HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1930-04-03, Page 3ft
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’ the EXETER TIMES-ADVOCATE
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THE STORY SO FAR
Hugh Drummond and Peter Dar
rell are interested in Mr. Grang
er, who iive.s 1 at Temple Towers,
which is strongly fortified. Miss
Verney accepts a position as pri
vate secretary to Mr. Granger and
Iler friend (Freckles) Tom Scott
.is staying with Hugh, At the
Dolphin Inn.when Hugh is stand
ing on the doorstep someone
knocks a large chimney-pot down
v but it did not hit him. That night
■ they visited Spragge/s Farm where
a roomer is staying. They seen a
very disreputable character of a
man in the workshop making a
rope ladder. On their return to
the car they found someone had
left a note and had removed’all
the spark plugs;
NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY
“X don’t see,” I began densely.
“Lor.d! man, it’s plain,” he cried.
”Tf, that is to say, my supposition is
correct, and tlie finding of 'the car
was not a fluks. Where did we dis
cuss approaching the Farm from the
sea?-* In the dining-room, where we
know we Were not Overheard. Where
-did- we discuss the main idea of go
ing to the Farm? In the little room.’
“Where,” I interrupted, “we know
with even greater certainty that we
Gon found, it
were alone in
people within
and those two
he went on after a while. “And
honestly it is not because I want to
keep this bit of fun and laughter to
ourselves that I say “ ”
the police what little
this show up to date
with it automatically
out of the picture.
are trammelled with all sorts of rules
and regulations; in other words, they
are not free agents. They have to
obtain warrants and things of that
kind before they • can move a step,
Would it not therefore be better to
keep matter.4. in our own hands at
any rate until we know a bit more?
Then if we think it necessary, or -if
there seems to he the slightest dan
ger threatening that girl we’ll tell
them all we know.”
“You darned old hypocrite,” I
laughed. “Have it your own way.”
And once more we fell silent, star
ing down the road. The mist was
lifting gradually, though it was im
possible to see any distance.
Out to sea a tramp homeward
bound, and the occasional -wail of,a
syren showed that the fog was not
confined to the land.
And suddenly Hugh heaved a sigh
of relief; a figure trudging along had
come into sight. It was Freckles
with the parcel of plugs clutched in
his hand.
“Hell take it,” he said as he camo
up. “<l’ve had the most frightful
time. An old woman in a nightcap
bunged a bucket of water over me in
one garage: thought I was tight or
mad. No one could understand why
I wanted six of the damned things.
I’ve walked about eighteen mile^.”
Did'’you see anyone on the way,
»g fellow?” asked Hugh.
"Not a soul,” grunted Freckles.
it. If we tell
we know about
our connection
stops. We pass
Now the police
Were not overheard,
sill, old boy, we three
the room. The on-ly
range were the padre
old trouts knitting?”
“Every man who wears a dog collar isn’t of..pAcessity a parson,” he1
.said obstinately,. - |
“Well, anyway,.” I‘ remarked, “it youn,
■can't have been the .cleric who bung-]
. .ed the chimney at your head, because “Except a tramp asleep in a ditch,
he was in the hall the whole time.” (Lucky devil—I veiy nearly joined
'“Perhaps you’-re right, Peter,” he him.”
:said, but. it was .quite obvious he He gob- into the car, and lay back
didn’t think so. However, he said wearily.
310 more, anct after a while, I began!
to doz,£ in the1 sand, I
that it would be daylight before
Freckles could possibly be back,
■and .sleep seemed better than an in
soluble argument. In fact, the only
-thing that mattered as far as I was
.edneerned was that, fluke or no
i’luker the darned blighter had suc-
-cessfully ke'pt m,e',.out of my bed.
It was *tAe sun's-rays sliinging di-
' . a-ect om niy fH&e-that woke me. Hugh
jw -was still sitting beside me, and as I
“Home, John, home. I’m just about
I calculated done in.”
“Right h°! my son,” said Hugh,
“You shall be between the sheets
very soon now.” *
He tightened up the last plug, and
closed the bonnet.
“Hop in, Peter,” he cried. “Tak7
ing everything into consideration IJd
sooner get past the coastguard sta
tion before they are all awake. What
the dickens is that?” ■ !\
We had gone over a bump .in the
road, and an extraordinary metallic
clang had come from behind the car.
He got out, and I followed him. And
when- we got to the back of the car,
for a moment or two neither of us
spoke. There are times when the
power of speech fails one.
■ Hanging on to the luggage grid,
attached by a short piece of string,
were our six original sparking plugs.
And in the middle of them was an
other note.
“Your plugs, I believe,” read Hugh,
and just then Freckles’ face
ed over the hood.
“What did you say?” he
ed.
“Keep calnf,” said Hugh
.“Remember your aged mother.
"You mean to tell me,” remarked
Freckles, in a choking voice, “that
those plugs were these all the time?’
