Evening Star Newspaper, January 2, 1924, Page 30

ABOVE SUSPICION By Robert Orr Chipperfield. Author of “The Second Bullet,” “Unseen Hands,” “The Trigger of Conscience,” Etc. Copyright, 1023, by Rebert M. MeBride & Co. - (Continued from Yesterday's Star.) CHAPTER XVL i Geoft Pledges His Word. The neéxt morning, Geoff was stow- ing his coat and the newspaper con- taining his dinner in their accustom- ed end of the tool box on the Cayleys' terrace, preparatory to starting the day's work, when a low, prolonged hiss made him glance toward the per- gola Into which the kitchen door opened. Mazeppa's round, dusky countenance appeared cautiously around the corner of the house, and a fat hand beckoned to him in urgent summons. A pile of fresh sand lay where he had hoaped it the day b fore, close to whero she was now standing. Taking the handles of his barrow, Geoff wheeled it toward her. “Lawsy, man, you sho' got in it wid bofe feet an’ trubble is what you is gwine to have nothing’ but! Tuc- come you tell dat doctor 1 done hear dat quarl in de dinin' room 'twixt JMr. Lane an’ Mr. Joseph?’ Mazeppa Gemanded. CClats Sees Geoff tet down his barrow and reflected. I reckon it just kinder come out when I was tellin’ the do¢ what an ornery cuss 1 thought the district attorney's- fel- ler was. ‘What sort o' trouble am o ime Tome Yo' job, lessen 1 vine lose Yo' job, ibne: ishes I @ud lose mine, but T cain't "countin’ you talks to dé doctor man 'bout whut L tole You, an’ de doctor man he axes Mr. Lane huccome de quar’l, an’ Mr. Lane Te axes Mig' Cayley who c'ud been near de dinin' room dat time o' do night to overhear his private confab wid his dear friend Mr. Joseph, an Mis' Cayley she come an' axes me was 1 detr, an’ whut did I hear, an’ who did 1 mek talk wid 'bout it. I is got mah common sense wukkin' by den, an’ 1 tells he 1 wasn't deir an 1 dfdn’t hear nothin’ an’ I didn’t mek talk wid nobuddy. Dat was Baturday, an’ Sunday mornin’ 1 sees Mr. Lan an’ dat perlice sarjint heads togeder m’\‘ . somepin to de sarjint & > he comes inter mah kitchen an’ right den 1 says to maself ‘Zeppa Yo luck is soured on you fo' sho! De sarjint he axes me when Is mah nex; day off an’ I tells him ‘Thursday’ an he grins and says its gwine be mah ! ay in, dat nobuddy whut was in de Palse time o° de murder ain't gwine leave dese grounds twell its done set- ted who killed Mr. Joseph.” Maze pa paused for breath, and then con- tnyed: “I aln't mekkin' mah brags but I knows good cookin’ an’ 1 knows men-folks, an’ bring dem two togeder deir ain't nothin’ you cain't find out. I craves to know whut fo' is I kep here so I dishes up fo' dat sargint de fines’ paht o' de Sunday dinner be- £o' it goes inter de big dinin’ room, an’ I feeds him pretty. Delr was little somepin’ lef’ dat Mis’ Cayley gimme to put in sauces an’ 1 pours ©' It out fo' Iilm, keepin' de re he kin see it, an' axes him why is I Zot to stay on dese grounds when everbuddy else come an’' go, an' b lafft an' xays its ‘countin’ I shoot mah mauf off dat mornin’ to you, an' de folks ain't tekkin' no chances on mah mekkin® talk wid nobuddy, specially de newspaper men whu hangin' ‘round. I pours. somm mo' dat sauce flovorin’ out fo' de sargint an’ he says Mr. Lane 18 pow erful mad wif you fo' spyin’ an' but- tin‘ in on his bizness an’ totin' tales to de doctah man, an’ dat he gwine git you discharged. Den de sargint axes me all kinds o' questions 'bout you, Itke he's mad dat you confabs wid de doctah man ’stid o' him, but me—whut I don't know s ever- thing whut is!" Geoft waited to be sure the flow where | had been momentarily checked, and then he remarked, ,placidly: “I reckon Mr. Lane ain't got sech a strong pull as he figgered on. I've worked here two days since and I'm still on the ,ob." ‘You won't be, soon as Mis' Cayley gits herself fixed up presentable so's to send fo' you warned Mazeppa. “Mr. Lane done call her up not ten minutes befo' you come just now an' she had to be woke up to go down to de telefoam. Dat don't put her in no good temper nohow fo' de res' o' de day, but her voice was ke hone: tricklin’ oveh de wiah. 1 was passin ‘long de gallery an' F hear her c him by name and den she repeats yo' name real sprised, an' axes him is he sho' dat '.