Show rl ir amny 4 v 1 BY kyr r ra MOI 11 11 amft am dimun ft f SYNOPSIS all in innes spinster anil and guardian of oc ger rude and II Il alary alsey summer headquarter bt at sunnyside Sunny side ablat nu lu atles the Berv ser mita innes locked up tip tor for tho the night she glia was wag startled by a dark figure on th the vernn fernnda da she kha passed a terrible night which wan filled it L 11 noles noises in tho the morning miss MI I 1 indies i m es found a curt button bu tto a in 11 clothes athon clr haver ham iier and arrived ith jack bailey tile the house wim was awakened by a revolver ahot A strange man was shot to death I 1 in the hall it proved to be ba tho the body rf or arm ann whose bunker father ather owned the c country house miss innes annea found ilai hal s baya y a revolver on tho ther lawn lawa lie and jaik jac dal bahny ley had bad tho the unit link curt button mysteriously alm 11 ue teti v e and the lie coroner arr arrived ivec gert gertruda r u d e rev I 1 tint hat stio vas arax en ena i 1 to jack Il kiley with bioni she had talk talked in the billiard room ft i row few m mr before ilie murder jamason Jom lesun told miss annes that she ha was wail hitting hiding F from rom him ito imprisoned an intruder in an n empty room ahe tie prisoner noner capel ea es ni pel x down a I 1 laundry dry t chute tite it d develops that the intruder wan pro probably bubly a woman gertrude ariks for the I 1 ho intruder lott loft a print of oc a baro bare foot lor trude ro re home with her right ankle 1 A found the oth other half of what proved to bo be ys cult cuff button halsey suddenly lud denly 11 ita sit belil h ho e and nollee had lett left because he y had a r received elved it teler Bm gertrude Oer truda bald aid that alio lie tind given bailey nn an un 1 faded revolver fearin 9 to give him hat faya loaded bonded Cna liler bailey hal ley of gys latil imil ba bank defunct J furiat was wab arrested charad with embezzlement I 1 CHAPTER X continued in cash in cash dut tho the man who did it ho he would be known yes I 1 tell you both as sure as I 1 stand liere here I 1 bellove believe that paul armstrong looted his own bank I 1 believe ife be has haa a million at least as aa tho the ra ie suit and that he be will never come back im worse than a pauper now I 1 ia cant ask louise to share nothing a year with me and whon when I 1 think of this disgrace for her im crazy the most ordinary events of life seemed pregnant with that day and when halsey was railed called to tho the telephone I 1 ceased all pretense at eating when ho he came back from the telephone his face showed that something had occurred ile he waited however until thomas lett left the dining room then he told us paul armstrong la is dead ho be announced gravely ile he died this morning in california whatever ho he did he be la Is beyond the law now fier gertrude trude turned pale and the only man who could have cleared jack can never ob do it she said despairingly also I 1 replied coldly mr air armstrong Is for ever beyond the power of 0 defending himself when your jack comes to me with some in hla bis hands handa which Is 13 about what you have lost I 1 shall believe him innocent cent CHAPTER XI H halsey alsey makes a capture etwas it waa about halt half past eight when we left the dining room and still engrossed with one subject the failure of the bank and its ita attendant evils and I 1 went out into the brounda for a stroll gertrude followed us shortly the light was thickening i to appropriate shakes podres description of twilight and once again the tha treo tree toads and the crickets were making night throb with their tiny life it was almost oppressively pres shely lon lonely elyIn ln spite of its beauty and I 1 r felt a sickening pang of homesickness for my city at night for jhb clatter of horses feet on cemented paving for the tha lights tho the voices the sound ot playing the country after dark oppresses m me 0 the stars quite eclipsed in the city by the electric lights hero here become insistent si st assertive whether I 1 want to or not I 1 find myself looking for the few I 1 know by name and feeling ridiculously new and small by contrast always an unpleasant sensation Bens atlon after gertrude joined us we avoided any further mention of the murder to halsey as to me there wits was ever present I 1 am sure the thought of our conversation of the night before As we strolled back and forth along the tha drive mr jamieson Jam leson emerged from the shadow of the trees good evening lie ho said managing to include Gert Gertrud rudein eln ills ilia bow gertrude had never neter been even cron ordin ordinarily arlI y courteous to him and she nodded coldly halsey alsey II however was more cordial although we ive were all constrained enough lie he and gertrude went on together leaving the to walk with me As aa soon as they were out of barsik ho he turned to me do you know ailsa innes he said laid the deeper I 1 go into this ibis thing the more strange it senna seems to me I 1 itin am very sorry for aliss alisa gertrude it 1 looks as it if bailey alley li whom she has tried vo 10 hard bard to save Is worse than a ras col cal and after her plucky light fight tor for him it seems hard I 1 looked through the dusk to where Cert gertrudes rudes light dinner dress gleamed among