The Mystery of %S a "
—— Author of
theSilverDagger
Copy right, by Randall Parrish
CHAPTER Xl—Continued.
—l7
I N(o|<* iih Hili'iitly ns poNalhh* nrroHN
to flu* door. It u'hh Mwuri'ly Jookod, of
oourm*. mid could J** foned open, If
nf nil, only by *r*u • I life coriMldernlilc
nln rni. I stood, HlnririK helplessly
fihout, feeling the Impossibility of
•scape. I could only wall for my Jail
ors to appear, impotent to aid myself
in any way—or her. After all, that
Inst thought uas the most IrhpellliiK.
T’liat they suspected Marie of
helm; implicated Jn hoth murder and
rohhery was clearly evident; Indeed,
they not only suspected, hut were con
vinced that she had done the deed.
I was secretly obliged to admit that
they had some reason to so helleve;
that they even possessed proof which
would probably convict her In court
of the crime. This gave them a ter
rible advantage over the girl, once
they had her bodily 111 their posses
sion, Hullty or not guilty, Abe eould
not establish her Innoeence; under
torture and threat, such as they would
doubtless use in their money lust,
there was no knowing what might
happen. Alone, helpless in the grasp
of the-e unscrupulous crooks, her fate
might he death, disgrace. Certainly If
would he foul Insult, and, If she failed
to yield, Hie desire for revenge might
even drive those eowan's to a secret
denouncement of her to the pi dice.
Thin, however, would he their last re
sort; they would exhaust all other
efforts first. And no one else knew
of her danger; no one else was In
position to aid tier; she must face
this gang absolutely alone unless I
could-effect an escape. It was not
merely my own life at stake; hers
was also In the balance
And the time in which to net was
short. If I escaped at all, It must
he accomplished before my Jailers re
turned, before they dreamed that I
had aroused from unconsciousness, or
had strength enough to make the
attempt. Yet what possible way
suggested Itself? I fell In my pockets;
they were utterly empty, except for a
single overlooked bill. There was no
means of egress other than the win
flow and that seemed hopeless. Yet
In desperation I crossed over once
more, and again looked out. Could
I dare I —attempt to cling to that
slight ledge In my slocking feet, even
for the one or two steps necessary
to reach the next window? Tile very
conception of such a font made my
bend red giddily and my stomach rise
In protest. Resides, even If I made
If by some miracle, what If that other
window should he closed and locked?
How could I ever move backward to
regain safety?
Yet wall: there was a way,*danger
ous enough to be sure, yet possible If
1 possessed Hie necessary nerve. There
were opened blinds at each window;
they would help some as grasping
spots for the hands. The one within
rt-ach appeared solid enough, firmly
anchored to the easement, and secured
to the brick wall by means of an Iron
book. Hot ween the two the space to
be traversed was not wide; a single
stride on the ground beneath would
bridge the distance. If 1 had some
thing to cling to above —anything that
would keep me upright—l might hold
my footing on the narrow stone and
make the passage slowly. It was a
daring, deadly venture, but possible.
Rut what could 1 hope to utilize as
n support? The bare room offered but
a single suggestion—the dirty coverlet
which bad been thrown over me. Torn
opart from corner to corner, ami
twisted Into the form of a rope, It
ought to safely sustain my entire
weight In case a foot slipped. I
started to tear with my teeth, and thus
succeeded In ripping the thing from
end to end. It was scarcely long
enough for the purpose, which com
pelled me to make the noose corre
spondingly small. However, with this
Improvised lasso gripped In my right
hand. 1 took position astride the sill
of the window, in an endeavor to pro
ject the loosened end over shine pro
tuberance of the blind beyond. Ry
holding light to the frame with my
left hand, the right was left free,
and I was enabled to lean out far
enough to obtain a clear loss. There
was little the noose could catch on,
and continued failure left me listless
and discouraged. 1 lost hope, yet
kept at it. and finally, to my surprise,
the ring of the cloth settled over an
Iron projection of the hinge, and clung
there, extending straight across from
window to window. I hardly dared
breathe as I drew the thing taut and
tested the firmness with which It was
held at the other end. The noose
closet! down tightly about the Iron
staple, and resisted every effort at re
lease. To nil seeming It was as safely
anchored as though 1 had placed It
there by hand. Somehow the very
knowledge that this had been accom
plished, that the way was open,
brought with It a renewal of the feel
ing of horror with which I had first
contemplated the possibility of sueh
nn accomplishment. Would I ever dare
the attempt? My heat! swam as 1
gazed downward, and then across, and
I shrank hack absolutely terrltied at
the very thought.
