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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1930-06-12, Page 3THE EXETER TIMES-ADVOCATE t^emple jo^erl W sa S by t = TUIBSI1AY, JCSE 12. 10SQ ^JASPER NATIONAL Ask vpur nearest Canadian National Agenttor attractive descriptive folders, beautifully illus­ trated. ‘ orders from Le Bossu Masque? Hada track leading off to the right, that geqtiemeu decided that uow the eat had pulled the chesput out of the fire for him, its services could very well be dispensed wltb?> ‘‘However, the first thing to be done was to verify the Toad’s ilk formation’. The wood he mentioned was surrouhded by a cordon of arm­ ed police, who ‘gradually closed in i on the centre. And -what he had told us proved correct. The gang was there, at least) three of them, were, Wh’o fired the first shot I don’t know, ‘ but men’s fingers are quick on th& trigger in cases like that. a. the police Wb're killed, and two were, wounded, before the three bandits fell rjddlpd with bullets. Finding themselves cornered, half starving, dirty, and unkempt, the Snipe, the Butcher, and the man called Robert fought like rats in <a trap and died. But of the Nightingale there was -no trace. Nor, again, was there any sign of the stolen property, though we searched the wood with a fine- tooth comb. And so there we were up against a brick wall once again. It was true that three of the gang were dead, but they were the three least important ones. Le Bossu Masque had completely vanished; so had both the Nightingale and the Toad. Had- they split up the loot between them, or what had they each one of them carried a revolver.* done with it? Were they hanging No word was spoken; evidently the’together or had tney fallen ----- - Tuose were the questions we stantly failed to answer. “Ajnd then, one day about n night after the fight in the woods, we captured the Nightingale, With his voice and terrible appearance he was altogether too conspicous a char­ acter to escape notice. And the po­ lice found him ihiding in a back slum in Rouen, and promptly des­ patched him to us in- Paris, where he first of all told us that part of his story that I have already told you. “If you remember, we left him and his gang at Cliateaudun putting up in the two hotels "of the town, and having arrived there on the day ol’ the Prince’s party, They were com-', pletely in the dark as to what their further orders were to be: all they had to do was to sit and wait. Their instructions came to them at eight o’clock that night, - and were simple in the extreme. -They were to wait until eleven, and were then to pro­ ceed by car to the Chateau dit Lac Noir. The motor was to be left in the shadow of some trees a hundred metres- from the - front door, a;nd they were to remain hidden in the trees, also, until they saw a light flash -twice from the bedroom win­ dow ovex* the door. They were then i to proceed to the back -door, where they would again receive instruc­ tions. “They waited until, at two-thirty, they saw- the light. When they got to the back door they-found it open, and confronting them in the dark­ ness of the passage the dim black figure of’-the Bossu Masque, who ordered them to pick up some coils of rope ad "follow him. “They obeyed: as Le Rossignol said—‘Messieurs, we dared not do otherwise. We were more fright­ ened of Le Bossu Masque, than of all the fiends .in hell.’ “Suddenly he flung open the door into a lighted room, and there con­ fronting them they saw the four men-servants, who, following the example of thosft' upstairs, were a bit fuddled themselves. Incident­ ally, of course, we knew all this part of the story already. . But/c.ohfj.rim ation is always valuable, and we thought it a g,bod.-th(ng to let hiih tell ‘the yarn in his own -way. They trussed the -servants up, and then they received their final instructions ;When to go room: cover were told us then exactly the same story as we had already Heard guests. “So far, so good—but wanted to know was still “ ‘Be very careful now, nol,’ said Grodin sternly, have spoke the truth up to date: see that you continue doing so.’ “ ‘By the Holy Virgin, M’sieur,’ he exclaimed passionately, ‘no word but the truth shall pass my lips. And if it does then may I be strick­ en dead, and have to forego my re­ venge on .that festering sore, Le Crapeau? “Grodin glanced at me—-that was a bit of news. But’he merely told Le Rossignol curtly to continue. “It appeared, then, that the Snipe, the Butcher, and Robert were to find their way by cross-country trains to Mamers, from which place they were to go to n wood between there and Alencon. “ ‘And of those three, Messieurs, I can tell you no more. I saw in the paper that they were dead. How, if I may ask, -did you fiiid them?1 “ ‘The Toad gave them away, said quietly, and for a moment thought he was going to- have apoplectic fit. The veins stood on his forehead, and a flood of most filthy blasphemy poured of his lins. We let him far as his feelings -about Were concerned, -we had sym*'**D'*’** Mm A+ !»>—*■ if niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii? “The others looked up: a woman screamed. And cold us ice the Prince turned round to find himself fac­ing a masked huAchbacx, There was1 a moment of dead silence—then he rose to his feet, And even las he did so a solitary shot rang out from the stairs, and the Prince pitched forward on his face—stone dead. “The guests sobered by this utter­ ly unexpected tragedy, huddled to­ gether like sheep, *Le Bossu Mas- quer passed from lip to lip in fear­ ful whispers. And .still this mon­ strous figure stood there motionless, his revolver still in his hand. Sud­ denly the door from the servants' quarters -opened and five men came in. Save for the-fact that they were masked they might have been five of the guests, because they too were dressed as Apaches, Two of them advanced to the terrified guests, and the story sq far "Slugh Drummond and Peter Farrell ^re interested in MA Granger, who lives at Tempi® Tower, which is strongly loytifjed. Miss Verney . accepts a position as private se­ cretary to Mr. Granger and her friend (Freckles) 'Tom Scott is staying with Hugh." ‘Jphn, an old • " friend of Hugh’s, has the plans of I- Temple Tower but-someone stole them out of his room, A boarder '. 'at gpr-agge’s Farm hides a rope ladder near the tower and at night uses it to climb the wall? Hhgh nnd . his three ,frieqds ajso go in . to find the big dog poisoned and ,A the servant Gaspard cho-Ked toi ’death. Tliey meet ’ Victor Mat­ thews, a member of the New York police, who reruns with them -and gives the history of this jnyster- ' ' ious person in black. ‘ ■ ' NOYV GO ON WITH THE STORY ‘‘Eight days later?’ he said quiet- liyp ‘‘.we received a frenzied- call on She telephone from rthe Chateaudun jmlice.* In the early hours of the awning Prince- Boris Marcovitch, while at supper with his friends, had been shot dead; through the heart,: t>y Le Bossu -Masque, and practical- , 3y the whole collection had been *, stolen.” “Good Lord!” cried Hugh, “this r limits the- band. Take a- breather, any dear fellow, and have a drink.” . . CHAPTER VIII Jin Which Victor Matthews Ends His . ‘Story “T was afraid you might find the jsiory a little long,” said Matthews, s ais the butler brought out the tray. ■“Long be blowed,” cried Hugh. ■“jit is the most extraordinary yarn I * '#ever listened to. Sounds like a k)ook.” ‘‘Troth is stranger, Captain Drum­ mond. The <5ld tag. I think . that sbeei’ "looks very promising.” He took the glass, and raised his Biand in a: ,tpjast? “Tm just trying to think,” he went ®n after a while; “or tne nest way of filing you the remainder. I think ''"jjerhaps J shall make it most inter­ fering if I first' of . all give you the, ' slimy as it wa-s told us on’ our arriv­ al tile Chaeam-du Lac NQir by the guests'-.who had been detained there ' Sby the local police pendjpg our com- . Ing. "w’ ’ “There were fourteen of them in all—eight women, and six men. And . confronted us on our arrival. _ _ ‘Oseir condition, as yon can imagine, J things were established at once. Le iyas pretty bad. In addition to this Bossu Masque had added yet another sippalling affair, which in itself w.as ‘ efficient to upset anyone, the whole Sot of them had been extremely ’’(drunk the’ night before. And they Hooked like. it. “However, by- dint of questioning '/jaiid ‘ piecing together their various * -Jitories, we managed to arrive at a ‘ %airly accurate -account of what had Mappeped. They had arrived by the Srain which reached Chateaudun at ■fioiir o’clock the previous day. As »rsual..they had been met at the sta­ tion by the Prince’s private carriages anfl’ tak^n straight to the Chateau, Where the Prince received them.1 (Champagne and cavaire had at once Ireen served,'which sent them all up-( , ©lairs to ichahge for dinner in an ex- ' atansive mood. | •«?, ^‘Dinner itself started at eight-1 : ^iifrty and was preceded by more I ■(rhiindS . of ?a_. special. apertif known | 'unly,to the^Pyince, so that even at1 lhe beginning of the meal several of Sthem yvere talking opt of their turn-. And by-eleven O’clock most of them ware -riotously drunk. Two girls * iSroin the Follies Bergeres were danc- an-g on the table: in fact, an extra . special debauch was in full swing., • ,..^Ehe hours went on: more drink ar-‘ ^•ptuvOd, and Tyet more drink, until, . (jnimny of the 'guests were.frankly and i „ UThashamedly <alseep. Only the Prince1' whole thing had been planned be­ forehand. While the two. of them guarded the guests, and the sinister masked hunchback stood in silence on the stairs the other three system­ atically looted the place. They smashed in cabinets and wrenched open drawers, while " collection tliey were by his own table. “It lasted nearly are told. The stuff through the front door, the looters returning each time for more. And then at length they finished, and the three men who had been, removing the stuff disappeared. There was no sound, and of this they were one and all quite positive, of a motor­ car driving away—then silence. Slowly the two men who had been covering them the whole time back­ ed to the door and disappeared also. And with that pandemonium broke loose. “As mysteriously as he had come Le Bossu Masque had vanished. The thing was over and finished; only broken cabinets and a dead man, who stared at the ceiling, remained to prove th'at it was ghastly reality and not a drunken dream. Complete­ ly sobered by now the men of the party dashed around the house, only to find that every servant had been, bound and gagged. So they did the only thing there was to be done and senft for the local police. “Well' that was the situation that Two the naan whose taking: lay dead an hour so we was carried out They would know it, because there were three tall trees at the Junction, They were to proceed along this, track for two kilometers, where they would find a disused quarry, In the quarry was a shed, and in that shed they were to put the car, Under no circumstances were they to move out of the quarry, or light a fire, or attract attention to themselves in any way. But if, by any chance, tliey discovered by some wandering pedestrian, the pedestrian was tp wander no more. And, they would receive further instructions in due Sufficient to say that two of i c°urse. “Now I may say at once that we1 subsequently verified this statement.! We found the track, and the quarry, and the actual wheelmarks, of the car in the "shed. “Well, it appeared- that they sat' there the whole of the next day. They had the bread and clheese and wine which Le Bossu Masque had ordered them to put in the car, so they were not hungry. And,, inci­ dentally, it struck me, even at the time, what astounding attention to detail that little fact showed. For if there is one thing that will over­ come fear it is hunger, and but for having given them food one or other would most certainly have gone to the nearest village to‘get it. “I will now try and continue in' the Nightingale’s own words. “ ‘It was about six o’clock, M’sieurs that it happened.' The sun was just setting, so I kno’w the time. I had risen and was .standing in the door of the shed, wondering what we should next be told to do. Sudden­ ly I received the most terrible blow in the back of the neck', and I knew :no more.’ “We looked at his neck,, a-nd there was an ugly looking scar about two inches long. In fact, anyone .except an abnormality like the Nightingale would -never have known-any more. “ ‘When I recovered conscious­ ness,’ he went on, ‘it was dark. At first I didn't know where I was, everything was a blank. And then, little by little, memory came back to me. The quarry—-the affair at the Chateau—the car. ’Mon Dieu! I raised The car had I was How long I had out? con- fOTt-TOJEVERYWHERE IN CANADA park ^pacific COAST ALASKA Enjoy a low.co»t trip to the West this Summer. Stop off at Jasper* National Park in the Canadian Rockies. See famoils Mount Robson. A thousand beautiful sights. A new thrill in every . mile. Take the Triangle Tour Route* * * via Prince Rupert.. .with its 6Q0 mile steamer cruise to Vancouver^ « "’■> To see AlaskaxeguireB onlya few,extra qays. A wonderful cruise ... amazing experience's. 7 ' ‘ * Tours may be ma^e by various routes. These fares- arp in effect 15, to Septenober SO. * ’ «s anaLdLian ational ^remained his'normal self, though he - was drinking level with them all. - “Noiv"4-t was the .custom.' to hold -.These carousals in the nuge old ban- iajmeting-liall. It was a lofty room with a bi’oad staircase at one end .Steading up to the musician’ gallery. I'H’.h.ey had Jong, since faded away, completely wqjrn out, and in the ifetmeral din probably no one even WtieOd that they had ceased play- And so you can visualize .scene'. The candles guttering on .ftablfe around which sprawled flrltunken guests; and sitting at ,/janti, with la look of scornful weari- mess already beginning to’ show- on Xfis face, theif host. The staircase 'Was behind liis left Shoulder, ■ttop half of it itt seml-rdarkness, were the portraits of the Prince’s “ Nestors Which stared, down on 1 t 'teVellers from the wills. , .^'-Suddenly one of the men who was iMii^tug some maudlin, song broke off abruptly hhd leaned forward rubbing 31,1s eybS. Wha,t/on earth was that •MraUge object oiuthe staircase? Was fit Treally IherO^—or was the great . Mack shadow liis imagination? Then >3t moved land lie lurched to- his feet., ihffim reality .struggled through the : brines of .alcohol, and ,he> hiccoughed Wit a warning. * » the thd the one the ■ as an- tbe murder to the long, list already to his credit; and the fact that a motor­ car had been used, and that there were five Apaches in the raid, made it practically certain that the gang involved was Le Rossignol’s. So the first thing obviously to do was to try and lay that gang by the heels, which should prove' an easy m'atter. 1 They have their invariable haunts to Which they always return sooner or later, and we anticipated no diffi­ culty whatever in catching them. But two days went past;' three; 'a week; and still there was no sign of them. And it became increasingly obvious to. me that the reason was simply and solely that tliey were acting un- 1 der orders from Le Bossu (Masque i himself: it was his brain we were, I contending against—not theirs. | “Then came -a new development. In a wood not far from Chartres a I shepherd found a deserted motor­ car. It had -been forced in through , some undergrowth, and was com- * ■ pletely hidden from the road. Indeed, but for the fact that he thought he had seen 'a snake, -and had gone in- ■ to the bushes after it, the car might | have remained there for monthsJ without being discovered. Of the gang, however, there was still no trace, nor of the loot they had taken —loot which, on the Prince’s cou- I sill’s valuation, was worth, at a Con­ servative estimate, half a million pounds. “And then at last came the final development of all. The telephone bell rang in our office, and a voice came over the wire. It was disguis­ ed, but not quite sufficiently. Be­ fore he had said a sentence I knew it was the Toad speaking, though I didn’t let on that I knew. And his information was to the effect that Le Rossignol’s gang were lying up in a wood halfway between Mamers and Alencon. He was speaking from' a public telephone call office so it was hopeless to try and track him through that’. But I passed on the word that the Toad was back in Par­ is, and sat down to think it out. “If you look at th.e map you will see that the Wood mentioned by the Toad is some sixty miles west of Chateaudun» while the wood where the car was found is about twenty miles culiar cond, Split? ing with his nature I knew, but the Toad never did anything without a reason. And “n this case4’ raitor? W" account, -/n- duo north. That seemed pe­ in the first place. In the se- what had caused the Toad to * That’ it was quite in keep- what was the reason Why had he turned ho doing it Oh his owi" s ho doing, it uiidv’ h a* they heard a shot they were straight into tne banqueting- the Snipe and -lie. .