Show THE LIFE OF T THE H E PARTY BY ELIZABETH JORDAN a 0 D Appl apilton Ap pIton ton century ce co ino SYNOPSIS young rex hale calls on casper kneeland friend of his father in new york W 0 and finds him proudly bucce successful si saul but st strangely r preoccupied lie he tells hale of 0 his wiles gifts death while h insane one invites him for or the summer to ito halcyon camp his home on lon long fuli island and promises him he will be use useful usefull as his bis secretary there hale Is joined at lunch by fred ainsworth an unpopular college mate also at halcyon who leaves him with a feeling of unpleasant mystery he Is met at the train by mrs wilbur nash whom he questions about the menage and experiences a disturbing premonition the premonition tion I 1 Is s barely eased by the coin comfortable Kne elands for hospitality of hosanna elderly sister and ana her friend ruth forbes middle aged sophisticate in his room hale finds a soiled paper printed this plase plage dani dangerous erous hale meets the rest of the strange group dr craig psychiatrist friend of bert kneeland nervous young son of casper and beautiful but moody joan kneeland niece of the house ainsworth drops in at his room questions him about his reactions and tells him of berts hopeless love tor for his heiress cousin and that mrs birs forbes Is down and out the whole group seem to get on each others nerves later hale sees hosanna furtively meeting a shabby man in the woods the maid tells of the recent poisoning of a cat and dog mrs nash suggests that ainsworth has some hold on them returning from a swim hale finds in his room a clever sketch oi ol 01 skull and crossbones kneeland arrives for the weekend week end also curious about hales reactions and asks him to be his substitute b host ost a life 0 of the party and meanwhile try to solve tte the mystery of the behavior of them all CHAPTER IV continued 9 when the games ended bert and hale went upstairs together hale had expected to say a brisk goodnight at the door of his room when he realized that young kneeland was lingering on the threshold as if he had something to say he changed his mind A tete a tete with the son of the house in this new mood of his might reveal something worth knowing come in and have a cigarette he invited and kneeland was across the threshold before he had finished the sentence once there however his self consciousness returned he was very fidgety and bungled simple actions like the lighting of his cigarette his hand shook as he struck a second match hale observed this and made an inward comment the boys nerves are shot to pieces but when the two men were comfortably seated in easy chairs by an open window facing the sea kneeland relaxed 1 I dont intend to keep you very long he began apologetically 1 I just want to say now ive a chance to do it that well that I 1 think your being here for this summer is a corking idea im strong for it thanks im glad you feel that way if you dont mind telling me rex added with a grin id be glad to know why you do kneeland was taken aback by the directness of the question he flushed and stammered why the usual reasons I 1 s suppose fit in and all that sort of thing he said uneasily he added with more assurance 1 I think you can be very helpful to dad I 1 guess you can see that im a total tota I 1 loss to him so far hale made a perfect smoke ring in what way can I 1 help your father he asked quietly kneeland stared at him 1 I dont know on dads mind he said slowly he mentioned the matter to me except to say be here this summer and handle his home mail at a guess id say he likes you and thinks brighten us up god knows we need brightening his voice sharpened and rose as he went on and his mask slipped aside a trifle we seem to be getting horribly on one an others nerves he jerked out craig cant talk of anything but diseased brains im sorry now I 1 asked him here ainsworth rides dad as it if he aeria were a cowboy on a bucking broncho and dad acts as if he were the broncho he kick the bounder off the premises and I 1 cant imagine why ive asked him he shut me up in a hurry you kicked craig off the premises either hale said gently ile he offered his guest a fresh cigarette and lit another for himself him self herberts mask settled into P place lace again a different matter he sai said d stiffly craigs my best pal weve been together pretty constantly the last five years its been mighty decent of him to bother with a bonehead like me but I 1 had a whole summer of him before and he stopped what does he talk of when youre alone with him hale asked casually young Kne elands voice dropped the same thing but more of it he tells me about his damned experiments peri ments and his clini clinic c cases he says he knows rm im interested in ev e grything ery thing that concerns him he says he has no one else to talk to and I 1 guess a fact H hes es a lonely chap I 1 suppose why he puts up with me he actually asked to sit in his laboratory and watch me him carve up his ca davers after one SO go of that I 1 drew the line right there bert shuddered now I 1 keep kee p pretty much to myself myiel f in the 1 d daytime I 1 hustle off alone in my boat or car I 1 have to bear a au 11 about his work at night though youve heard his gay prattle at dinner he comes to my room when we go upstairs and talks his head oft off he knows I 1 dont like it im bored stiff by it in fact I 1 hate it but well hes frightfully tactless you dont dent mean he has ca davers here rex asked in amazement kneeland looked at him uncertainly he appeared to fear that he had said too much it was equally clear however that he was finding a certain satisfaction in pouring ou out it these revelations not whole ones he muttered at last bits pickled in a small vat he has up in his laboratory he gets the things from his hospital brains mostly theres no secret about it he hastened to add the vat is always fastened with a combination lock when he there and the servants have orders to keep out of the room he cleans it himself he considers every minute lost when he experimenting or talking about his cases craig thinks hes on the verge of a big discovery I 1 guess he is hes so infernally fer nally clever but I 1 wish to god hed stop talking about it he had got back to his grievance and rex nodded on the face of it the thing was simple enough A case of scientific passion selfishness and utter self absorption hale was looking be 4 why should mrs nash give jane a cat low the face of it and his own face grew grave his reply was still casual craig is a self centered type he said he has lived and worked alone so long that he has lost his sense of proportion we had a man at huelva who was like that the rest of us fled from him ia as s if he had been a cholera germ he talked on making an amusing story of the experience with the man at huelva herbert brightened hale had got what he wanted he kept the conversation on an impersonal plane during the rest of the call