The evening world. Newspaper, April 12, 1916, Page 17

EVES MMV EEN WEN The Secret in the Snow A Girl’ Weird Adventures In the Realm of Mystery UCT TET CE TEETE TE EF EEE TE TET (Wopyright, 1915, by Mildred Van Inwogen.) BINOPSIS OF PRECEDING CHAPTERS, Kingsley goes to mend a winter jewood Oountry Club ss gu Wi) sntwee mother ts ito i) elul Camdon Carrol, a auitor of M \ go 8 avert there, 90 is Bon Tanner. " rt of Katharine's, Cam: qj nti amber chain. The the eit with strange interest i taeongh Kat § tom tells her ong, of the maids has king in hor sleep, jt Katharine learns fe not true, She Investigates, only to be inced that @ myste wee over evening, ‘one sleigh tite, ‘Caindon me! is an Unpleasant soens bears some one ‘her room, CHAPTER VIII. (Continved.) i ‘sf ITH my heart in my mouth T i stopped short on the thresh- I" 4 old and listened, thinking gratefully of the chairs which, as an extra precau- tion, I had ranged in a row before my looked door, But the nocturnal prowl- f er, Whoever he was, did not pause be- Hs fore it or even try the handle, He continued etealthily along the hall- way nearer and nearer to where I was standing and the next instant Madge’ room was flooded with light. | Receding at the fierce glare of the electricity I shrank back against the ‘ faner wall of the bathroom, staring fixedly into the room before me, And as I stared, my mouth sagged slowly downward. For it was neither burglar nor spectre who had turned that elec- irto button, It was the last person on earth whom I expected to It was Madge Hampton! ® I was conscious first of her long fur ; j ovat and her hair glistening with J moisture, and then of her heavy, dis- Vi tressed breathing as she sank upon the bed and fell back among the pil- jows, Oh, what did it mean? What could she have been doing? Btep by step IL backed into yoom, unwilling to intrude upon unwilling to let her know that she was being observed. Something told me that she would want no one to i] seo her, no one to question her as to the cause of her painful emotion, For emotion it surely was, Why, else, the face pressed convulsively to the pillows, and tho great, strangiing sobs which threatened to tear her lungs apart? Never bad I heard such painful breathing, Even after 1 had shut the door and was shiv- ering on the edge of the bed, it camo to me, Swept off my feet oveurrence, 1 sat in truggiing for power to think, No i, mount of guessing or surmising | \ my her, by this latest the darkness, wuld account for Madge's strange veturnal errand, or find a reason v ber entrance into nold the house of the mystery? Could she not, instead, bave been having @n interviey with Camdon? A possible, but not probable solution, , for Madge was the last person on 5 ( earth to rise In tho dead of the night 48 on a matter which could be attended y to just us easily and tar more com- fortably in morning. side. such an interview would not cons ducted outdoors in a blinding snow- storm, And Ll knew from the mols- ) ture glistening on her hair and coat that she bad been outside, lay, The clock downstairs in the Nving vom faintly chimed the half-hour yefore | heart Madge stirring in her bedroom. Five minutes later her Night went out and, from the silence which followed, 1] gathered she had wone to sleep. Siéep, however, was net for me, and rather than lie In the { “« dark and amuse myself with counting \ sheep I turnes on the light and mado Preparations for reading away tho | rematning hours. But there was nothing to read. The | small table by my bedside revealed | only a candle and matehbos and some tracts, which I discovered in one of drawers in the chiffonier were not of @ nature to hold my interest, So there seemed no alternative but to go Delvw and procure one of the "six best sellers” which lay on the table in the i room. , “We was quite a while before I could make up my mind to do this, for, after all the mysterious happenings of the past twenty-four hours, the very men~ tion of darkness filled me with fear. But I managed, typally, to screw up my oourage, an lied forth on my i vest. : i The stairs crg/aed loudly despite " caution, aud a chair into