McCormick messenger. (McCormick, S.C.) 1902-current, December 03, 1931, Image 3
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Thursday, December 3, 1931 .
McCORMICK MESSENGER, McCORMICK, SOUTH CAROLINA’
PAGE NUMBER THR1
SightJUnseen
MARY ROBERTS RINEHART
COPYRIGHT K)3/
6y &OBEPTS P/NEHART
\
TENTH INSTALMENT
SYNOPSIS
Six people, Horace Johnson
(who tells the story), his wife,
old Mrs. Dane, Herbert Rob
inson and his sister, Alice, and
Dr. Sperry, friends and neigh
bors, are in the habit of hold
ing weekly meetings. At one
of them, Mrs. Dane, who is
hostess, varies the program by
unexpectedly arranging a spir
itualistic seance with Miss
Jeremy, a friend of Dr. Sperry
and not a professional, as the
medium.
At the first sitting the medi
um tells the details of a mur- '
der as it is occurring. Later
that night Sperry learns that a
neighbor, Arthur Wells, has
been shot mysteriously. With
Johnson he goes to the Wells
residence and they find con
firmation of the medium’s ac
count. Mrs. Wells tells them
her husband shot himself in a
fit of depression.
At a second seance. Miss
Jeremy adds details about a
summer resort where Charles
EHingham was known to have
been at the same time that
Mrs. Wells was th-'re. She also
speaks of a pocketbook being
lost which contained some im
portant car tickets and letters.
Mrs. Dane, alone of the women,
seems thrilled by the investiga
tion. '
Johnson goes alone and in
vestigates the deserted house.
He is frightened by strange
noises, as of an intruder in the
house, but completes his in
vestigation.
He visits Mrs. Dane atod tells*
her how he had carried off the
’fire-tongs and left behind his
overcoat in his excitement. She
then tells him she had adver
tised for the finder of the poc
ketbook and turns over to
Johnson an answer she had re
ceived from one having guilty
knowledge of the crime. Dr.
Sperry announces he is to be
married to Miss Jeremy when
tb° club meets again.
Hawkins, the butler, is iden
tified as being the person who
answered Mrs. Dane’s adver
tisement. , Johnson’s missing
overcoat is mailed to him, but
the letters contained in a poc
ket are missing. Sperry, ac-
ipanied by Johnson, makes
>ther search in Well’s house
com:
anotl
< for the letters written by the
slayer.
NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY
Our inspection of the curtains
was hurried, but finally we found
what we were looking for. In the
lining of one of the curtains, near
the bottom, a long, ragged cut had
been made.
“Cut in a hurry, with curved
scissors,” w^s Sperry’s comment.
“Probably manicure scissors.”
The result was a sort of pocket in
the curtain, concealed on the
chintz side, which was the side
which would hang toward the
room. '
“Probably,” he said, “the curtain
would have been better. It would
have stayed anyhow. Whereas the
bag—” He was flushed with tri
umph. “How in the world would
Hawkins know that?” he demand
ed. “You can talk all you like.
She’s told us things that no one
ever told her.”
“We’ll have to go at the floors
under the carpets now,” he said.
The dre,ssing-room had a large
rug, like the nursery above it, turn
ing back the carpet was a simple
matter.
There had been a stain beneath
where the dead man’s head had
lain, but it had been scrubbed and
scraped away.’ The boards were
white for an area of a square foot
or so.
Sperry eyed the spot with indif
ference. “Not essential,” he said.
“Shows good housekeeping. That’s
all. The point is, are there other
spots?”
And, after a time, we found what
we were after. The upper hall was
carpeted, and my penknife came
into requisition to lift the tacks.
They came up rather easily, as if
but recently put in. That, indeed
proved to be the case.
Just outside the dressing room
door the boards for an area of two
square feet or more beneath the
carpet had been scraped and scrub
bed. With the lifting of the carpet
came, too, a strong odor, as of am
monia. But the stain of blood had
absolutely disappeared.