He swallowed once or twice, and
over the next minute I will draw a
a decent veil. Even Hugh listened
in admiration to'the flood of rhetoric
that poured forth, and he is no mean
artist in that line himself.
“Laddie,” he said gravely, when
Freckles paused for breath, “I had
no idea that such language was
known to anyone under forty.”
“I would put him,” said Freckles
bi’oodingly, as the car drew up at the
house, “oh a hard concrete -.surface.
And then I would cover him all over
with spark plugs. And then having
pegged him down I" would take a
.stirred lie lookedla>round.
* “I hope to heaven nothing has
^happened to that youngster,” he said
an a worried voic-e.
T was wide awake in an instant:
that possibility hadn’t dawned on me
-up till', then.
“I ought to have gone myself,”
he went on. “1-Ie’s but a baby. I’ll
never forgive myself it he’s come to
grief.”
-He rose and stared down the road,
apd I joined ,/him. , Visibility was
poor, as fhe ground mist had not yet
lifted, and after a while he began
■to fidget uneasily.
“I've got-, a good mind to go and
look for him,” he said. “It’s three
hburs now sihedhe started.”
“But surely, ■
n’t be such fools as to lay
"They don’t want to 'attract
to themselves.”’
“I don’t think they are
kill him anrffe leave hijn in
lie g/iinted.- • “But »we’re up against
an absolutely- .unscrupulous bunch,
Peter. And whoever
■plugs must have known
would go fqr more,
.than to lie up—then dot
one as he passed?
him talk when he
loyal all right—but
-girl is there. And
to“ spoil his nerve.’,’
'“Look here, Hugh,” I said serious
ly, “we’ll have to hand this thing
over to the police. All joking apart,' roller cf medium weight, and pas-
5tJs got a bit beyond our form. As .[sage it backwards and forwards over
you say yourself, that girl is inside . his vile body, pausing occasionally to
(Granger's house.”
“I suppose your right, Peter,” he
.said regretfully. “But it does seem
-cruel hard, doesn’t it? 'The point
about the whole thing though, is
(this. "V^hat are we going to say to
ihe blighters? After all; as far as I
can see, the Oply actual offence that
-has been committed as yet, is the
removal, of our plugs. And we don’t
know who. did it.’ ’ Making a rope
ladder is a perfectly- legitimate oc
cupation: flashing red aiid.'
5s not a criminal offence,’
®on to go to the police, if
'Granger himself. And he
not as easy as it looks, you know,”
.1 was silent; what he said was un-
’kloubtedly ..true. Even if we showed
it hem the iiote written by the un
known-, dur -case was decidedly thin.
More than likely they would regard
at.as a stupid practical joke, and in
addition to that, view us> With con
siderable suspicion .for hhr share of
the night's work. At the sdmo time
kon-e could not get aWay from the
-Reeling of responsibility'.With regard
do the girl and I could see that Hugh
.was hot too happy in his mind about
It either,
“It is this way as i see it,- Peter/'
else there. I saw no one; I hearft
no sound. Nevertheless the feelings
wns strong on me that we were not
alone: that somebody else was watch
ing us*. In those sand dunes, of
course, you could hide a battalion of
iufantiry, Footmarks disappear as
soon as they are made, It was hope-?
.less to try and explore, but for all
that I believe there was -.someone
there.”
“And it there was/’ I said.
do you deduce from it?”
*t “That the -object of the
sode was a little deeper
pears
more.
arjly
Mark
surmise on my
moreover based on what may be a
false start. There mjiy have been
no one there at all. But if there
was then I think that the main ob
ject of the thing was to
watcher to take stock of
/srably more closely than
opposing side have been
up to tbo present date.”
“Assuming for the moment that
you are-right,” I said, “have you any
theory as to who the watcher was?”
He shook his liead.
“ None at all. I’ve got no theories
on the thing at all. But one thing
,1 do know, though you will probably
calj me every kind of an ass for say
ing so. I feel it instinctively. .There
is someone in this show who is in
finitely more dangerous than that
specimen making the rope ladder, or
than the Vandalis. I -sense his in
fluence behind them. Whether he
is the leader or not, or whether he
is quite separate I can’t tell you—
but lie’s there, Further, I believe
that it was he who first of all tried
to; out me with the chimney-pot,
add having failed there decided on
other measures and lay
morning to study us.”
“The man we saw at
Farm,” I suggested.
‘I'Possibly: possibly not.
show.
ent in the Dolphin, and when you
turn in- I’m going to see what there
is to be seen there. Probably noth
ing, but there’s no harm in having
a try.”
“I’ll come with you,” I said, but
he refused to allow me to.
“I can do without sleep,” he re
marked, “and you can’t. Go and
turn in, old boy, and I’ll have a bit
of shut-eye this afternoon.”