which j Tyan made 4 terrific noise, But I reached the living room safely—that ts, I didn’t waken the househoid—and \ was just tucking “The Queen of Ar- J cadia” under my arm when, without y/ any warning, one of the doors on the ? landing opened. ; Curlosity stifled the scream of \ fright which rose to my Ips. Here was my chance to Identify the Cot- tage wanderer—the ghost whose faco had struck terror to so many hearts. q @ Regardiess of quivering limbs and quaking spirit, I crouched down be- hind the long reading table and \ peered around one of its massive legs. i It was the door to the butler's 7 | try which had opened, and not expected, the one leading to the cel- | Jarway. But, as the moments passed with no one following on its opening, I bgan to think that tt must have been blown in by a draught; when suddenly, and quite as “expectedly as had been the open ¢ of the door, a man stepped out upen the landing and tiptoed down the steps { With eyes bulging I watched his silent progress through the room, and, | as she vanished over the threshold of f the smoking room, closing the door y behind him, my heart seemed to stand stock still, For the bulky overcoat with the upturned collar, and the Alpine hat pulled low over the fore- head so the’ it almost met the col- s brir., vould belong to no one but Bob Tanner; and though I hadn't seen his face, I would have worn chat the man was he, » But shat could Bob-be doing creep- f at yut the house in the wee, small And where had he heen? Tm ¢ cruel flash it came to me, Bob ad ¥ en somewhere with Madge, and | RAG RANA OONAN MANA DIR it’ was only part of fate's bitter allot- ment that I should be the one to wit- ness their return, CHAPTER IX. SLEEPLESS night can work havoc with a gentle dispost- tion, Two in succession, and the prospects of many more to come—unless, In a fit of angry wisdom, I should pack my bag and return to the city and peace— riddled my good nature as effectually as a machine gun can decimate the advance line of an attacking army. Not being a Christian Scientist, I couldn't persuade myself into think- ing that I felt as fresh as a fiddle, and, as a consequence, my “good mornings” to the household were little better than growls. But I realized, as I slid into my chair at the breakfast table and glared etonily about me, that I wasn't the only one whose dia- position needed sweetening. Mrs. Hampton looked as if she had been through the Balkan War. Madge was sipping hot water—a sign of a head- ache. Camdon's place was empty; and Bob, flanked by these morose companions, was busily engaged with grapefruit. His smile, however, proved that there was one cheerful soul present and had it not been for what 1 had seen during the night, I should have eturned his friendly overtures with ardor, But, having seen, I in no mood for pleasantries. Indeed, glanc- ing from him to Madge, I almost choked with indignation. Trying to hoodwink me, were they? Well, I'd show them! Bob must have felt my hostility, for after one or two unsuccessful at- tempts he gave up trying to open a conversation, and the room resettled into its former gloom. I was con- scious of his eyes from time to time upon me, and secretly rejoiced in his concern, Did he know what it was I held against him, and did he care? It wasn't much, to be sure, and yet it meant worlds to me. For I knew only people heels over head in love would be big enough Idiots to go walking in @ blizzard, And since tt was obvious that he and Madge had done that bait thing, life became suddenly itter, When breakfast was about over Mrs, Hampton roused herself to ask: “What's keeping Camdon? — He won't find anything fit to eat if he doesn’t hurry “I don't believe Camdon will come to breakfast this morning,” Bob an- swered, after an awkward wait, “He wasn't—er—feeling very well’ last night.” Tt was so gently put that had tt not been for the flush which spread itself over Madge’s features Mrs, Hampton would not have suspected the truth As it was, I doubt if she grasped its real meaning, for she made no com- ment, and, save for a Slight Ifting of the Ws, received the intelligence unmov For people supposedly