Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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1 Tfct Barawll People-Sentiaci, Barnwell, S. C- Thursday, July 90, 1936 By NARY HASTINGS BRADLEY Copyright by D. Appleton- Century Co.. Inc. WNU Service CHAPTER IX—Continued —9— “Anson wasn't there. Hiding out •otnewhere; reluctant to give testi mony, I suppose." I told Mitchell about my conversa tion with her, and her words. “She said that she’d be sorry enough to have to tell It. That any one might have washed out a handkerchief.” “But she didn’t say where she saw It?” he said quickly, and I said she hadn't. “Can’t Anson be found?" I wanted to know, and he said that of course •he’d be found. He seemed to be thinking of some thing else as he spoke. "Donahey was •llow’ed to put In all he’s got from her —about seeing Mrs. Harriden at eight •nd the probable time she did the room, and Its condition then and about seeing Deck In the hall. . . . He’ll give Anson hell, though, for evading the law.” Deck came In at last. He came di rectly over to us. “Got a cigarette?” he asked casually of Mitchell, and Mitchell offered his case. 1 was to remember that after wards. Then his eyes smiled down at me. “How do you like your Hrst In quest. Miss Seton?’’’ “I don’t like It at all," I told him. It seemed ages before the return of that Jury. They came at last, tiling •elf-consciously across the stately hall. The dining room fell allent before their ap|K>arance. and even the turbu lent hall was hushed as the foreman ■tep|>ed forward and began reading from a pai>er. In a very formal rule* he Intoned. “We. the Jury, find that the deceased. Nora Harriden. came to her death on the thirteenth of October, nineteen thirty three, between eight and nine thirty P. M through ahoek and hemorrhage, caused by being hit on the bead by a sharp Instrument held In the hand of person or persona un known That was all. No name* No recom mendatloo of bolding any one to tbo grand Jury. Then Ifcmahey rose Tb# rustling* that had begun In the roots censed abruptly, so did the Jubilation In my heart Kor he aald. “You ha«» heard the flndlng of the coroner's Jury That Jury la now dismissed Tills case will remain In the hands of the ln«|ie«-t»r of police until further evidence war rants calling In the district attorney of Queen a county fending Investiga tion no witnesses will l»e allowed with out permission, to leave the pretul CHAPTER X Eventually every one quieted down The sharp outbreak of protests drupt>ed to more conshlerlng under tones at that phrase, “wlthoot pertals ■ton ” I overheard the Watkins re minding each olher that thef had meant to atay till Monday anyway, and presently Mrs. Crane's voice was audi ble to me. telling them that Pan was staying on too, that he planned to take his wife's body to the cemetery on Monday morning. He wanted only the simplest ceremony at the grave She said that she and the Kellers were giv ing with him. W hen the main hall had lo^en cleared of all the outsiders the guest* streamed out Into It again. Behind us. In the dining-room, swift-footed efficiency was aettlng out the paraphernalia of an other buffet luncheon Every one reacted from the tensity; laughter kept breaking out, voices ran incautiously high, then, remembering, dropped to undertones that were still Uvgy. I never felt lonelier In my life. I wanted some one to talk It over with, and I hadn't nnjbody; Deck had van ished Into the drawing room and Mitchell, too, was nowhere to be seen. Iheu I heard Deck's voice, sharp as the crack of a whip. “Damn ft all, Donahey, I told you myself that eall never went through. .. . Atu I to blame because the village telephone girl doesn’t happen to remember that I asked for a New York number?" I could see the back of Deck’s head; he was confronting Donahey over that table of notes. 1 saw Letty Van Al- styn's brown head, tilted towards him, a little on one side. I saw Harriden standing behind her, caught a glimpse of his stony profile. Donahey stated stolidly, “Bessie Am- ermann s got a very good memory, Mr. Deck. It seems queer to us that • man who goes away from a dinner table to put In a long distance call doesn’t wait to get It—that he goes on upstairs after a lost handkerchief.” I was watching Deck so closely that I taw Clancy the officer touch him. •aylng something, and Deck, without looking around, drew out a cigarette case from his pocket, the soft brown leather one I had seen before, and passed It back. Then he said, “Come. Mr. Inspector, don’t pretend you your self never got tired waiting for a con- ctlos sad went off slier Something “Well"— mumbled Donahey. "Welir challenged Deck. “Are ws going on with this Indefinitely? I’m telling you that I’ve got