The Barnwell people-sentinel. (Barnwell, S.C.) 1925-current, August 30, 1928, Image 3
w
J
’^2
FOURTH INSTALLMENT
<•
WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE '
.Simou Judd, amateur detective, and
WUltam Dart, an undertaker, are viahinf
Jokn^ Drane, eccentric man of wealth, at
the Drane place. Suddenly the household
is shocked to find that John Drane has
been murdered. The dead man is first seen
by Joste, the maid, then by Amy Drane and
SMnjtm Judd. The latter faints.
Police oflRcers call and investigations
begin. Dr. Blessington is called, and after
seeing the murdered John Drane, makes
the astounding revelation to Amy Drane
that her “uncle” is not a man but a woman.
NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY
The announcement of Dr. Bless
ington that the body of the mur
dered person above stairs was the
body of a woman and not of a man
did not shock Amy Drane-as much
as cause her amazement. The
shock had come when she faced
the blood stained bodjP of her sup
posed uncle John and her mind was
still so dulled by that shock that
she did not immediately grasp what
the doctor was telling her.
“A woman? Uncle John was a
woman?” she repeated gropingly.
“But that—that couldn’t be, you
know. Why, he’s always been a
man. I don’t know what you mean,
doctor.” ■’
"The murdered person in the bed
upstairs there,” the doctor said, “is
—or was—a woman. I am merely
stating the fact. I vthought you
should know it inimediately afc you
are, I understand, the only relative
here.”
“I don’t understand it,” Amy said.
“Why, it’s dreadful, isn’t it! Oh,
it is horrible! It’s like some fright
ful .nightmare! It doesn’t seem as
if it could be true, any of it.”
“It is only too true,” the doctor
said. He looked at the girl with
keen professional eyes. “You don’t
'feel that this is too much for you?
The shock and the strain must be
considerable, but you seem a nor
mal sort of person. What I mean
exactly is that if you feel too ner
vous over this I can give you a sim
ple bromide until our nerves re
cover from the shock.”
“No, thank you,” she said. “I
think I’ll be all right.”
"Are you going to be here
awhile?” he asked Simon Judd. “I
suppose you will,” he added with a
slight smile, “considering the cir
cumstances and that the police will
have to be finding a murderer. Just
keep an eye on this young lady,
will you? I’ll leave my card; it
has my telephone number. If she
seems to be about to flop just send
for me. Not,” he added, "that I
think you’ll have to. Have you any
one, by the way," he asked Amy,
“who could stay here with you a
few days? I’d suggest that you go
elsewhere, but I have a notion the
police will want you here, until
they’ve done some questioning, at
least.”
“I’m not afraid to stay here, I
think," Amy said. “No; Mr. Judd
will be here; 1*11 not be afraid. 1*11
have Mr. Carter stay here during
the days.”
“That’s Bob Carter?” the doctor
asked.
“Yes. He’s—we’re great friends.
I expect him to come this morn
ing.”
"’You’ve not had breakfast yet?”
1 “No; I was waiting for it when
-^when I heard Josie the maid
scream.”
“Well, my prescription for you
is that you go in now and eat a
good breakfast That will help you
more than anything I could give
you. And as for the things to be
attended to in such cases as this,
ou may leave them to me. What
s your name?” he asked Simon
Judd, and Judd told him. “Mr.
Judd, I’m sure will act for you as
far as necessary. There can be no
funeral,” he added, to Simon Judd,
“until the law has gone through its,
formalities. However, if I might
just speak to you a moment or
two.”
Amy, as she had been advised,
entered the house to try to eat a
breakfast, and Dr. Blessington led
Simon Judd to the far end of the
veranda.
’The funeral arrangements can
all he attended to later,” he said;
“It was not that I wanted to speak
about. As soon as possible I will
gelaprQMr.dcatkcenifjcate, an<U
suppose William Dart is the man
Miss Drane will want to have. He
is an old' friend of Drane’s—-of the
dead person; one of the few close
friends the dead man—woman—
had, I think.”
“Hold on, now!” Simon Judd
said. “Wait a minute now! Is that
the little feller with the beard that
was here yesterday?”
“I don’t know that he was
here—”
“Dart—William Dart—that’s the
name. Old feller about seventv
years old or so, ain’t he? All
dressed in black. That the fnan?”
[ “You have described him.”