enamored of each other, Bob and Madge were a most indifferent couple; but their in- difference only tended to heighten my suspicions, In vain I waited for a look of understanding to pass be- tween them, In vain I hung upon their words, Not once did they t tray themsolves, and had it not been for what [ had seen in the small hours of that very morning I might have believed that they were as in- different to each other as they wero feigning to be. After breakfast Bob suggested that We should go out and get a little air and sunshine into our heavy spirits, Madge, on the plea of a headache, de clined. Feeling that I should be a second fiddle, I would have done so, too, had not Bob, as only Bob knows how, persuaded me to the contrary, “Come on, Kate!” he begged. “As a favor to me! Please! I don't get out In the country very often, and when I do T want to make the most of it. If for no other reason, come for old times’ sake.” For old times’ sake! I fairly fell up the stairs in my eagerness to get my wraps. It was a glorious, sunny morning, and as We stepped upon the porch the ringing of church bells fell on the alr The whole world seemed tn tune to their music—the fields of spotless white, the dazzling sky overhead and the sense of hushed peace which per- vaded the atmosphere, 1t was hard to imagine, as we stood stoning to tho last, lingering echoes of the bells, that anything disquieting ald happen here, And yet in little more than thirty-six short hours [ had suffered more uneasiness than tn all my life put together, “Where shall we go?" asked Bob We started forward. “Oh, anywhere,” I sald. Then, no- ticing that the drifts on either side of the road were shoulder high and that Jandmarks which the day before bad been quite visible were now com- pletely hidden, ( added: “My, what & snowfall! We'd better keep to the roa¢ “L think so too," Bob agreed. “Ploughing @ path through this would be the work of oxen,” So wo swung down the driveway, squinting our eyes tn the blinding glare, drawing deep breaths of the r, keen air, We hadn't been walk- ing five minutes before I had forgot ten all about the uncanny happenings at the Cottage and was joyously rev- elling in the sheer delight of being allve-and here, It took me back years, this renewed companionship with Bob, and though I knew he belonged to another, I shamelessly and unblushingly gloried in my brief hour with him, Much can happen in an hour, and I meant to make the most of mine, \nd so well did I succeed that by the tim we reached the end of the drive it was hard to believe thet anything could ever have come between us, I can remember wondering what Madge would have done could shy have seen the glances he bent upon me and heard some of the things he said, “What is!" Bob remarkes certainly between the s old house that 8 We puused un gate posts and v e gaging sere at the Carrol place, "I4 it_as fine Inside In surprise Lexclaimed; —S “Have you never been in?” “The place has been closed for years,” Bob reminded me, "And be- ‘The Evening World mannan | IF You HAVE NO MORE LETTERS FORME To WRITE M@ JOHN I'LL Go Now . | WANT (To WALK HONE 5 WAIT 4 MINUTE MISS Type ‘ANO I'LL WALIC WITH You | Love NY WIFE, BuT [HATE To Besssssccsae we Daily Magazine, Wednesday, April 12, 1916 SEPPOAAASOS OOO ER OR OS EAE DEES: Suppose you should find the clue to untold wealth— and at the same time to untold peril? You might perhaps have the pluck to solve the prob- B NEXT WEEK'S COMPLETE NOVEL IN THE EVENING WORLD Do you remember “The Win, the same author? It was one of the most popular novela ever published in The Evening World. :: +: Well “THE MESSAGE” in better than “The Wings 17 1S WORTH YOUR READING, “This isn't an ordinary death. murder, and no matter to whom we lem an did the hero of MESSAGE LOUIS TRACY of the Morning,” by This is sufficient proof that PIV VF USF VIF TIES POPPHIIIITIS TSS + It's * ee my face with shaking fingers, Had my Ife depended on it, | doubt if turn over the body--doctor, under- 1 could have uttered a syllable iker or poltce—tt will be recognized “A dreadful thing bas happened, is such, He can't be burted without Bob began, after repeatedly clearing a birial permit, and @ permit can’t his throat.’ “I would rather do any got wil he “ be a 4 ghd thing in the world than break it to cause of the death, And the Let's SIT ON THIS TLL BGGLAD MY THe TiMe Gee WHiz! | MUST ‘use of his death 1a only too plain, Why, what?” exclaimed Mrs NICE CLEAN BENCH, To Rest. MY PASSES Quicker BE Goer, THE OLD] | inthe" nilence which followed the Rermuc, looking up in alarm fron It 5 To BeAuTIRUL THAN AT THE LADY wit RAISE room w Khastly still Poor, poor Madge echoed the exclamation im teas Hone OFFICE THE Dickens wits | | Nin Was there no help for her? 4 Bob," 1 whispered as not have been better rend Os . PAST DINNER thonght flashed over me, “What is it, Bob?” she queried. vr; certain that {t was murder And when he hesitated, so as to UT don’t understand,” Bob faltered. choose the kindest words possible —— {Couldn't tt have been—mutclde?” I she added sharply: ‘Tell met” aatd; and when he made no move [ 4 continued “hopefully: “After. RIB her dhtag en seme t nad seen act poss! “Hut the weapon,” “The weapon!” ‘On 1 tra O10 THEY SIT ON pal A FRESHLY PAINTED strug BENCH IN THE PARK? sheeting, and WHY SO LATE SITTING ATA MEETING OF THE SOHN 2 BOARD OF DIRECTORS wiFeY | , ON YouR NEW SPRING SutT) You Deceiver! } gazed off acros heart grew ¢ toned dismally | “What do? Th cance of we do? the white, know! We'll hide lita already hidde | quirtng! “what snow?" he lon: Jand Bills. ifinger-mark showtng, | night and “Well, ting. fore that 1 didn't know Camdon so very well.” fed tn the snow chain there ts paneling of the woodwork, there waa deserted, lonely mansion for the meet- little for Hob to see, for the furniture they make @ search of the house? ing-piace, and the midnight for the No, I am not crazy,” I assured him, drffhken frenzy of last night, such an is part would Bob objected, “How could we explain that?” I breathed he watd, cried, lapsing {nto gloom. “T hadn’t thought of that.” Th wasn't a clue to the details of the y. Nor did the table draped the tall, betray any indications of the le which the broken chain tm- the #llent country my id and dead, and T tn- What can we Mra, , all at once, the signifi- white wast ewept over mo, and T exclaimed: “ft o trail! And as Bob, who was at my side, turned to me tn- , L added in a fervent whis per: “Thank God for tho anow!" ald, “On, all the snow!” I orted. clutching him by the. arm, I rushed “The snow is everywhere—on the \ground and the walks, on the steps | ‘There isn't # footrprint or And it's quite ‘nafs to say that at the height of last blizzard no oni amdon coming here.” sald Bob, not comprehend. | “phe secret to this mystery ts bur- Besides the amber ingle clue—not @ thing to work on, not a thing but her display anything ln the least like real dramatic talent, In that mo- ment she could have rivalled the di- vine Sarah, “Toll me!" she repeated, ber novel ing from her bands, seom quite e—Cam Bob said. here 18 “Camdon?” A flush swept the pal- jor of her bro - “Yes. Ho's"— tera moment, I suggested: “There wiry “2 suesested, leaning for- may be one somewhere, Let's look 4 To humor me Bob Joined in the Bob returned. ‘Then, in « search, but the room revealed no He—he's been—aho weapon, Save for the amber beads gudinie: “greet egy yee tose tt lying at the dead man's feet, there jistaken!" ad » YOu must be And Mra. Hampton, her eyes ing in terror, quavered: “You mean—he's dea Yes, dead!" aid Bov. And as with carved P, / plied, If the had been @ struggle it S tM Aad sasp Madge sank back in 7 was a bri one, er chair, he continued We foun Look AT THE PAINT |""\s'1 stood at. the windows and bim—Kate and I-in the library ot his house—on the floor. H : dently been there some time ele In the library of his house?” aad Hampton weakly. “But he's asleep in there!” She pointed in the . also ct the room he had occu pled. “You told “ Polen mo be was.” she “And a0 I thought,” Bob anawe: . ” ss ann _Bew cried Mrs. Hampton, “Yos, how?” said Bob, and . went hd explain. “Camdon was in bad shape last night, Mrs. Hampton. Whatever he saw at tho windows up- set him completely, Wasn't hi self during the entire nd