Evening Star Newspaper, March 19, 1928, Page 17

The Devil's Mantle A MYSTERY STORY. By FRANK 1 Convrieht. 1927, by Prank L. Packand _ (Continued from Yesterday's Star.) A sudden contrition came upon her. Tast night this man, who so strangely at times attracted her, and at others 0 strangely repelled her, had asked her to be his wife. “No, I'm not—perhaps I haven't she sald more quietly “And after what you said last night, and in view of what has happened since, you have really, I suppose, the right to know. you, then. When that man came | aboard last night I did not know his{to join in a discussion, the topic of | name, I did not know who he was— but it is true that I had seen him be- fore. Two years ago in London we met under rather—rather peculiar circum- stances. We did not speak to each| other then, we did not know each other. | I did not know who he was, where he | came from, where he went: I did no know his name, nor did he know mine. I never saw him again, until last nigh! ‘when I—I recognized him as he stood there on the deck.” “Thank God!" exclaimed Rand fer- vently. Marion stared. y do you say that?” she asked several reasons,” Rand answer-- ed—his face brok a sudden smile. | “But, of course, you see them for your- self. That the man’s shame, and grace, and inhuman fiendishness can have no personal meaning for you: and that—but do I need to tell you this, Miss Gartn, even though last night you gave me little cause to hope?>—that, selfish as it may sound. I still know that there is—no one else. | Marion did not answer, The pucker had come between her eves again, It was strange—very strange—and incon- sistent—a woman's inconsistency per- | haps. His volce was grave, measured, | i his face was earnest, full of sincerity—and yet somehow, she | ‘was conscious of insincer ‘What was | Was it that at heart, he did not believe her, and that his apparent sin- Very 'well, I will tell | bridge talking earncstly { her in some lilting native song. Lahat | ~ PACKARD. Marion rose, bathed a face which in the mirror looked, like her father's, very tired and drawn, rearranged her hair, and went slowly from her state- room. At the head of the main com- | panionway she passed one of the | yacht's officers posting the vessel's run | and position on the little baize notice | board. She nodded pleasantly, and went out on deck. Up forw her father, Herman Rand, and the yacht's commander . were grouped under the She had no desire to talk, much less | which could only be the one topic that | for the moment she wanted to forget. { She slipped around unseen to the other | side of the deck and began to walk | slowly up and down. Suddenly she | stood still. Just aft of her was the lounge, the deck windows open. A voice, low, but very clear, the tenor notes wonderfully true and sweet, reached | Khan! The singing steward! Her lips pursed. The man was al- ways singing! She had never at- tempted to repress him before; indeed she rather enjoyed it—but singing today | aboard the Isis seemed unbearably out of place. She went hastily inside to | reprove the man. At the entrance to the lounge she paused. The song had ceased, and Lahat Khan was no- | where to be seen. CHAPTER XYV. The Cabin on the Lower Deck. DAY and a night, and anothe: day had gone, and now it w the short twilight of the tropics, already near its close. Peter Blake paced up and down the narrow confines of a small cabin that from a storeroom of some sort had been metamorphosed into a cabin cell. Three steps one way—three steps the other. There had been hours of this—two days of it—with respites only when he flung himself uncomportably, restlessly, __THE_EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D Store Hours 9:15 to 6:00 G STREET AT Gowns Which Prophesy the Yogue—and Fulfill It £ MONDAY, MARCH M. ELEVENTH Dance Hats—Dress Hats In fact, a whole collection of Smart Black Hats . . . in the Manner of Paris s, E e, L2 b le g They have an airy lightness which gives them a charm all their