The Barnwell people-sentinel. (Barnwell, S.C.) 1925-current, October 25, 1928, Image 3
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ILLUSTRATIONS B/RS.WAJSON
ELEVENTH INSTALLMENT
WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE
Simon Judd, amateur detective, and Wil-
Har Dart, an undertaker, visit John Drane,
an eccentric man of wealth, at the Drane
place. Suddenly John Drane is murdered,
and Dr. Blessincton, after examining the
body, makes the astounding revelation to
Amy Drane that her “uncle” is a woman
and not a man.
. All the servants in the household are
sickly, and it is revealed that John Drane
never discharged a servant for ill health.
Dick Brennan, detective, arrives at tke
house and makes thorough investigations.
Simon Judd tells him the story of the
actual John Drane with whom he (Judd)
was acquainted in Riverbank. Judd pro
poses to Brennan that he “go partners”
with Brennan in the solution of the crime.
Brennan accepts, then Judd declares that
Amy is not John Drane’s niece or *njr rel
ative of Drane. Mrs. Vincent, housekeeper,
tells Brennan that Drane picked his ser
vants from among the chronic patients at
the hospital. Dr. Blessington is asked if
he had ever noticed any special change in
Drane.
More servants are Questioned, but are
unable to give much information, being in
toxicated. Judd then propounds the belief
^jat the undertaker Js the husband of
Duane. He also tells Brennan: “You've
been thinking perhaps Dart murdered
Duane. You’re wrong.”
Dr. Blessington has out little information
to give. The talk veers to Drane’s employ
ment of chronic invalids, and suddenly Judd
astonishes the doctor by asking when
“Drane murdered the first of those hired
hands of his!”
NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY
“Because, black ray cats! I was
thinkin’ the same thing, Richard,’*
Simon Judd explained. “But it
ain’t so. I don't take no stock in
that notion. That little old shrimp
wouldn’t murder nobody. In the
first place he ain’t got the gall
to do it and in the second place
1 ain’t never heard of an under*
taker murderin’ anybody. Did
you ever?”
“No,” Brennan agreed, “I don’t
remember of a single case where
an undertaker did a murder.”
“Sort of unprofessional, I guess,”
Simon Judd said. “Sort of like
buildin’ up trade in an unethical
way. it ain’t done, as the feller
says. Are you goin’ to telephone
him to come here, or are we goin’
to his undertakin’ shop?”
“I think he’ll be coming here,”
Brennan said. “Dr. Blessington
has probably asked him to take<\
care of the funeral.”
“You’d better telephone,” Simon
Judd advised. “That Dart feller
ain't cornin' here to take charge
of no funeral”
“Why not?”
“Because he don’t want to be
worried with it,” Simon Judd ex
plained. “He don’t want a funeral
on his mind whilst he’s got to
think what he’s going to do and
say about bein’ married to John
Drane. He’s got a lot of thinkin’
you had got’on the track of some
thing. You had, hadn’t you Sime?”
“Not a thing!” Simon Judd sajd.
“I come East just like I said, to
study up how detectives do down
here. I didn’t suspicion a thing,
Abner, not until I saw you. And
then I only wondered why you
had come down here and changed
your name. And at that, Abner,
I didn’t think anything but what
I heard back home when you did
disappear—that you was bankrupt
and had skioped out.”
"I was bankrupt,” the undertaker
said. “I did skip out. Sime, I
never made a decent living at
undertaking the whole time I was
in Riverbank. It wore* on me—
wore on my mind. And Ella
wasn’t a patient wife; she was a
nagger, Sime—an awful nagger.”
“Always savin’ she wished she
was a man, I bet you!” Simon
Judd said. “That kind of woman
does wear a man down, Abner,
black my cats if she don’t! Well,
she had her wish.”