when we stopped Why, And He was still drink- unable to persuade Ne te Treason, I left him in the mt On up to bed dru he shot himselt—although there on aw meree y v ” went “That's true,” 1 said. “The place was shrouded in casings, and most of hour, that they had done so was self- conscious of his bewilderment, “For Sow. And snow cant talk” | | something neither you nor I canna,” has been closed a long time—for four the pictures draped with sheets, On evident. How else could Camdon be I've @een ft all, and it'a a frightful Aa the Ghaln? : I know is that he's yi or five years, I believe, I don't know the bare floors our footateps fell lying here? What other reason was mix-up. Why should Aunt Noll fib to,bide the elmints J) oo, oy oy I had better call the under why. ‘ harshly, and our voices, when we for- there for Madge's trip into the night? to moe? She told me Maggie walked “Yon.” I confused. At wo’ Aue as Tt’'a too late for @ physician.” “Too big for a single man," Bob got ourselves and spoke above hushed — Recalling the picture of her sinking in her sleep, and Maggie never did Ne ®ve - Resture Of Nissen’ | MAte But before he could wy surmised. “Besides, its easier'to put whispers, came back at us in ghostly inert and exhausted among the, pil- such a thing In hor life, “And why “We must hide it! There's nothing 4 the telephone thet met the, Hoot up at the club. But I wish he'd open echoes. lows on the bed, and the sound of her did she claim the black felt slipper else to de. te only Lier < office desk, at stood on the it again, I'd like to see it, “L can't understand why he should labored breathing, I shuddered and whenany one with halfaneye can see table, Why, if you leave tt there, It giudageing a1 low We might go over now and peep want to part with this place,” Bob hid my eyes aguinst the sleeve of it's no more hers than mine? There's Will be fame (68 Givin es Meee” Bhe's Tat 5 in at the windo I suggested, and opserved when we came to the library Bob's coat, some deep mystery afloat, and the “ll! into Che Hands Of toe oe et eras announced as added laughingly, “Let's!” and were pausing in the doorway. ‘Oh, Bob! Bob!" I whispered. only thing that’s the leaat bit clear Polic you'd hardly do that, With over he Alt right," said Bob, “I'm with «wish Tt had the money! I'd buy it “What can we do? is this~ Madge and Camdon were WO! ” to any thay ance at me which 7 myself!’ ‘Then, as we entered and othing,” he answered, “except hore together last night,” NOE course T woulda"! Bob rented. on Tey ae ns cine, wonvinced Gime of ber d wo started forward, wandered slowly past the book notify the proper authoritte What makes you ao eure of thatt™ “Dut it's a desperate chance to take, Guilt, he picked her up tn hie arma ndon used to entertain royally ghelves that extended half way to the “You mean”~- 1 began, but ny 'p® asked Bob, Kate, and there’e no telling where it 4nd carried her to her room. here,” I said, “He had @ houseful jofty cefling, he exclaimed: ‘Jove, could not frame the rest. “There's nothing else to think,” I Will lead.” a pa was @ long time before Mre all the time—and not only tn sum- this ts @ wonderful room! Just look And he finished for me said, “The amber chain tlle the "I don't care where it lage,” we et cold bring her to 4 ince: . mer. Often whole parties of them would come out for the holidays, I don't remember that he did much entertaining the summer I spent at at those books! It's a shame to leave “vom, the police i ; oe such things to moulder in an empty © consequences of suc! Neuhae P'Y move flashed thuvueh my head—the “And the plotures are good too,” 1 terrible publicity, a possible trial Whole story!" “The amber chain!” he echoed. ts saved T replied, “Just by being my reckless declaration, “I care what happens as long aa Madge We've got to save her, Bob! It's our duty to save her!” don't Tye ees colorless face with fit rubbing the tey hands, and holding salts to the Ant thin, blue nostrils, When I finally the club, but then, he never wasted ,,, and the uncertainty of thy outeom 5 ; ” he made no move one way or the percetved the first faint atiantin echoed, pointing