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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1930-08-28, Page 7THE EXETER T1MES-ADVOCATE THURSDAY, AVG1W Wemple &ower 3 THE STORY SO FAR I unknown terr-ora’, Ite Bossu will pro* Hugh Drummond and Peter Darrell Wly get a thick ear, and with your Stye interested M Mr, Granger, |share ql the YOU will be In who lives at Temple Tower, which a position^ to tel} Miss Mudge to go is strongly fortified, Miss Verney jto hla?;es, * accepts a position as private se- — ■ cretary to Mr. Granger and her Iriend (Freckles) Tom Scott is j. staying with Hugh* John, an old friend of Hugh’s has the plans of 'Temple Tower, hut' someone steals them. Gaspard, Granger’s ser- ^vaut, his big watch dog and a ’•gfe^boarder at Spragge’s Farm are all found strangled. The men ^meet Victor Matthews, a member of .the ' New York police, who also retuns ' ' with them and tells the .history of X>e Bossu Masque, While at the ‘ polphin Inn Peter noticed some one watching them through the fireplace and goes upstairs to in vestigate and someone nearly strangles him. When he recover ed he discovers the lost plans ly ing beside the bed. Before leav ing the hotel Vandal! and Madame Vandali. were found strangled, the man hanging from the ceiling the woman, in a cupboard in .room. While Matthews was ting in Hugh’s house a shot fired and Le Bossu entered nearly strangled him. NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY were standing jn a sort of sslone basement, from which stairs led <o the upper part of the house. Fur- lUrer delay was useless now: the time 3Jiad come to meet Le Bossu on equal items. And ito we raced up the jstalrs behind 'Hugh. A light was ffifiiiniiig above us through an open ddopr. And in the doorway he stop- ,Sie.fi abruptly. “My God,'” lie muttered. “Look at Mute” We crowded round him. &hn hall *we were in, and the big aslrandelier in the centre I But try as she woiild she couldn’t be altogether common sense about It. There was something in the jn- ’ credible cold butchery of Le Bo,ssu (that prevented anyone being normal about him. Supposing he did dodge us; supposing he came first"—what then? Little did she think that she was actually going to get the answer poor kid. At half-past mne she put down her book: even Granger’s society seemed preferable to none at alL She .opened her door; outside the house was in darkness. No lights .were^lit in the passage, and for a while she hesitated. No lights ever were lit* in Temple Tower, but to night she wondered whether she should turn them on. From all around her came those queer noises that occur in every house after the sun goes down, but each crack of a board sounded to her like a footstep on the stairs. And at length she turned and fairly ran up to Granger’s room, feeling every moment that hands might come out of the darkness and clutch her by the throat. , The Toad was seated at his desk', muttering to himself. He looked up as she entered, and it seemed to her that he lokked lower and more de based than ever. .Some trick of the light perhaps, or a leering .expres sion of cunning moment replaced his chronic terror, may have caused it, but the fact re mained that she very nearly return ed to her room., “Sit down, Miss Verney,” mumbled. “Sit down. Will come to-night, do you think?” -“Will who come, Mr. Granger?” she asked.' “The other one;” he said. “The one who is the devil himself,” s His. clawlike- hands were’moving like talons, and suddenly he burst into a “He know, caught caught so.” . Fascinated, she watched his hands curving as if a man’s throat was in side them. “The Strangler: the Silent Strang ler,” he w’ent -on. “That is what we called him in the old days.. And other names, too. was bis match: le him.” She said nothing: tremor of an eyelid away the fact that she knew ■whole story. To„ let him talk her object, in the hope that he nriglit give away the secuet of his various hiding-places. And it neVer .seemed to occur to him that to anyone who knew nothing of the story what he was saying must have appeared ab solutely gibberish. “By the old mill near Bonneval the Toad hid the stuff. Deep under -boards and sacks. He ed police: but he feared the one more. For to offend the one—to play him false— death. Till then, no one who had done so- had ever lived: but le-Dra peau did, for he could not find le . Crapeau?’ “How do you know all this, Mr. Granger?” .she said quietly. But lie didn’t seem to see the re levance of the question: apparently it ■ didn’t strike ' him that .he had given himself away utterly and com pletely. And aftei’ a while, as he went -on chuckling and talking more j to himself than to her, she began to .realise that the man’s brain had —........, - -1 partially gone. Sudden flashes ofleft alone in the suspicion pulled him up periodically and the sit* was and that' had for the It was was he he ,_____ lit, T£a:nging from,it, just as Vandali had Smng from the beam in the Dolphin, Granger. He was. swinging to aird fro, and as he moved the tips of Sus-toes brushed against the carpet. Suddenly there came footsteps, on <hn stairs above us, and we swung memnd.-■ ^Faltering they were, and aiaisieady;. no man was. making them. _ figure in white, appeared, clutch* ^■■aug the hauuiste^:. then, tottering ^Mramil swaying,, it <&me down towards . —a step at afTime. It was Fat Vterney, and with a great cry Scott ^sprang to meet her. Bu,t she hardly seemed to see him, «ls she stood staring at us with a 3ook of frozen horror ,in her eyes. 5Klie just gave a little cry of: “Has ?Ixe gone?” then, without another word, she pitched forward in-sen«- ■Ible. A. CHAPTER XIII Ito Which the Account is Settled And now, before I tell of the last jgrftn fight between Hugh Drummond, samd Le Bossu, I will go back a few and write of what happened Sn Temple Tower while we lay pris.- .©aiers in- the passage. Not for three w four days did we hear it, and, bit 3by bit, we -got it from Pat Verney. And because; the horror of it was ssHl-1 on her, ^she got the horror of it across to us, So that I feel that I actually was present myself in that *«i5pstair room where it happened. Warerefore I will write of it as if I Jhad b'een a silent and invisible wit mess, an-J not as the teller of a se- «o:ndhand' ^ale. . At eight', o'clock Pat Verney had dinner in her own room. It was served by Mrs. Gaspard, and to her {dismay slip -discovered that the in- zsiant it was dark, the servant pro- axosed to go. Nothing, she said, would induce her to remain another ■aright ip the .house, and so the girl ffoand 'herself' confronted with the . prospect ■ of being I to use with a man who was to all in-'jn gambling story, but only for Stents and purposes demented With a moment. Then he was .off again 'Itbrror. T' | ’ .«twilld she go too? aip Sri her mind, as she stood by the peating. ,r ’wriinflow staring over the grounds.' JDusk was beginning to fall, and in tor Imagination she seemed to see ^ih^Iltom figures slinking through undergrowth already. Then she fteofc .a* pull at, herself. Even if to Bossu did come, were there not ©Ve of us? And already she had ^discovered quother of Granger’s hid- Sing-placqs: afterwards she might ATisCover more. She had agreed to and sit in his room at the top a uff the house, after she had finished tor jneal, and with luck ■jgei .him to talk. Ninb o’clock came, and b-1* '«Hi her light. Ill, half an ■» Mlw would go to granger: .ashe triad to concentrate SFrom below there came Mrs. Gaspard had gone, and much as yshe disliked the woman it seemed KK-i If the last link with the outside world - had -snapped. She and the1 a sudden deafening clamior filled *iriad Were left alone to face the uh-, the room. taown terrors. Of ‘“Don’t be ah t&'lie told herself, cackle of laughter. has been once. I know: I But the police don’t. the Nightingale, and Gaspard: with his hands- He ho But le Crapeau Crapeau beat not by did she the give the was down fear- other other -meant wm evidently worked by electricity, and for ri time she stared at it in bewilderment. What had suddenly started it ringing? Then she leak* ' ed at .Granger* -and it teak all her strength of mind to bite back a scream. For the man’s face was that of a devil. His Ups were drawn back in a snarl* showing his yeltow, discoloured