“She was a terrible woman,
Sime!” the little undertaker said,
shaking his head. “I don’t know
that there ever was another such
woman except where you read
about them in books. Sime, I wish
you were on my side in this busi
ness; I wish I had you or somebody
to be a friend to me right now. I
don’t know anybody in this town
—not anybody. I’m alone. I’m
the most friendless man in the
world. She wouldn’t let me know
anybody—she was jealous—jealous
and afraid. I’m all alone, Sime,
and I’m scared. I can’t think
right; my head don’t seem to work
right today.”
“What have you got to be afraid
of?” Simon Judd asked. “What
have you done to be afraid of,
Abner r”
“Nothing! Nothing!” the little
man said tremulously. “As God is
my witness, Sime, I never did a
thing but keep my mouth shut.
They can’t han£ me for that, can
they? But—thirty-two years of
keeping my mouth shut! What do
you think I ought to do, Sime?”
“Why, if I was you, Abner,”
Simon Judd said, “I’d tell this
Brennan the whole story, straight
and clean. I sure would. Tell yon
the honest truth, Abner, I’d gVt
it off my chest and out of my
soul just as quick as ever I could.
“I don’t know—I don’t know!”
the little man mourned, but Bren
nan came down then and out upon
iu do* Richard, that undertaker the veranda, and Simon Judd spoke
has. There's a terrible lot of ones- to him, half turning in his chair,
tions in his mind right now. He’s “Come on over here, Richard.”
got to decide whether he’s goin’ he said. “Dart wants to tell you
to admit he knew John Drane was all about it. He knows purty near
a woman or not; he’s got to decide the whole thing, up to the murder
whether he’s goin’ to whether he’s anyway. Go ahead now, Abner—
goin’ to admit he’s John Drane’s tell him how it was.”
“He came home sick,” Abner
said; “and he came when Ella was
sick. We carried him up to the
house on a stretcher and put him
in the bed, and Ella got out of
her bed and went and sat in a
chair by his bed and they talked,
just the two of them. He had had
a hard time in the west there, and
sometimes he went for days with
out food, prospecting the hills with
a man named Jarling, his partnef.
Then they found copper, and it
was vdjen they yyere both pr^Jty
well played out; it was a questidh*
whether they would either of them
last until they could reach civiliza
tion. So they drew up a couple
of papers—if either of them died
all the other had was to go to
the one left alive. John told Ella
that as he lay there dying, and
then he died.”
“That night,” said Simon Jodd.
“Yes, he died that night,” '
Abner Dart said. “So Ella went
back to her bed and sent for me,
and she told me what to do. You
remember old Doc Worley, Sime?
Always drunk. He was drunk
when we sent for him, and we got
him drunker, and he signed a death
certificate and ended up that spree
with thd* tremens. The rest was
easy enough. You were at the
funeral, Sime. You never guessed
it was John we were burying when
we said it was Ella.”
“No, it fooled me easy enough,”
Simon Judd said. “Typhoid wa*
what Ella had had and they had
cut off her hair and none of rs
had seen her since she was too’<
sick. I thought how bad sl.v
looked, but that was all”
“So we had ’John’ get well.'
Abner Dart said. “We had 'hir
sick for a couple cf weeks an*
then we had ’him’ get well enoug
to walk around with a cane, ar.
f >resently he was well enough t
cave town.”
“I went to the station with hit
myself—hauled him in one of nr
rigs,” Simon Judd said. “W-
talked about when wt were kid;.
I was fooled, black - my cats!”
“She went to Chicago, Ella did,”
Abner continued, “and after awhile,
when she had gathered up the
loose ends of John’s affairs, she
came down to New York and got
settled here and I failed in business
the way we had arranged and came -
to Westcote and, she gave me
money to start in again. For a
month or two we pretended to be
stranger* other; then we
husband or not; he's got to decide
when to say they were married,
and why he never told. He’s a
busy man right now, Richard, you
bet your boots! And he don’t want
to take no time off to have to
think of no funeral preparations.”
“I’ll call him up. and tell him to
come here,” Brennan said, and he
went into the hall and did so. “He
will be here immediately,” he said
when he returned to Simon Judd.