I wdnt up to my room and slowly
undressed. In front of me lay the
Marsh, bathed in the early morning
sunshine. The mist had quite gone:
only a haze over the sea still re
mained. For a while I stood by the
open window staring at Spragge’s
Farm, but there was no sign of life.
Then with a feeling that the whole
thing was an. unreal dream I got in
to bed. And the next thing I knew
was the sound of Hugh's voice.
“Wake up, Peter.
twelve.
“Did
said as I sci-ambled out of bed.
“Not
went over tlie list of visitors, but got
no further. There is, however, one
thing I noticed that gives one to
think a little. The Vandalis’ room
is Number 18. Now Number IS is
on the first floor. It stands at- the
corner of the passage, and is directly
PODEora^-
andeejrema
find
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THURSDAY, AIGUL JJrd. 1080
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’<•<7*n’
•’♦‘ A’A
what
plug epi-
than ap-
tliere wason the surface; that
in it than to make us tempor-
annoyed ’ and inconvenienced
you—-4 don’t know. It is all
part, pnd surmise
enable the
us consid-
any of the
able to do
up this
i
Time will
But the solution lies at pres-
It is half-past
Time for a spot lunch.”
you find out anything?” I
very much/’’he answered. “I
appear-
sputter-
weakly.
I said, ‘‘they would-
him out.
attention
going to
a ditch,”
removed our
one of us
What easier
that boy
to make
to. I-Ie’s
forget his
Just
came
don’t
that would tend
An active 1
germs in iu
the theory*
sjiecialist. 1:
successes m
W. S, HOWEY,
«;'attacks disease
F Jn harmony with
Je greatest Jiving skin
has hail many brilliant
skin disease,
DRUGGIST
above the little room leading o$ the
hall, Do you see the significance?”
“Not at the moment,” I said. “We
weren’t talking loud enough to be
overheard through the ceiling. Be
sides Vandali was in the room.”
“But the lady was not,” he retort
ed, ‘‘Think again, Peter, Number
18 undoubtedly possesses a fireplace,
though I haven’t been into it to see.
The flue of that fire-place must lead
into the main one which communi
cates with the huge chimney in the
room below—a chimney which would
act as a glorified megaphone. It is
a point anyway to bear in mind,”
He left me to finish dressing, and
ponder over this fresh deelopment.
It uaduobtedly ,was a. point to bear
in mind; and fl’ he was correct it
accounted for a great deal. More
than likely words spoken in the little
room below, even in a low tone,
would be heard perfectly distinctly
by anyone listening-in just above the
Chimney.
“John is coming to lunch,” he
said as I joined him below. “More
over, lie is bringing the plan of
Temple Tower, And that is an
other point, Peter, which is going to
have a bearing on the situation. The
possession of that plan is a very big
asset in our favor. For Without it,
as far as- I can see, no one is going
to get inside the house. Our friend
of the Marshes may get inside the
grounds, but there lie will stick.”
He swung round as a car pulled up
at the door.
“Here he is. Morning, John. Got
the necessary?”
“I have not,” said- the other com
ing into the hall. “Look here, Hugh
you didn’t play a damn fool practical
joke on me last night, did you?”
“Not that I’m aware of,” he an
swered. “Why?”
“You remember that plan I was
telling you about—the one of-Temple
Tower?”
r'“I do,” said d-Iugh sitting up sud
denly. “You were going to bring
it over this morning.”
“I know I was. And I haven’t
got 'it, for a very good reason. Som'e-
one broke into Laidley Towers last
night, and stole it.”
(To be continued.)
The relatives of Norman Young-
son, Windsor, were called-to his bed
side following a serious motor ac
cident. He lived only a few hours
never gaining consciousness. Those
left to mourn his loss are his wife,
his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William
Youngson, of Blanshard; David of
Blanshard, Mrs. Clarence Mills, of
Woodham; Mrs. Ernest .Tones, of St.
Marys; Miss Anna Youngson, Kit
chener; Mrs. A. German and Mrs. C.
Gorvett, Granton and Mr. B. Young
son, of Windsor.
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And it any sparking plugs were over
I would ram them down his throat
with a Sledgehammer.’”
“Run away to bed,” laughed Hugh
and Freckles departed muttered hor
ribly. And not until his door had
closed did Hugh grow serious again.
He wanted less sleep than any man
I’ve ever known, and my immed
iate need of it had been met by the
two hours I had had in the sand
dunes. And now as we stood 'by the
dining-room window staring over the
Marsh 'I could see his brain was busy
once more.
»“What was the idea, Peter, of that
little jest?” he said at length. He
was holding the note in his hand as
he spoke. “Was it in reality what
he says here—a small warning and
punishment?”
‘Why should you
asked.
“This morning,”
usually quiet and
voice for hiin
sensation
you were asleep, I suddenly became
Convinced that there was someone
I
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The per-
anyone, is
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think otherwise?*
he said, in an- un-
serious tone of
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IT* S , C, X. 3^ A’ r> X A N . '
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