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Show m0 e MAY DAY mm MYSTERY iol- Octavas Roq Cohere prtviV" h Ottciyuf Hot Cokj w. M.u.sertvicfc gesture. ,"1 cannot breathe, I cannot can-not move. I am scared." "You you mean somebody really grabbed you?" "No !" Mike's eyes rolled with terror ter-ror at the very thought. "I mean 1 feel as bad like somebody does that I am scared. I am frightened. And I run downstairs." Gleason looked up. "We'd better bet-ter 'phone the police. Rube. If we don't call the cops we'll get ourselves our-selves mixed up in this. And I guess we'd better 'phone the dean, too." Gleason walked unsteadily into the fraternity house and called the Marland police station. Then he telephoned to the dean and returned to the-porch. It was a ghastly thing made even more grisly by the perfect day ; the sensuous, flower-scented breezes of first summer; the carefree, care-free, strolling groups of students ; laughter and jollity and careless youth. And upstairs the body of a young man lying dead. Murdered. It wasn't believable. The two young men were appalled by their own knowledge of surrounding circumstances. cir-cumstances. There was so much they knew which might prove damning. damn-ing. A small car jerked to a halt in front of the fraternity house and two men alighted. One of them was tall and broad and wore the uniform uni-form of the Marland police force. The other, wearing civilian clothes, was short and squat Students strolling on the Row or lounging on the verandas of fraternity frater-nity houses, stared with sudden interest in-terest at Psi Tau Theta. There was a general movement in the direction of the house. A young man from Lambda Beta Pi addressed the uniformed uni-formed policeman who stood on the lawn of Psi Tau Theta. "What's wrong, officer?" The cop answered tersely. "Murder !" "Good G d. . . . You don't fraternity house and turned In at Phi Tau Theta. "Pat Thayer in?" he asked. "Yeh . . . upstairs." Then, when he had entered the house, they looked at one another bewilderedly. The affair was too puzzling for mere conversation. Occasionally Oc-casionally one would shake his head, but speech was not necessary. Each knew that the other was thinking in circles. "I'll say this much," commented Gleason after a five-minute silence: "Pat Thayer has sure gotten popular popu-lar with a mixed crowd." "Yeh . . ." agreed Rube. "Or unpopular !" For five minutes more nothing happened. Then, at ten minutes past two o'clock, Larry Welch appeared ap-peared in the doorway. tie crossed the veranda with quick steps and descended to the walk in a single jump. The two boys stared after him, then directed their gazes toward each other. "Happy lad," commented Gleason. "He looked almost scared." "Ain't it the truth? You reckon " "1 don't reckon anything. All I know is I'd hate to have Larry Welch get as sore at me as he seems to be at somebody right now. I never nev-er knew that bird could get real angry." At fifteen minutes after tvo o'clock . . . almost before the mellow mel-low chimes of the quarter hour had died out from the tower of Old Main . . . something happened : something eeriely terrible, something some-thing which jarred the two students to their feet and caused cold sweat to break out on their foreheads. From upstairs in the fraternity house there came a wild shriek ; an inhuman howl. There was an instant's in-stant's pause and then the howl was repeated and there was a sound of feet running heavily down the stairway, stair-way, and on the summer air certain words came to the startled ears of the two boys. I "Oh 1 G d . . . oh, my G d !" cj SYNOPSIS I ea'oinette Peyton, eenlor at the Crsity of Marland, resents Pat-'." Pat-'." Thayer's attentions to Ivy i, seventeen-year-old coed, and is a stormy scene, the tension Increased by Max Vernon, an-student, an-student, reproaching Ivy for . I king a date" with him. Thayer '"Vernon threaten each other. OUbli Welch, Ivy's brother, profes-lan profes-lan (. the university, Is appealed to , i ny to end his sister's friend-' friend-' a:'ivith Thayer. Welch and Tony US J:n