| Show ril 4 illustration GY f fv amm f SYNOPSIS ba ala mla ins I 1 innab n n an and ot of gertrude er u do and hillsey y etabel 1 r led at the servants ger vanta desert oertrude and ila halsey sey arrive with jack halley balley the house was awakened by a arvo revolver iver lot but anti anil arnold armstrong was found shot to death in th tha hall alts innes found Hal halseys revolver on the tha lawn lie ha and jaik jack ralley had disappeared certrude aertrude rev revealed oed tl that at she ahe was engaged to jack li alley with w whom h om she ghe talked in the th billiard room shortly before the murder detective Jam lasion accused cuBid ac align innes of I 1 bolding back evide evidence n co lie ho 1 an intruder in an empty room the he prisoner moner escaped gertrude was mus pecked because of an injured Injure il toot foot halsey halley reappears and says ba lie ho and dalley bailey were wera called away by a telegram telen ram cashier ralley 0 ot rail paul armstrongs Arm bank de kunrt was arrested for or embezzlement lubrit pa pail armstrongs benth was wag announced 1 fa fiancee fl 11 ancee loulie louise armstrong Armstro nii told 1 la ney 0 that at while she still loved him bli wag waa to marry another it developed that 1 at dr walker was the man louise louisa was waa f 1 I und at thu tho bottom ot of the c circular rhular staircase recovering consciousness ghe said something Bo had brushed by her on the stairway and she bile fainted fali itea bailey Is aus ot of armstrongs murder after EL khoat ghost bead thomas thomaa the er ws ais found dead with a slip in hla his docket bocket bearing the name of lucien Lu clen wallace ace dr walker naked asked aliss innes inne to vacate lit in favor of mr amri armstrong sho she refused A note from bailey to gertrude a meeting nt at night was found A ladder out of place deepens the mystery 11 ry the stable stables were burned during 1 he excitement a roan man etnie into the holies A search alleia to reveal him Ms hilss innes shot an intruder A man limping was wa seen been on the tha road halsey mysteriously duNap disappeared louise scenting danger before hla 13 absente was notta CHAPTER iles hes as aa dear to me ine as aa he to B to you ahe said sadly 1 I tried to warn him Non nonsense I 1 said bald as briskly as aa I 1 could we are making a lot ot of trouble out of something perhaps varr efery small halsey was probably late h he Is in always late any moment we may hear the car coming up the road dut but it did not come after a halt half hour of 0 suspense louise went out quietly and did not come coma back 1 I hardly knew she was wa gone until I 1 heard the station hack moving off at 11 the telephone rang it was mr jamieson Jam leson 1 I have found the dragon fly miss innes he be said it has collided with a freight car on the siding above the station no mr innes was not there but we shall probably find him send warner for the car dut but they did not find and him at four the next nest morning we were still waiting for news while alex watched the house and sam the grounds at daylight I 1 dropped into exhausted sleep halsey had not come back and there was no word from the detective CHAPTER Hal halseys Halee ys disappearance mr jamieson aleson Jar came back about eight the next neat morning he was covered with mud and his hat was gone altogether we were a sad looking trio that gathered around a breakfast that no one could eat over a cup ot of black coffee the detective told us what he had learned of hal movements the night before up to a certain point the car had bad made it easy enough to follow him and I 1 gathered that mr air burns the other detective tec tive had followed a similar car for miles at daw dawn only to find it was A touring car on an endurance run ile he left here about ten minutes after e r eight ahr ir Jai JaiO Alcson jeson said lie 1111 went alone at lie he sto PIed at dr walkers I 1 went to the doctors about midnight but lie he had been out on a case and had bad not come coma back at four from the tb e doctors it seems beema sir innes walked across the lawn to the cottage mrs armstrong and her daughter have taken mrs lira armstrong had retired and lie said perhaps a dozen words to miss louise she will not say what they were but the girl evidently sus sua peats what has occurred that Is she suspects foul play but she know of what nature mature th n apparently appart he started directly fo for T ali the e station along somewhere in 1 the dark stretch between carol street and the depot he evidently swerved suddenly perhaps some mome one in the road and went full into the side of it a freight we found it there last night lie ile might have been thrown under the train by the force of the shock I 1 sali sah tremulously gertrude shuddered we examined every inch of track there was aas no sign but surely he be cant be gone gonel I 1 cried arent there traces in the mud anything there la Is so no mud only dust there has been no rain and the footpath there la Is of cinders miss innes I 1 am inclined to think that ho he has met with bad treatment in the light of what has gone before I 1 do not think he has been murdered I 1 shrank from the word burns burna la Is back in the country on a clew we got from the night clerk at the tha drug store there will be two more men here by noon and the city