the trees she had made a plucky fight poor child whatever whatever she might have been driven to do I 1 could find nothing but a deep sympathy for her if 11 she had only come to wo no with the whole hole v truth then miss innes mr air jamieson Jam leaon was waa saying in the last three days have you seen been a any suspicious figures around the be grounds any woman woma n no I 1 replied 1 I have a house bouse till fill of maids that will bear watching watch log one and all hut but there has been no strange woman near t tho h house or ier liddy would lia havo v 0 seen 1 her you may be sure she hns has u telescopic eye nit air jamieson looked thoughtful it may not amount to anything lie he said eald slowly it Is difficult to get any perspective on things around here because every one down in the village Is sure he saw tho the murderer either before or since the crime and I 1 halt ot of them will stretch a point or two as aa to facts to be obliging but the man who drives the hack back down there tells a story that may possibly prove to bo be important 1 I have heard it I 1 think was it the one the parlor maid brought up yesterday about a ghost wringing its hands on the roof oh perhaps its the one ona the heard a tramp washing a dirty shirt presumably mably blo bloody ody in the creek b gesu allow biow the bridge I 1 could see beo the gleam ot of mr camle sells t teeth ec th as he sin smiled fled neither tie he said hut but matthew galst which Is our friends name claims that on saturday night at 9 30 n veiled availed lady 1 I knew it would be a veiled lady I 1 broke in A veiled lady he persisted who was apparently young and beautiful engaged his hack and asked to be driven to Sunny sunnyside side near the gate however she made him stop in spite of ills hla saying she preferred to walk to the house she paid A few feet away in tho the hall wits was the spot where the body of 0 arnold armstrong had been found I 1 was a bit nervous and I 1 put hand on ifill sleeve suddenly from the top ot of the staircase ase above us ua carao came th tho 0 sound of a cautious cau tiona footstep at fir arst t I 1 was not sure hut but Itol lial attitude told me lie he had heard and was listening the step slow measured infinitely cautious was waa nearer now tried to loosen my fingers but I 1 was in a paralysis of fright the file swish ot of a body against tho the curving rall rail as it if cor or guidance was plain enough and now w whoever it was had bad reached tho the toot foot ot of the staircase and had caught a glimpse of our rigid silhouettes against the billiard room doorway throw threw me off od then and strode forward who la Is it lie he called imperiously and took a halt half dozen rapid strides toward the toot foot of the staircase then I 1 heard him mutter something there was the crash ot of a falling body the slam of 0 the outer door and for an instant quiet I 1 screamed I 1 think then I 1 remember turning on the lights and finding halsey white with fury trying to untangle himself from something Bom ethIng warm and fleecy ile he had cut cue his forehead a little on an the lowest step of the stairs and lie he was i rather a ghastly sight eight ile he flung the white object at me and jerking open the outer door raced into tho the darkness gertrude had come on hearing the noise and now ive we stood starin staring 9 at earn each other over of all things on 0 taw V r e a the step slow measured infinitely cautious was nearer now him and he left her there now miss innes you had no such visitor tor I 1 believe T none I 1 said decidedly geist thought it might be a maid na as you had got a supply that day but he said her getting out near the gate puzzled him anyhow we have now one veiled lady who with the ghostly intruder of friday night makes two assets that I 1 hardly know what to do with it if la Is mystifying I 1 admitted although I 1 can think of one possible explanation the path from the greenwood club to the village enters the road near tho the lodge gate A woman w who he wished to reach the country club un unperceived perceived might choose such tc a method there are plenty ot of women en there I 1 think this gave him something to ponder for in a short time ho he said good night and left but I 1 myself was waa far from satisfied I 1 was determined however on one thing it if my mr suspicions 2 for I 1 had suspicions were true I 1 would make my own investigations and mr jamieson Jam leson should learn only what was good fur for him to know we went back to the house and gertrude who was more like herself since her talk with fl llala alsey ey sat down at the mahogany desk in the living room to write a letter prowled up and down tho the antro antiro east cast wing now in the card rocia now in tho the billiard rovin roum and now and then blowing ills hla clouds of tobacco smoke the pink and gold hiang ings of alii drawing room after a little I 1 joined him bim in the billiard room and together we went over the details ot of tho the discovery 0 of the body the dardr ar droom ooin was quite dark where we sat in the billiard room loom only one of the I 1 side aide brackets was lighted and we vio spoke in subdued tones as the hour and the subject seemed to demand when I 1 spoke of the figure liddy and I 1 had seen sech on the porch through the window friday