teeth, and he w-ss half standing, half"crouching by his desk with Iris eyes fixed on the gong. Then suddenly, with a grunt that was animal-like in its ferocity, h© hurled himself across the room and forced imine a big electric switch. Almost immediately the gong ceased, and in its place she heard another noise, this time coming from down below. Then that - ed also and there was.silence, for Granger’s wild laughter, was dancing around the room a madman, yelling and shouting after a while he calmed down a little. * “Beaten him: the old one has beaten him,” he mouthed. “The wheels have turned: the Strangler is caught.” And now terror got hold oi her: what did he mean? In a flash the line of the verse came back to her: The sound of turning wheels—be- ■ware. But what was she to do? Something had happened below in the secret passage: something which filled Granger with such delight that he was almost off his head. Something, moreover, whichi made him think he was absolutely safe. She forced herself to be calm. She must act, and Granger believed that the Strangler was caught below: to her it seemed certain that it was us. did the one fatal ur; to be in some argued that- if it by putting in the be removed by takin so, utterly regardless of the crazy madman, she dashed to the wall and pulled it out. For a moment or tw-o he did. not seem to- realise what she had done; then, with a scream of bestial fury, he hurled himself at her. Desper ately, she clung to the handle of the switch, whilst from below came the creaking, grinding noise once again. What had shut was now opening: let her but hold it a little longer and we should be safe. Thus she argu ed, whilst Granger clawed .at her throat, mouthing foul abuse at her. Then there came one sharp clang of the gong above their heads, and silence from -belovL She had suc ceeded: we were free. Her hands relaxed weakly from the handle: she sank, half fainting, on the ground. ■Standing over her, wi'th murder in his eyes, was Granger. So great was his fury that .he seemect to. have forgotten the Strangler, forgot ten everything save his animal fury with her. His hands shot out,once more and gripped her throat— gripped it till there came a roaring in her ears. And even as she had given up hope, a shadow fell on them both,- and over Granger’s shoul der she saw a great masked figure, Le Bossu Masque had arrived. “Crapeau: Crapeau.” Like a whiplash, the -words through the room, and the grip laxed from her throat'. For a mo ment or two the relief was so great that she could think of nothing else then she scrambled to Iler feet with a feeling of sick dispair We had not come: le Bossu had. Opening the switch had been the worst thing she could have done. “So, Crapeau, we meet again. What have you to say?” Granger, Iris hands plucking fev erishly at his collar, was cowering in a corner, whilst le Bossu stood motionless inthe centre of the room. “Doubtless a lot, Crapeau. But it will keep for .a while. Just how I would like an explanation of that interesting mechanical device in the secret passage. Quickly, Crapeau: very quickly. I have an idea that before the night is out it may come in handy -once again.” “Spare me,” screamed dragging himself forward knees. “Spare me. 1 I’ll everything.” “Speak’" at once.” “A stone Granger in eeas- save He like b but act quickly. And so she thing. Believing deadly peril, she had been caused switch, it would g it out'. And ent re- Granger, on his tell you hissed the other. “A.ud .For a while she hesitated: i ;u gpate, as she put it. he go too? She weigjiedjt, “Beaten them all,” he kept on re- ‘Le Crapeau beat them all. He was clever, was the old one. And now he will beat them again. The Nightingale”—he shook with hideous, silent laughter—“the Nightingale. but he won’t get the Toad. Toad is too clever for him.” “What does the Strangler like?” she asked. But he took, no notice of question, hardly .seemed to hear it, in fact. On and on lie rambled, in coherently mixing up the- past and the present, until she gave up any attempt at listening. And after .a while a sense of unreality stole over her: she felt (the whole thing must