own—and though most of them are all black, the effects are stunning and the hats will be perfect when worn with colorful gowns. Some are of delicate laces—some of fine hair—others of sparkling sequins and hair combined. Shapes grow larger—crowns are rounded. And usually there’s but one of a kind. PALAIS ROYAL—Millinery—Third Floor A Silk Offering of Great Importance Plain and Printed Silks Eight of the Season’s Most Popular Silk Fabrics Substantially Reduced for This Sale Radiant Springlike Cvery Silk An Approved cerity was merely the veneer of con- | down upon his bunk. But no respite of ventional politeness? And if it were | mind from a refrain, a jagling refrain —or if it were something else—or if | that obsessed his brain and tortured she were entirely wrong and was doing | him and would not cease and would 1.65 Colorings . Paris Fashion him a flagrant injustice? Well, in any case, she did not want to think any more about it now—not now. She shrank from anything that could in any way add to a mental turmoil, Teady almost unendurable, induced by | the dismal and naked horror of what | had happened during the last few hours. Rand spoke again—but now in quite casual tones. | “Here's Lahat Kahn," he said. “To | announce breakfast, I suppose.” Marion looked up. The immaculate, | Wwhite-garbed steward stood before her, | bowing and smiling his perpetual smile. | “Breakfast, Miss Garth—and Mr. | Rand, sir,” smiled Lahat Kahy. Marion waved the man away. Break- fast! Yes, of course, they had all been up hours before breakfast this morning. | There hadn't been any bugle as usual | summoning them to breakfast. That | 'was because of—or—well, it would have | made an unseemly sound. But there ‘was to be breakfast . . . one ate just | the same . . . merely the bugle . . .| She pushed the wind-swept hair | sway from her forehead nervously. “I_will be there presently.” . But Marion did not go to breakfast. That spent lying on her bed in her stateroom, desirous of noth- ing so much as to be left alone, And | hours passed for her, not in cycles of | , but in cycles, re- .=g§§§ B ! Daddy smiled at her— and buried her face in —and she grew hard, and | e and mlru And then Peter’s | came—and the memory of that| night in London; and splendid, iy b fed | the night before ldst. ry | ward to say that Jaffray had done nge | murderer could have done in order to “No one else.” Last night seemed to have nned those two years since that night in London as h they were but yes- | terday. Bhe did not know, dared not | Last | very strangely | ippose that Jaffray , and today Peter for the tomorrow and the tomorrows, and they had been together, and that strange happiness of last night had—— Bhe sal up on the edge of her bed clasping her temples fiercely with her | hands. It was abominable! Why was she letting her thoughts run mad like this? What was she trying to say’— that what Jaffray had pald for with | his life nad saved her from what uiti- | yele again, As out of some world far re-| moved from her, she heard the ship’s bell. One-two-three-four-five-six-seven- eight, Noon. 12 o'clock A knock came at her door. She heard her father's voice, and in answer 1 her response he came into the state- | 100m. Bitting on the edge of her bed, she Jooked 8t him. His face was tired, very slern He placed an arm sround her shoulders “Better, Marion?” he asked gently she said ‘e have communicated with Syd " he sadd, “but Liave as yet recelvea 70 definite instructions. 