are in love. Welch does not Of (hat he can do. Tony then tells .he Is married to Thayer, but Is ife only in name. Larry de-1Gti de-1Gti Lies to see Thayer and end his -dt'ation with Ivy. Tony per-u per-u j 3 him to wait until she has led to her husband. She does :W siting him in his room at a 53 Is nity house, thtr "What?" He hesitated. "I'm not at liberty to say." "No. Certainly you aren't I'm ashamed of you, Bud. You're not playing fair. I guess if it's so important im-portant that I keep away from Pat Thayer it's important enough tor you to tell me what you know." "I promised Tony " "Naturally, she'd make you promise prom-ise ; because most likely whatever she said isn't so." "That isn't very nice, Sis." "And is it nice for you to come knocking Pat Thayer when you know I'm crazy about him? Is it?" He tried to be fair. "I guess it sounds pretty bad," he confessed. "But you know I'm honest, Sis and what I'm telling you isn't guesswork. guess-work. It isn't based on rumor. Thayer isn't any man for you. And I don't want you going with him any more. You must lay off him." "I don't have to do what you say. I guess if you weren't at this college col-lege I'd do what I want. And I'm not going to fool you, Bud. I'll be with Pat as much as he wants me to, and I guess that'll be a good little bit." "Even if I ask you not to?" "Even then. Now listen " She stepped close and put her hand on his sleeve. "1 know you mean well, Bud, but you're all wet on this. Pat is a .swell fellow. And he's crazy about me " "Not that bird!" 8 "Stop !" Unconsciously, she became be-came quite melodramatic. "I'm not going to let even you talk about Pat that way." "No-o? I guess If I know he's rotten. ..." ! A human figure catapulted onto the veranda ; a disheveled, wild-eyed figure which was making passionate gestures and struggling futilely to say something. They recognized him instantly: Mike Carmicino, janitor of the fraternity fra-ternity house. He grabbed Farnum's arm. He tried to talk, but no words came; only the gibberish of terror. Farnum grabbed Carmicino by the shoulder and glared at him. "What's the matter?" he asked hoarsely. "Wh-what's all the yelling yell-ing about?" Carmicino gestured wildly toward the interior of the house. "Meester Thayer I" he croaked "Meester Thayer!" "What about him?" Carmicino covered his eyes with his hands. "He is dead!" he groaned. "Some- tllei'CHAPTER III Continued ' 5 n 'ere's something funny. . . . think the more we say noth-Arnlie noth-Arnlie less we'll get mixed up in was -I(ial." iland re was a SOund of feet on the cay Inside the fraternity toouse. tres;)0y8 looked toward the door SenK)e to see Max Vernon come arlia nesP manner still puzzled them, twice loonlike face was sterny set, 'otte jt a somewhat grotesque ap-state-lce of futile anger; he was lebratg with short, quick strides Indii: the veranda. was wearing a different suit the one which had adorned Savdure a half hour since and he ;nt D.J even more engrossed with :he toits of no highly pleasant na-and, na-and, : adjoiilescendcd to the walk without restieh as a glance at Tarnum nd ptlleason. They notlcfd that ;he bt his arm he carried a sizable enteik They saw him ranch his rademd pitch the bundle Into the was in. Then, with more speed race, Vernon Jumped behind -eel, kicked the starter, clashed irs savagely and jfked Into .d. nothing's puzzling me," re-eahl re-eahl 1 Itube slowly. job Ich Is the most remarkable e pf.neiinn : Tony Peyton's visit Thayer's room, or Max Ver-wild-eyed fury. I ask you, which?" Ijjlson gave a i .'ompt and ex-jjanswer. ex-jjanswer. ;h I" he said tersely. ie CHAPTER IV yiWEI.CIJ emerged from the 1 jinin's dormitory and confront- at.' brcher. Larry, gazing at th Vith big-brotherly affection, sr Jit difficult to reconcile him s. " the Idea that any affair of . Dw';:ai't In which Ivy was enn- Irani was to be taken seriously. washer first words sounded the rery me b"J gihtm'iow exactly why you've come. d mot' w . . . .it w . Jr,Kt Its to tell me I ve got to ,,', Cat Thayer. The answer Is sal i" won't do It." mean. ... "I don't mean nothln', young