be a dream. This crazy man gib bering and mjittering: the bright- lit room, with its* barred window making a black patch -against the night, was a figment of imagination. And even as her eyes began to close The Strangler got him Tim look the she might .she turned hour or so until then on a book, no sound: the night j In a second she Was wide awake, ass, Fat Verney,”1 The noise ,was coming from the gong “You and your fastened to one of the walls, it1 Granger rose and slunfc towards him like a beaten dog. “To gratify my curiosity I am go ing to ask you a few questions, and then we will proceed to the busi* ness of the evening. /you hide yourself, Crapeau, even i couldn’t find, you?” “In SwitserJandZ' whined er. “Stwitoerlaud.!.” said le thoughtfully. “That’s where bolted to, was it? However, it mat ters not. What you did in those far* off days is old and stale, and I grow weary of you. All these years you have slunk through the world, Crapeau, In fear of your life. Never knowing when le Bossu Masque would come: never knowing when his hands 'would steal round your throat. You hid yourself here: you barricaded yourself in thinking you would be safe, And now you see the result. Your precautions were useless; le Bossu has found you. The time of reckoning has come,” Clang went the gong again, and le Bossu turned to the girl. “Quicker than I had expected,” he murmured. “But this time the switch will remain in, young lady," He forced it in, and, sick with' apprehension,, she heard the gong cease abruptly and. the creaking noise come from 1 below. Then silence, “A pretty little prison,” purred le Bossu, “where your friends will remain until I have finished, perhaps longer than that, pends—on you. Should tempt to open the switch”—-his fing ers touched her throat, and she shrank back in hoiu’Or-—“I should have to take steps to prevent yoii succeeding. And then they might have to stop there for days, or even weeks. So remember. Go and sit on the -other side of the room.” She stumbled over blindly: there was something immeasurablly more terrifying in that soft hissing voice even then there had been in the an imal fury of Granger, “Now, Crapeau,, to business. What have you sold in these past years? Give an account of your stev'ard- slrip.” “Only enough to live on, and to buy this house,” pleaded Granger. “By the blood of the blood of the Virgin, I speak the truth, is all here; take it.” “I shall take exactly want,” said le Bossu. “I your sake-that you have .the emeralds." “They are here,” cried fumbling with unsteady the opening by the fire-place. 4 “All of them." Fascinated -in spite of herself the girl watched le Bossu as he tossed them from hand to hand in lines of living green fire. ' “The beauties, “The beauties, rest. Put them I will choose." And then for scene must' surely have been as a- mazing as any ever thought -of in the wildest fairy story. From dif ferent hiding-places all over the room came every conceivable form of treasure. Pearls, rubies, diamonds exquisite nrinatures, littered the desk, until the mind reeled at the value of what la^ there. And all Where did so. that Grang- Bossu you And It all de- you at- The rest what I trust for not sold Granger, hands at he whispered! Now, Crapeau*—the on your table, and the next hour the ITfS in the floor,” explained a shaking voice. “If you stand on it it rings that gong by electricity. Then that switch makes the walls close. It used to work dif ferently, by some mechanism, but I had it altered.” “I see. So when you heard the gong ring, Crapeau, you knew that ’someone was standing oh the stone. You knew that I had come for you, Crapeap. And so you put in the switch.” The Toad was grovelling at the other's feet in his terror. “That is easy,” continued le Bossu “What is difficult is why you took it out again. Or was it the lady?” “It was, you foul murderer,” said the girl contemptuously, and le Bos su gave a little hissing chuckle. “Considerate of you,” he remark ed, “Do you think the gong will ring again to-night or not?” He stood there shaking with silent laughter and ciliated. “Because, what to do,” sup.e that we ed. Your isli to pit