office in IB on the lookout I 1 the creek gertrude gertruda asked the creek Is shallow now it if it were swollen with rain it would be different there Is hardly any water in it now miss innes he said turning to me 1 I must ask ash you some questions had mr air halsey any possible 1 reason eason for going away like this without t warning none whatever lie he went away once before hel he 0 11 w aa 46 miss armstrong Is very ill and unable to see any one persisted and you were ware all aa sure then 1 lie ile did not leave the dragon fly J jammed into the side of a freight car before no but he left it for repairs in a blacksmith shop a long distance from here do you know if he had any enemies any one who might wish him out of the way not that I 1 know of unless no I 1 cannot think of any was he in the habit of carrying money ile he never carried it tar far no he never had more than enough tor for cur rent expenses expenses mr jamieson Jam leson got git up then and began to pace the room it was an unwonted concession to the occasion then I 1 think we get at it by elimination the chances are against flight it if he was hurt we find no trace of him it looks almost like an abduction this young dr walker have you any idea why mr innes should have gone there last night 1 I cannot understand it gertrude said thoughtfully 1 I dont think he knew dr walker at all and their relations could hardly have been cordial under the circumstances jamieson Jam leson pricked up his ears and little by little he drew fr from 0 m us the unfortunate story of s love affair and the fact that louise was waa going to marry dr walker mr air jamieson Jam leaon listened attentively there are some interesting developments 0 here he said thoughtfully the woman who caal claims m ll 11 to be the mother of lucien wallace wali ae e has not come back your nephew has apparently been spirited away there la Is an organized attempt being made to en fact it has been e entered n t e red witness the incident with the cook yesterday and I 1 have a now new piece ot of inform information ailon ile he looked carefully away from oertrude gertrude mr john dailey bailey la Is not at his knickerbocker apartments and I 1 dont know where lie he Is its a hash what it Is its a chinese puzzle they wont fit together unless unless mr air dalley bailey and your rief nephew iliew have again and once again gertrudo gertrude surprised me they are not together she sald said hotly I 1 know where mr nalley bailey Is anil and my brother hi other Is ili not with him miss Gerl gertrude rude he bo avid it you and miss louiss louise would only tell tell me everything you know and surmise about this business I 1 should be able to do a great many things I 1 believe I 1 could find your brother and I 1 might be able to well to do some other dut but gertrudes glance didiot falter nothing that I 1 know could help yorito find halsey alsey II she said stubbornly I 1 y 1 I know absolutely as aa tittle little ot of his bis disappearance as you do and I 1 can only say this I 1 do not trust dr think he hated halsey arid and he would get rid ot of him it if lie could perhaps you are right in tact fact I 1 had some such theory myself out nut dr walker went out late last night to a serious caso case in Summit summitville ville find Is still there burns traced him there we have made guarded inquiry at the greenwood club and through the village there Is absolutely nothing to go on but this on the embankment above the railroad at the point where we found the machine Is a small house an ali old woman and a daughter who Is very lame live there they say that they distinctly heard the shock when the dragon fly hit the car and they went to the bottom ot of their garden and looked over ever the automobile was there they could see the lights and they thought some one bad been injured it was very dark but they could make out two figures standing together the women were curious and leaving the fence they went back and by a roundabout path down to the road when they got there the car was still standing the abo headlight broken and the bonn bonnet e it crushed but there was no one to bo b 0 seen been the detective went away immediately and to gertrude and me was left the womans comans part to watch and wait ny by luncheon nothing iad bad been found and I 1 was frantic I 1 went upstairs to Hal halseys room finally from i sheer inability to sit alt across from gertrude any longer and meet her terror liddy was wa in my dressing room suspiciously red eyed and trying to put a right sleeve ln jn a left arm bole of go new waist for me I 1 was too much shaken to scold what name did that woman in the kitchen give sho she demanded viciously ripping out the offending sleeve bliss I 1 mattle nilas bliss I 1 replied bliss X M D B well not what she has on her suitcase it la Is marked N F C the now new cook and her ber initials troubled me not all I 1 put on my bonnet and sent for what the casanova liveryman called a stylish turnout having once made up my mind to a course of action I 1 am not one to turn back warner drove me he was plainly disgusted and lie he steered the livery horse as he would tho the dragon dm eon fly feeling uneasily with ills his left foot for the clutch and working his right elbow at an imaginary born every time a dog got in tho the