to the dark land- Z here, Cant you see? And, he i, flutter of her any attention on me, 80 1 probably scapes above the shelves. “ft seems MY heart almost stopped beatng. ghook his head, 1 Tushed on: “She otver. I burat put passionately: ‘And erglide, 1 leaned do whisper: be n't have been invites Y@ wicked to neglect them this way, “lutching Bob's arm I cried was wearing the chain last night, and 'f you won't, Don't worry, deart ‘eal! only been inside the place twice J), ‘Oh, no, no, no! ‘The police must Rut as I eave a resolute lunge in the right. J sn't he realize what @ treasure he she must have worn tt here for thd once at @ bazaar and the other time ? not be notified.” LPR ely direction of the amber chain Bob Her eyes LY to assist in a kirimeas, both charity "Gn cam doesn't care for this sort “But they'll have to be," he gently MTC pop hroke in. “What Salleh my wrist and drew me beck. gtared ‘at me withowl eine eet affaira for which be very kindly of eninge’ Galt dott wrhe ieee but firmly. insisted, “How else can inearvlew “Til do It, Kate,” he sald, understanding. ’ saillad loaned his house. I've never forgot- and horses und”—with a laugh “food, We expect to get at the bottom of this “wwwny 7 purat out, “their inter- _ Stooping, he gathered up the broken ‘Thinking oe had dot heant artgn ten tho agreeable impression it made You'd never find him browsing in a terrible tragedy?” view. They probably had in P and dropped them {nto an tuner 7 again leaned down and repeatede on me-—-fine old rooms with high coll- room like this.” ‘Then in a queer, “At the bottom of it?” 1 echoed. Sraer to patch up their quarre’ “Don't worry!" And with my Mj ings and family portraits, *taccato voice he added: “Why, what's Pointing with a shaking finger to the But they didn’t quarrel,” Bob ob- aye! close to her ear I added: “We hia the , Hie grandtather, wae a man of thier beads lying a few feet away I added: yeoray CHAPTER XI. one ‘are taste, I am told, lob answered, le had reached the far end of the “Oh, can't you ace?” . ette ” re 2 @ chain?’ She gazed And I hodded, sayin room, where # table, covered with As his puzaled eyes followed the 4, Wells they practically OiGe ty RFORE atarting back to the bienkly. “What chain?” sisntd “A splendid family.” _, sheeting, and several’ carved chairs direction of my gesture and rested on turned ane relist te Cottage we made @ careful What chain, indeed! Was tt possi The entrance gate, @ massive affair were grouped together before the fire- the tell-tale chain, Bob gave a start, NIKit And whe’ lua ttle search of the house, on the dle she did not remember? Could tt be of iron scrollwork, was shut, and place, His eyes, which had been fol- to me quickly ho wuispored, jth thor deine wer relish her frigid mupposition that Madge, in that her mind, unbalanced by the Bob had to push away the snow lowing the rows upon rows of books, a he wouldn't « Mad. why, Madge harrowing events of the. preceding which had accumulated about {t be- were now riveted to something which I whispered back, Silence. A eee van hia acne hor frenzied fitght, might night, held no memory of {ts trast. fore it would open, It swung inward lay on the floor beyond my sixht Then, as he sat staring down, at it WAS frightful y cut up have dropped something else which with @ creaking and a groaning (aa canny #¥ae Which bespoke binges long rusty. ‘There wasn't 4 sign of @ path or a walk, and Bob plunged to his knees he advanced to the porch, with ¢ following in his very footsteps. ‘he steps leading to the front door were like @ smooth toboggan. silde. duct on the ride. apeak of it.” Naturally,” Bob murmured “But how do you get your interview idea 6 out of all that muddle?” As patiently ax I could I explained “Most likely neither of them could cop. Most Ikely, after wo were all “What's the matter?” I faltered, slarmed by the sudden pallor of his ‘ace. “Good Heavens!" I heard him gasp. xt minute he had dropped on @ behind the table and chairs. Trembling, though I knew not why, I crept forward, and as on hurried and saying nothing, [ buret out di perately: “Now you can understand why we musn’t notify the