to be back on the Job tomorrow or my paper will want you fellow* to *ay why." I didn’t notice what waa happening until I saw the funny look on Clan cy's face. He was holding the ciga rette case In his hands and feeling It with slow. Investigating fingers. Then he pushed up beside Deck In front of the table. He was dumping out the contents of the case. I saw the cigarettes come out. one after the other, and then with another shake, something else came roiling out. Instantly the heads closed over It; I couldn’t see what waa there. I heard Donahey say, “By God." In an Incredulous voice and Clancy, “Will you look at that?" and then somebody cried sharply, “It’s the diamond!" and Hurlden pushed for ward. We were all pushing forward. Through the confusion Deck's voice came, sharp with anger. “I tell you I only picked the thing up again a few minutes ago—I left tt about this morning." I had reached Mitchell now. “Oh, that’s true—don’t you remember he asked you for a cigarette this morn ing?" I gasped. “Oh, do get In to them and tell them so!" "Steady on,” Mitchell was murmur ing. He put his hand over mine as It gripped his arm. Harrlden’s voice dominated the eon fusion. He stood over Deck like a madman; he looked as if It was all he could do to keep his hands off him. “Nora’s diamond!" he hurled at him. “The big pendant that was worth the lot. ... So you hid it out, eh? You dirty thief! You dirty killer I By God, we’ve got you — we’ve got you now 1” And then Donahey.trying to make him self heard, "Mr. Harriden, please—’’ There was no stopping Harriden. All the hatred that had been working In the man, all the festering suspicion seething In him since Elkins' report of fteok's threatening words came out now, like pent-up gall. "You hound! You skunk! rhas- Ing after my wife, making her life mis erable with your Importunities. En treating her to he ‘compa. aionate*—to take pity on your ’love • sick soul’! Soul 1" He spat out a »lle word. “Begging to drown yourself In her eyes! . . . You'll be drowned In quicklime befora I’m through with you n* And f)r<*k. very straight and stiff. “You're crasy, Harriden. A man caa t resent Insults from one In yonr roe dltlon." “Your condition Is what will worry you—when they put you la handcuffs and lead you to the death cell—when they drag you. whining sad pulling, te the electric chair P And then l<rtty V«o Atatyo fainted She dropped like a stone et Her rlden'e feet, and he at nod there, his fury checked, looking blankly down at her The faint did not Inst*long; the women kneeling by her sera atilt asking for more air. for water, far cushions whea I heard her voice any log. rather weakly, hot with complete control. “How—silly 1 But I didn't eat —much break fast. I've been feeling -falnt.“ Site got up very quickly; I saw Harrfdea go to her aide and any some thing: she gave him a quirk npward glance, then moved away. A« If he had forgotten (*erk he went heavily after I Blood there, shaken through and through. I turned in Mitchell hot he had left me; he waa standing beside the table, picking up the abandoned cigarettes The Inspector was saving, hla voice unemotional again "This will take some disproving, you know. Mr. Deck." And the words sent the quick thought to me that the only way to disprove this about Iieck was to prove some thing else about some one else. I thought of Anson. If that hand kerchief I waa sure the had teen had been in I.etty Van Alstyn's room! Betty had fainted. Perhaps she hadn't realized, until that moment, the consequences of throwing that suspi cion upon Deck. Now. when she was still shaken, waa the time to confront her with Mint handkerchief evidence. ... If only Anson could he found. . . . She must have come out of hiding by now. . . . I ran up the stairs; I took the left- hand branch, so ns to pass along the main hall, looking for some mafd to question. The door Into the prince’s room was open and looking in. I saw the maid who did my own room, busied about it. “Have you seen Anson yet?" I said breathlessly. She stopped on her way to the clos et with a pair of slippers In her hand. “We haven’t seen her. Miss Seton. Not since that time you were talking with her this morning." I moved away, thinking I had get ter get hold of Mitchell. Then I heard the maid scream. I had never heard such blood-curdling shrieks in my life. Shriek after shriek. My legs stumbled under me as I ran back to her. She was backing hysterically away from the closet, her apron over her head. “What Is it? What—" She moaned, "Oh, in there — In there!" and began shrieking again. I dashed to the closet; the door was wide and the light from the room fell Into It. Fell upon a pair of shoes, limp, black, low heeled shoes, lying on tkclr aides