“You meet him and keep him down
here; I’m going up and see if the
officers have found anything new.”
The undertaker drove his own
car at times and he arrived in it
before long, and Simon Judd met
him on the veranda. The fat
Iowan was standing at the head
of the steps as the smaller man
mounted and he pushed his hat
back on his head and put his hands
in his pockets, jingling his coins
and keys.
“Brennan wanted to see me,” the
undertaker said, pulling off the
gloves he wore when driving.
“So did I Abner,” Simon Judd
said, grinning at the little man. “I
been wantin’ to have a good old
talk with you ever since we shook
hands last night. Been a long time
since we seen each other, ain’t it?”
The little undertaker showed no
surprise, he attempted no evasions.
He was not even annoyed by
Simon Judd’s words; his only ex
pression was of worry and weari
ness combined. He went to a chair
The little man pulled at his.
beard, frowning at his feet.
“But, now, hold on a minute!”
Simon Judd said suddenly. “We
ought to let this Amy girl hear
this, accordin’ to my notion.
Seems like she has a right to know,-
ain’t it so, Abner?”
“Yes; she’ll know it anyway,”
the little man said, and Simon ludd
went into the house to send Nor-
bert to find the girl. She came
presently, Robert Larter with her,
and Simon Judd told her why she
had been sent for. She and young
Carter seated themselves and the
? ;irl looked anxiously from face to
ace. But the undertaker did not
speak.
“Amy,” Simon Judd said, when
the silence had lasted a few mo
ments, “I’m goin’ to start this off,
because what I know I know.
John Drane and me was boys
together, born close to the same
time, away back in 1853. John was
born in '53 and Emily, his sister,
dead upstairs there, was born the
next year, 1854. That’s all the
Dranes there was; there wasn’t no
Daniel Drane—he’s fairy story.
Who you are I don’t know, but
maybe Abner here can tell us that.
“Anyhow, Amy, we three—-me
and John Drane and his sister
Emily grew up together out there
in Riverbank. John never did get
married and in 1883 he went west
and we lost track of him—I did
’got acquainted’ and I was the only
close friend she had, and she was
the only close friend I had. She
began speculating in Wall Street
and did well—she was a wonderful
woman that wav.. But all the while
she was worried. That old partner
of John’s, Jarling, kept her wor
ried all the time. She could never
find him—a word of him now and
then and then he was lost. It
might be five years or ten years
between times and then she would
hear he was alive and then no
more news of him for another long
stretch.”
“And if Tarling knew the real
John was dead he could claim a
million or so, hey?” Simon Judd
asked. 1
“That’s what worried her,”
Abner Dart said. “She got so she
thought more of money than of
her life. And then—”
He stopped and hid his face in
his hand.
“She poisoned the first one,”
Simon Judd supplied.
Continued Next Week
“I detest that woman. She struts
around with that husband of hers
as if they own this town. She al
ways holds her head so high, too.”
“She must hold her head high.
I heard that she was up to her
neck in debt.”
ness combined. He went to a chair anyway. What did he do outwest,
and seated himself and motioned Abner?”—
Simon Judd to sit near him. He “H e go t ho copper and silver,”
fumbled at his beard, not knowing Abnet said. “He made a miHion.”
exactly what to sayi Simon Judd “j^e made a million between
spoke first. * . 1883 and 1892,” Simon Judd said.
“I told Brennan you didn t kill “But his sister Ella stayed right
her,” he said. “I told him you there in Riverbank and in 1884 she
wasn’t the sort to do such a thing, married a man that came to town
Judge; “Just what do you mean
when you say that your husband
was a brute to you?”
Her: “Well, he expected me to
wear last fall’s hat and a smile at
the same time.”
Abner.”
The information did not seem to
cheer the undertaker much; per
haps he did not rightly hear what
Simon Judd had said.
“Sime,” he said, “I knew you
knew me last night. I was scared
last night, Sime.