law, She wore the chain last night, and con sidering the way he behaved on sleigh ride, and all that followed at- terward, it’s only too clear how {t happened." could betray ner, we departed. her identity, echoing rooms revealed naught save desertion ahd dust, and finally fied that we had covered every cor- It 1s odd how little I thought of the deed? Dectding that this must be the case I dropped the subject and sat in of lence by her side, looking down at thr pallid cheeks and trembling mouth. and wondering what extremity had forced her to it. From time to time she shuddered violently, and when, as But the tie- “A fool's errand!” Bob declared feet I came up behind my heart atood "All that followed?" he repeated, in hed, he called up to her and she victim of that dire tragedy, and how OhO® on twice It aid, a moan escaped when we had gained the porch and still. For there before the hearth, in “What do you mean? down, Rather than be inter- entirely I dwelt on the lot of the Un- hurgt with pity and omit Were stamping and shaking ourselves. all the hideous grotesquenesa of death, As best I could 1 explained how a during the patehing-up proce yy for murderess is | Hag ig tig aay “We shan't be able to see anything. ® Man was aprawling, Bob had hi8 Madge had come tn o with snow they probably dectded to walk hig Gags uring ail this Mrs, Hampton be ‘The shades are drawn hand to the prone fAgure'a heart at o'clock in the morning how 9x over hore, where they could talk what T consi lore’ Madge daar dey tek el VOR ts N ntested, "Dead!" I heard him say, hausted she had seemed, how terrible thinks over quietly and alon the sight of Camdon's upturned face ‘ of her swoon she lapas One et, OE font T Proteatat: Auhe Jerked open the waistcoat and her emotion "Gio, out in m Tawing Diigeard for had renderet me momentarily sick IO one of her strange silences Pointing, I indicated the side win- Stift.@nd gazed on the chest, which "Slie was breathing--oh, horribly!” that? remarked Bob dryly “Tm 1 faint, {t was the situation In fede, mar oniwes 25 the edge uf dows, through which, even at that W&S wounded, he gave a violent shud- I told him, “Just as If she had been afraid you don't know Camdon h Madge was placed that filled ped and stating fixedly beforo he distance, we could get a glimpse of 9° i running—-running away from — this rorhaps I don't,” Tanapped. “And mo with rea, and lasting horror ater, when Madye's heart wan bea the old-fashioned parlors. Shot!" he muttered, tragedy. Running all the way from aps my statements do sound t anpy glrll No wonder her Of Tee a ietnte & fall ule ‘Starting with thom we began our 9 Tet aware for the firet time of me, here to the Cottage in a blizzard Jogical to your lnw-balunced ears hud “gone untouched! No Wie creeping Into, cheeks, sh e any war standing white and stricken above jj ast night's is nugh to kill a But you can't deny that they were wood ad was aching, And no [ose abruptly and M to pace t inspection of the house, intending to him, he threw his handkerchief over person wonder she waa #0 much jere, and that there was a sirage iat she had declined f00r, a4 people do when they hiv follow the rooms from window to win- the ‘face and got to his feet with an exhausted.” Then, thinking of bls of some sort: for the chain is broken, isin our walldng expedition! Perplextng problems to solve dow by means of the veranda that offort, own unaccountable appearance at & Gamdon dead, and Madge all wrought Hob und | made the homeward If @he had on», what could he girt them, But we hadn't taken half — “Thin isn't the place for you, Ka atill later hour, I asked abruptly: up over something.” march in silence, and I remember problem be? And why shoul! 