“ ain't mistaken. Atter a minute mo' she says datt o' co'se if so's de case you is gwine be dismissed immediate, an' she hangs up de re- celvum so quick dat [ to step right lively not to git caught where I is at. Man, you ha’ better be fixin’ to it you ‘nother job!" Mazeppa ducked precipitately and disappeared as Letty's sharp tones !flundu:i from somewhere within, while Geoff proceeded to load hig bar- row with sand, whistling his monot- onous, unvarying refrain. .That one of two alternatives had occurred was evident enough to h min oither Lane had had Zoe Dawn trafled to évening by some one who Teporte also. that meeting at the cromenas orthere had been an encounter bes tween these two on her return to town. 1t required no great effort of the lmaEinnuon to picture the woman flaying Lanc for his supposed attempt to make i dupe of her and deflantiy telling him that she had gone to thy local &uthorities ‘with the: truth cons jcerning the real purpose of his visit ](0 her on the night of the murder, In elther event, the fat wag in the fire; and Geoft quletly laid down hig tools when Letty came for him. andg | followed her ‘into her Tistress’ pres: Mrs. Cayley was seated at her In the Ubrary, impreasive in her o . and_she with u';fi\'ere IPI)“'n.ouk’d RUjAtshic coffrey, I have been v i derstand that you are a Specai don of the medical examiner's, be| %n. s that true No ma’am, it ain't" Geoff assert | . ; doggedly ou ki call him wn s ask him.” I'm a carpenter.and stone- mason by trade and I don't hold no joffice, speclal nor otherwlge. ! “Then your interference, your in- quisitive ‘prying into the affairs of my household and your gosslp to strangers In the vicinity Bince ous sudden grief and trouble have come upon us is Inexcugable.” Mre, Cayley vaused, tapping her desk with her |Pen, Dbut Geoft waited, making no protest. can_have no one in my employ in whom I feel that I cannot pi the utmost confidence, least of all at a time like this. Iam sorry, for you have been very obliging, very thoughtful, and your work is most satisfactory, but T am compelled to dispense with vour services. 1 be-glad, however, to giv. highest recommendat “Thank you, ma'am,” Geoft respond- ‘I don’t need none in this neighborhood #nd I ain't figgerin’ on movin' out o' it.” “Very well” Mrs. Cayley opened t me see; how vou The business was soon transacted, and Geoff went back to the terrace to gather up his tools and load what he could on the wheelbarrow. He did not know whether to be pleased or sorry at this sudden turn of events. It left him_with a free hand, to be i sure, but hé had not planned his next move and he would have liked & word with old Henry before he left. Little Miss Millie, too, troubled him in an. other fashion, and he made up hi: the doctor's cottage on the previous|f: 4 at the first opportunity. It was noon before the last of his paraphernalia was oved from thy Caylay place. Alone in his little cot: tags with Rufe and Lady, Gecff pre- pared a hot oup of coffes to accom pany the frugal cold dinner. It occur to him to throw it uu{. al- though the savory stew previously intended for his evening meal await- e:l re-heating on the back of the stove. Doc Hood must be informed at once of his ismissal Early the n g on a jaunt into the clty again to t out the theory which had occurred to him during the interview with Zoe Dawn on the night before, although he was a trifle haxy in his inind 28 to how to o about {t. He had not forgotten his promise to Adrian Middleton, but it would be time enough to start work at the Corners by the end of the week. . .. “Geoff! Are you in there?” A cau- tious voice called from outside, and he rose hastily and went to the door to find young Rupert Ashe standing ;‘r:":‘:e‘;:nll;h “What are you doing s time of day?—Hello, Rufe, ol fellow 4 ol The hound had bounded out and was le misgiving that his eyes were sunken | and his 1 e ace unnaturally pale and “I'm finlshin' up my dinner, " Ashe." The response was literal, as usual. ‘Wouldn't think that there s the scrawny pup you cured time | ‘Won't you come It's cooler out- in et & spell? t n be saw plain doors and this porch r?Thth; muxn road.” anks. ot you.” The y man follow tm "Into the kitchen d and then paused 1 5 e Shea ) with sturing eyes. herzelf, les: nd crawling fc rd! Thal Benkard's pri; hat beat almost death becaus: wouldn't fawn on him! I ri ow Miss Mildred cried afterward: when she told me about | she had called her uncle! If she had been there when it happened I know she would have stopped it If she had had to attack the infuriated wretch herself, but she was in tow daye lhopfln' 1 thought— fo Mhesitated, and Geoff finished “You thought Lady was dead? So did Benkard. He give me ten dollars to take her out and shoot her.” The slim, beautiful creature had reached s side, and as she lald her patrl- cian head adoringly on his gaunt knee he looked down at her with a wondrous tenderness in his eyes; but when they met those of his visitor, once more they were hard and grim. “That was one o' the reasons why 1 took & sort o' personal int'rust in the murder from the start. seams to me that the end cofe too quick for Benkard to feel It much. Rupert nodded. “I shouldn’t wonder if more people are of the same opinion that you magine.