“Yeh? Thought I’d got track
of somethin’ out home, huh? Why,
you poor old feller!” —
“When you said you were going
to be a detective,” the undertaker
and started in the undertaker busi
ness. His name was Abner Dart,
wasn’t it, Abner?”
“Yes, I married her. June 6,
1884,” Abner Dart said.
“And after awhile she got to be
a naggy wife,” Simon Judd said.
“She bore down pretty hard on
Abner and quinched his spirit till
he was no more than a worm.
About eight years, of that, until
1892, and then John Drane came
home to visit her and see the old
Judge: “What’s the charge
against this man?”
Cop: “Well, your honor, he was
tearing up the street. . . .”
Judge: “That’s enough. You’re
fined $50.00 for impersonating a
political contractor.”
Effie: “But, papa, how do you
know it was a stork that brought
us the new baby?” '
Papa: “Because, darling, I just
saw his bill.”
explained. ’Tea, I thought sur^ town. Hey, Abner?”
Black: “I heard thal^a doctor is
grafting human legs on a mer
maid.”
Jack: “Humph. That sounds a
bit fishy, to me.”
*#
. \ ■ ■ ■ ■ ,K, r * • ■
Don’t Fail to Read this Great Myhtery Story
in The People-Sentinel Each Week.
'Urnj HatPHta
By Cedle
Smart frocks of tweed continue
to charm us with their practicabil
ity and are most appropriate when
developed in styles that suggest the
modified jacket or coat dress.
The eton back of the model il
lustrated furnishes an interesting
note that lends itself well to tweed.
[ ere'gray tweed with tiny flee^a
of black is used; the neck, sleeves,
bottom of blouse and eton are
bound in black silk braid; a black
suede belt and shoes are worn with
the costume.
While brown and grey lead in
tweed colors, there is also an in
teresting use of green and wine-
red mixtures, and a few blues in
smoky pastel shades are shown.
Sometimes these frocks wear a de
tachable hip-length cape bordered
in matching caracul—a feature that
ir a great favorite on the campus,
and for fall business wear.
a * * _
Meah Hosiery Shown for
Tweed*
And by the way—Do not make
the mistake of wearing chiffon
hose with tweeds, But choose in
stead one of the new mesh weaves
that are having a tremendous pop
ularity. You will find them in in
teresting heather mixtures of silk
and fine wool, woven in meih pat
terns that vary from lace weaves to
those resembling herringbone.
* * *
Gloves, Too, Should
Harmonize
It is also important that the
gloves be “right ’ for the tweed
costume. Colors should harmonize
with the fabric instead of contrast
ing, and models should be strictly
tailored. Suede, washable kid and
cape leathers are all suitable, and
the wrist strap style perhaps leads
in favor.
* ♦ •
New Tailored Undies.
The incongruity of lace-trimmed
lingerie with tweeds being obvious
—one turns to clever little tailored
models combining plain and
checked ffat crepe in novel ways.
Beige crept with triangular inserts
of beige and brown checked crepe;
white combined with a hair-line
check in black and white; green
checked crepe with band trimming
of plain are among these
Rills Wife Accidentally.
Columbus Kan., Oct. 23.—Crawling
under his house to kill a skunk, Gar
field Chappell accidentally discharged
his shotgun upward through the floor
of his kitchen and killed hig wife.
T. B. Ellis
J. B. BUS
ELLIS ENGINEERING CO.
Lend Surveying a Specialty.
Lyudhurst, 8. G.
WEEK-END TICKETS
At very low round trip xmrea
now on sale to mountain and
seashore summer resorts.
Travel by Train
Comfortable—Economical—Safe
Southern Ry. System
DR. A. B. PATTERSON
‘hyakian and Surgecci
Barnwell, S. C.
6 6 6
Cures Chills and Fever,
Intermittent, Remittent
and Bilious Fever due to
Malaria.
It kills the Germs.
