Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1927-09-29, Page 2uir » TEA Its superb flsivooT satisfies BEGIN HERE TODAY’. ning.” He looked up. “Do you know Sir Charles Abingdon asks Paul'what you have done to-night, Mr. Harley criminal investigator, to find Harley?” out why Sir Cahrles is kept in con-j Paul Harley shook his head. Swift­ slant surveillance by persons unknown, ]yt the touch of an icy finger, to him. Harley dines at the Abing-1 that warning note of danger had con, home. Sir Charles falls from his nfrain chair m a dying condition. Abingdon’s j last words are “Nicol Brinn” and' “Fire-Tongue.” Dr. McMurdoch pro­ nounces death due to heart failure, j Harley insists that Sir Charles was; jmisoned. j Pa jI goes to call on Nicol Brinn,1 miilinraire club man. w Lis caller cordially but refuses to tell i ciops and to the measures which he taken to confirm them. that he stands in peril of his life and | a-’snies I_ _ __ _ diversion. NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY. “You are out after one of the big to him, Harley dines at the Abing-1 that warning- note of danger had : reached him again. “I’ll tell you,” continued Brinn. “You have opened the gates of hell!” Not another word did he speak while Paul Harley, pacing slowly up and down before the hearth, gave him . a plain account of the case, omitting Brinn receives a]j reference to his personal suspi- “You think he was murdered?” said Paul"that"he welcomes ‘the'Brinn in his high, toneless voice. “I have formed no definite opinion. What- is your own?” “I may not look it,” replied Brinn, , “but at this present moment I am theheads of the crook world,” he said.; most hopelessly puzzled and badly ‘he Knows it and he’s trailing you. frightened man in London.” My luck’s turned. How can I help?”, Iiadf turned in the big chair to ~ ‘^Hey stood up, facing Mr. Brinn. ■ face hjg visitor, who now was stand- ‘ I e knows it, as you say,” he replied, before the fireplace staring down “and I hold my life in my hands. F from year answer to the question But at him. 1 i “One day last month,” he resumed1. which I have come here to-night to «i got cut of my car in a big hurry ask you, I shall conclude whether or at the top of the Haymarket. A fool 11 is on a motorcycle passed between the car and the sidewalk just as I stepped down, and I knew nothing further not your danger at the moment greater than mine.” “Good," said Nicol'Brinn. “My question is simple strange,” said Paul Harley.****£>'**» a. iJ.cw.Mjy. xp dothis: What do you know of ‘Fire-* Tongue'!" CHAPTER V. . THE GATES OF HELL. If Paul Harley had counted “Fire-Tongue” to have a dramatic effect upon Nicol Brinn, he was not disappointed. "Fire-Tongue!" he said, tensely, following a short sil&nee. “For God’s sake, when did you hear that word?” . "I heard it,” replied Harley, slowly, “to-night.” lie fixed his gaze intently upon the sallow face of the American. “It was spoken by Sir Charles Abing­ don.” "Sir Brinn; nected “In “It was spoken by Sir Charles a few moments before he died.” Nicol Brian’s drooping lids flicker­ ed rapidly. “Before he died! Then Sir Charles Abingdon is dead! When did he die’.” “He died to-night and the last words that he uttered Tongue’—” moment re-- -o-ing that fixed gaze from the other’s face. “Go tn.” promoted Mr. Brinn. “And ‘Nicol Brinn’.” Nicol Brinn stood still as a carven man. Indeed, only by an added rig­ idity in his pose did he reward Paul Harley’s intense scrutiny. A silence charged .with drama was finally broken by the American. "Mr. Har­ ley,” he said, “you told me that you were up against the big proposition of vour career. You are right.” With that he sat. down in an arm­ chair and resting his chin in his hand, gazed fixedly into the empty grate. “Give me the whole story,” said Mr. Brinn, “right from the begin- ». If but ■ untii I woke up in a drug store close “It is 1 by, feeling very dazed and with my coat in tatters and my left arm numb­ ed from the elbow. A man was stand­ ing watching me, and presently when I had pulled round he gave me his card. I “He was Sir Charles Abingdon,upon 1 Charles Abingdon,” “and in what way is with your case?” this way,” asnwered Harley. echoed it con- were ‘Fire- ITe paused, never for a his heart to theBrinn opened Player’s’ Club. SPEARWNT has tang yourand zest to brighten •ra wkole day! ' t