night clarsey elal sey sauntered into the darkened room and together wo we stood there much as liddy and I 1 hid hail done that other night the window was tho sams gra grayish yash me ix tangle in the blackno black nc aa aj before earth a white silk and wool blanket exquisitely final it was the most thing in the world with its lavender border and its faint scent gertrude was the first brat to speak somebody had itt she asked yes halsey tried to stop whoever it was and fell gertrude that blanket Is not mine I 1 have never seen it before sho she held field it up and looked at it then she went to the door on to the veranda and threw it open perhaps 1 I 00 feet from the house were two figures that hat moved slowly toward us as aa we looked when they came within range of the light I 1 recognized halsey and with him mrs airs watson the housekeeper CHAPTER XII L one mystery for another the tha roost most commonplace incident takes on it a new ap appearance pe arance it if the attendant circumstances are unusual there was waa no lie reason on earth why mrs watson should not have carried a blanket down the east cast wing wine stair case it she so desired flut to take a blanket down at 11 at night with every precaution as to noise and anil when discovered to fling it at halsey and boll boil Ifal word and a good one into tho the grounds this made the incident more than significant they moved slowly across the lawn and up the stops steps halsey was talking quietly and mrs airs watson was looking down and listening she was a woman of a certain amount of 0 dignity most efficient so far as aa I 1 could see although laddy would have found fault it II she dared but just now airs watsons ince face was an enigma she was defiant I 1 think under lander her mask of 0 submission and she still showed the effect of nervous shock mrs watson I 1 said severely willo you be ba so an good as to explain this rather unusual occurrence I 1 1 I dont think it so ao unusual miss innes finues 11 iter her voice was deep and very clear but it was somewhat tremulous 1 I was taking a blanket down to tn taomas Tn oinas who Is not well tonight to night aud ami I 1 used sed ti this staircase as a a being nea nearer t the he path to the lodge when vested rested and through an ugly stroy mr bir innes called and then thea rustled rushed at me ma 1 I 1 I was alarmed and flung the blanket at him was examining the ut on hla his forehead in a small mirror oil the wall it was not much of an in jury but it had bled freely and his appearance was as rather terrifying thomas Tho inda III 1117 ha be said over lila ills shoulder why I 1 thought I 1 saw thomas out there eta aa you made that cyclonic break out of the door and over the porch I 1 could see tint that und under r pretense of examining ills his injury ze he was watch ing her tin through ugh the mirror Is this one of the servants blank ets mrs airs watson I 1 asked holding up tip its luxurious folds to the light everything else la is locked away she replied which was true enough no doubt I 1 had rented the house without bed furnishings it thomas Is III said bald some borno member of the family ought to go down to seo bee him you bother airs watson I 1 will take the blanket she drew diew herself up quickly as it 1 in protest but she aho found nothing to say she stood smoothing the folds of 0 her dead black dress her face as white as chalk above it then she seemed to make up tip her mind very well sir innes she said perhaps you ou would better go I 1 have done all I 1 could and then she turned and went up the circular staircase moving slowly and with a certain dignity below tho the three of us its stared at one another across the intervening white blanket upon my word halsey broke out this place is a walking nightmare I 1 have the feeling that we three out who have paid our money for the privilege of staying in this spook factory are living on the very top of bilings were on the lid so to speak now nod and then we get a sight of the things inside but we are not a part of them do you suppose gertrude asked doubtful doubtfully lr that she really meant that blanket tor for thomas thomas was standing beside that magnolia tree halsey replied when I 1 ran after mrs airs watson its down to this aunt ray hay resles hasket basket and mrs alre watsons blanket can only mean orie one thing there Is somebody hiding or doing being bidden h I 1 adden in the lodge it t surprise me it if we hold the key to the whole situation now anyhow im going to the lodge to investigate gertrude gerti tide wanted to go too b but she toot ut h looked so BO shaken that I 1 li insisted i d she h should not I 1 sent for liddy to help her to bed and then halsey and I 1 started for the lodge the grass was heavy with dew and manlike man like halsey chose the shortest way across the lawn halt way however he stopped wed ed better go by the drive he said this a lawn its a field wheres the gardener these days there any I 1 said meekly we have hae been thankful enough so far to have our meals prepared and served and the beds aired the gard ener who belongs here Is working at the club remind me tomorrow to send out a man inan from town he said 1 I know the very fellow I 1 record this scrap of 0 conversation just as aa I 1 have tried to put down anything and that had a bearing on |