Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE I I&GATE ? A STORY OF MY5TCRY. INVOLVING STARTLING COMPLICATIONS &? ADVCNTUf fcv ANNA KATMCRINE GREE _ AUTHOR- OP t?? LttN WORTH CA5t, BtMiND CLOSI **1Hd you follow Mr. Ransom when ha talked through those rooms?'* -Ho, sir; I stayed in the hall." "IMd the lady hobble when she slid taut mysteriously out of sight?" "A little. Not so much as when she une In. But shs wasn't st her ease, r. Her shoes were certainly too ?sir "1 think I will take a poop at those nmis now," Qerrldge remarked to the smagar. Mr. Loomls bowed, and together crossed the office to the recep m door The diagram of this of the hotel will give you an of these connecting rooms. 1! 7] I - There are three of them, as yon will see, all reception-rooms. Mr. had passed through them all looking for his wife In No. 1 ho several ladles sitting and stand U all strengere He encountered eevo In No. 2, and In No. 3 Just ono a lady In street costume evl ly waiting for some one. To this he had addressed draself, ask If she had seen any one pass that the moment before. Her reply a decided "No;" thet sho had waiting In that same room for minutes and had seen no one TO* staggered htm. It wee as If his had dissolved into thin air. True, might hero eluded him by slipping Into the hall by means of door at the moment he entered door sjsja; end alert to this possibility, ha 'hastened beck Into the hall to look \mw her. But sbo was nowhere visible, mm had she been observed leering fjsa building by the men stationed at esstraace A. But there was another <*?*)', that of B. Had sho gone out that way? Mr. Ransom had taken eesaae to inquire and had been assured Sly *tfce man In charge that no lady had Ml by that door during tho last ten snwaotes This ho had Insisted on, tea* when Mr. Loomls snd tho detec came In their turn to question on this point ho Insisted on It The mystery seemed com? et least to the manager. But detective was not quits satisfied, aaked the man If at any time that , before or after Mrs. Ransom's >pearance, he had swung tho door tor a lady who walked lame answer was decisive. "Yes; one walked as if her shoes wers *tWhmnVt ?Oh a little while after the gentle snaa asked his questions." "Wee she dressed In brown?" That ho didn't know. Ho didn't at ladles' dresses unless they something special. ?Put she walked lams and sho eeeee from Room 3?" Tee He remembered that much. Oar ridge, with a nod to tho man Ojgar, stopped into the open compart sneet of tho whirling door. "I'm off," ?aid he. ''Expect to hear from mo In two hours." At twenty minutes to ten Mr. Ran eeaa was called up on the telephone ?^One question. Mr. Ransom." ?"Hello, who are you?" ?Xlerrldge." "AH right, go ahead." "Did you see the face of the worn at r?o spoke to In Room No. 3?" "Of course. She was looking direct? ly at me" ?You remember it? Could identify at If you saw it again?" Tos; that Is-" ?That's all. good-by." The circuit was cut off. Another Intolerable wait. Then there cams a knock on the door and Qerrldge entered. He held a pkoto graph In his hand whb h he had evi? dently taken from his poohwt on his way up. -Look at thl mM he "Do you recognize the face?" -The lady " -Just so; the one who *'?id she Inrt ?sen no one come Into No. 3 on tho ?rat floor." Mr. KauHo agpn Ion of v , gs I ?od inquiry a*| ? ? . ? -\%?ll. It's a pit- jo.. I ?... ! look her gK'tcs hsateaJ ?f gl hi t (nee, v> . ssU'ii i?-:vo ha< din idea ?f fa/ ie-'i? h ??n 1 le to tno ho el with yau, n.H youi Mr. Ransom staggered against the table. wife. The veil was wound around her face for a far deeper purpose than to ward off rice." Mr. Raus*?->i staggered back against the table before which he had been standing The blow was an over? whelming one. "Who Is this woman?" he demand? ed. "She came from Mr. Fulton's house. More than that, from ray wife's ?room. What is her name and what did she mean ty such an outrage?" "Her name is Bella Burton, and she Is your wife's confidential maid. As for the meaning of this outrage, it will take more than two hours to ferret out that I can only give you the single fact I've mentioned." "And Mrs. Ransom?" "She left the house at the some moment you did; you and Miss Burton. Only she went by the basement door." "She? She?" "Dressed in her maid's clothes. Oh, you'll