feller. fel-ler. Somebody's been murdered in yonder and nobody's to go In or git out. That's all." The startled young man told his companion. The news sped from lip to lip. Who was it? No, not Rube Farnum : he had been seen on the porch. Then somebody mentioned Pat Thayer. Many persons mentioned men-tioned Pat Thayer. No one knew where the rumor started, but Thayer's Thay-er's name was on every lip. The policeman on the lawn allowed nobody no-body to approach within hearing distance of the group on the veranda veran-da ; the militant, positive figure of John Reagan, chief of the Marland plainclothes force; Mike Carmicino, the janitor, petrified with fear and trembling violently; Rube Farnum, tall and limp and frightened; Phil Gleason, reduced from his customary custom-ary alertness to the shriveled miniature minia-ture of his usual positive self. Reagan was questioning Farnum. Rube was struggling to be fair and honest; to remember things and yet to avoid injustice to anyone. He was absolutely and abysmally miserable. Then there emerged from the Main building a tall and dignified man before whom a path opened in the throng of students. Whitman Boyd, dean of Marland, turned in before the tragic fraternity house and was promptly stopped by the policeman on duty. "No further for you," snapped the officer. Dean Boyd spoke quietly. "Are you In charge. Officer?" "No. That'll be John Reagan yonder." yon-der." And he gestured toward the veranda. "Will you ask him If I may speak to him? I'm dean, of the college col-lege and I'd like to find out whnt has happened." The policeman called out to Rea- "Oh. That Isn't fair, Larry. It isn't. You're being nasty about Pat and you don't know anything. Well, 1 guess he's told me all the bad things about himself that anyone else knows, and I love him. I'm going go-ing to keep on going with him, and I won't have you interfering. I shall positively stick with Pat. Now are you going to leave us alone?" "No," he said honestly, "I'm not." "I warn' you, Bud you'd better." His eyes narrowed. "What do you mean: I'd better?" "I mean this," she said slowly. 'If you try to keep Pat Thayer and me apart, I'll marry him I" "You'll what?" "I'll marry him." "But but you can't." "Because you say so?" He cursed himself. He wished he hadn't told Tony that he'd keep her secret. "You you just can't, that's all," he said lamely. "We'll see." She was aflame with Indignation: "I'm going to ask him myself If he'll marry me I And don't think I don't mean that, Bud because be-cause I do I" He stared at her for a minute. She was his sister and he knew that she was serious. He sensed the futility of further argument and turned away abruptly. She jumped In front of him, her eyes blazing. "Where are yon going, Larry?" His face was more grim and forbidding for-bidding than she had ever seen It. "1 can't hammer any sense Into your head, Ivy so I'm going to see Pat Thayer." "Oh . . . you wouldn't dare I You'll be starting something!" She was trembling violently and her face was pale with anger. "I warn you, Larry you'll be starting something." "Somebody Have Murdered Meester Thayer!" gan. "This guj is the big boss, Chief. Can he come up?" Reagan's keen eyes surveyed the dean. He jerked his head affirmatively. affirma-tively. "Let him through." The dean mounted the veranda steps, his arrival sending a glow of thanksgiving through the breasts of Rube Farnum and Phil Gleason. He spoke directly to Reagan. "My name Is Whitman Boyd," he said quietly. "I understand that someone has been killed." "Murdered. Young feller named Thayer." "Good G d! Then It's true I beard the students gossiping." "You've heard nothing else?" "No. That's why I came. To find out." "Well he's dead all right enough. Stabbed in the throat. 