Billy remained impassive but even he looked sharply in the direction whence the sound had come. Miss Cornelia was the first of tlie others to recover her poise. "Slop that! It was the wind!" she said, a little irritably the ','Stop that!" addressed to Lizzie, who seemed on the point of squealing again, "I think not wind," said Billy. His very lack of perturbation added weight to. the statement. It made Miss Cornelia Cor-nelia uneasy. She look out her knit-tin:; knit-tin:; again. "How long have you lived in this house. Pally?" "Since Mr. Fleming built." ."Il'm." Miss Corneliii pondered. "And this is the first time you have been disturbed?" "Last two days only." Billy would have made an ideal witness in a court room he restricted himself so precisely pre-cisely to answerftig what was asked of him in as few words as possible. Miss Cornelia ripped out a row In her knitting. Site took a long hreath. "What about that face Lizzie said you saw last night at the window?" she asked, In a steady voice. Billy grinned, as If slightly embarrassed. embar-rassed. "Just face that's all." "A man's face?" He shrugged again. "Don't know maybe. It there! Tt gone !" Miss Cornelia did not want to believe be-lieve him but she did. "Did you go out after it?" she persisted. Billy's yellow grin grew wider. "No. thanks," he said cheerfully, with ideal succinctness. "Well, now that you've cheered us up," began Miss Cornelia undauntedly, but a long, ominous roll of thunder that rattled the panes In the French windows drowned out the end of her sentence. Nevertheless she welcomed the thunder as a diversion. At least its menace was a physical one to be guarded against by physical means. She rose and went over to the French windows. That flimsy holt! She parted- the curtains and looked out a flicker of lightning stabbed the night the storm must be almost upon them. "Brine some candles, Billy." she said. "The lights may be going out any moment and Billy," ns he started to leave, "there's a gentleman arriving arriv-ing on the last train. After he comes you may go to bed. I'll wait up for Miss Dale oh, and Billy." arresting him at the door, "see that all the outer doors on this floor are locked and bring the keys here." Billy nodded and departed. Miss Cornelia , took a long breath. ' Now that tlie moment for waiting had passed the moment for action come she felt suddenly indomitable, prepared pre-pared to face a dozen Bats! Her feelings were not shared hy her maid. "I know what all this means," moaned Lizzie. "I tell you there's going to be a death, sure!" "There certainly will he if you don't keep quiet," said her mistress acridly. "Lock the billiard room windows and go to bed." But this was the last straw for Lizzie. A picture of two long, dark flights of stairs up which she had to pass to reach her bedchamber rose before her and she spoke her mind "I am not going to bed!" she said wildly. "I'm going to pack up tomorrow tomor-row and leave this house." That such a threat would never be carried out while she lived made little difference to her she was beyond the need of Truth's consolations. "I asked you on my bended knees not to take this place two miles from a railroad." she went on heatedly. "For mercy's sake. Miss Neily, let's go back to the city fiefore It's too late!" Miss Cornelia was inflexible. "I'm not going. You can make up your mind to that I'm goia !o fine out what's wrong with this r'a':e B ;t takes all summer. I came out tc i he country for a rest and I'm golnp to get it." "You'll get your heavenly rest!" mourned Lizzie, giving It uo. She looked pitifully at her mistress' face for a sign that the latter might b, weakening but no suah sign came. Instead, Miss Cornelia seemed to grow more determined. "Besides," she said, suddenly deciding decid-ing to share the secret she had hugged to herself ail day, "I might as well cell you, Lizzie. I'm having a detective detec-tive sent down tonight from police headquarters, in the city. I dare say he will be stupid enough. Most of them are. But at least we can have one proper night's sleep." "Not I. I trust no man," said Lizzie. Rut Miss Cornelia had picked up the laper again. "'The Bat's last crime was a particularly par-ticularly atrocious one,'" she read, j 'Tlie body of the murdered man . . .",' ; I'.ut Lizzie could bear no more. "Why don't you read the funny page once in a while?" she walled, and hurried hur-ried to close the windows in the billiard bil-liard room. The door leading Into the billiard room shut behind her. Miss Cornelia remained reading for j a moment. Then was that a sound j from the alcove? She dropped the paper, went into the alcove and stood j for a moment tit the foot of the stairs, j listening. No it must have been j imagination. But, while she was here, j she might ns well put on the spring- I lock that bolted the door from the alcove to the terrace. She did so, returned to the living-room and switched off the lights for a moment to look out at the coming storm. II was closer now the lightning flashes more continuous. She turned on the lignfs again as Billy re-entered with three tnndles and a box of matches. He pat them down on a side-table. "New gardener come," he said brief' ly, to Miss Cornelia's back. Miss Cornelia turned. 'Nice hour for him to get here. That's his name?" "Say his name Brook." saic Filly. Miss Cornelia thought. "Ask him tc come in," she said. "And Billy where are the keys?" Billy silently took two keys from his pocket and laid them on the table. Then he pointed to the terrace door which Miss Cornelia had just bolted. "Door up there spring lock," he said. "Yes," she nodded. "And the new holt you put an today makes it fairly secure. One thing is fairly sure, Billy. If anyone tries to get in tonight, to-night, he will have to break a window and make a certain amount of noise." But he only smiled his curious enigmatic enig-matic smile and went out. And no sooner had Miss Cornelia seated herself her-self when the door of the billiexd room slammed open suddenly and Lizzie burst Into the roorn ns If she had been shot from a gun her ha!r wild her face stricken with fear. "I heard somebody yell out in th; grounds away down hy the gate!" she Informed her mistress In a loud stage whisper which had a curious note of pride in it, as If she were not ton displeased at seeing her doleful j predictions so swiftly coming to pass. Miss Cornelia took her hy the shoulder shoul-der half-startled, half-dubious. "What did they yell?" "Just yelled a yell!" "Lizzie!!' . "I heard them !" Put she cried "Wolf!" too often. "You take a liver-pill," said her mistress mis-tress disgustedly, "and go to hod." Lizzie was about to protest both the verdict on her story and the judg-nient judg-nient on herself, when the door In the ball w-as opened by Billy to admit the new gardener. A handsome young fellow, fel-low, in his late twenties perhaps, and neatly if shabbily dressed, he calm two steps into the room and then stood there respectfully with his cap in bis hand, waiting for Miss Cornelia to speak to him. After a swift glance of observation that gave her food for thought, sh: did so. "You are Brooks, th new gar dener?" The young man lncvned his head. Miss Cornelia rega'ded him anew. "His hands look soft for a gardener's," garden-er's," she thought. "And his manners seem much too good for one Still " "Come in," she said briskly. The young man advanced another two steps. "Y'ou're the man my niece en gaged in the city this afternoon?" "Yes, madam!" He seemed a little I uneasy under her searching scrutiny, j She dropped her eye. i (TO BE CONTINUED.) |