out from under a man’s heavy, fur-lined overcoat Anson was In the closet. Slumped In a little heap. She waa cold to my touch. _ . _ I did not acream. It seemed to mo aa If I could never make any aonnd again, Ipnt I did, over my shoulder, to the people crowding now in back of me. “She's dead," 1 got out huskily. "An son’s dead." CHAPTER XI Anson was dead. . . . Choked to death and thrust behind one of the prince’s overcoats. Her pretty face was dark and terrible In congestion. She was rigid In death. She had been dead five or sir hours they said. The police were already with us; very soon the medical examiner made his appearance, together with Dr. Olllphant. A dazed horror hung over the house. Anson — dead. The second murder. The thing was Inexplicable. “There's a maniac hiding in this house!’’ the princess declared in ex citement. “I have felt It! Ecco—Miss Seton heard him In the night—in her room! A miracle she was not mur dered In her very bed!’’ It was the first expression of be lief in my story I had heard from the haughty princess. One of the strangest, most puz zling things about it to me was that out of Anson’s stiff, clenched hand the medical examiner had pried a bright brown crescent, set with glittering stones. Betty Van Alstyn’s hair ornament. The broken thing she had thrown away and permitted Anson to carry off—and then demanded back from her. It didn’t make sense. She couldn’t have been murdered for Us posses sion. or the murderer would have tak en It away. And why had she got It back from Miss Van Alstyn? We were a dreadfully shaken group of people. With drawn revolvers the police tramped through room after room, peering behind doors, beneath beds. Investigating the basement, the store rooms. the laundries, the wine cel lar. And there was not a trace of an Invader to be found In that great The BruK* Waa Meat tall There waa But a clue aacept tba browa rreweat. and »•>( a Marfe oa tba rtoaet door except tba prtats of tba aMld who found tba body. No una bad area Aaaoa alive atara tba Haw that I bad talked with bar la tba ball. Duaabey bad as herded all tocatb er again la tba drawing rouca. and be harked bis questions at os wltk tba tnahqpr’ of a thoroughly belligerent and bewildered man. “And Just what time oaa that. Mlaa Seton?" ha snapped. I hurried ta give aa approximation of the time. Ha summed op. “Well, you'd say It was a little befora nine when you saw her? And you were the last person that saw her alive." "I think the Prince Handnl was the last person." I said qukkjj; remem bering. "She left me to go back to his room." Donahey shot one of his gimlet glances up at Bancinl, “How about that, prince?" The prince was most self-possessed, most affable in his reply. "Miss Seton Is mistaken—I left before the poor girl reentered. I passed through the apartment of my wife and when I came out they were still talking in the hall.” “How about that. Miss Seton? He says you were still talking together when he left the premises.’’ “Well, I didn’t see him." was all I could say. “They were very busy talking,” said the prince with satisfaction. Donahey looked curiously at me. "What were you talking about?" “I was waiting to ask her about whether she had seen any handker chief drying on Friday evening. I had noticed that she didn’t volunteer things directly unless she was asked, and I hadn’t heard that asked.” “Couldn’t you wait for the Inquest?" “After all the things said about me here I think T had a right to investi gate as much aa I could to find the real murderer!" “All right, all right. You were wait ing to investigate. Then what were her exact words that passed between you?" > I don’t know why his overheating manner should have been so infuriat ing. but my nerves crisped and I said a good deal more than I bad meant to say in public. “I was waiting to aak her about the handkerchief. She came qnt of the room, smoothing down her hair. MbeaaUl, ‘Those foreigners’.’ and then. ‘Be can keep hla hawda off me."* Slowly the Inspector's gaze shifted towards Rancinl. "Been making passes at her, prince?" Rancinl smiled boldly back. "A pretty maid—" He shrugged. J “Anything else?" said Donahey shortly to me. “I asked her why she didn’t com plain to the princess, and she said that the maid waa always wrong. Then she aald ahe'd have to go back for the towels she had forgotten. I asked her to wait, and we had the talk about the handkerchief." “What’d she tell you?" , “Not a thing. But I had the very definite Impression that she had some thing on her mind. She said she’d tell all she knew downstairs at the inquest, but she didn't like to make trouble— ‘any one might have washed out a handkerchief.’" Then she went back into the room. Anil I don’t think she thought that