Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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VOLUME XXXV. LAURENS, SOUTH CAROLINA, WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 1920. NUMBER 43 Whispers go" 11O Jo."s irwin Myew (Continiued frmi Last Week.) CTTAPTlEr TV.At'hara tells Nelsen her sister Claire hM: some years before made a rutinaway 'ratiage with an ad venturer, from Who le was soon parted and the marriage Ulled. Claire ia ei gaged to be marrl dnd someone linow ing of her escapade 'li stolen doctiments concerning the affalr from the .Bradford apartment and deMands a largo sum of money for their return, threatening to forward them to Clairo's flance if the de mands are not met. Neither iBarbara nor her lslter have the nioney to satisfy the demands. She tells. Nelson she has iaso heard mysterious sdunds in the flat. They agree to meet frnquently. "Did you have ten thousand Uith you that night I first met you?" She shook her head. "We haven't tcin thousand dollars in the world. OutAide of our furniture and our Jewels aid our motor, we have very little. If all the bills we owe were paid, we'd have almost noth ing at all." "Walnt (dd you propose doing when you met the man-or men?" "I didn't know.. 1, was going to try to plead with theoj to give me the pa pers. I would have promised anything to have gotten them back." "But the 1mn-the men--might have harmed you.'" She smiled incredlulously. "Hardly. There was little danger of their attacking me there !i the park s.n nanr the Avenu., with people ca-ui4 uty passing, and I esides, I car ried (lk." She roached ngnin into the pocket of her habit and brought forth a vicious-looking automatie. "It was Diad'i," l'o said. "le taught me to shoot with it, though I don't think either of uts thought then there would come a time when I might need it." "WVhat did the last note say?" "I Iere it is." This was written and folded as the others had been, on the most ordinary kind of writing paper. It read: "Unless we get the Imoniey Wednes day, Thayer gets the papers Thursday. r "But the Man-the Men-Might Have - Harmed You." No wedding then for yours. Same bench at six-thirty."1 "What canl I do0 about It?" "I'll go In your place," I suggested. "Ohl, no, I couldn't permit that." "Let me explain," I hastened to say. "'I'm In this mystery as deep as you are. Oisly last night I discovered that all the Gaston jewels which had been left In my custody are gone." "Not s l" she er.e. "The - ton parls! "But done aouth Mtae-Migh notafe "oasytHametd ou.e f h Nobbeyinguthurelforyus."m bec at oncthity. "Whastaed It 10 hard it?" xpa my actons itount perig thert." "hlet mis0exai,"e storyndthou am.t ting in this mytryo aso dee was most ae oI lmae nihet of discovredsthat tat th wasaong manel whic hfa bee seftinm storgd are dgre." Ye "Noth hsdoglen me sher cofd. Tee.- I waton als!"rthradtomsl tweens I reied "the egnnig." - Ituthy, thy oace ort twe huraed thoesadeparturrs, atlleast andt hargeo the wapontanitcdhreoweae hNas eto hav itolh ooo them,1ee eitatd detai as thar reaon expla not gone with them, my debt to the mother. She (d(d not seem greatly interested in the first part of my narrative but When I began tolliig of the proposi tion the Gastonls had made to me apd of the IysterWiolus warnings each of them had separately given me, I could see her interest kindling. "There is something wrong in that apartment hou.se," she explained. "We have had nothing but trouble ever since we lived there. I wonder it there is anything in the theory that evil deeds make bad karma, which reads its effects all about. I know I feel there is a sinister atmosphere about the whole place." "I'm beginning to feel It, too," I said bitterly. I told her then ot' my unexpected and unwarranted discharge without explanation the da y before. "How do you account for it?" she asked perplexedly. "You must have some enemy, some malicious person, who has spread some terrible tie about you." "I haven't any enemy in the world," I replied, yet even as I spoke there flashed across my mind the malevolent glance the scar-faced man had given rue in the restaurant a few evenings before. "I wonder," said Miss Bradford thoughtfully, "if the snme people who are.trying to blackmail us are not try ing to involve you with us in some way?" "Why should they?" "They