way warner had something on his mind all and d after we had turned into the road lie he voiced it miss innes lie he said 1 I overheard a part of a conversation yesterday that I 1 understand it m my y business to understand it for that matter hut but ive been thinking nil day that id better tell you yesterday afternoon while you and miss gertrude were out driving I 1 had got t the h e car in some sort of shape again after the fire and I 1 went to the library to call mr innes to see it I 1 went into the he living room where miss liddy said bald he was wag and halfway half way across the library I 1 heard beard him talking to sonne some one lie ile seemed to bo be walking up and down and ho he was in a rage I 1 can tell you what did ho say the first thing I 1 heard was waa excuse me miss innes but its what I 1 lie e said the damned rascal lie he sal said d ill see him in well in hell bell was w 1 s what he said in hell first then jhc n somebody else spoke up it was a woman she said 11 1 I warned them but they thought I 1 would be afraid A woman did you wait to see w who it it was 1 I spying miss innes warner said eald with dignity nut the next thing caught roy my attention she said 1 I knew there was wag something wrong froni from the start A man well one day and dead the next without some reabon rca son 1 I 1 thought she was speaking of 11 and nil you dont know who it was I 1 exclaimed warner Wn you had blid the key hey to this whole occurrence in your hands bands and did not see it however there was wag nothing to be done I 1 resolved to make inquiry when I 1 got home and in the meantime my present errand absorbed me this was nothing less leas than to see louise armstrong and to attempt to t 0 drag from her what she knew or suspected of halsema halseys Hal seya disappearance but here as in every directs direction on I 1 I 1 turned I 1 was bailles balt bail led A neat maid answered the bell but 8 aari lie stood blood squarely in the doorway and it was impossibly impossible to preserve ones olios dignity and pass her ilass armstrong Is very ill anil and unable to seo see any one she said I 1 did not believe her and mrs armstrong la is she eho also 1117 sho she Is with miss louise and and cannot bo be disturbed tell her it Is miss innes and that it la Is a matter ot of tho the greatest importance tin ci it would be of no use miss innes my orders aro are positive at that moment a heavy step sounded d on the stairs past tho the maids white strapped shoulder I 1 could c 0 u id see a familiar thatch ot or gray eray hair ond and in a moment I 1 was face to face with dr vart rt ile iio was very grave brave and ills his customary geniality was tinged with rp you are the very woman I 1 van want t to see ee he said promptly send aw away fly your trap and let me drive you home what Is this about your nephew ile iio has disappeared doctor not only that but there Is every evidence that ho he has been either cither abducted or I 1 could not finish tho the doctor helped me into his cap capacious nelous buggy in silence until we had got a little distance he be did not speak then he ha turned and looked at me now tell mo me all about it he bo said ile he heard beard me through without speaking and you think louise knows some soun th thing ng he said when I 1 had bad finished 1 I dont in fact act I 1 am sure euro of it the tn best evidence of it Is this she asked me if he ha had been heard from or it if anything had been learned she wont allow walker in the room and she mado made me promise to see you and tell you this dont give up the search tor for him find him and find him soon boon ho la Is living well I 1 said it sho she knows that she kno snows a more she la Is a very cru cruet el and ungrateful girl she la Is a very sick girl he said gravely neither you nor I 1 can judge her until wo we know everything both she he and her mother are arc ghosts of their former selves under all this these these two sudden deaths this bank robbery the invasions at Sunny alde nai and halseys Hal disappearance there Is some bome mystery that mark my words will come out some day and when it does we shall find and louise armstrong a victim then wo we drove slowly home I 1 had the doctor put roe me down at the rate gate and I 1 walked to the house past the lodge clodgo where we had found louise and later poor thomas on the drive where I 1 had bad scon been a man watch lag tho the lodge and where later rosio had been frightened past the east entrance where so short a time before the most obstinate effort I 1 had ad been made to enter the house and chero that night two weeks ago liddy laddy and I 1 had bad seen the strange woman not far from the west wing lay the blackened ruins of the stables I 1 felt like a ruin myself as I 1 paused on the broad veranda before I 1 entered the house two private detectives had arrived in ili my iny absence and it was waa a relief to td turn over to them tho the responsibility ft Z IVI gertrude of 0 the house and grounds mr air camle son bon they said bald had arranged for more to assist in the search for the missing roan man and at that time the country was being scoured in all directions the household staff was ua again depleted depicted that afternoon liddy was waiting in to tell me that the new cook had cone bag and baggage without wait |