—But why aren't you at work? I've been ' prowling around the boathouse and the garage since the noon whistie blew, trying fto catch a glimpse of lyou. 'Then I saw all your junk was gone from the terrace and I didn't know what #0_make of {t. How come, Geoff?" “1 got discharged. Lane figgered out that I'd been too nosev and in- quisitive 'bout the case and interferin’ in the family affairs, let alone bein' too thick with Doc Hood to suit him, and he showed good judgment there. though it come to him kinder lato!" Geoff grinned. “Howsomever, he tel- ephoned to Mis' Cayley this mornin’, makin’ out he'd heard tell I was ‘& special dep'ty o' the medical examiner and sajlin’ under false color 1 you Dr. H leputy, ? Seems to me that T heard rumors my- self to that effect, but from another face hot ‘Meanin’ Mr. Robbin: Giving the Telephone Life did not.} WE [ thing, but I've HEREVER your thought goes your voice may go. You can talk across the conti- nent as if face to face. Your tele- phone is the latch to open for you any door in the Jand. ‘There is the web of wires. The many switchboards. The maze of apparatus. The millions of telephones. All are parts of a country-wide mechanism for far- speaking. The equipment has cost over two billion dollars, but more than equipment is needed. There must be the guardians of the wires to keep them vital with speech-carrying electrical currents. There must be those who watch the myriads of tiny switchboard lights and answer vour commands. There must be technicians of every sort to con- struct, repair and operate, A quarter of a million men and women are united to give nation-wide telephone service. With their brains and hands they make the Bell System live. Bell System The Chesapeake and P tomac Telephone Company 39 e _ STAR, WASHINGTO mind that he would nl‘OI Rupert Asbe |you think I took a hull lot on myselt ship was at an end. That meant Miss Mildred, of course, and 1 lost control of' myself and told him I would never give er up; I would hi; dead first! Rupert wiped brow, and the hand which, held Blor tan prove by Snother witness lot can prove br another witness that I came back in my motor boat, & without lights, after midnight, and Yulsively, and his host saw beads|tied up at a point a little below the ferencad, "AFL ut guddenty upon his | Cayley place, going ashore in the dic re the only on 4 has ahown a ‘grain of sense In this | 1 arainol my. bost wes oL to be fair to the t; 1 luck la with him he can [ *qf ¥RO%07 ESSALTELE BN nf sloimy . al case againat me an ro e o & chance in the world to disprove ft! a i That's why T came to you Goeff; I'm | S£ter old Henry—an: in the very devil of a fix and I|COBESET'S L. 0 0 nim but T thought somehow you could help me. | giqn'c know that he recogninzed me; f IEllot has gone to the county seat|} " o ("Siiiing on that flat rock to confer with the district attorney, | NS was siLIog of (Hel o corsing d I kely at a hour to be 3 Placed "::na'.frnirr'en or Benkard's|20d _mumbling ' to himselt, and murde " Geoff exclalmed. “What in bring up to go askin’ him questions and usin’ your name the way I done, but it Ywas my day off and I was cur'us 1 o'clock my boat was ‘was constel usually phlegmatic this latest witness, N too, t he had broken into some- :;:?1‘;- locker and found hooch, but heard afterwards he had injured his 00t on a rusty nlll.(';‘eggnerl sed. “Youi lln;e kin ?l.hll danged fool n you?” “%.51e can prove by old Henry that after the ladies left the dining room roun: {last Wednesday evening Lane insult- od led me and I--I resented it. I can imee now that it was deliberately | pian ;‘.’L Benkard immedlately | steps—but then I turned around ‘and | ha most butting. contemptous man- gase down sgain. and gotiinte; syl {ner possible, forgot for a moment | POf jeoff scratched his {fi e Tieaen ond s Casived _upon | head viglently, “For gosh almighty s the opportunity to request that I pay | sakes Mr. . my ‘Tespect to. the Iadies and leave | fOrZ the h: saying our acquaintance. n jidre Cry for through the open oors, -ndpu-!o“‘r‘x"‘ sitting _there alone, started up the terrace s Star.) MOTHER :~ Fletcher’s Castoria is a pleasant, harmless Substi- tute for Castor Oil, Paregoric, Teething Drops and Soothing Syrups, prepared for Infants in arms and Children all ages. Za Bl To avoid imitations, always look for the signature of & Proven directions n each package. 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