Yet my nerve returned, and I found
myself cool and determined. It was
no pleasant Job, to he sure, and I
was compelled to steel myself to the
attempt, yet I no longer held hack para
lyzed by fear, I easily found a secure
fastening for the strip of bed-spread at
my own window, and then, satisfied
that It was taut and securely held at
hoth ends, lowered my hotly cautiously
over the will, until my stockinged feet
nervously gripped the narrow stone
4r the coping. I dare not look down
or permit my mind to dwell for an
instant on what was below. Slowly
I straightened up. until my entire
weight was upheld by this precarious
foot hold. To advance step by sfe%
was impossible; all 1 could hope to
accomplish in locomotion was to
stealthily advance one fool a few
Indies, sliding it along the stone, ever
retaining contact, and then, as care
fully drawing the other after until
they met, toe and heel. It was the
slow progress of a snail, yet the slight
est effort at hurrying would mean a
certain faH.
'l’hls was not unduly perilous, how
ever. so long ns I retained firm hold
on the sill, or even could grip my
fingers over the lower frame of the
open blind, ns I was enabled thus to
partially sustain my weight, and, even
if a foot slipped, the feel of the solid
wood yielded confidence. Rut finally
my hun<| reached out and grasped only
the cloth cord, twisted into some sem
blance of a rape, and, as it gave slck
cningly to the pressure, the old fear
swept over me in a torrent of agony.
I could never make It —never! 1 would
go swirling, crashing down to that
♦tenth below. It was hut a step, to
he sure; a step and I could reach
the firmness of the other blind; hut.
oh, I Ik* step the speechless horror of
It ! Yi*t there was no going backward:
I tried lids, only to realize at once Its
Impossibility, and the pers|Hration
hurst out from every pore, as the full
horror of my situation suddenly
Hashed over me. 1 must go on. trust
ing to (hat thin, unstable balanc
ing myself above Ihe gulf. There was
no other way, no retreat, no means of
escape. 1 do not know now how the
act was accomplished; It Is hardly a
rri&smi
W / to
The Sleeper Was Marie Geeslerl
memory, except ns some wild delirium
of sleep haunts one when they awake.
Inch by Inch I crept, hand encroach
ing on hand, foot pressing against foot,
every slightest movement nn In
expressible agony—then I gripped the
support of wood once more, and clung
to it ns with the grasp of death.
1 clung there milll my mind came
hnc||. until I fell the return of strength
to my body, and I could look down
through the moonlight without reeling
dizzily. The blind was strong, firmly
hgaced, and I felt safe in Us protec
tion. lint what about the window
beyond? Suppose It should he locked?
or the room Into which I opened,
occupied? I could not continue to cling
there In uncertainty: I must learn the
I ruth—assure myself that I had not
passed through nil this tense agony
In vain.
I moved slowly, barely an Inch at
n lime, each advancing foot feeling
for support, but more confident now
because of the grasp of my lingers on
the upper wood. The window was
closed, but dark and grimy looking,
as though the room within had been
long unoccupied. Us very appearance
gave me courage. I balanced myself
on the precarious fooling of the stone,
clinging tenaciously with my left hand
to the Iron hinge of the blind, while
my right endeavored to raise the sash.
At first I believed the window
firmly fastened down—the suspicion
leaving me numb with despair. Hut
reckless tugging loosened its hold,
and enabled me to shove up the sash
little hy little, until finally, the open
ing become sufficient for me to squeeze
through, t felt as though I had re
turned from the dead, the nervous re
action so great that I lay for a moment
on the floor where I had fallen, un
able to move. I knew I was alone,
the space untenanted. the walls as
hare as In that other room from which
EAST MISSISSIPPI TIMES, STARKSVILLE, MISSISSIPPi
I hail lied. I knew lids, and In my
exhaustion cared to know no more.
Then 1 staggered to my knees, and,
with opened eyes stared curiously
about, gathering my wits together.
There was nothing to see but the
four walls. I tried the door, and It
opened silently, permitting me to
glance out Into a narrow dark hull
wa,v. uncarpelet). I could dimly
discern the lop of a flight of stairs
leading down to the story below. I
slipped out, ami closed the door softly
behind me, Being plunged Instantly Isto
funereal blackness.
I groped a way forward toward the
stalls, guided by a hand against the
wall, until the lunch of the upper rail
assured me of my |ioslliuii. A narrow
strip of carpeting—rag I took It to
he from the feeling—extended duwt
the center of the stairs, sufficient to
muffle any footsteps, and I paused
a moment listening for the slight sl
noise mold the darkness beneath. All
remained still and mysterious; so that
I drew forth my shoes from a teal
pocket and slipped them on.