It keeps teeth white, ^. eoothes the throat, and Edda digestion. After Every Meal ____ . ___ ____sctotUk ISSUE No. 33—2/ who had been passing at the time of the accident. That was how I met him, and as there was nothing seri­ ously wrong with me I saw him no more professionally. But he dined with me a week later and I had lunch at his club about a fortnight ago.” He looked up at Harley. “On my solemn word of honor,” he said, “that’s all I know about Sir Charles Abingdon.” “Then I can only suppose,” resum­ ed Harlby, deliberately, “that the cause of your fear lies in the term, ‘Fire-Tongue’?” Brinn again rested his chin in his hand, staring fixedly into the grate. “Mr. Harley,” he began, abruptly, “you have been perfectly frank with me and in return I wish to be as frank With you as I can be. I am face to face with a thing that has haunted me for seven years, and every step I take from now onward has to be considered carefully, for any step might be my last. And that’s not the worst of the matter. I will risk one of those steps here and now. You ask me io explain the significance of Fire­ tongue”1 (there was a perceptib' pause before he pronounced the wor which Harley duly noticed). “I a gmpg & fell Abingdon, wb? at his 0|ub, a: same thing.’* He a^jcod you that so long as two weeks ago?” “Jle did?’ “Apd iv^at reason did he give for hi s Inquiry J” N|col Bnnn began to tap the fen­ der again With his foot. refoyred to an experience which had befallenhlrn,iq’-Tnidla, camo Nicol Brin^(a- beTated reply. “In India? ’May I ask you to “re­ count that experience^, fongup” (there was a “Mr. Harley,” replied Brinn, sud­ denly standing up, “I can’t.” “You can’t?” I Quick relief from. pain. “I have said so. But I’d give a; Khot; pressure, lot more than you might believe to know that Abingdon had told you the story which he told me.” “You are not helping, Mr. Brinn,” said Harley, sternly. “I believe and I think that you share my belief that. Sir Charles Abingdon did not dj,e ■ from natural causes. You are re­ pressing valuable evidence. Allow mo to remind you that if anything should come to light necessitating a post­ mortem examination of the body, you ■will be forced to divulge in a court! of justice the facts which you refuse to divulge to me.” “I know it,” said Brinn, shortly. He shot out one long arm and grasper- Harley’s shoulder as in a vice. “I’m counted a wealthy man,” , he continued, “but I’d give every cent ■ I possess to see ‘paid’ put to the bill of a certain person. Listen. You don’t think I was in any way con­ cerned in the death of Sir Charles Abingdon? It isn’t thinkable. But you do think I’m in possession of facts which would help you find out who is. You’re right.” “Good heavens!” cried Harley. “Yet you remain silent!” “Not so loud—not so loud!” im- ■ plored Brinn, repeating that odd, al­ most furtive glance around. “Mr. • Harley—you know me. You’ve heard i of me and now you’ve met me. You I know my place in the world. Do you believe me when I say that from this . moment onward I don’t trust my own ’ servants? Not my own friends?” He : removed his grip from Harley’s shoul- i der. “Inanimate things look like . enemies. That mummy over yonder : may have ears!”- “I’m afraid I don’t altogether un- i derstand you.” “See here!” Nicol Brinn crossed to a bureau, unlocked it, and while Harley watch­ ed' him curiously, sought among a number of press cuttings. Presently , he found the cutting for which he was i looking. “This was said,” he explain- ’ ed, handing the slip to Harley, “at the Players’ Club in New York, after 1 a big dinner in pre-dry days. It was • said in confidence. But some disguised i reporter- had got in and it came out in print next morning. Read it.” Paul Harley accepted the cutting and read the following: NICOL BRINN’S SECRET AMBITIONS. Millionaire Sportsman Who Wants To Shoot Niagara! Mr. Nicol Brinn of Cincinnati, who is at pesent in New York, opened his heart to members of the Players’ Club last night. Our prominent citizen, responding to a toast, “The Distin­ guished Visitor,” said': “I’d like to live through months of midnight frozen in among the polar- ice; I’d like to cross Africa from east to west and get lost in the middle. I’d like to have a Montana sheriff’s posse on my heels for horse-stealing, and I’ve prayed to be wrecked on a desert island like