1 have offered 15 send the Isis back with Blake while we are at Rand’s, but the authorities may prefer W send for him themselves Poor Juftray, we shall, of course, bury him here sl ses.” Marion turned her head away | “I don't want to talk sbout if, father | ~do you mind?” she said dully "I don't want to, efther,” said Hum- | phrey Garth, a sudden gruffness in his volce. “I'm not sure I could trust my- self. J thought, though, you should ¥now in general what fws been done.” Me patted her shoulder again. “Bet- ter come up on deck now, Marion, for little fresh sir before lunch, It wil do_you good Bhe nodded her head Yes" she said, "1 minutes Her {athsr went out. Over and over affectionately will In a fev . | answered: A man who laughed, to- | Why was Jaffray murdered? the great, | who had attacked him? Suppose the | | crime had been committed in the dark, | | done it. | own shoulders, of course; | absurd! | ence to the reward on that paper was | plece, to one person’s way of thinking | (but then he ran up against some op- | not be driven awa; In whose place a surgeon's probe searching in raw flesh when the nerves lay bare and the mercy of an anesthetic was denied. And the beginning of it was a very long time ago—on a night when a man had laughed and another man had died. Was there any connection between that night on Murchison’s island and that night here when, with the same icious craftiness and the same dia- bolical callousness that had character- ized the first murder, a second murder had been committed and laid at his door? Was the second murder a corollary of the first? How could it be?—except that, in so far as he was concerned, the discovery that he was Peter Blake had pointed him out as a natural sScapegoat ready to hand, and he had been made use of as such. Who killed Tom Murchison? The answer never varied. It was the one question his tormented brain always | gether with another man who was a | hite man—and others who were not white men, but who did the bidding of the other two. | A hundred other questions had no | answers at all, 1 Who murdered J. George Jaffray? How did Jaffray know, how had Jaffray found out that he, Peter Blake, was—Peter Blake? Did Jaffray know? Who wrote the accusation that had been found in Jaffray’s cabin? Was Rand’s theory or explanation | tenable? Physically, it was sible. But if Jaffray had not been kil out- right and was still able to write at all, Jaffray surely knew that he, Peter | Blake, was not his assaflant. Why then should Jaffray, dying, make a | false accusation that woud shield and give immunity to his own murderer? | Incredible! But did Jaffray really know | that the murderer, in some way, by volce, or act, or suggestion, intentionally impersonating Peter Blake, had caused Jafh : n?y to believe that it was Peter stance, whispering: “So I answer to Peter Blake's description, do 1? Well I am Pe!erBBllkl :x:'t That would have ut t) presupposed that Jaffray had spoken of the ;l'-enemhh.nce to some one else besides Capt. Mumm and himself, Peter Blake, in the cabin Well, why not? It would have been natural enough. But to whom? No one had come for- anything of the kind. But, grant this theory, what was the actual m\l:‘r.- derer’s reason for impersonating Peter ‘To shift the crime from his Yes, of course! But did it go any farther? The reward of £5,000 't enter into it, did 1t? Jaffray, dead, couldn't claim the reward. How could the murderer step forward and claim it? uite Nevertheless Jaffray's refer- the strongest evidence that Jaffray himself had written it. On the other hand it was the cleverest tl the stamp that dying statement as genuine. But if Jaffray knew that Alec Dunn was Peter Blake, why had he waited ntil he was being murdered to dis- the fact? Why hadn’t he prompt- ly gone to Mr. Garth, to Capt. Stone, to anybody in authority on board, and | disclosed that fact? 4Had he ever found | out? Was it only the murderer who had found out and who had written that paper? Or was it the murderep who, in his impersonation of Peter Blake to shift the crime from his own shoulders, had made Jaffray be- lieve he was being attacked by Peter Blake, and Jaffray then, as Rand had suggested, had managed to reach the able and scrawl those words? (Continued in Tomorrow's Star.) AMUSEMENTS _(Continued from Sixteenth Page.) | position); “Heavenly Bodies,” a Ufa educational film of rare merit, and comedy in a Colonial graveyard, con sisting of pictures of the epitaphs used in the early days of our Nation. It was almost & pleasure to be buried in those days when “Life” and “Judge were not published and one could get the latest wise cracks off his friend’s tombstone. The news reel iy the fourth. But it | should be added that if they won't give us back the Littie Theater Trio we are glad to hear Jose Huerta fiddle, | IF YOU HAD A CK ABLONGAS THIBFELLOW | ALL 06w TONSILINE TheNational Sore T hroat Remedy SUOULDQUICKLYRELIEVENT | ALL DRUGGISTY s This georgette and print ensemble in two shades of dark blue. 29.50. Of flowering, printed chif- fon, this gown is the es- sence of femininity. 