may have been watching and have seen you enter the house with me twice. They may think that you and I are friends and that you were there in the park purposely that first time." "Even so," I replied, "that doesn't explain this." I pulled from my pocket the note I had found on the floor of my bed roomi and showed It to her. "Whero did you get that?" she gasped in astonishment. "Last night I heard footsteps and whispers. I thought at the time I was dreaming. This morning I found this note on the floor." "You heard whispers," she cried ex citedly, "whispers that seemed to come from up nenr the ceiling?" & "I thought I heard them. I wasn't sure." "I know, she said, shuddering. "Irve heard them-twice." We looked at each othei despairing ly. We both of us realized that we must be surrounded with some potent ewtl forces working to accomplish our ruin. The motive in the anonymous letters that Miss Bradford had been reeeivir', had plainly been blackmail. But what was the motive in my own ease? Why had someone stolen the Onston pearls and then In an anony mous letter to me spoken of the theft? I wondered, too, if the successful at tempt to discredit me at my place of business had not originated from the same mysterious source. Was my grent-uncle Rufus to blnne? The suspicion of hii rose in my mind and would not be (owned. I re called the unusual pretext on which he had sent for me after having pid no attention to my existence for nearJ ly a year. I recalled his curious warn ing and that of his aged wife. I re memberell that they had insisted qn leaving the jewels behind against my urgings, and that they had beenI in sistent on my having the combination of the safe. Could it be possiblie that they also had some grudge against the ilradfords, their neighbors, and., in some way had got hold of Claire Brad-. ford's secret? "I think you said," I asked Mdiss Bradford, "that your family and the Gastons were not acquainted in any way." "No," she replied, "we don't know them at all. Why do you ask that?" "I was wondering if it could be pos 511b1e that my great-uncle Itufus could have-had any hand in all this. ie's a queer, secretive o1ld chap." "It's probable that he and my father might have known each other. Both were in business hero in the city for many years. I never remember, though, of hearing Dad speak of him wait, yes, I did once." "When was that?" "It must have been six or eight vo cn. Thar-a was somethlag in (Continued on Page Wour.) sU M R a a Summer Breeze! (44lte r t'T n R a o sW y -itne vrsat.4 S tasnpefrock e i '44444p1 t I flii lttv dIress? Q1r a Is gow~n? Chloose thei You Should DoaYour "I The Fashion Book ' Fashion BooW for Summer m414411404. to n.1it Yol111 be (lhe enivy o h>y ui-ng wi ~ ith t hle ' PICTORIM. IlT 1 1o PATTERNS *lPatterns D GEORGETTE WAISTS 25 Georgette ,_ _ Waists, each $5.0 PANAMA CHECKS Our store greets you right now 10 ys god ajam Chckin the heart of the season with 10 yds good Pajama Check, yard wide, such such plentiful opportuni f or$30 PLAINties both for dignified econ PLAIN NAINSOOK omy as well as for that pre 10 yards plain white eminent personal satisfaction Nainsook, good quality w 0 _____________which__ -oe'.fo acquiring ENGLISH LONG CLOTH just the right merchandise at Best yard wide English Long Cloth, very soft finish; price 39c, 50c and 65c a yard quality and fair prices all com bined. Every step of this APRON GINGHAMS APRONGINGHMS I tairway holds a savings for Best Apron Ginghams; fast col ors; price per yard j every Wells Clardy Co. cus p tomers this week. Strangers YARD WIDE BROWN SHEETINGS Good yard wide Brown Sheetings, the yard 25c at this store. "The One Price WHITE FLAXONS to all." Best quality White Flaxons, 27 to 40 inches wide, priced at 25c, 35c and 50c the yard WHITE KHLARNEY LINEN ad laCe i erot and give bined.tEver stepr (ofr this Khlarney Lnen looksaikealinenllaunderavikeglinen ever dy Co.e cu ors. an w ar . It comeI s t y to for . Itmers IsI.3 wee k1.11. Strangers inhwide priced at 5c,35cand 5cthe yard CHIDEN' GHLANHA LINESSE Childrneien' ulpookf lieGinmese, aderie fromeno qalit Gigarmik linn.lid colors andids; tofrsixfo inches1wiers Priced at Th1y50aein.frona.dnt$5giv Madeof Prcae. ad Gigha strpesand laid, ad th setsl an; ouoi wer eoes $1~~~~ ~ rie$.50 to $12.50 ic$l.E14$.0 35c,50candLACE TOeTRaDd