Robinson Crusoe to see if I am man enough to live it out. I want to stand my trial for murder and defend my own case, and I want to be found by the eunuchs in the harem of the Shah. I want to dive for pearls and scale the Matterhorn. I want to known where the tunnel leads to—the tunnel down under the Great Pyramid of Gizeh—and I’d love to shoot Niagara Falls in a barrel.” “It sounds^ characteristic,” murmur­ ed Harley, laying the slip on the coffee table. “It’s true!” declared Brinn. “I said it and I meant it. I’m a glutton for danger, Mr. Harley, and I’m going to tell you why. Something happened to me seven years ago—” “In India?” “In India. Correct. Something hapened to me, sir, which just took the sunshine out of life. At the time I didn’t know all it meant. I’ve learn­ ed since. For seven years I have been flirting with death and hoping to fall!” Harley stared at him uncompre- hendingly. “More than ever I fail to understand.” Nicol Brinn dropped his chin into his hand and resumed that unseeing stare into the open grate. Paul Har­ ley watched him intently. (To be continued.) § Saves Spap Wilson Publishing Company Put one on—the Putin is {fonc "t*”*'•*■*“" w‘"l"5Ti"‘~i-ir*rrtii an INTO THE UNKNOWN . i Ever-restless for New Thrills and New Knowledge, Ex-( plorers of 50 Expeditions ■ are Preparing to Blaze their Restless Trail into the Vast Unknown, washing nnd cieanfr Survey Halted By Noisy Oysters —- which Marley duly noticed!). ^2 il ite-i I lushed wife him nd precisely fee utilized,- i NOW DEEPS CALL A new era of marvellous possibil­ ities in the realm of exploration is opening, Just at a time when the average man in the street is saying: ‘’There is no more aventure—there is nothing left on the planet to explore” the fascinating secrets of sea, air and land arc provoking and alluring an A SMART NEW FROCK. This chic frock is suitable for daytime wear and is a very becoming style. The skirt has an inverted plait at the front and is joined to the bodice having a vestee and collar cut in one. The long dart-fitted sleeves are finished' with shaped cuffs, and there is a shaped band at the hips. No. 1638 is in sizes 34, 36, 38, 40 and 42 inches bust. View A, size 36, reguires 3% yards 39-inch, or 2% yards 54-inch material, and % yard 39-inch contrasting; View B requires 8% yards 39-inch material, and % yard contrasting. Price 20 cents the pattern. Every woman’s desire is to achieve that smart different appearance which draws favorable comment from the observing public. The designs illus­ trated in our new Fashion Book are originated in the heart of the style centres and will help yo uto acquire that much desired air of individuality. Price of the bo8k:10 cents the copy. HOW TO ORDER PATTERNS. -Write your name and address plain­ ly, giving number and size of such patterns as you want. Enclose 20c in stamps or coin (coin preferred; wrap it ■■’carefully) for each number and address your order to Pattern Dept., Wilson Publishing Co., 73 West Ade­ laide St., Toronto. Patterns sent return mail. Every woman’s m-ou& pressures of the waters have hitherto baffled all man’s attempts to investigate the secrets of the sea. Although lands beneath the sefi can I gram The incessant clicking of oysters ns they open and shut their valves has sot up such a disturbing noise at one point in the Atlantic Ocean as to cause the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey to abandon its plans of employing under-water radio in sur­ veying the North Carolina coast. "We havo been listening to the clicks of oysters Instead of the sound of the bomb signal In the radio-acoustic equipment," states Commander W. E. Parker, chief of the Division of Hy­ drography and Topography. Writes S. R. Winters in describing these sur­ prising doings in the New York Tele- all by How About Now? "I was in Chicago a year ago and metm lot of live people out there.” "Yes, but that was a year ago." An Excusable Mistake. "Ah,” said the guest as they ap­ proached the house, “I see your dear son and daughter awaiting us in porch." “No," said the host, "the girl in short frock is my mother, and young fellow In riding breeches is wife.” the the the my Early manageability leads later to managp-ability. Times Do Change Used by physiclans-Minard’s Liniment EXCLUSIVE SHOWING, 1897 MODEL Of ancient vintage, this car was the oldest entered