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CHAPTER XI—Continued —1ft Vance jumped down and turned to us. "Frightfully sorry," he said. "Height does affect most people. I didn’t realize." He looked at the girl. "Will you forgive me? . ." As he spoke Floyd Card e n stepped out on the roof through the passageway door. "Sorry, Vance," he apologized, "but Doc Siefert wants Miss Beeton downstairs—if she feels equal to it. The mater is putting on one of her acts." The nurse hurried away immedi ately, and Garden strolled up to Vance. He was again fussing with his pipe. "A beastly mess," he mumbled. "And you’ve certainly put the fear of God and destruction into the hearts of the pious boys and girls here this afternoon. They all got the jitters after you talked with them." He looked up. "The fact is, Vance, if you should want to see Kroon or Zalia Graem or Madge Weatherby for any reason this eve ning, they’ll be here. They’ve all asked to come. Must return to the scene of the crimg, or something of that kind Need mutual support." "Perfectly natural Quite ’’ Vance nodded "I understand their feel ings . . . Beastly mess, as you say . . . And now suppose we go down ” Doctor Siefert met us at the foot of the stairs. was just coming up for you. Mr Vance Mrs Garden insists on seeing you gentlemen " Then he added in a low tone: "She's in a tantrum A bit hysterical Don’t take anything she may say too aw- nously ’* We entered the bedroom Mrs Garden, in a salmon-pink silk dress ing gown, was in bed. bolstered ep by a collection of pillows Her face was drawn and. in the slanting rays of the night light, seemed flabby and unhealthy Her eyes glared de moniacally as she looked at us. and her Angers clutched nervously at the quill Mias Beeton stood at the far aide of the bed. looking down at her patient with calm concern, and Professor Garden leaned heavily against the wtndow etll opposite, his face e mask of troubled solicitude "I have something to say. and I want you all to hear It." Mrs Gar den ■ erne# was shrill and strident "My nephew has been killed to day—and 1 know who did it!" She glared venomously at Floyd Garden ! who stood near the foot of the bed. 1 fua pipe hanging limply from the comer of his mouth "You did It?" She pointed an acrus*rg Anger at ! her son "You’ve always hated Woody You ve been jealous of him No one else had any reason to do | this despicable thing I suppose 1 should lie for you and shield you | But to what end* So you could kill somebody else* You killed Woody, and I know you killed him. And I know why you did it . . ." Floyd Garden stood through this tirade without moving and without perceptible emotion "And why did I do It, mater?" "Because vou were jealous of him. Because you knew that I had divided my estate equally between you two—and you want it all for yourself. You always resented the fact that I loved Woody as well as you. And now you think that by having got Woody out of the way, you’ll get everything when I die. But you’re mistaken. You’ll get nothing! Do you hear me? Nothing! Tomorrow I’m going to change my will. Woody’s share will go to your father, with the stipulation that you will never get or inherit a dollar of it. And your share will go to chari ty." She laughed hysterically and beat the bed with her clenched fists. Doctor Siefert had been watching the woman closely. He now moved a little nearer the bed. "An ice-pack, immediately,” he said to the nurse; and she went quickly from the room. Then he busied himself with his medicine case and deftly prepared a hypo dermic injection. The woman relaxed under his pa tient dictatorial scrutiny and per mitted him to give her the injec tion. She lay back on the pillows, staring blankly at her son. The nurse returned to the room and ar ranged the ice-bag for her patient. Doctor Siefert then quickly made out a prescription and turned to Miss Beeton. "Have this filled at once. A tea spoonful every two hours until Mrs. Garden falls asleep." Floyd Garden stepped forward and took the prescription. 