-.were to the guests, the other three to loot the place. And he from the what we to come. Rossig- ‘Yoii ,’ I we ah out the otit ♦isfinish the Toad a certain fnself td" o the car. ‘be road ‘ *y had •>' would M’sieurs—sick and faint, myself on my elbow, gone; so had Le. Crapeau.. alone in the shed, lain there I knew not: some 'hours, 'because the .sky was studded with stars. And then there came a voice out -of the darkness, and I nearly fainted with horror. “ ‘ “Rossignol,’’ it said, “where is the car?’’ ‘I was not alone: Le Bossu Mas­ que was there too. ‘ ‘ “M’sieur,” I cried, “I do not, know. That accursed traitor Le Crapeau struck me from behind with what, must have been.?a spanner. gee —I am with it—my coat, my shirt, everything.” “ ‘ “AccurseT fool,” went on the voice, and I could dimly see Le Bos- su’s outline in the gloom. “Blum? dering idiot. Do I plan with my great brain this wonderful coup in order that you should allow your­ self to be sandbagged'.like an Eng­ lish tourist? And by Le Crapeau all people.” (To be Continued) of IMPORTANT NOTICE order to combat the weed men-Ill ace and particularly the perennial sow thistle -’in- this district, • every farmer should go over his fields and if the patches are too large to erad­ icate, the entire field should be-.work­ ed over in case the farmer, not real­ izing how bad it was, has sown it to grain. These methods, though dras­ tic, are the only possible means of cleaning such 'fields. It is” not ne­ cessary to lose .a crop this year ex­ cept for the crop already sown for the field may be sown again to buck­ wheat' or liungarian or summer-fal­ lowed for fall wheat. A -.smother crop~would prepare the field for oats or Canning-Factory peas the follow­ ing. year. Otherwise oats, it may be stated, form the worst crop pos­ sible for the-spread of sow thistle because of the late Cutting. Farmers, are advised to make provision for the control of-'such tveed menaces ax once so that the, inspector will not be forced to order a crop cut for green feed before the sow thistle has ripened, because this is not a clean-up method bitt only a tempor­ ary check. This ^spread of weeds is increasing so fast that farmers must all co-operate ♦ in combatting the menace for without ..a general move­ ment no permanent good can be ac­ complished. ; Farmers growing fall wheat can clean a dirty field by ploughing in the end of June and by working thoroughly during the dfy weather or by ploughing: and work­ ing hayfields as soon as the hay is taken off. A sod field that has 'been down for sev.erdl’years if ploughed in the fall for oats, will produce a large percentage1 .-Of 'Sow thistle. Such fields should''♦lip, prepared for peas or fall wheat* in Jhly---after\the hay is off or the pasturage is de­ pleted. • Immediately -after harvest all land should be skitnuied or plojighed deep or worked in some way suited to the kind of soil so that while the .wOhther is still hot’* the weak-roots may be dried* out anjb destroyed, Un- less.some such ’measures are taken at’'once lahd values will be decreased and it Will be almost impossible to destroy the* weeds. Bee Farmer’s Advocate May 22 page 833 article“-Sow Thistle spread­ like a Prairie Fire/’a Prairie Piro/* sighed Chas Johns, Weed Inspector, (Usborue Township) d livestock de­ stroyed by fire an<$lightning last year amounted to fire, eliminates up-keep, increases property values properly grounder' Pointed Ventilators—as required by the Lightni lay. M^e of the famous “Council Standa RADDIICD TIjAKKIILK 1 Toronto and Montreal .. 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