have to hear worse things than that before we're out of this muddle. If you won't mind a bit of advice from a man of experience, I would suggest that you take things easy. It't the only way." Shocked into silence by this cold? blooded philosophy, Mr. Ransom con? trolled both his anger and his humili? ation; but he could not control his surprise. "What d jes it mean?" he murmured to himself. "What does it all mean?" CHAPTER III. "He Knows the Word." QHE next moment the doubt natural to the occasion as? serted itself. ? "How do you kn w all this? Y'ju state the impossible. Ex? plain yourself." Oerrldi;e was only too willing to do so. "I have Just coroe from Mr. Fulton's house," said he. "Inquiries there elicited the facts which have so startled you. Neither Mr. Fulton nor his wife n.eant to deceive you. They knew nothing, suspected nothing of what took place, and you have no cause to blar>ie them. It was all a plot between the two women." "But how?why?" "You see, I had a fact to go upon. You had noticed that ycur so-called bride's gloves 11 d not fit her; the boy below, that her sh< es were so tight she hobbled. That set roe thinking. A wo'-an of Mrs. Ransom's experi? ence and Judgment wculd not be apt to make a mistake in two such im? portant particulars; which taken with the veil and the nrorrlse she exacted from you not to address or touch her durln? your short ride to the hotel, led n.e to point my inquiries so that 1 soon found out that ycur wtfe had had the assistance of another woman In netting ready for her journey and that this woman was her own maid who had been wlth^her for a long time, and had always *gfeen evidence of an especial attachment for her. Asking about this girl's height and gercrul p.pearance (for the possibility of a substitution was already in my mini), I found that she was of slight IsfUfW. and good carriage, and that ber aSJl was nrt far removed from that of ber ymng mlotrooa This iruk t^e substitution I have mentioned feasible, and whl n I was told that she wns 10SI taking her hat and bon? net int' the bride's room, and, though not expected to leave till the next ?warning, had slid away fi m the house by the bosom on t door a the neme moment her mistress eppoared or. the front steps, D y suspicions he* ca V s<) eonflrr od that I asked how this glr] looked, in the hope thai yon would he nhl< to recognise her, Ihr ugh the description, ei th*i ?vo?.i? 11 v ,i had S4 . I Sitting In R< ' D roona No, !'?. But to my surprise Mrs. Fulton Mad what wns hotter than any t1 scriMtion. the girl's picture. This has Hii i pit tied matters very much, By It you have been aide to Identify the woi an who utte? ipt< to mislead you In the reception-roc1 and T the per? son who rode here with you from Mr. Fulton's house. Wasn't she dressed in brown? Didn't you notice a simi? larity in her appearance to that of the very lady you were then seeking?" "I did not observe. Her face was all I saw. She was looking directly at me as I stepped into the room." "I see. Bhe had taken off her veil and trotted to your attention being caught by her strange features.?as it was. nut that dress was brown; I'm sure of it. S;>e was the wry woman. Otherwise the mystery is impenetra? ble.* A deep plot, Mr. Ransom; one that should pr.>ve to you that Mrs. Ransrm's motive in leaving you was of a very serious character. Do you wish that motive probed to the bot? tom? I cannot do it without public? ity. Are you willing to incur that ptibliclly?" "I must." Mr. Ransom had risen In great excitement. "Nothing can hide the fact that my bride left me on our wedding-day It only remains now to show that she did It under an influence which robbeu her of her own will; an influence from which she shrank even while succumbing to it. I can show her no greater kindness, and I am not afraid of the result I have perfect confidence in her inte? grity"? he' hesitated, then added with Strong conviction?"and in her love." The detective hid his surprise. He could not understand this confidence. But then he knew nothing of the mem? ories which lay back of it. "Very well." he said. "You still want me to find her. I will do my best, sir; but first, cannot you help me with a suggestion or two?" "I?" "There must be some clew to so Budden a freak on the part of a young and beautiful