4 dozen stops before Bob exclaimed: he burst out. “Get away from here!" “You couldn't have heard her come — But Rob cut In with wondering, a wo plodded along, of have chosen now, of al! times, for “Why, thar window's open!" But he was not swift enough, for “Come Kate! You're talk- what he might be snd if his solving? Tt was a window like all the othera, ere I aank, sick and faint, into one of said Tob. “Jove, no! T was ing wildiy. We must deal with facts, nucturnal errand had bad anything Whatever the problem, it app long and narrow, the sili almost on @ the shrouded couches, my took the minute my head touched pot suppositions.” to do with tho crime, Recalling the had no bearing on the tragedy. f level with the veranaa floor; but, un- tn that tragedy, The man lying dead the pillow’ “And what better fact could you é ity of his horror and concern at displayed no sign of sorrow for like them, its lower sash was flung upon the floor was Camdon Carrol, nd you elept all night?” want than the amber chain?” 1 de finding of the body, such @ suppo- man whom sho had hoped to » clear to the top, 80 that by stooping and at his feet, in two long stri ory minute!” manded, “lantt {t here? Inn't. It {in no way possible, And her son-in-law, and very little. only a very little we could have were the broken pieces of Mudge | ginuced at tim tn perplexity, but proxen? And broken, doesn't It tm- yet wax that gllin f him pathy for the daughter who was gained admission, Peering 12 we Saw Hampton's amber chain, his face, though troubled, was frank my that there was a stri y , ' ed on the stairway foring so Intense at mor that the snow had drifted through a and open, and his eyes met mize ™ Ny OP ee ay : What was ita meaning, and two er three times did sha oan und was covering several feet of the CHAPTER X. without wavering, Btill, [had posi- sey} 1 for denying t » her pacing to and fro to bend oor yo proof that ha was lyin ’ ihara'a Mada at 2 had hin bed we the Mad mur “I wonder what thie means,” said BAR more Rornible to me than Yt Sea oe ee Gay edount 4n ool there’e Madan’ ae a Bob. the dead man's fo him, for he leaned suddenly forward, went on, “What have 1 ' hat He as dinner on at “A negligent oaretaker,” was my {te sightlens, start and, placing @ hand over mina, ex! that?” Aw he mal no a but y touched tt, opinion, _ claimed: axed aravely at the floor, t an wit away With « petulant hand the d “He hasn't a caretaker,” Bob told was the presence of that oer re ou believe met” ned are Roh That Perhaps , eal urged upon her, We scar me, “He doesn't even keep a garden- amber chain, for following, son, 1 don't know! I don't know!" justified in Ning him td rance in hope clue to each oth and only one er in the summer time. The place as it did, #0 closely on the events of J] wajled, shrinking back tn my ehale for a minu Kurt the Ww v v dtd fe he tragedy, And Ww going to rack and ruin. He wants the preceding evening, tt took on an and covering my ¢ ‘I don't know ne so. Oh, Bob, th tt found myself In @ ¢ was to ¢ 0 Bel ; what to believe, or whom to trust w ' 1 ‘ itow did he look? “Well, he'll never sell, at that rate,” @Wful stanificance. Everything's 80 queer and odd nois lings of the tram Wives f tort hecnce ged ¥ as pos T declared. “But we might as well go 1 could picture the trarcedy @§ in the night, faces appearing from "save Hob echoed, “Heaven ¢ ® household without any pib.e, she ave al idderin in and see it. Here's your chance to clearly as if 1 had been a witnest-- nowhere, everybody trying to hide knows Vd like hi w elp fr Upon coming in from and turned her face wal. get 4 glimpse of the inside of the Gamdon's attempt ot reconciliation, OF hush Komething uy 1 have no Ky ne tifsing the @ ! 1 r world to the and t saw a tear trickle down Ouse. 2 ate fulth in ghosts, t what could hin irmith of room, and fin k or guilt, which could 4 We stooped to brush out as much Me thevitable quarrel, @ struggle, Der- oie shat friclite a and ¢ But we 1 ve ut ' ther ensconced pe age fers Nad i a) of the snow as we colula, then started haps, and Madge shooting in self-de- qou aud me? Whom did they lock police.” he 1 ow ne ra in re my nerve ut- latter there was not the slightest our tour of investigation. But, save fense. Though I did not try to ac he cellar? ‘To whom was Henry which in ae n tery fa and I'sank, Weak and doubt, for the ornate ceilings and the One count for thelr baving chosen this taking trays? Aud for whow did was utterly dcticas, Woubling, into @ chair and covered (To Be Continued.) » @ note of startled inquiry which could. ee cn ———