'Til phone the pharmacy," he •aid. "It’ll take them only a few minutes to send it over." And be went out of the room. As we passed the den door, we eouM hear Floyd Garden leiephoo- rt taka riouaty when she’s hi this condition. She wiU probably have forgotten about it by tomorrow." "Her bitterness, however, did not ■earn entirely devoid of rationality," Vance returned. Siefert frowned but made no com ment on Vance's statement. In stead he said in his quiet well- modulated voice, as he sat down leisurely in the nearest chair: "This whole affair la very shocking. Floyd Garden gave me but a few details when I arrived. Would you care to enlighten me further?" Vance readily complied. He brief ly went over the entire case, be ginning with the anonymous tele phone message he had received the night before. (Not by the slight est sign did the doctor indicate Any previous knowledge of that tele phone call. He sat looking at Vance with serene attentiveness, like a specialist listening to the case his tory of a patient.) Vance withheld no important detail from him. ’And the rest," Vance concluded, "you yourself have witnessed.” Siefert nodded very slowly two or three times. 'A very serious situation," he commented gravely, as if making a diagnosis. "Some of the things you have told me seem highly 'signifi cant. A shrewdly conceived mur der—and a vicious one. Especial ly the hiding of the revolver in Miss Beeton’s coat and the attempt on her life with the bromin gas in the vault." "I seriously doubt," said Vance, ’that the revolver was put in Miss Beeton’s coat pocket with any in tention of incriminating her. I imagine it was to have been taken out of the house at the first oppor tunity. But I agree with you that the bromin episode is highly mysti- fyin’.” Vance, without appearing to "I Bergeaal J«*t Alter Yaw. 1 * watching the doctor me on your arrival here this after noon." be went on. "I was hoping that you might have torn lion which, coming from u familiar with the two here, might put us on the track to a solution." Siefert solemnly shook his head several limes. "No. no. I am sorry, but I am completely at a loss myself. When I asked to speak to you and Mr. Markham it was because I was naturally deeply interested in the situation here and anxious to hear what you might have to say about it." He paused, shifted slightty in his chair, and then asked: "Hive you formed any opinion from whht you have been able to learn?" / "Yes. Oh, yes. Frankly, how ever, I detest my opinion. I’d hate to be right about it. A sinister, un natural conclusion is forcing itself upon me. It’s sheer horror." He spoke with unwonted intensity. Siefert was silent, and Vance turned to him again. "I say, doctor, are you particu larly worried about Mrs. Garden’s condition?" A cloud overspread Siefert’s coun tenance, and he did not answer at once. "It’s a queer case,” he said at length, with an obvious attempt at evasion. "As I recently told you, it has me deeply puzzled. I’m bring ing Kattelbaum up tomorrow.” "Yes. As you say. Kattelbaum." Vance looked at the doctor dream ily. "My anonymous telephone mes sage last night mentioned radio active sodium. But equanimity is essential. Yes. By all means. Not a nice case, doctor—not at all a nice case . . . And now I think we’ll be toddlin’." Vance rose and Siefert also got up. “If there is anything whatever that I can do for you . ." he began. "We may call on you later," Vance returned, and walked toward the archway. Siefert did not follow us, but turned and moved slowly toward one of the front windows, where h« stood looking out, with his hands clasped behind him. We re-entered the hallway and found Sneed wait ing to help us with our coats We had just reached the door leading out of the apartment when the strident tonee of Mrs Garden’s vnfce assailed us again. Floyd Gar- "Tour solicitude won’t do you any good, rioyd." Mrs. Gerdau crlsd. "Being kind to ms now. am you? Telephoning for the praserip- tion—all attention and loving kind ness. But don’t think you're pull ing the wool over my eyes. It won’t make any difference. Tomor row I change my will! Tomorrow We continued on and heard no more. our way out. Shortly after nine o’clock the next morning there was a telephone call from Doctor Siefert. Vance was still abed when the telephone rang, and I answered it. The doctor’s voice was urgent and troubled when he asked that I summon Vance imme diately. Vance slipped into his Chi nese robe and sandals and went into the anteroom. , It was nearly ten minutes before he came out again. “Mrs. Garden was found dead in her bed this morning,” he drawled. "Poison of some kind. I’ve phoned Markham, and we’ll be going to the Garden apartment as soon as he comes. A bad business, Van—very bad." Markham arrived within half an