‘Well, black my cats!”^ Simon_
Judd exclaimed. “I was tryin’ to
think what that feller looked like,
antFall I could think of was under
taker. And he is one, is he? Well,
now, maybe we won’t want him
after all I don't know but what
maybe he’s mixed up in this some
way, doc. I don’t want to keep
trade away from any friend of
John’s—or whoever it is up there
^—but you might give me the name
of another funeral man while you’re
about it.”
“Later, if necessary,” the doctor
said. ‘There will be ample time.
What I wanted to urge was that
you keep your eye on this girl. I
don’t W’ant to alarm you needlessly
but until we know more about this
affair it is best to try to be safe.
What I mean is that we don’t know
yet that this murder is not the work
of a maniac; perhaps a maniac here
in this house. Jf one mnrder has
been done another may be attemp
ted, you see? Probably there is
nothing in the idea, but keep an
eye on Miss Drane. Don’t let her
be another victim, Judd.”
“I’ll look out for her the best
I can, doc,” Simon Judd said, “and
you can bet on that. She’s a nice
kid, this Amy is, But how about
it being a murder all so sure? You
of house in front—fluted pillars,
approximately six feet in diameter
supporting the third floor mansard
projection—” *' •- ‘
His brain registered physical ob
jects in this way, a result of his
innumerable appearances on the
witness stand against criminals he
had tracked downri A silver watch
was never a silver iwatch to Bren
nan—it was “one white metal
watch, ( hunting case No. 1,249,563,
fourteen jewel movement No. 985,-
003.” For % Brennan no one ever
lived at seven hundred and sixty-
five South Street but at “severi six
five South Street.” For Brennan
no ohe ever stood on the corner
of Elm Street and Grand Avenue;
he stood “on South-west corner of
intersecrion of Elm Street and
Grand Avenue.” For Brennan gold
was “yellow metal” and brass was
“yellow , metal;” it was not for
Brennan to decide whiqh w’as
which. Not on the witness stand.
In no respect, except that he re
sembled thousands of detectives.
l
talk like you knew it wasn’t a
suicide.”
“It was no suicide,” said^he doc
tor positively. “There are good
reasons for knowing it was. not.
The blow that drove the knife into
the heart was a far more powerful
blow than that old woman could
have struck; death was so instanta
neous that a suicide could not have
withdrawn the knife from the
wound; and, finally, there was no
knife in the room. It was murder
no doubt about that, sir!”
"Ain’t that a shame, now!” Simon
Judd exclaimed.
“When this man Brennen comes,**
the doctor continued, “you can tell
him I wifi be back in an hour or
so—I have a call I must make now.
You had better get some breakfast
yourself; you’re apt to have a long
and hard day.”
Dr. Blessington turned away, but
Simon Judd called him back.
“What I don’t get. doc,” he said,
“is how you didnt know this was
a woman all the while. You’re the
family doctor, ain’t you?”
‘That’* rather peculiar, too,” he
said, frowning a little. “I am the
family doctor here; I have a larger
bill here each month than with any
house in Westcote; I’m called here
again and again. But I’ve never
been asked to so much as feel John
Drane’s pulse or look at his tongue!
The man—or woman—has never
been sick, or if she has she never
called me. The servants have had
all my attention, and plenty of it,
too.”
“That colored man sure^has a bad
cough,” said Simon Judd.
“They’re all sick,” said Dr.
Blessington. “I never knew such
a household of sick help. It’s as
bad as a hospital; I dont see how
a person can bear to have so much
sickness around. But John Drane
—or this w'oman who pretended to
be John Drane—^has certainly been
good to them. I’ve never known
her to discharge a servant for ill
heaftl i ;she^8had“ meliete "TWEHty”
times a month. A good woman,
even if she did-choose to masque
rade as a man.”
“Well, I’ve read of such doin’s
before,” Simon Judd said philoso
phically "and I don’t know that I
blame some of ’em for wantin’ to
wear man clothes and let on they’re
men. Sort of queer, though, some
how.”
“It Is queer” said the doctor. “It
is Apt to be queerer than, we ima
gine.”