Prlncb Rancinl had come out of it while wq were talking," I flung out, “for she looked awfully bothered at having to go In again." My eyes encountered Donahey’s cyn ically thoughtful face. I wondered If he was thinking the same thing as I was. Suppose Rancinl had been in the room when Anson returned—sup pose he had grabbed her and she had started to scream? In his anger and panic he might have choked her and cjioked haider than he meant He was a big fellow. , But ticking away, deep down In my mind, was the Insistent thought that Anson had known something. Some thing about a handkerchief drying on a radiator. Something that waa si lenced now forever. The prince had muttered, half an gry, half soothing. “That Is nonsense! There was nothing . . “AH right, prince," Donahey agreed. “The girl goes back to your room but you aren't there—that’s your story, and you stick to it. But now some time after that, any time In the next hour or so. somebody In that room got hold of her and choked her to death. Now where was everybody for that next hour?" It was hard to discover where ev ery one had been during that hour for they had moved about so much. Rarv clnl aald he had gone downstairs for a time, then up to tbo Kellers* alt* ting-room on the second floor where he and hla frlfe bad waited with tb# Kellers and Mrs. Crane for tbo sum mons to the Inquest. Tbo only ones who declared they bad stayed definite ly In their own rooms during tbo en tire time were A la a Deck. Ilanidow and myself. Hamden stated bo bod been either ta bis own room or In hla wife's room tbo entire morning, end that be bed beard no disturbance of any kind ta the Kaacini apartment "And If I bad. I wouldn't bate raced *" Deck aald be bed been la bln room, bwt that be bed no proof of It I could offer bn proof, either, that I bad stayed la my after tbo time tbo maid bed deliver my two not eg I bed • bed time ever tbeae notes Tbo one te MltcbeH was eeally es- plained, bat wbea 1 admitted that I | bed wrtttea te Alee Derfc asking him te coma te see am 1 aav a gleam In lb»eabey*a eyes. “Well, new. Mlea Seton, wby did yen want te aae blmf* "It oaa pretty loeoiy, wotting tt that inquest. And at ace Mr Itarrt- den bed linked as ta bta acroaattoan. I felt we bad a M te talk ever * Tbea be anid te Deck. “Yen didn’t come ap tble morning. tboncbT* •iMdn't get tb* Inter till tee late. The maid bad left It for am en the ta ble. and I dids t see It In time. “I-eft tt lying—I thought yon worn la yonr room all that timer* Deck hesitated. Tbea be said tight ly. “Practically all There were a few minute* when I popped Into MlirbeU'a room to get some cigarette*.“ So It all went on. There was noth ing else brought out that seemed te matter. At the last the Inspector con centrated on tbo subject of Deck's cigarette case, when be thought be had lost It. when he first found It again—In the ball. Deck aald. on one of the tallies, he couldn't remember exactly where—and then, very sud denly. as If his mind were making It self up, Donahey told the rest of us we were excused and retained Deck for a more private Investigation. Even Mitchell didn't alt In on that. He walked out beside me, looking very grhve. “Tea. Leila?" They were serving tea. The Octo ber afternoon had darkened swiftly; I saw the butlers drawing the cur tains and lighting the lamps. It seemed strange to me that ono of those butlers should be Elkins. Elkins, hla face drawn, going about his tasks so unrevealingly. No tlm# out for hla private grief. In a few moments he was serving us tea. Mitchell and I took it In silence; he was preoccupied, and I know I felt In expressibly forlorn. Oh, If I had only known what to say that morning t# win the girl’s confidence! I was haunt ed by the lost opportunity, by the vi sion of Anson as I had first seen her down the hall, so pretty In her black and white, her arms laden with those gay colored towels. I thought crazily, "Colors for each room, each room of death," for It was to the rose room and to the orchid room that death had come, and then something In my mind brought .me np short If I could find out—If I were not too later- I turned what most have been a very pale and excited face on the lawyer beside me. "Oh, wait a moment I" 1 said Incoherently. "I want to find oat something—" I literally ran towards the stall* (TO BE CONTINUED^ Smart Household Linens i Let us do a bit of “garden ing.” It’s linens we’re goii.g to beautify, with cotton patch flow ers and flowerpots. This easy applique is sure to enhance a pair of pillow cases, scarf or dainty hand towels. Take colorful scraps, cut them into these sim ple flower forms, and either turn the edges under and sew them Pattern No. 5348 down, or finish them in outline stitch. It’s called “Linen-closet Gardening”! In pattern 5348 you will find a transfer pattern of two motifs 5*6 by 15 inches, two motifs 4% by 15 inches and the patterns lor The Mind Meter • By LOWELL HENDERSON © B<HI Syndic*!