'Taln't pleasant pleas-ant up In that room." The dean shook his head. "What do you wish done, .Mr. Reagan?" Rea-gan?" "Just exactly nothing," said the detective crisply. "Right now I'm gonna 'phone headquarters for a couple more harness hulls to police po-lice the grounds. Nobody's to come in here and no one's to leave. These Ihree fellers ain't to move from where they are." "Yon mean." gasped Gleason, "that we're under arrest?" John Reagan grinned broadly. "Not yet you ain't, young feller. But don't get Impatient." (TO BE CONTIWED.) tolerant smile died on his ul be frowned slightly. V, Ivy?" Efanse 1 love him. And I guess l enough to know my own I . about a man like Thaver from ' ,Ue( stamped her tiny foot. "Tony hy has beet) talking to you. she? She's been lilling you rtjjl poison. She's Jealous, that's o," he answered soberly, Xtcllf' not jealous." r reii-v do you know?" pile ha It." g ajj'nph !" Ivy spoke with the satisi-,ri(y of W(.111iv intuit ()ri idea ss she's got the wool pulled :g ' ,'nir eyes, too. 1 guess I could 11 she was Jealous when she "s 1,1 t,,e "mver n'in I 'e it. " l,.v every single word she ..wed isn't Jealous. Ivy. 1 feel con- DeV of thnt" If ; because you're crazy about car'? lat's why. Yon take my ad ikt)f:5ud. and lay off her. She's f you off against Pat. 1 guess ENT M-stand this better than you s cit) You've got to quit. Thayer." --''lips pressed tightly together when did you start telling iat I must do?" ijl,fjO' for your own good." tube1' yes because a Jealous worn rna'l'Us the man who's crazy about lat's why. And because she's u fooled. Honest. 1 never ( have thought Tony Peyton "'';le so small and mean." tlis' ' .eSiil:;! 'S'l I that. Sis; believe me. 'ujoo"' wll!" rm la Iking about. She a to !e a K"d deal" 'bout this afternoon?" uit other things." body have murdered Meester Thayer I" Over the bowed head of the babbling, crouching, shaken, sobbing janitor, the two fraternity brothers faced each other. Their eyes were distended with horror as they struggled to comprehend the message mes-sage which Mike Carmicino brought to them. They led the janitor to a chair, where he bent forward, his squat, muscular body racked with dry sobs. The boys were badly shaken, but at least they tried to think clearly, and Farnum's voice, when he questioned the janitor, was almost steady. "You say Mr. Thayer Is dead?" Carmicino shuddered. "Si-si, signore. Lie is quite completely com-pletely murdered. He Is on the floor of hees room. There Is much blood. Ue does not breathe. Ilees heart It does not beat. I am quite sure he is dead." "Good Lord. . . . How did you find him?" "1 see the door of Meester Thayer's Thay-er's room is not entirely shut. I look In and I see one foot and one leg on the lloor. I theenk thnt Is very funny that Meester Thayer should lie on the lloor and not move. Perhaps he is drunk. So I think I will put him on f lie bed and shut ' the door so nobody will know he Is drunk. I go in the room and then I see the blood and and and " "And what?'' "I stand there for a minute. Two minutes. I do not understand thai Meester Thayer what is so kind t' me have come to a sad endin? Then I see he is dead and sonit-Ibing sonit-Ibing grab me right here " He j touched his throat with a dramatic He moved away. "Y'ou're darn right 1 will," be said sharply. She stood like a little statue as he strode off down the path which led through the glen and so up the hill opposite. He tried to think clearly; tried to rid himself of the prejudice which must necessarily arise be cause Tony Peyton was the other woman in the case. One thing was clear to him In that moment of worry ; be must see Thayer Immediately. Imme-diately. There must be a show down. He couldn't handle Ivy. but his teeth clenched as he reflected upon the fact that he could mighty well handle Pat Thayer. Actually. Larry experienced an exultation at the prospect that Thayer might not he easy to handle. Ivy bail roused him more than he knew. He was boiling internally and ho wanted a vent for his over wrought feelings. Rube Farnum and Phi) Gleason were Siill lounging on the veranda of the Psi Tau Theta house. It was I'.ube who saw Larry irst. "And now nnor her " he drawled "Here comes Larry Welch looking like someone had socked him be low the bell If precedent means anything he's coining straight here.' But even Farnum did not take his own words seriously, and so bis Jaw dropped as Larry passed his own |