Dick Brennan, the detective ar
rived by that universal vehicle, the
taxicab, while Amy Drane and
Simon Judd were at breakfast As
he turned from the cab, after hav
ing slammed the door, he cast his
eye over the Drane house, regis
tering certain salient features:
“Three story, mansard-roofed housd
■ ■painted white—veranda full width
did Dick Brennan resemble a de
tective. He resembled no one in *
particular except himself; you were
apt to say to yourself when you saw
him "I know that man!” and then,
immediately, “No, I’m wrong—3
know someone who looks quite a
little like that man.” You say this
of people resembling the clerk, who
waits on you in a grocery, or of
people resembling the clerk who
waits on you in the grocery. Dick
Brenran’s face w^s so like thou
sands of other faces that it was
hard to remember. Not infrequent
ly this was of value to him in his
work. A man who so nearly re
sembled many other men could
easily make himself look unlike
himself. X
Dick Brennan was forty- two, but
he looked not over thirty. For
twenty years he had been picking
up criminals. He had never
“studied" crime, but the ways and
habits of criminals had soaked into
him; an understanding of their,
probable actions and reactions had
become instinctive in him; this was
one reason why he was so valuable;
another reason was that he had a
brain that was able to recognize the
times when a criminal was not act
ing according to rule. 'He could
think when he had to.
Brennan was not particularly
annoyed because he had been put
on this case on a Sunday morning.
He had planned to see a football
'game that afternoon but his inten
tion had been to pick up a couple
of pickpockets there, if they were
still working the football crowds,
and a murder was apt to be more
interesting. He followed the cir
cular drive to the veranda, glancing
past the house toward the back
where the drive curved farthest and ^
when he had mounted to the
veranda he rang the bell. Norbert,
the colored houseman, came to the
door.
“I’m the detective assigned to
this case.” he said without flourish^
•The body upstairs or downstairs?” —
“Upstairs, sir; yes sir,” Norbert
assured him. “Two cops up there;
you can go right-on up. Should I
take your hat/sir? No; you goin*
take it with you. Right up these
stairs. Yes sir!”
At the head of the stairs one of
the officers greeted him with a
“Hello, Dickr and Brennan re
plied ' ; Hello, Joe!”
“Mean piece of business this is,
Dick,” the officer said.
“Stabbing, is it? What was that
about it being an old lady?”
Cootmned Next Week
To Iron Soft Collars
Iron men’s soft collars on a Turk
ish towel folded four times and the
collar will be smoother and shine like
apw when
MAI GEN. ALLEN
LEADS VETERANS
SWPlMif .
Accepts Pott at Hoad of ex*
. Soldiers’ Bureau in Smith
Campaign. t
Major General Hepry T. Allen, Obui-
mending General of the Ameiieam
Army of Occupation in Germany and
a popular national military figure, is
directing the activities of the Veter
ans’ Bureaa of the Democratic Na
tional Committee. Major General Al
len agreed to head the bureau follow
ing a talk with Chairman John J. Raa*
kob.
“I know the soldiers would have a
very good friend in Governor Smith,”
said General Allen. “Moreover, f
‘think Governor Smith appeals to them
in a very striking manner by reason
of his personality and record. 1 feel
that the soldiers haven’t had a very
large say in the affairs of the country
as compared with what they ordinar
ily have had after every great war,
but, of course, it would be impossible
to keep down all the husky mqu who
were organized during the gre&t war
and they will be heard from during
the coming years.”
“The Veteran’s Bureau is a division
of the campaign which is of very great
importance,” Chairman Raskob said
in announcing the appointment “The
veterans are entitled to know all about
the candidate, what he stands for, and
the policies of the party, and we are
keenly anxious to have an opportu
nity of telling the veterans what we
know about Governor Smith’s record
and character.”
Major General Allen served as Com
manding General of the Army of Occu
pation in Germany tor three and one-
half years. He was later advisor to
the American Ambassador to Great
Britain at the conference of Ambassa
dors in Paris during the Harding ad
ministration.
After a distinguished military career
General Allen was promoted to Major
General just before the United States
entered the World War and organized
the Ninetieth Division, which he led
in the major offensives at St. Mihiel
and the Argonne-Meuse. As Comman
der of the Army of Occupation he was
a member of the Inter-Allied Rhine
High Commission.
FARM HEAD DEFENDS
BOIT TO GOV. SMITH
Peek Tells Gov. Hamill Demo
cratic Party’s Pledge Is
Ample.
The Democratic party endorsed the
equalization fee in principle in the
Houstpn platform, George N. Peek, of
Moline, 111., the chairman of the Com
mittee of Twenty-two of the North
Central States- Agricultural Confer
ence, declared in a letter to Governor
Johj Hamill of Iowa.
Mr. Peek challenged Governor Ham-
ni to call another conference of Gov
ernors of the states represented In the
North Central States Agricultural Con
ference to sit in judgment upon his
action in declaring his support of
Governor Smith. The letter was in
reply to one*from Governor Hamill to
Mr. Peek in which the Iowa Governor
accused him of having gone beyond
the power vested in the Committee of
Twenty-two in bolting the Republican
Party.