woLian, who, I have tak? en pains to learn, has not only a clean record but a reputation for good sense. The Fultons cannot supply it. She has lived a seemingly open and happy life in their house, and the mystery is as great to them as to you. But you, as her lover and now her husband, must have been favored with confidences not given to others. Cannot you recall one likely to put us on the right track? Some fact prior to the events of to-day, I mean; some fact connected with her past life; before she went to live with the Fultons?" "No. Yet let me think; let me think." Mr. Ransom dropped hi? face into his hands and sat for a morrent silent. When he looked up again, the detective pereelved that the affair was hopeless so far as he was concerned. "No," he repeated, this time with un? mistakable emphasis, "she has always appeared buoyan* and untrammeled. But then I have only known her six months." "Tell me her history so far as you know it. What do you know of her life previous to your meeting her?" 'It was a very simple one. She had a country bringing up, having been born in a small village in Connecticut. She was one of three children and the only one who has survived; her sis? ter, who was her twin, died when she was a small child, and a brother some five years ago. Her fortune was willed her, as I have already told you, by a great-uncle. It is entirely In her own hands. Left an orphan early she lived first with her brother; then %when he died, with one relative after another, till lastly she settled down with the Fultons. I know of no secret in her life, no entanglement, not even of any prior engagements. Yet that man with the twisted Jaw was not un? known to her, and if he Is a relative, as she said, you should have no diffi? culty in locating him." "I hav6 a man on his track," Ger ridge replied. "And one on the girl's too; I menu, of course, Bella Burton's. They will report here un to twelve o'clock to-night. It is now half-past past eleven. We should hear from cne wr the otlur soon." "And my wife?" "A dttCrtpUcQ of the clothing she wore has pone out. We may hear from it. But I d jubt if we do to-night unless she has rejoined her maid or the man with a scar. Somehow think she will join the girl. But it's hard to tell yet" Mr. Ransom could hardly control his impatience. "And I must sit helpless here!" he exclaimed. "I who hare so much at stake!" The detective evidently thought the occasion called for whatever comfort It was in his power to bestow. "Yes," said he. "For It is here she will seek you if she takes a notion to return. But woman Is an uncertain quantity," he dryly added. Voices here rose in tho hall, and a man was ushared in, whom Gerridge immediately introduced as Mr. Sims. A runner?and with news! Mr. Ransom, summoniug up his courage, waited for the inevitable question and reply. They came quickly enough. "Have you found tho riau?" "What have you got? Have you found the man?" "Yes. And the lady's boen to see him; that is, if the description of her togs was correct." "He means Mrs. Ransom," ex? plained Gerridge. Then, as he mark? ed his client's struggle for composure, he quietly asked, "A lady in a dark green suit with yellowisll furs and a blue veil ever h.?r hat?" "That's the ticket!" "The clothes worn by the woman who went out of the basement door, Mr. Ransom." The latter turned sharply aside. The shame of .the thing was becoming in? tolerable. "And this woman wearing those yel? low furs and the blue veil visited the man of the broken jaw?" inquired Gerridge. "Yes, sir." "When?" "About six this afternoon." "And where?" "At the hotel St. Denis, where I have since tracked him." "How long did she stiy?" "About an hour." "In the parlor or?" "In the parlor. They had a great deal to say. More than one noticed them, hut no one heard anything. ! They talked very low but they meant business." "Where is this man now?" "At the same place. He has en? gaged a room there." "The man with the twisted Jaw?" "Yes." "Under what name?" "Hugh Porter. "Ah, it was Hasen only five hours ; ago," muttered Ransom. "Porter, did yejQ say? I'll have a talk with this j Porter at once." "I think not to-night," put in the 1 detective, with the mingled authority ! and deference natural to one of his ! kind. "To-morrow, perhaps, but to- j night it would only