hour. In the meantime Vance had dressed and was finishing his second cup of coffee. v "What’s the trouble now?" Mark ham demanded irritably, as he came into the library. "Perhaps now that I’m here, you’ll be good enough to forego your cryptic air." Vance looked up and sighed. "Do sit down and have a cup of coffee whUe I enjoy this cigarette. Really, y’know, it’s deuced hard to be lu cid on the telephone." He poured a cup of coffee, and Markham re luctantly sat down. "And please don’t sweeten the coffee,” Vance went on. "It has a delightfully sub tle bouquet, and it would be a pity to spoil it with saccharine." Markham, frowning defiantly, put three lumps of sugar in the cup. "Why am I here?” he growled. Vance drew deeply on his ciga rette and settled back lazily in his chair. "Siefert phoned me this morning, just before I called you. Explained he didn’t know your pri vate number at home and asked me to apologize to you for not notifying you direct." "Notifying me?" Markham set down his cup. "About Mrs. Garden. She's deed. Found so this morning in bed. Prob ably murdered " "Good God!" ’Yes. quite Not a nice situation. No. The lady died some time during the night -exact hour unknown ao yet. Siefert says H might have been caused by an overdose of the sleeping medicine he preecrtbed foe her. It’s all gone. And he says there was enough of It to do the trick On the other hand, ho ad mit* it might have beet chaptf.r xu Markham pushed his cup aside ertth e clatter and lighted a cigar. Where’s Siefert now*" he asked. "At the Gardena’. Very correct. Standing by. and ell that The nurse phoned him shortly after eight this morning—it was she who made the discovery when she took Mrs. Gar den’s breakfast In Siefert hastened over and after viewing the remains and probing round a bit called me. Said that, in view of yesterday’s events, he didn’t wish to go ahead until we got there." "Well, why don't we get along?" snapped Markham, standing up. Vance sighed and rose slowly from his chair. "There's really no rush. The lady can't elude us. And Siefert won't desert the ship." "Hadn't we better notify Heath?" suggested Markham. • "Yes—quite," returned Vance, as we went out. "I called the ser geant just after 1 phoned you. He's been up half the night working on the usual police routine. Stout fella. Heath. Amazin’ industry. But quite futile." Miss Beeton admitted us to the Garden apartment. She looked drawn and worried, but she gave Vance a faint smile of greeting which he returned. "I’m beginning to think this nightmare will never end, Mr. Vance,” she said. Vance nodded somberly, and we went on into the drawing-room where Doctor Siefert, Professor Garden, and his son were awaiting us. "I’m glad you’ve come, gentle men," Siefert greeted us, coming forward. Professor Garden sat at one end of the long davenport, his elbows resting on his knees, his face in his hands. He barely acknowledged our presence. Floyd Garden got to his feet and nodded abstractedly in our direction. A terrible change seemed to have come over him. He looked years older than when we had left him the night before. "What a hell ot.a situation!" he mumbled, focusing watery eyes on Vance. “The mater accuses me last night of putting Woody out of the way, and then threatens to cut me off in her will. And now she’s dead! And it was I who took charge of the prescription. The doc says it could have been the medicine that killed her." Vance looked at the man sharply. “Yes, yes." he said in a low, sympathetic tone. "I thought of ail that, too. don't y’ know. But it certainly won’t help you to be mor bid about it." (TO ft CUHTlMkUj X C. Thwifejr. May «. l«7 AROUND HOUSE Items of Interest to fho HousoWtft Fitting Your Hat—If you have a tight felt hat, hold it in the steam of a boiling kettle. When the felt is thoroughly damp it la easy to stretch it to the right size. • • • Milk Puddings Orange peel shredded very finely makes an ex cellent flavoring for milk pud dings. It is a pleasant change from nutmeg when added to rice pudding or baked custard. Cleaning Combs, Brashes—A teaspoon of ammonia in a quart of water will remove all grease and dirt from combs and brushes, after which they should be rinsed and dried in the sun. Protecting Mirrors—Keep mir rors out of the sun—it will cause spots and other blemishes. » • • Rust Remover—Onion juice will remove rust from tableware. V • • • Save Stockings—If stockings