in the Labor Day parade at Atlantic City. Its driver, Harold M. Brion, claims a speed of nine miles an hour for his entry. tai, France, America, Canada, Japan, 1 Italy, enmark, Norway and even. Red 1 Russia, are sponsoring scientific ex- 1 peditions to bo carried out officially • under their respective flags; that this year exploration is being financed more extensively than was the ease in any preceding decade and that 1 fifty serious exploratory expeditions —apart from minor adventurous pro­ jects-—are being planned and equip­ ped at this very hourto> This is all the more remarkable when one casts back and surveys what man has accomplished in the last two decades of the scientific age. What are the high lights from the period beginning when Peary stood on the frozen spot of ground which marks the North Pole, and ending say when Lindbergh flew from New York to Paris? Both snow-capped poles have been visited by men who travelled thither in ships, sleds, and snow shoes; and Amundsen has flown over the Pole, blazing the trail for the great air route of -the future. Mount Everest and most other of i the world’s loftiest mountain peaks | have been conquered by intrepid j climbers. Great tracts of desert and waste spaces of the earth have been surveyed and reclaimed. An airway has been established over the mighty Sahara, the grave of so many human hopes and endeavors. Lost tribes and civilizations have been found in Africa and on the South American continents, and great excavation works completed or put under way to disclose the mysteries of the past. Radio has brought communities thousands of miles apart within speaking distance of each other. A man has gone forth in search of the petrified eggs of the almost legendary dinosaur, braving tho laughter of the scientists—and found “ them and ■brought them back. What, then,, remains? The great­ est conquests of all • remain, inviting the intrepid adventurers of this gen­ eration as the gold of unknown Mexico invited Cortes and the dream of land across tho western seas earlier invited Columbus. No less than 5,900,060 square miles of the Arctic regions and 6,000,000 squapo miles of the Antarctic wastes 'remain untrodden by tho foot of man and unseen by his eye. In these im­ mense areas, who knows what treas­ ures of mineral wealth mpy lurk? The land about the poles cannot, we know now, be dismissed easily as merely a happy hunting ground for the men who want to be “first at the Pole.” It has a high strategic im­ portance in view of the conquest of the air, and most valuable possibilities in view of the relative scarcity of manganese, radium, platinum, gold, diamonds. And here let me say at once that in this the new era which is opening differs from all the great eras of dis­ covery and adventures of the past. Just as advances in shipbuilding enabled Columbus to reach America, and the invention of fire-arms allowed the Spanish conquerors to sweep- through Mexico and Peru with but a handful of white men, and the pro­ gress of aviation allowed intrepid navigators of the air to fly immense distances at incredible speed, so tire adventurers of the new era must de­ pend upon the discoveries of science and the technical improvements wrought hy engineers. This applies with especial force to that vast region, comprising seven­ eighths of the planet, which so far has successfull eluded human curios­ ity, and has nevei* even been gazed upon by the eye of man. I refer to the fantastic lands which lie, with their mountain ranges mighties than the Rockies or the Himalayas, their dread gorges and mysterious forests at tho bottom of the seas. The sea depths have always defied man. Men have gone down a hun­ dred, two hundred feet in diving bells and protected suits. They have even penetrated to so great a depth as 609 feet in the hew Steel armored cases equipped with mechanically-operated claw hands, telephones and Centric -hean^ lights. Such men its Dr. Beebe, tho famous naturalist, have vzalked; abopt fee floor of tropical se^S and phofegraph^d ocean life; and scjqiilists like thp late ■pyfevsTbtils of Monaco have extended never be used to solve the problem of I "The humble oyster now is placed the earth’s overlarge population, or jn the despised role of a disturbing ■as the air is-—for transpor- factor In radio reception. The lowly ey offer a treasure