provoke scandal." This was certainly true, but Mr. Ransom was not an easy man to domi? nate. "I must see him before 1 sleep," he insisted. "A single word may solve this mystery. He has the word. I'd I be a fool to let the night go by?Ah! I what's that?" I The telephone bell had rung again. A message from the office this time. A note had just been handed in for Mr. Ransom; should they send it up? Gerridge was at the 'phone "Instantly," he shouted down, "and be sure you hold the messenger. It may be from your lady," he remarked to Mr. Ransom. "Stranger things than that have happened." I Mr. Ransom reeled to the door, opened it and stood waiting. The two detectives exchanged glances. What might not that note contain! , Mr. Ransom opened it in the hall. When he came back into the room, his hand was shaking and his face looked drawn r.nd pale. But he show? ed no further disposition to go out. Instead, he sank into a chair, with a motion of dismissal to the two de-* tectives. I "Question the boy who brought this," said he. "It is from Mrs. Ran? som; written, as you Fee, at the St. Denis. She bids me farewell for a time, but does noc favor me with any explanations. She cannot do differ? ently, she says, and ?'^s me to trust her and wait. Not very encouraging to sleep on; but iL's something. She has not entirely forsaken me." Gerridge with a shrug turned sharp? ly towards the door. "I take it that you wouldn't object to knowing all the messenger can tell you?" I "No, no. Question him. Find out whether she gave this to him with ' her own hand." | ? Gerridge obeyed this injunction, but was told in reply that the note had been given him to deliver by a clerk in the hotel lobby. He could tell nothing about the lady. This was unsatisfactory enough; but the man who had influenced her to this step had been placed under surveillance. To-morrow they would question him; the mystery was not without a promise of solution. So Gerridge felt: but not Mr. Ransom; for at the ond of the lines whose pur? port ho had Just communicated to the detective were those few, significant i words: "Make no move to find me. If you love me well enough to wait in silence for developments, hap? piness mi\j yet be ours." CHAPTER IV. Mr. Ransom Waits. G*~"?"lF.RRIDGB rose early, primed, as he said to himself, for Stfr? business. But to his great r tttJ disappointment he found Mr. Ransom in a frame of mind which precluded action. Indeed, that gen Lleman looked greatly changed. He not only gave evidence of a sleepless night but showed none of the spirit of the previous evening, and hesitat- j fed quite painfully when Gerridge ask- ! v'i him If he did not intend to go j uh; ,u V?'iUl >.!;e interview they h:.d 1 pro niscd themselves. "That's as it may be," was the hesi? tating reply. "I hardly think that I shall visit the man yen mean this n orning. He interests me and I hope that none of his movements will es? cape you. But I'm in t ready to talk to him. 1 prefer to wait a little; to give my wife a chance. I should feel : ;?, and have le ;s to forget." "Jusl us you say." returned the de tcctivo stiffly, "lie's under our thumb at pi lent, 1 can't tell when be may wrtgglo o.it." "N ?' while your eye's on hlni. And your oyo won't leave him as long as you have confidence In the reward I've promised you/ "Perhaps not; but >ou take the life out of me. Last night you were too hot; this morning you are too cold. But it's not. for me to complain. You know where to find me when you want me." And without more ado the de? tective went out. Mr. Ransom remained alone and in no enviable frame of mind. He was distrustful if himself, distrustful of the man who had made al this trou? ble, and distrustful of her, though he would not acknowledge it. Every baser instinct in him drove him to the meeting he declined. To see the man?to force from him the truth, seemed the only rational thing to do. But he final words of his wife's let? ter ttood in his way. She bad ad? vised patience. Yes, he would give her a day. That was time enough for a man suffering on the rack of such an intolerable suspense? me day. But even that day did not pass without breaks in his mood and more than one walk in the direction of the St. Denis Hotol. In the evening it was the same, but the next morning he re? mained steadfastly at his