Sperry, kneeling on the floor with
the candle held close, examined the
wood. “Not only scrubbed,” he
said, “but scraped down, probably
with a floor-scraper. It’s pretty
clear, Horace. The poor devil fell
here. There was a struggle, and
he went down. He lay there for a
while, too, until some plan was
thought out. A man does not usu
ally kill himself in a hallway. It’s
sort of solitenitjsdeed. He fell
Here, and UMBi \ged into the
room. The angle of the bullet in
the ceiling would probably show it
came from here, too, and went
through the doorway.”
It was getting on, so I suggested
we give up further searching.
We reached Mrs. Dane’s, to find
that Miss Jeremy had already ar
rived, looking rather pale, as I had
noticed she always did before a
seance. Her color had faded, and
her eyes seemed sunken in her
head.
’ “Not ill, are you?” Sperry asked
her, as he took her hand.
“Not at all. But I am anxious.
I always am. These things do not
come for the calling.”
“This is the last time. You have
promised.”
“Yes. The last time.”
For our last seance, Herbert
Robinson, who had been reading up
psychic literature, said he had ar
ranged things to convince us all of
the genuineness of any phenomena
that might appear.
Herbert placed Miss Jeremy in
her chair, and proceeded to wrap
her, chair ahd all, in a strong net
work of fine threads, drawn suffi
ciently, taut to snap with any
movement.
He finished by placing her feet
on the sheet of paper, and outlin
ing their position there with a pen
cil line.
The proceedings were saved from
absurdity by what we all felt was
the extreme gravity of the situa
tion. There were present in the
room Mrs. Dane, the Robinsons,
Sperry, my wife and myself. Clara,
Mrs. Dane’s secretary, had begged
off on the plea of nervousness
from the earlier and physical por
tion of the seance, and was to re
main outside in the hall until the
trance commenced.
Sperry objected to this, as move
ment in the circle during the
trance had, in the first seance, in
duced fretful uneasiness in the
medium. But Clara, appealed to,
begged to be allowed to remain out-
dignation that was far
composure the occasion
But the others, I believe, were fully
convinced that no human agency
had operated to bring the stick into
Mrs. Dane’s house, a belief that
prepared them for anything that
might occur.
A number of things pccurred al
most as soon as the lights were out.
Then, suddenly, a bell that Sper
ry had placed on the stand beyond
the black curtain commenced to
ring. Quite without warning, im
mediately after, my chair twisted
under me.
Finally Mrs. Dane rapped on the
floor and Clara came in. Mrs.
Dane told her to switch on the
lights. Miss Jeremy had drooped in
her chair until the silk across her
chest was held taut, but none of
the threads were broken and her
evening slippers still fitted into
the outline on the paper bepeath
them. Without getting up, Sperry
reached to the stand behind Miss
Jeremy,, and brought into view a
piece of sculptor’s clay he had plac
ed there. The handle of the bell
was now jammed into the mass.
“Now,” Herbert said, addressing
the medium, “we want you to go
back to the house where you saw
the dead man on the floor. You
know his name, don’t you?”
There was a pause. “Yes. Of
course I tio. A. L. Wells.”
Arthur had been known to most
of us by his Christian name, but
the initials were correct.
“How do you know it is an L?”
“On letters,” was the laconic an
swer. Then: “Letters, letters, who
has the letters?”
“Do you know whose cane this
is?”
“Yes.”
Up to that time the replies had
come easily and quickly. But be
ginning with the cane question, the
medium was in difficulties. She
moved uneasily, and spoke irritably.
The replies were slow and grudg
ing. Foreign subjects were intro-
kooinspn bound the medium to her chair anu traced her feet on
sheet of white paper. *
side until she was required, and
showed such unmistakable nerv
ousness that we finally agreed.
“Would a slight noise disturb
her?” Mrs. Dane asked.
Miss Jeremy thought not, if the
circle remained unbroken, and- Mrs.
Dane considered.
“Bring me my stick from the
hall, Horace,” she said. “And tell
Clara I’ll rap on the floor with it
when I want her.”
I found a stick in the rack out
side and brought it in. The lights
were still on in the chandelier ov
erhead, and as I gave the stick to
Mrs. Dane I heard Sperry speaking
sharply behind me.
“Where did you get that stick?”
he demanded.
“In the hall. I ”
“I never saw it before,” said Mrs.
Dane. “Perhaps it is Herbert’s.”