Governor Hamill In his letter to Mr.
Peek said farm relief legislation had
been blocked by “politics.” Mr v Peek
in his letter to Governor Hamill as
serted the legislation was blocked by
an “unsympathetic” President, with
the approval of Mr. Hoover and Sec
retary of ^he Treasury Mellon. *
“You say that the Democratic party
failed to endorse the equalization
fee,” wrote Mr. Peek. “To be sure,
it did not by name endorse the equali
zation fee or the ^cNary-Haugen bill,
but it very definitely endorsed the
principle of the equalization fee when
It said: ‘We pledge the party to an
earnest endeavor to solve this prob
lem of the distribution of the cost of
dealing with crop surpluses over the
marketeer unlts bT fhe crop whose pro
ducers are benefited by such assist
ance. The solution of this problem
would avoid government subsidy to
which the Democratic party always
has been opposed and will be a prime
and immediate concern of a Demo
cratic administration/
‘These principles have formed the
basis of farm relief that twice passed
Congress in legislation, that would
have furnished the opportunity for the
farmers to get the benefit from tariffs
on crops of which we export a sur
plus—legislation that was passed only
to meet twice with the veto of an un
sympathetic President who never ad
vanced a constructive proposal him
self addressing the proMem. And this
In the face of the platform pledges of
his party upon which he was sleeted
*to take whatever steps are necessary
to bring about a balanced condition
between agriculture. Industry and
labor.’ ”
’wx/.v.t':. vjcurgc n. Harvey, form
er Ambassador Great Britain,
and. famous as the maker of two
presidents, haring had a prominent
jn th$ selection of both Wtison
and Harding as candidates, died jf
a heart attack at Dublin. N H
Summerton, Aug. 26^—The _
ing incident would fit admtnsfctr
the “Believe It or Not” cohzmn* 1
McCloud, a negro farmer near 2
merton, made complaint several <
ego that the squirrels from J. F.
son’s woods enjoining his field
destroying his cotton bolls,
considered a huge joke until Mr.
son with other reliable men visited
spot and saw proof of the
The little creatures had eaten an
and other bolls they had stored
email piles for future use.
>
COTTON!
CHAS. G. HOUSTON
COTTON!
COTTON FACTOR
_ AUGUSTA* GA.
WISDOM! COMMON SEN SB!
ARE YOU GOING TO USE EITHER?
The old method of each person selling their own cotton by getting
buyers to make a bid, and then just taking the “Highest Pktce,” is
as bad business. For the simple reason the “Highest Bid” may be
dollars under the market value.
How many people can grade cotton? There are 26 different grades
the money difference between them is great. The present age
specialists and having been in this business all of my hfe, besides'
a competent organization, I can assure you each bale sent to me will be
ed in such a manner you will get its FULL VALUE—and not juat tfcw
“highest bid.”
Liberal advances at any time. $1.00 covers t^e expense of selling
bale and if you hold your cotton, only 50c per bale per month ia
whifch covers everything.
A SUCCESSFUL SIX NOW WINNING EVEN GREATER SUCCESS
imBCMEiD in Color
** Enhanced in Style
and Offering Even
^Greater Performance
• /
Beautiful as Pontiac Six hat been in the past—
great as its performance has proved—
—today’s Pontiac Six is even more beaurifuly
even more thrilling than ever to drive!
To the beauty and rtyle of bodies by Fisher,
Oakland has add A the swagger touch of
smaller, smarter wheels and larger tires.
Mechanical advancements result in greater
speed and power. Until you have seen and
driven it you cannot realize what style, color
and performance today’s Pontiac Six affords*
t’Domr Srdmm. 974 f.
CmhrMtt,$79114 P—r
p$74ft PS aw. |77Ir
immd AU-Arntriemm Six, $10491» Sf JSf. All prices mt fmrtmij
mkmtJUmgtk
Omklmmd Fomtiae drtimmmd
pn. CAcmctaI Afocsrs TlnM
YOUMANS MOTOR CO., Allendale
PDIWilAVC SIX
PRODUCT Of OBMERAL MOTORS
30 Days’FreqTriat
On Any
MEAD
Bleyle
whether you buy
Local
from your
Dealer or from us
direct
Don’t Fail to Read this Great Mystery Story
in The People-Sentinel Each Week.
mum