hotel. He had laid out his future course In these words: "I will extend the time to three days; then if I do not hear from he* I will get that wry-necked fellow by the throat and twist an ex? planation from him." But the three days passed and he found the situa? tion unchanged. Then he set an his limit the end of the week, but before the full time had elapsed he was ad? vised by Gerrldge that he himself was being followed in his turn by a couple of private detectives; and while still under the agitation of this discovery was further disconcerted by having the following communication thrust into his hand in the open street by a young woman who succeeded in los? ing herself in the crowd before he had got so much as a good look at her. You can judge of his amazement as he read the few lines it contained. Read the papers to-night and forget the stranger at the St. Denis. That was all. But the writing was hers. The hours passed slowly till the papers were cried in the street What Mr. Ransom read in them in? creased his astonishment, I might say his anxiety. It was a paragraph about his wife, an almost incredible one, running thus: A strange explanation is given of the disappearance of Mrs. Ransom on her wedding-day. As our readers will remember, she accompanied her husband to the hotel, but managed to slip away and leave the house while he still stood at. the desk. This act, for which nothing in her previous conduct has in any way prepared her friends, is now said to have been due to the shock of hearing, some time during her wedding day, that a sister whom she had supposed dead was really alive and in circumstances of almost de? grading poverty. As this sister had been her own twin the effect upon her mind was very serious. To find and rescue this sister she left her newly made husband in the surreptitious manner already recorded in the papers. That she is not fully herself is shown by her continued secrecy as to her whereabouts. All that she has been willing to admit to the two persons she has so far taken into j her confidenc e?her husband and the agent who conducts her affairs ?is that she has found her sister and cannot leave her. Why, she does not state. The case is cer? tainly a curious one and Mr. Ran? som has the sympathy of all his friends. Confused, and in a state of mind bordering on frenzy, Mr. Ransom re? turned to the hotel and sought refuge in his own room. He put no confi? dence in what he had just read; ho regarded it as a newspaper story and ! a great fake; but sh<e had bid him | read It, and this fact; in itself wee very disturbing. For how could sho have known about it if she had not been its author, and if she was its author, what purpose aad she expect? ed it to serve? He was still debating this queeUoa when he reached his own room. Ca the floor, a little way from the sill, ley a letter. It had been thrust under the door during his absence. Lifting It tn some trepidation, he cast a glance at its inscription and sank staggering into the nearest chair, asking himself if he had the courage to open and read it. For the handwriting, like that of the note handed him in the street, was Georgian's, and he felt himself in a maze concerning her which made everything in her connection seem dreamlike and unreal. It was not long, however, before he had master? ed its contents. They were strange enough, as this transcription of them will show. (To Be Continued.) Disaster will follow, howevt r, Juat as soon as an aeroplane driver com? plicates matten by taking on a load of alcohol .:.> tvoi; as of gasoline ? Chicago Mews. Boston has launched a project for a great world's fair In 1920, t?> com? memorate tin- three hundredth anni? versary of tb<- landing ?>i the Pilgrims and tin founding ??i ?Cew England. Cecil Broom, young white mar. who i wanted i.i Lancaster Count) on the charge ??t attempted crlmina assault on 'i young lady, has been er rested in Atlanta. Collim Judge, colored, was shot an killed al Rock Hill by Cal Barber who made bis escape. ANOTHER'S mission. By w. t. chiku. A little nemencer boy, dripping vith perspiration an;i covered with lust, stepped up to the paying teller's vlndOWS at one of the largest banks in the city, and said: "Please, sir, giVO me ntckets for this?" The t< Her simply raised his I yes and pushed back the $10 bill. Th?