But I caught Sperry’s eye. We
had both recognized it. It was
Arthur Wells’s, the one which
Sperry had taken from his room,
and which, in turn, had been taken
from Sperry’s library.
Sperry was watching me with a
sort of cynical amusement.
“You’re an absent-minded beg
gar, Horace,” he said.
“You didn’t, by any chance, stop
here on your way back from my
place the other night, did you?”
“I did. But I didn’t bring that
thing.”
“Look here, Horace,” he said,
more gently, “ypu come in and see
me some day sotn. You’re not* as
fit as you ought to be.”
I confess to a sort of helpless in-
duced, as now.
“Horace’s wife certainly bullies
him,” said the voice. “He’s afraid
of her. And the fire-tongs—the
fire-tongs—the fire-tongs!”
“Whose cane is this?” Herbert
repeated.
“Mr. Ellingham’s.”
This created a profound sensa
tion.
“How do you know that?”
“He carried it at the seashore.
He wrote in the sand with it.”
“What did he write?”
“Ten o’clock.”
“He wrote ‘ten o’clock’ in the
sand, and the waves came and
washed it away?”
“Yes.”
“Horace,” said my wife, leaning
forward, “why not ask her about
that stock of mine? If it is going
down, I ought to sell, oughtn’t I?”
Herbert eyed her with some ex
asperation.
“We are here to make a serious
investigation,” he said. “If the
members of the club will keep their
attention on what we are doing, we
may get somewhere.
“Now,” he continued, turning .o
the medium, “the man is dead, and
the revolver is beside him. Did he
kill himself?”
“No. He attacked her when he
found the letters.”
“And she shot him?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
“Try very hard. It is important.”
“I don’t know,” was the fretful
reply. “She may have. She hated
him. I don’t know. She says she
did.”
from the
required.
“She says she killed him?”
But there was no reply to this,
although Herbert repeated it sev-
3ral times.
Instead, the voice of the “con
trol” began to recite a verse of
poetry—a cheap, sentimental bit of
trash. It was maddening, under
the circumstances.
“Do you know where the letters
are?”
“Hawkins has them.”
“They were not hidden in the
curtain?” This was Sperry.
“No. The police might have
searched the room.”
“Where were these letters?”
There was no direct reply to this,
but instead:
“He found them when he was
looking for his razorstrop. They
were in the top of a closet. His
revolver was there, too. He went
back and got it. It was terrible.”
There was a profound silence,
followed by a slight exclamation
from Sperry as he leaped to his
feet. The screen at the end of the
room, which cut off the light from
Clara’s candle, was toppling. The
next instant it fell, and we saw
Clara sprawled over her table, in a
dead faint.
In this, the final chapter of the
record of these seances, I shall give,
as briefly as possible, the events of
the day following the third sitting.
I shall explain the mystery of
Arthur Wells’s death, and I shall
give the solution arrived at by the
Neighborhood Club as to the
strange communications from the
medium, Miss Jeremy, now Sperry’s
wife.
On Tuesday morning I wakened
after an unea$y night. I knew cer
tain things, knew them definitely
in the clear light of morning. Haw
kins had the letters that Arthur
Wells had found; that was one
thing. I had not taken Elling
ham’s stick to Mrs. Dane’s house;
that was another. I had not done
it. I had placed it on the table
and had not touched it again.
But those were immaterial, com
pared with one outstanding fact
Any supernatural solution would
impljf full knowledge by whatever
power had controlled the medium
And there was not full knowledge.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
County Supervisor’s Monthly Report
LIST OF CLAIMS PAID BY THE SUPERVISOR OF McCORMICK
COUNTY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1931
Claim No.