* —WNU Svrvlc*. The Completion Teat In this test eight incomplete statements are made. Each one can be completed by adding one of the four words given. Under line the correct one." 1. The Wightman cup is con tested for by—golf teams, base ball teams, football teams, ten- 1 ms teams. 2. The tenth President of the United States waa—James Mon- i roe, John Tyler, Franklin Pierce, i U. S. Grant. 3- “The Virginian” was written 1 by—Richard Harding Davis, Owen Wister. Louisa M. Alcott. Mark Twain. 4. The Columbia river la noted for its—pickerel, salmon, sardines. r mackerel. 5. The capital of Pennsylvania M—Philadelphia. Pittsburgh, Har- elton. Harrisburg fi The modem berths tune for August is emerald, topaz, pearl diamond T. I a go is a character In "Idylls of the King.'* "Othello.” * Midsummer Night a Dream.** "Hamlet ** • The "Panhandle” state fee— Iowa. Georgia. West Virginia. 1 Delaware Anvwrr* 1. Tennis teams S. Harriobwrg. 2. John Tyler fi Topaz 1. Owen Wister 7 “Othello ** 4. Salmon fi West Virginia AW ylroi.:id I * /rfc House the applique patches; material requirements; color suggestions; illustrations of all stitches needed To obtain this pattern, send 15 cents in stamps or coins (coinz preferred) to The Sewing Circle Household Arts Dept., 259 W. Fourteenth St., New York, N. Y. Write plainly pattern number, your name and address. Glory of Sacrifice Only look at the sunlight and shadows on the grand walls that were built solidly, and have en dured in their grandeur, look at the faces of the little chUdren making another sunlight amid the shadows of age; look, if you will, into the churches, and hear the same chants, see the same images as of old—the images of willing anguish, for a great end, of beneficent love and ascending glory. See upturned living faces, and lips moving to the old pray ers for help. These things have not changed. The sunlight and shadows bring their old beauty and waken the old heart-strains at morning, noon, and eventide; the little children are still the symbol of the eternal marriage between love and duty, and men still yearn for the reign of peace and righteousness, still own that life to be the highest, which is a conscious, voluntary sacrifice. —George Eliot. Good LIGHT Every Nipht with a fbleman LANTERN Mat— ta*. ptmtmd tawl.VHU M mb* LA* <— Ir= r.r»rs.' r= * - ■rWa la* a*U I *** fetNanRSfi* rut COALMAN LAMP AND CTO* OCX IMA . Ml Far All U Hr* The gods wa worship wnt© their names oa our faces. Mufti \rtrrtl ’ U 10< 40« 6V wMirt Hifib DlgaMy One of the aubUmest thing* mi the world ta plain truth Blacks Leaf 40 zasv a Oasm ia rsAVuaas OR SPRIAO ON ROOSTS Grease the measuring cup be- £ YES Z»* fore measuring sirup or molasses ESTiCtTJrJH! and the ingredients will not stick ' s** ryv * f y*—«—*»; arjKLR^ to the sides of the cup and there |^ i ^ «>*i.suwa*.o*. will be no waste. Always sweep rugs and car pels the way of the gram. Brush ing against the grain roughens the surface and it tends to brush the dust in ifidtead of out. • • • Partly cook cereal in a dou ble boiler the night before using and leave it on the back of the stove, being sure to cover well with water. It will be well cooked in the morning. • • • Sugar sprinkled over the tops of cookies or sponge cakes be fore putting them into the oven forms a sweet crust and makes a richer cookie. * • • Four pounds of plums will make five pint jars of preserves. * * • Cocoa should always be cooked in a small amount of water be fore milk is added. * * * Glass stoppers may be easily removed from bottles if a towel is dipped into boiling water and wrapped around the neck of bot tle for a few minutes. (^Associated Newspapers.—WNU Service, Classified Department REMEDIES utkt: noon promtnki.i^ I NO RK\-I.K\ h*-*il»i h« powder t* stores Popular demand build* repeat husi- ne*a. Samples free KKX. HHKI.HY. N. O. WORMS AND TAPEWORM are quickly expelled from the human sys tem with one single dose of. Dr. Peary’s ‘DEAD SHOT Vermifuge SOc a bottle at druzvlsts or Wrlzht's PU1 Co., 100 Gold 81.. N.Y. Ctty. WONDERFUL FOR THESE SKIH BUMISHES Wonderful, thousands say, how the soothing penetration of CUTICURA Soap and Ointment nelps banish ugly skin irritations due to external causes. Wonderful, how this mildly medicated Soap cleanses and soothes—how the Ointment relieves and helps heal! Wonderful, you’ll agree, as even the first application aids and comforts. Sold everywhere. Ointment 2Be. Soap 254. Write for FREE sample to “Cuticurm." Dept. 11, Malta. CUTICURA I, 0 n a t p mJ^ ■■B-r