INSURANGE
FIRE
WINDSTORM
PUBLIC LIABILITY
ACCIDENT - HEALTH
SURETY BONDS
AUTOMOBILE
V THEFT
Calhoun and Co. <■—
P. JL PRICE, Manager.
- " e
I ■ . i i i I ’ 1 * * ■ * 1 * " * 1 * ’ 11 1 4 M 1 1 11 * , .
VVIVI«lSS||| a u| 0 |||f|, atvV | |Vtfft9r9ft|9|Vattt t fl4v ^ ^
Vi
h
All-American
Everybody wondering if anything
new could be offered in motor care.
And in the meantime, an earnest
group of engineers intent on creat
ing an entirely new conception of
the modern automobile. A group
privileged to employ all the ladH-
ties of General Motors. They have
produced a magniAcent new car.
Oakland will present It soon
• • A New All-American*
WATCH
ATT
• s
NDXR
TREASURER’S TAX NOTICE
The County Treasurer’s office will be open for the purpose of reeeiviag
taxes from October 15th, 1928, to March 16th, 1929. A penalty of one per
cent will be added to all unpaid taxes on January 1st, 1929; two per cent.
Febraury 1st, 1929, and soven. per cent March 1st, 1929. Tax books closing’
and executions issuing after March 15th, 1929. Taxes are ascertained by
the valuation multiplied by mills levied. Treasurer’s duplicate as Up
by Auditor lists real estate and does not itemize personal property, which
must be secured front Auditor. When inqt}iring a* to amount of taxes dm,
you are required to give each and every tax district you own property hi
as a separate tax receipt is issued for each district for real estate or per-
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No. 24—Ashleigh
5* j
8%
894
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No. 23—Barbary Branch .
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8%
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3
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24
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No. 45—Barnwell
5*
8%
894
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3
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23
68 '
No. 4—Big Fork
5^4
8%
894
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8
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No. 19—Blackville
5*
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3
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26
56
No. 36—Codar Grove ...
5%.
8%
894
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3
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28
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No. 50—Diamond
5% *
8%
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3
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No. 20—Double Pond
5%
8%
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No. 12*-Dunbarton
5i4
8*
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21
51
No. 21—Edisto
5*4
8*
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3
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No. 23—Elko
5»4
8%
894
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3
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No. 53—Ellenton
5%
8%
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No. 11—Four HO.
5*4
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No. 39—Friendship
5*4
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No. 16—Green’s
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No. 10—Healing Springs.
5%
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No. 23—Hercules
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No. 9—Hilda
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No. 52—Joyce Bkanch —
5*4
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-No. 34—Kline
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No. 32—Lee’s
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No. 8—Long Branch
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No. 54—Meyer’s Mill ..
5*4
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No. 42—Morris
894
894
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No. 14—Mt Calvary
5% “
894
894
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28
68
No. 25—New Forest
5*4
894
894
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3
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28
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No. 38—Oak Grove —* —
-5%
894
894
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No. 43—Old Columbia
5K
894
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No, 13—Pleasant Hill ...
5%
894
894
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3
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No. 7.—Red Oak
5% .
894
894
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3
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No. 15—Reedy Branch .
5*4
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No. 27—Reeves Creek
5%
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No. 2—Seven Pines
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No. 40—^Tinker’s Creek .
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No. 26—Upper Richland .
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No. 29—Williston
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‘32
62
The commutation road tax of $8.00 must be paid by all male
between the ages of 21 and 65 years. All male citizens between tha ages
of 21 and 60 years are liable to poll tax of $1.00.
Annual capitation dog tax of $1.25 per head, payable during “
of January, on all dogs, male and female, old and young,, exeapt'
pups (See Acts 1924, No. 665, at page 1088.)
It is the duty of each school trustee in
that this tax is collected or aid the Magistrate in
the provisions of this Act.
Checks will not be accepted for taxes under
cept at the risk of the taxpayer.—(The County
right to hold all receipts paid by check until
Tax receipts will be released only upon legal
or certified checks.
A.., a. r.
; -
I
.