29.50. Silver thread embroidery adds a smart glint to this model of flat crepe. 29.50. Whethcr you're an active business woman or a busy social per- son, this showing is of importance to you. It tells the trend of the mode . . . the new femininity . . . and reveals in the simplest manner, how you may achieve smartness at small cost—29.50! PALAIS ROYAL—Fashion Shops—Third Floor Satin striped chiffon gal/ly patterned lends distinction to this gown at i29.50. Under the jaunty short cloth coat is a smart crepe frock. 29.50. Navy blue georgette is trimmed with fine ecru ‘ace. Frock at 29.50. Fresh, Hedlthy, Growing Plants Added Daily! Sale Rosebushes and Shrubbery All Selected Stock Guaranteed to be true to name and color Nurserymen say “Now” is the best planting time Climbing or Hybrid Roses, 35c each 3 for 1.00 Red Radiance—bright red Etoile de France—red Angeles — yellowish pink . M. E. pink Persian Yellow—yellow Sunburst—deep yellow F. C. Druschki—white Pink Radiance —pink Mme. C. Testout—pink Dean Hole—red La France—pink Mme. Butterfly—pink Mme. Ravary—yellow Pink Killarney-—pink Paul Neyron—pink Dorothy Perkins—pink Crimson Rambler—red Silver Moon-—white Dr. Van Fleet—pink Red Baby Rambler—red American Pillar—pink Herriot — copper Bulbs and Roots Dahlias, assorted colors, 10¢ Gladioli, 5¢ ea.—50c doz. Iris, all colors, 15¢c—2, 25¢ Burbank Canna, 7¢ — 75¢ doz, Peonies—3 colors—35¢ ea., or 3 for 1.00 Evergreens Norway Spruce, 98¢ and 1.25 . White Spruce, 125 and 2.00 Globe Arbovitae, 1.25 and 2,00 American Arbovitae, 98¢ and 125 Retinspora plumosa, 125 and 2.00 Retinspora and 2,00 Fruit Trees and Plants Aurea, 125 Strawberries, 25¢ dozen Raspberries (Black), 60¢ 0z, Raspberries (Red) dz., 75¢ Sale of Shrub Bushes, 35¢ 3 for 1.00 Coral Berry—red Mock Orange—white Hydrangea, P. G.—white Deutzia—white Forsythia—yellow Snow Berry—white Spiren Van Houtei Weigelia—pink Hydrangea, A, G.—white Honeysuckle—pink Jap. Barberry—red Snow Ball—white Buddlea-—purple Hedge Plants California Privet Hedge 10 for. 600 25 for 1.25 Japanese Barberry—6 in. =9 in,, 10 for 1.00 PALAIS ROYAL—Housewares—~Fourth Floor 39-in. Printed crepe de chine—a host of designs. 39-in. All-silk georgette (elbow proof)—fifty shatles. 33-in. Society satin—washable and fine for lingerie. 39-in. All-silk printed georgette—rich color contrasts. 35-in. Chiffon taffeta—self or changeable effects. 39-in. All-silk dress satin—black and smart colors. 39-in. Black crepe faille—for wraps of elegance. 39-in. Satin crepe of a soft shimmering quality. Whatever the dress you have in mind for Easter, you'll find a new and original printed silk here in this vast collection. And tomorrow the price is so much lower you can Silk—Second Floor. 1,000 Pieces of Shimmering, Lovely Rayon and Millinette Underwear Panties, Vests, Bloomers, Chemise, Step- ins, etc., in a Special Selling at 95¢ Regular 1.29 to 1.50 Qualities Fresh, new perfect garments—many of them are not yet out of their boxes as we write this! Of rayon and millinette (a superior grade of rayon) the garments are in tailored or trimmed styles, and in the wanted pastel shades. A good range of sizes, too. PALAIS ROYAL—Underwear—Main Floor . have two instead of one! New—and Specially Priced! Rayon Bedspreads of Fashion 5.95 Lustrous Plain Colored Rayon With Deeper Self-tone Borders Even bed coverings have style importance today! 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