> meaaenger boy thought he hod not loon hoard and repeated his request. "No!" snapped the paying tetter. The messenger boy was so fright? ened that he almost forgot his mis? sion. He meekly picked up the $10 bill from the counter and returned to his employer's office. "Walt where are the nickels?" his employer asked. "He wouldn't give them to me!'' answered the boy. In less time than it takes to tell, the employer heard the whole story He was a very heavy depositor in the bank and also one of its directors, and he lost no time in making an in? vestigation of the affair. "} didn't think he needed the nick? els," the paying teller sought to ex? cuse his action. "Of course he did not," answered the employer, "but did it not occur to you that he was on another's mis? sion ?" The paying teller could say nothing He acknowledged that he was inex? cusably wrong. If the employer had not been such a magnanimous man he would have exerted his influence as a heavy depositor and director of the bank to punish the paying teller, but he free willing to forgive when the paying teller assured him that It would never occur again. "Ah. young man," said the em? ployer, "you should remember that the message is often greater than the messenger."?Home Herald. He Is the Trust. Kartwell Ayer In the Florence Times says "A committee of friends waited on The Times editor to know whether the editor wee the whiskey trust or just one of the hirelings." Xow Brother Ayer confess, are you not the whiskey trust itself? If not; where did you get that immense girth you are hauling around Florence? And too where did those diamonds come from that you sported around in the legislature. You cannot throw dust in the eyes of the people of Florence any longer, by saying there is noth? ing about you that looks like the rich and powerful trust. Fool who? We delight in exposing Editor Ayer, by charging him, not with being one of the hirelings of the whiskey trust, but the whole thing himself. We are looking for the headquar? ters of this trust, and everywhere we look the signs point to the mail or? der concerns, who are very much alive in their Interest to have South Carolina as dry as a bone. We have heard it intimated that the mail or? der concerns contribute liberally to the cause of financing prohibition, tut we cannot get hold of convicttog evidence, nevertheless there is as much probability of the one as the other. All the same It does not prove that Hartwell Ayer of the Florence Times is not the thing, octopus, or the whiskey trust.?Manning Times. DISPENSARIES CLOSE MONDAY. Labor Day to be Observed by County Rum Shops. Columbia, Sept. 3.?All of the dis? pensaries in the State will be closed on Monday, that day being Labor Day, a holiday. The following letter addressed by Dispensary Auditor West is explanatory: "Dr. W. J. Dunn. Chairman, Cam den, S. C. "Dear Sir: In response to your in? quiry over the 'phone this morning. I beg to say that after conferring with the Attorney General it is my opinion that counties having voted against the sale of whiskey, etc., will be govern? ed by the same law as heretofore in the matter of observing all legal holi? days. You win, therefore, keep the dispensaries closed on Monday, as that day will be observed as Labor Day, which is a legal holiday in this State. Yours truly, (Signed) "W. B West. "Auditor." A family tree is of no use to the lumber dealer. $100 Reward. ?100. ?The readers of this paper srltl be pleased to learn that there la ;?t least ?ne dreaded disease that science has been able to cure in all its stages, and that is Catarrh. Hall's Catarrh Cure la the only positive cure now known to the medical fraternity. Catarrh be? ing a constitutional disease, requires a constitutional treatment. Hall's Ca? tarrh Cure is taken int? rnally. acting directly upon the blood *nd macotis surfaces of the system, thereby de? stroying the foundation of the die* ta&e, and giving the patient strength y building up the constitution and isolating nature In doing Its work The proprietors have so much faith In its curative powers thai they offer Owe Hundred Dollars for an) case that it ffils to cure. Send for Ifart of testi? monials, Address: r. J. CHENEY ft CO Toledo. 0 Sold b) l 'ruggists, "r>e. rake Hail's family Pills for constipa? tion.