and now, she stared at him fas- if it ' does, we know* he continued, “to en- shaii not be interrupt friends are a little fool- their brain against mine. Crapeau”*—“come here.” the tlnw le Bossu sat mattohloss in his ehair. Once ,<QUly 4ld lie inske a movement, and w^-S to- pick up Ar .teXqulsistely ciirised ./gbid cup and turn it over in his bunds; . . “Divine work,” -he said thought fully, ' “A pity that it must main." " (To be continued) . GREENWAY (Intended tor last week) Rev, apd Mrs. Maines*;.of Walton, visited friends ih the community over the week-end, Rev. Mr, Thibandequ, of Toronto, has been renewing acquaintances here. Rev. Jas,, and Mrs, Foster* of Gesto, visited relatives1 here for a few dtiys and on Sunday afternoon Mr, Foster preached very acceptably in the United Church, He was as* sisted in the service by Rev, Maines, and Rev Thibaiideau, all three mih-j isters receiving a hearty welcome from their old friends, , Miss Myrtle Luther, of London, is spending her vacation with her par ents; Mr, and Mrs. Geo, Luther, Misses Gladys and Marion McLean of Kippen, were guests of Miss De- vina Mason, last week. Mrs. Geo, Robertson and Mercer Robertson, of Wheatley, visited with Mrs. Sherritt, Miss Leona Fields re turning with them on Monday, Mr. and Mrs, Jncli, of London, vis ited with the latter’s brother, Mr. C. Curtis, on Sunday, Mr. Curtis has not been very well recently, but we hope he will soon recover usual strength. Miss Patrick, of Staffa, called friends here last week. Mr. w, Curts, of’London, is vacation for two weeks. Services in the United Church have been withdrawn for two Sun days while the pastor, Rev. S. J. Mathers, is on vacation. The W. M. S. and the W. A. of the United Church met on Wednes day afternoon. Miss Lois Skinner, of Torouto. who is camping al the Bend, spent Wednesday afternoon with Miss Mae Wilson. .re- his on on Baird, and lived in -Stanley until a few years ago» tyhen she ws$t to re* hldehvvitli her daughters pi the W^tr She *jg survived by two daughters,, ^rs. John Motfatt and S. Me* Kermle, of Moose jaw; and two sons Daniel, .of Winnipeg, and Thomas on the, homestead; .Her hwbarid $re* deceased her several years ago. / PAGE THE! FAR JEERS Not unless ihqre prises, in Am- erica a very consideriable number of keen au4 ambitious youngsters., freed froiu old mtpei’Otous ;an’d timidities, who are willing to work together; who are willing to obey the farm bosses whom tliey them* selves elect Just as today they obey the sheriff or constable whom they elect; a group of youngsters bo whom a flivver and going to the movies and- wearing store clothes are, however desirable, not the only luxury in Jifh; who can -see. farming as an adventure profitable as man* ufacting, companionable as . any militia drill, skilled as chemistry and as honest and healthy as—'well, as farming,'—'Sinclair Lews in The Readers' Digest BURIAL AT BIll CEFIELT) The funeral jof Mrs. Peter Camp bell, who died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. John Moffatt, at Moose Jaw, Sask., was held from the home of her son, Thomas Camp bell, concession 2 of Stanley Town*1 ship. Services ^vrere conducted by Rev. Mr. Holmes’, of Clinton, and in terment made in Baird’s Cemetery. Deceased, -who was in her 88th year} was a daughter of the late Thomas | MILBURN’S axa-Livi •PILLS’ vlli EAl.IY/KII.l. i pad kills fUgF: for 2or 3j^eeks. 3 pads in each * Jr*ay‘ng’ no stickiness, 'dwfT Ask „ your Druggist, jyGeneral Store. " * Oj dlL________ pJcket. No n* bad o^i drocery f 10 G&NTS PER PACKET: gray pay more?; WILSON FLY PAD CO.. Hamilton, Onfe all day and every T1 bunch ATWORTHI Phone 12 GRANTON. ONTARIO Bowels Didn’t Moye For Two or Three Days Mrs. H. A. GUI, Tory Hill,. Ont., writes:-—“I was suffering terribly from constipation. My bowels did not move for two or three days at a time, and I could hardly do my work. One day a friend told me about Milburn’s Laxa- Liver Pills, so I at once got a vial, and I .now suffer* no more from constipa- . iron.” 'On sale at all druggists and dealers, or mailed direct on receipt of price by The T. 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