, Twice the boards creaked otnlnoiislj
under my trend, sounding terrlflc In
that silence, and causing me to hunt
in suspense over the banister tail
holding my breath In fear of discovery
At last I attained the wider space :
the bottom, and sought blindly to rr
plore my surroundings. But for
carpet underfoot, and a small sTt
encountered In a recess, I would hare
believed myself In a deserted Issue.
I knew I was on the third floor, net
there was no curve In the banisters,
showing a way to the next flight if
stairs, nor could 1 locate them by tiiy
effort. As the result of blindly groping
about, I lost all sense of direction and
must have wandered Into a side rouu
through an undraped recess, for i!
suddenly brought up ogninst a table
littered with papers and books.
Startled by this encounter Into a
realization that I was Inst In a strain,it
house at an unholy hour of the morn
ing, and that the slightest misstep in
Hint darkness might result In an alarm
to awaken every sleeper, for a feu
minutes I did not venture to move la
nny direction. Yet manifestly I could
not remain there Indefinitely, and so,
blindly choosing a course, I set form,
feeling a way cautiously forward unlll
I first run Into a chair, and then struck
one hand against u side wall. 1 fol
lowed this latter ns best I could,
Inspired by the thought that If I con
tinued this course long enough I nm.-.t
attain the opening through which I
had entered the room. On the way
mj hands felt the Outlines of a closed
door, and, In aimlessly groping about,
encountered a key in the lock. It;
was so Inserted ns to he extracted
at the touch of my fingers and Instant
ly a liny ray of light shot forth
through the vacated hole. It was such
a relief In the heart of that darkness
as to cause me to quickly bend down
and endeavor to view the scene within.
It was evidently a chamber of some
size, and well furnished, rallier dimly
illuminated hy a single shaded electric
globe, n handsome green rug on the
floor, and numerous pictures hung
about the walls. I could perceive the
outlines of a bed at one side, barely
within the range of the vision, and
opposite this an ornate dresser, with
three mirrors. But what my eyes
rested upon with greater interest was
n luxurious leather couch beside the
further wall on which a woman rested,
with some sort of covering draped
about her. She lay with face toward
the wall, motionless, and to all appear
ances sound asleep.
To arouse her was the Inst thing
I desired, and I would have slipped the
key back Into the lock, and stolen
silently along In the darkness, had she
not suddenly stirred, flinging out one
hand ns though In fear of some dream,
and turned so that her face
became clearly visible. The sleeper
was Marie Dossier! For a moment I
could scarcely credit the discovery;
yet there could he no mistake. I re
membered 100 well every character
istic of the girl, to ho deceived.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
Reasonable Excuse.
Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, the noted food
expert, and Dr. Samuel Wilson, re
tired minister, were discussing old
times one day Inst week.
Both the men are graduates of Han
over college, near the Ohio river, along
which the minister spent his early
years.
“I remember the groat floods of ’B2,
'S3 and ’B4” said Dr. Wilson. “Dur
ing one of those floods we had to re
tire to the second floor, and then to
the third floor.
“We had to cook onr food over the
grate," he recalled. "In the morning
we would let down a bucket on a
rope to the milkman, who came in a
skiff.”
Dr. Wiley smiled.
“That would be some excuse fur
watering the milk," he said.
A Slam.
He—Witty people make me tired.
She—Trying to keep up with them.
I suppose.—Boston Transcript.
It must be awfully nice to be w
rich that you can afford to grumlp
about the enormous taxes you pay.
!•= ' .
“American Child Is a Greater Puzzle *
Than Is the American Adult.”
By W. L. GEORGE, British Novelist,
S' " Ihe American child is to me a greater puzzle
/ than the American adult. I cannot see how the emo
f jr~ M tional American, dominated by moral impulses, de
** velopg out of the shrewd and hard American child. It
| * s almost inhuman. It hates to be fondled; it seldom
' kisses an adult; it wholly differs from the emotional,
y s~' enthusiastic English child, which hurls'itsclf ujxm the
""' r people it likes and inflicts upon them sticky embraces.
(jkr / s does n °t give itself; it knows what it wants and
*3 It. .JR with strange brutality. If this applied only
to female children, I could understand it, for some
thing of this survives in the American girl, before marriage and misfor
tunes have turned her into a human being; but the male American child
shews only the hardness of the American man, not the gentleness and
tenderness which make him so attractive.