11027 J
11028
11029
11030
11031
11032
Payee Purpose Amount
Talbert, Salary $ 41.67
W. O. Graves, Salary
W. T. Strom, Salary
J. T. Fooshe, Salary
J. O. Patterson, Salary r !
County Pension Fund, Support of the Poor:
" —WHITE—
Mrs. Mary Carroll 5.00
Mrs. Mary Ferqueron 5.00
Mrs. Julia Davis 5.00
Mrs. Ella Stroud 5.00
Mrs. Martha Scott 5.00
Mrs. Martha Turnage ' 5.00
Mrs. Susannah Willis 5.00
Miss Miranda Holsenback 5.00
Miss Sally Wideman 5.00
Miss Emily Wideman 5.00
Miss Lou White .l 5.00
Miss Carrie B. Freeland 5.00
O. D. White 5.00
Jno. P. Wideman 5.00
William Tramel 5.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
35.00
Acid
stomach
• <
•••
m
ni=PHIUIPSl
For Troubles
due to Acid
indigestion
acid stomach
heartburn
headache
CASES-NAUSEA
ExCESS acid is the common cause
of indigestion. It results in pain and
sourness about two hours aftfer eat
ing. The quick corrective is an alkali
which neutralizes acid. _ The best
corrective is Phillips’ Milk of Mag
nesia. It has remained standard with
physicians in the 50 years since its
invention. _
One spoonful of Phillips’ Milk of
Magnesia neutralizes instantly many
times its volume in acid. Harmless,
and tasteless, and yet its action is
quick. You .will never rely on crude
methods, once you learn how quickly
this method acts. Be sure to get
the genuine.
The ideal dentifrice for clean
teeth and healthy gums is Phillips’
Dental Magnesia, a superior tooth
paste that safeguards against acid-
mouth.
—COLORED—
Victoria Tolbert 1
Delsie Goode
Miller Harmon
Milton Garrett
Herbert Williams
Jack Bradley
Caroline Green
Tildy Sheppard
Ann Marshall
Moriah Bussey
Jim Anderson
Amy Edmunds
Polly Elmore
Alex Calhoun
Pomp Matthews
Lucy Martin
John Moore
Anna Collier *
Georgia Callahan
Will Holloway
Lee Tolbert
Jane Yeldell
Geo. Zimmerman
Walker Callahan
John Garrett
Virge Morton
Jake Smith
Sophia Cullen
Steve and Rosa Pullian
Ed and Ella Rayford
75.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
3.00
5.00
5.00
11033
11034
11035
11036
11037
11038
11039
11040
11041
11042
11043
11044
11045
11046
11047
11048
11049
11050
11051
11052
11053
11054
11055
11056
11057
11058
11059
11060
11061
11062
11063
11064
94.00 v 169.00
Joseph Murray, Salary 16.68
L. G. Bell, Salary 20.83
W. L. Brown, Salary 83.33
W. H. Parks, Salary _** 70.83
M. L. B. Sturkey, Salary 8.33
C. W. Pennal, Salary 52.22
T. J. Price, Salary - 52.22
H. C. Walker, Salary 33.34
Jess Remsen, Salary 25.00
Geo. P. Watkins, Salary 80.00
John Creswell, Salary 65.00
Com. of Pub. Wks., Water and Lights (July & Aug.) 25.97
T. J. Price, Treas. Jury Tickets 8.60
R. N. Edmunds, Salary 12.50
C. C. Morgan, Salary 12.50
Merrett Grocery Co., Supplies 129.28
J. D. Dunlap, Supplies J 30.07
Gulf Refining Co., Gas and Oil r 59.15
W. N. Edmunds, Supplies j 8.20
J. T. Fooshe, Expense Account 13.48
Burroughs Adding Mach. Co., Upkeep of Mach. 11.10
W. O. Graves, Pd. Freight and Express 3.36
Geo. P. Watkins, Supplies 12.14
R. A. Price, Operation of Ferry 12.00
M. G. & J. J. Dorn, Office Rent 16.00
Mose Wideman, Supplies 11.12
J. O. Patterson, Clerk, Postage for Offices 14.00
S. C. Con. Tel. Co., Rents 21.15
W. W. Bradley, Audit of County Books July 1, 1930
to July 1, 1931 v 200.DO
Com. of Public Wks. Water and Lights, Sept. 1 13.53
T. J. Price, Treas. Interest on Bonds 4,661.62
T. J. Price, Treas. Jury Tickets 2.00
TOTAL $ 6,331.72
Professional Card
W. K. CHARLES
Attorney-At-Law
office, Farmers Bank Building
Days at McCormick
WEDNESDAYS and SATURDAYS
Friend—Don’t you know that
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for your money so that he can pay
his bills? ’
Goldie—Nonsense! Why, he never
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