and kneeland responded eagerly he stayed sn an hour longer evidently unwilling to leave at last he glanced at his wrist watch and jumped up with an apology awfully sorry he said 1 I had no idea how late its been a bully talk hale went with him to the door and paused there with his hand on the knob if I 1 were you he suggested c cheerfully heer fully 1 I let craig make any more night visits id lock the door and let him think I 1 was asleep herbert shook his brown head 1 I tried that a few times he admitted he like it he was funny about it surprised and awfully hurt he says it helps him to thresh things out with me he says it clears his brain and that sort of thing 1 all right let him clear his brain some other way hale retorted 1 I think he needs some mental housecleaning house cleaning just lock yourself in and snore when he raps after a few times he may get the idea that you want some sleep youve got to have it I 1 dont believe id sleep at all it if he spent pent many of the night hours hour deac describing bribing his experiments to me 1 I dont sleep much herbert confessed he added in a relieved tone 1 I think ill take your advice anyway ill try it dont mind if he doe ant like it hale laughed it will be good for him to learn that he cant have everything he likes hes es being abominably selfish about this he stood by his open door for a moment looking after young knee lands disappearing figure he R ahad had learned through the cas casual ual talk around him since his arrival that the son of the house a slept at the rear end 0 of f the upper hall next to his father faille s room and bath and on the same side ide as hales room be yond the elder kneeland Kne elands s room was joans room this was directly opposite that in which craig made himself comfortable with ainsworth ainsa orth as his next door neighbor mrs spencer forbes and miss hosanna had too rooms and a connecting bathroom at the front end of the hall directly across from hales quarters there were also two guest rooms on the third floor where craig had his laboratory these of course were now unoccupied hale locked his door and strolled toward his writing table he felt very wideawake wide awake he decided to write a letter or two to quiet his nerves before trying to sleep he was not certain that young knee lands confidence and disingenuousness were entirely sincere the lad would bear watching he reached the writing table pulled out his chair and stopped short he had been pleased by the tables sensible location next to the rear window and by the generous supply of stationery its numerous drawers contained now directly under hs eyes one of its sheets of letter paper lay before him it was white with the words halcyon camp embossed across the top in dark green the post office address and telephone number of the camp were engraved in the right hand corner it was not these things at which hale looked he had seen them before the paper was a sheet from his own supply but directly in its center erect and malignant was a very clever pen and ink sketch of a cobra coiled to strike below it four fo ur printed words straggled down the side of the page WHY WATE FOR THIS this time hale did not grin over the message he looked at it thoughtfully for a long moment then he impaled it on a pin and picked it up he dropped it into an envelope took a bill case from an inside pocket put the envelope into it and restored the case to the pocket he undressed slowly and deliberately libera tely he had considerable thinking to do he decided to do it in bed in the darkness returning from the bathroom in his pajamas and moving toward his bed he again stopped short with a muffled exclamation something was pressing against his feet he looked down he had turned out all the lights save the one bulb on the his bed by its reading lamp over k glow however he distinctly saw his visitor it was a large and really beauy beautiful black cat with green CY eyes and a green ribbon around its neck neck the ribbon ended in a smart bow hale stared down at the animal wondering how it had got into his room it might have slipped past him unnoticed when he opened the me door to speed herbert on his way dont you know this a safe house for animals he asked it theres a vivisectionist experimenting on the top floora just the same ill have to put you out I 1 cant have you prowling around here all night on second thought he picked up the purring creature and then crossed to the bell and rang it it was after midnight but he had seen that the lower hau hall was still lit when herbert left banks must be somewhere around he would make an effort to put the cat into banks care banks was around he responded to the bell almost at once his impassive face brightened when he saw the cat 1 I just discovered this visitor hale explained 1 I fancy ashes been asleep under the bed thank you sir banks took the animal which accepted the change philosophically though with a lingering backward glance at her host ost jane will be relieved sir he e added ashes been in quite a state about the cat all evening its her cat yes sir mrs wilbur nash sent it over this morning as a present jane was pleased but ashes a little overanxious seeing happened to the other pets her name banks added stroking the cats head is daisy why should mrs nash give jane a cat hale asked curiously Is jane an old employee of hers no sir janes sister aellen ellen worked for mrs nash for five years then one day ellen fell down the cellar steps in mrs nases town house and broke her neck it was a most unusual occurrence sir it got into the newspapers it made a strong bond between mrs nash and jane mrs nash banks added solemnly paid all the funeral expenses 11 and gives jane cats besides I 1 see A generous nature ps hale threw open the door put daisy to bed and seek your own re spose ose he invited for a moment he watched banks sedate progress down the hall As he stood there he heard the sound of light tapping at the far end of the corridor he glanced along the passage craig stood at herberts door tapping on it gently but persistently hale returned to his room slipped slipped on his dressing gown and strolled out of the room and down the hall craig was still at herberts door he was no longer tapping he was merely waiting hale approached him with a winning smile anything I 1 can do he asked cheerfully no thanks I 1 merely wanted a word with bert craig stared at him bleakly and without moving 1 I think hes sound asleep hale suggested 1 I hope so I 1 thought he looked ill tonight you see he added glancing at his wrist watch its pretty late its twenty minutes to one I 1 thought you might be sick when I 1 heard you tapping can I 1 offer you a drink or anything no thanks im turning in myself goodnight good night the look that went with the words was not a benediction hale responded to it with a friend friendly Y nod he heard craigs bedroom door close with a snap as lie he returned to his own room TO BE CONTINUED coNTINUE Dj |