I his may come from the close contact between the American child
md ils parent; it lives with them, is of them; it is treated seriously;
therefore, it does not look upon the adult ns a god. Notably, in the well
to-do classes, there is no children’s hour, say 5:30, when the anxious prin
oners of the nursery are allowed, trembling with excitement and awe, to
enter the holy presence of the grown-ups. It is no fun being an American
child , one grows up without idols, and one must make some for one's self,
since mankind at all ages lives only by error.
I he hard child suggests the hard home, which is characteristic of
America. 1 visited many houses in the United States, and, except among
the definitely rich, I found them rather uncomfortable. They felt hare,
untenanted; they were too neat, too new; they indicated the restaurant,
the theater, the cinema were often visited; one missed the comfortable
accumulation of broken screens, old fire irons and seven-year-old volumes
of the London Illustrated News, which make up the dusty, frowsy feeling
of home.
The American house is not a place where one lives, but a place where
one merely sleeps, eats, sits, works. You will say that makes up homo life,
but it does not; there is something else, which can arise only out of a
compound of dullness, boiled mutton, an ill-cut lawn, a dog, a cat and
some mice to keep the cot amused. I cannot explain it better than that,
and Americans may not understand what I mean, although any English
person will.
Are the Stories of Strange South
American Native Cures True?
By DR. HENRY H. RUSBT, Columbia University.
Will we scientists sailing for Chili bring back with us, when we
come out of the Colombian wilderness after two years of exploration,
some precious medicinal plant, growing obscurely now on the mountain
peaks of Bolivia or among the jungles of western Brazil?—some other
plant as priceless, therapeutically, as the cinchona shrub of the Allies,
whose bark gives us quinine; or the root of the ipecacuanha, brought long
ago from Brazil?
These questions can be answered only by conjectures. Are the sto
ries of strange native cures true? That’s just what we are going to try
to find out. For myself, I believe that unquestionably the South American
Indians understand the medicinal uses of rare plants which are unknown
to onr materia mediea.
Superstition, witchcraft, legend are so entangled with their actual
and beneficial powers that a white man cannot hope to get at the truth
of the thousand tales he hears except by long study. If among all the
miracle we can find a few real remedies, that will be as much as I expect.
Children Found to Respond Eagerly to
Doctrine of Kindness to Animals
By MRS. H. C. PRESTON, N. Y. State Humane Education Com.
A special program to inculcate the humane treatment of animals by
children has been launched in 35 public schools of the lower East
side of New York city. Instruction on humane treatment of animals and
birds became compulsory in the curriculum of the public schools of New
York state by an act passed in April, 1917.
The special program in the 35 schools was arranged by the board ox
education with the co-operation of the A. S. P. C. A. In the fall a first
prize and two second prizes will be given in each school for the best com
positions on what the writer has been able to do to help animals during
the summer.
The older people are absolutely irresponsible. But the children, ah,
that’s a different matter 1 It has been traditional that children at a certain
age will rob birds’ nests, torture cats, tie cans to dogs’ tails, etc. We have
found that that age in childhood responds just as eagerly, inquisitively,
productively, to the opposite of the old tradition, i. e., humaneness to ani
mals instead of inhumancuess.
With Adequate Airplane and Submarine
Forces We Are Impregnable.
By SENATOR W. L. JONES of Washington.
—'-•••• -
The recent bombing test demonstrated that ships such as those at- ;
tacked could be damaged and even destroyed. It vindicates the efforts bv
the senate for increased appropriations for aircraft, and also for aircraft
carriers and aviation bases on the Pacific coast.
With an adequate air force and adequate submarine force, we are
absolutely impregnable against outside attack. It would be impossible for
any enemy to land or for a fleet to dare to approach our coasts. If that is
true, it is of vital importance that we should make provision immediately
for adequate aircraft carriers and aviation and submarine bases.
We must have these new defenses now—there must be no delav.
Anti-aircraft guns on battleships wjll occasionally bring down an airplane
ar even more than one, but it is silly to suppose the aircraft will not
have, the advantage in any such contests.
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en you right up better than calomel
and without griping or making you sick
I want you to po back, to the store and
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Take calomel today and tomorrow
you will feel weak and sick and nau
seated. Don’t lose a day’s work; Take
a spoonful of harmless, vegetable
Dodson's Liver Tone tonight and wake
op feeling great. It’s perfectly harm
less. so give It to your children any
time. It can't salivate so let them eat
anything afterwards. —Advertisement-
Babies In Bunches.
The prediction Is made by Prof.
Charles Kirscholf, a foreign savant,
that during the next six years twins,
triplets and even quadruplets will be
commonly experienced. He says that
the birth of a single will be a rarity.
He sees all this in the position of
some planets.
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