persistently wear out at the toes, try buying them one-half size larger. • • • Making Cocoa—Cocoa loses that raw taste if made with half milk and half water, then boiled. More nutritious and digestible, too. • # • Devilled Egg LUlies—Hard cook as many eggs as there are to be servings. Chill, then peel care fully. With a sharp knife cut strips from the large end to the center; remove yolks, mash and season with salt, pepper, mayon- Could Ws But Hssr— We laugh over the "private lives" of the ancients. What will posterity think is the funniest •bout ours? Trao history Is the record ef Ike progress ef the humsa spirit. You can not really like an ego tistic man. but at times you ad mire him. Ideas of beauty change; ftfl dered their faces until they looked as if they were ill; and they laced their stays so tight, they were. TK# Real PsopU The solid gold to human char acter M all that holds society to gether. Hew raid law Is. raosidertag that M has ta deal se mmtk with affairs af seatiasesl. Wounded vanity makes the bit terest enemies. Ons regrets his past about so much when it has been full of emp ty boredom so when It has been full of sinfulness. It Is rafties whs object to critics. Criticism — goad criticism — Is what there to net nearly enough ef. Bat there are everwhelming oceans ef gush. A goad scald to preferable to s smearer ef mo lasses. Some one said long ago that "Today's crisis anil be tomor row's joke." Strikes us that the funny paragraphsrs have been making jokes about today's crisis right along. naise and a little Worcestershire sauce. Carefully refill cavities having the white strips form the petals of the "lily." Lay each on a bed of curly endive. Accom pany with cheese straws. s • • Stowed Macaroni — Boil one pound macaroni in milk and wa ter for three-quarters of an hour, adding one-fourth ounce butter, salt, and an onion, stuck with cloves. Afterwards, drain the macaroni, add three ounces grat ed cheese, a little nutmeg, pep per, and a little milk or cream. Stew gently for five minutes and serve very hot. • • » Keeping Cheese Moist—To pre vent it from becoming dry 1 , keep it wrapped in butter muslin, or in the glazed hygienic paper in which some bread is wrapped. • • • Tough Pastry—Too much water will make pastry tough. WNU Service. Foreign Words ^ and Phrass* Touts msdaille a son (F.) Everything has its good sai its bad side. Chscun pour sol et Dieu pout Urns. (F.) Everybody for himsalf and God for all of us. Laissez ces vaina scrupulss. (F.) Discard or lay aside tboM vain scruples. Je suis. (F.) I am. Ad nauseam. (L.) To the point of disgust. Argumentum ad absurdum. (L.) An argument intended to pro vs the absurdity of an opponent’s ar gument. vv Chronique scandaleuse. (F.) A scandalous story. Empressement. (F.) Eagerness. „ Pater patriae. (L.) The father of his country. SmWs What Relief! "Gosh, I need five bucks and I don’t know where to get it." *Tm glad of that. I was afraid you thought you could get it from me.’’—N. Y. Evening Journal. He Would "Have you heard of the timber merchant who had the 'phone in stalled for the first time?" "No. What happened?” "Well, he kept putting trunk calls through to his branchest" Thera to always mors room si the top, says Oliver Optimist. I wonder if he's ever sees s pyrs- The Lack "Why." said the Englishman, "your country has never produced a really great man. You aay Rob ert Burns* Pouf? If I had a mind to do ft, I could write as good stuff as ever Burns did." "Ay. you're right there." re plied the patient Scot. "All that ye want to the mind." Hindering Others A VEXATION arises, and our expressions of impa tience hinder others from tak ing it patiently. We say an un kind thing, and another is hin^- dered in learning the lesson of charity that thinketh no evil. We say a provoking thing, and another is hindered in that day’s effort to be meek. We may hinder without word or act. For wrong feeling is more infectious than wrong-doing; especially the various phrases of ill - temper, gloominess, touchiness, discontent, irritabil ity—do we know how catching these are?—F. R. HavergaL MIRK’S A RIAU7 MARVIIOUS BARCAIN IN SlU-ROUSMINft FLOOR WAX-A FULL QUART FOB 85< HO HUBBINff-l HO BUFFIHft WITH THIS AMAZINC HIV | OCEDAR. Find out why millions prefer this Syrrief- Bltnd of fias tots to y s *! r >- s of price!.,, for pan frying, deep frying. 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