trove to. bivalve has introduced a form of radio rer who can succeed -in con- interference that may defy clas3ifica- , if L_ • tion. This chorus of clicks may bo title reason why the mineral wealth (interpreted as oyster-made static, of dry land should, not be repeated1 in the lands covered noy by the oceans, | attributed to oysters in the "Atlantic And there are, besides, incolculable ( Ocean are responsible for the aband. treasures lying on the sea bed; the onment of the project to survey with treasure ships of tho centuries which great precision the waters south of havo gone down with their precious | Cape Lookout, North Carolina, by cargoes of gold and jewels, although' means of a combination of radio and fairly accurately charted', have never ( sound, been recovered. Dr. Beebe is investigating the pps- 'of making hydrographic surveys, the sibility now of getting down a mile 1.—' in a huge armored case, from the il- cal method will bo employed, luminated windows of which he can observe the life and structure of the sea bed as he moves clowly along it; and in half-a-dozen countries marine engineers are r \ , means of stnstructing a cylinder—for ( Atlantic Ocean, a diving suit is out of the question- which will withstand the terrific pres- j ------------ I.— sure-s an denable men to explore the perfect condition, sea bed at great depths. | f _ " them: for there is no scien- "Seriously, the interfering noises _ "Instead of using this new method ancient and long-discarded astronomi- “ ‘We had considerable trouble last 1 year on the coast of the Pacific j Ocean,' relates Commander Parker, on account of noises similar to those studying ways and, now interfering on the coast of the 2The hydrophones1 were lifted to the surface and exam- j inedseveral times and found to be in . When replaced in __ a_____ ____ | the sea they operated satisfactorily ~~The upper atmospheric strata have tor a short time, and then began fail- been widely explored by means of bal- tog to record the bombs because of "One of the hydrophones was moved t about 1,000 fathoms, where it operated satisfactorily, but the new loons and air machines in recent, the noises.' years, but 20,960 feet above the earth j is a realm of which very little is out known. (- Of what use to man is the explora-1 Position was not a good one from a tion of the upper air? The entire! surveying point of view. secret of the weather is hidden sime-1 The captain of the Coast and Geo- wheroin those dizzy altitudes. Sound- /totic ship was at his wits end until ho ing balloons carrying recording in- j heard a fisherman remark that the struments as high as 5'0,000 feet have toimei position, where the interfei- . hinted as much to meteorologists; but cnee was encountered, was the best the solution of the weather riddles do-! crabbing ground In that section of the - - - • • • j Pacific. Ocean. "The theory that tho oyster is a. disturbing factor in radio reception, far evGn when the belief is advanced of- - ! “'■dally by a government bureau de- M ' t ■FTfh’^Tbtils of fionaco havo exfep^eJ man’s knowledge of the sea deeps; by oceanographic explorations under­ taken with a ship specially equipped and fitted with a, glass panel for underseas observation. But Xvhat lies beyond the half-mile depth ho one knows. The certainty i of death by crushing has reserved the )greater depths inviolate. The enor- • 'r r hmnds human observation. When this region is thoroughly ex­ plored man will be able to predict ac­ curately weather conditions to-, ahead. lie may even discover enough Plc , x.„ to enable him to get on the track o£i’“ted Bclentiflc research, seems so the great problem of how to contrel, 10 ta? fr^uhty: , , the weather. ■ "This Is somewhat diss.pated when • Can such great altitudes bo reach.-"'e recall that the hydrophone is a o<12 Sir Alan Cobham thinks so, and tens, lye device and the slightest prophesies a machine in tho near fu-,“°‘s0 Is '® anl> “™ 1,1 taro which will be able to ascend to » measure It is a sons. ,ve microphone ‘ . .. ; planted under the water, and broad- " ’ J ®.e ' . c4.ni J casting stations have.'repeatedly de-Meantime, also, there are st.l many the SOTS11iyIty ol a mlcr0. pioneering flightsi to be made sumlar. o( , ]wart. to those of Lmdbeigh and Chambm- bea th(, „wslca], notas „ canary n It g a “’-nd the subtle sounds ot a beetleflights of Cobham and the late Ross (n a op an In6eot. oatin(. , 4 ., . , . grain deep in ths recesses of a grain-Although so many blank spaces m the map of the world have been filled) radio.acoustic method of rang- m by the bold explorers of the last ing, Mr< Winterg goef5 .Qn to reJate> quarter-of a century, there are still was devlsed joillt]y by the Bureau of large unknown . areas along the Standards and the Coast and Goodetic mighty. Amazon, in Africa, . 1 e a survey. In operation, first, hydro- Abyssinia, and in ou usu a «. pjlonQ3 are submerged along tho One may ask; why discover more tern- coagfc tQ a depth of fi£ty feet. ,msQ tory when only one-eignteenth pa ^ underwater telephones are connected the planet is under the control of cable J>adio sUtiong on shore, civilized man. . . lHe proceeds: The answer is that the population j ,<when thQ captain o£ a ship—say, of the globe is fast increasing, mic e jiocated twenty miles from shore—de­ spectre of hunger and population | sjres (]etermino his exact position pressure looms ahead. hQ GXplOdos a bomb under water. This Italy and Japan are alreacty heav- contains about one pound of ily overpopulated. The population O'iq'hj'p. phe instant of explosion is re­ tire United States has increased l^icor^ed automatically on the surway- million in the last seven years despiteyggyg] hy means of a hydrophone immigration restrictions. Britain mtlnstalled on the slliPi WhiCh is con- overpopulated, and Germany soon will; nec^ed electrically with an automatic be. Discoveries of new areas of the recording device—a chrono­ earth capable of sustaining human jgrapht life are recognized by Governments j "The sound travels to the shoro everywhere to be one of^the burning Which also intercept the problems of the near future.. {echo of the explosion. This produces Finally, there is a quater in which a pu<1tuation in tho current that tra- the boldest adventurer will not seejve]g a]011g (jle cable that actuates the limits, however for he penetrates the' radio-acoustic mechanism, causing • a realm of scientific discovery, of the ratu0 signal to be transmitted in suc- probing of the secrets of .Nature and ’ ggion from eaCh 0£ th0 group of the forces of. life. t shore stations. Tho radio signal is Thousands of young, ardent scien-. intercepted by the radio receiver on tists, equipped with such instruments survey ship and recorded on tho and knowledge as their great redeces-:automatic time device, sots never had,, are setting forth, in I "jcroui this timing device liydrogrh- quiet laboratories, on daring quests-pjjp, engineers can determine within into tho unknown; and what they may.j-100 of a second the timo required find there may well change, the aspect for yie sound recorded to reach one of the earth and the very life of man-'oj (iie recording stations. Tho int<y?- kind. ( vals multiplied by the known velocity The magic of radium and tho ether,, of sound in sea water gives the dis- tho mysteries of electricity, light, a!(anc0 from the surveying vessel to thousand chemical riddles bearing on; each of the hydrophone stations, the* food supply, man’s health,, fuel, I Mathematical calculations afford fig­ power, the final secret of life itself; I ures giving the distance1 from each, these are being investigated^ And, The'!intersection of these, of course, is the position of the Ship. “Until the Bureau of Standards and the Coast and Geodetic Survey in­ vented the radio • sounding device, when a ship was beyond the range of Visibility of shore objects—approxi­ mately twelve miles on the Atlantic Oceau-—there was no mean: curately determining its Coast and Geodetic Survey- ships I’loneer and the Guido- radio-acoustic equipment and job­ operating on tho coast of the Pacific. Ocean, Jiavo been able to locate thei^., positions accurately When more thai\ thirty miles from shore. “The steamer Lydonia, tho larg<yjt, survey ship, lias been similarly cquipt^- ped and was cperatlng in the Atlanta Ocean, but the oyster has proved to be the fly in the olnGnent--withal, tbo static of ocean suui eying.” these are being investigated.. these are the greatest exploration:; of Very Seldom I knew feat Scotsman she married—tight-fisted chap. How’s he treating his wife?" "Very seldom, I hear," Drives away pain—-Minard’s Liniment V s of ac- location, ■the quipped wife ff t