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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1930-09-11, Page 7THE EXETER TIMES-tADVOCATE yhvr^bay, sei’tjwji n, mo' ^llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll^ l^emple ^oMer g SAPPER . lllllll Ill Ip 11 found myself wondering idly what ’ tlwnj, J SUPPOSOt THE gTQRY SO EAR ”™e“ » «»»>'• who lives at Temple Tower, which. Sr <XeeMesT'“?om “Stt’T.'wsVrXoted TyYs^v" friend (hmkles) Tom, staying with Hugh. John, an old. Sjt .......,,^7 f15oe friend, of Hugh’s has the plans of Temple Tower, but someone steals Jthem. Gasparfl, Granger’s ser- Jb^v^nt, hjs big wat<?li dog and a 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 Le Bossu Masque. ' While at the Dolphin- 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 Vandali 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 Lame a dull, heavy thud, and a ashort laugh from Drummond,-as Le Hossu crashed on hts back. Hugh’* 1‘ist, with fourteen stone behind it, iiad caught him on the point of the Jaw. "Fight on, strangler,” said Hugh quietly. "Fight on. There is no Lime limit to this round.” And then to my amazement he stepped back a pace. He was staring ^at Le .Bossu fixedly with (an expres­ sion on his face I couldn't fathom. "By God! Peter,” he cried, "his ■eyes have gone green. The brute Is not human.” Rut human or the reverse, the .Hext instant was fighting for his life" Snarling and panting, infuriated by the .blow, Le Bossu, for the next min­ ute gave Hugh all he wanted. Once •lie got his hands on 1 . It Struck me that they were exactly the sort of marks, that would queer way was absolutely devoted to her. But as I say, he had a past, and Matthews knew that past* And SO he had bnt little difficulty in persuading Picot to he|p him. And, as a matter of fact, it was Picot who actually removed thp plugs from the car, acting under Matthews’ orders. “But when it came to the murder Of the Vandalis, Picot stuck in his toes. He idfrew it was Matthews who had done it—or Thomas as he call­ ed him—but he couldn’t prove it. And exactly what happened in that room we shall never know, As Mr, Thomas, Matthews had undoubtedly become acquainted with the Vandal- is. And presumably he carried out that double murder in much same method as he described Only he put it on Picot. "A clever touch, that; In the it, and the sit- was and pursuit. The targets ot their in­ nocent pastime were two women whose handkerchiefs fluttered in re’ sponse from the upper flock. And since these two charming ladies have com© into the matter again, it might be as well to dispose of them forth­ with. They were, in short, the wives, of the two men, arriving ou their occasions from He Touquet, where they had played a little golf and lost some money in the Casino. Which, is really all that needs to be said about them, except, possibly, their first remark, chanted in unison, a's, the ship came to rest. "Have you both been good while we’ve been away? "Of course,” men, middle of a message to us, Picot had actually set on him. Anyway we know he didn’t, and Matthews got the start on us that, had it not been for Miss Verney, would have proved fatal. A very salutary thought, chaps; he got away with it as near as makes, no odds, and but fpr her, lie got away with it entire­ ly. “Anyway, that’s that: only little ceremony remains. From inquiries I made yesterday I gather that Count Vladimar still jives Jn the Rue Nitot in. Paris. And since this property is his”—he held up the velvet bag-— “I took the liberty of telling him that a charming lady, accompanied by a graceless young blighter, would wait upon him in due course to re­ store it, and to entertain him with an account of how it was recovered. He expressed himself as delighted, and confirmed the fact that the re­ ward still stood. And so I have much pleasure in presenting Miss Verney wth the bag of nuts, prior to consuming one or even two beakers of ale.” "But it is impossible, C ' ' Drummond,” cried the girl, must share it.” "My dear soul,” said Hugh, with’ a grin, "its too hot to argue. Peter would only spend it in drink and riotous living, and my share would go in bailing him out. As for John, churchyards are full of Inspectors of Taxes who have died from shock on seeing his income tax cheque. They didn't know there was so much mon­ ey in the world.” And so it ended—that strange af­ fair which had started in an Apache revel thirty years ago. Vengeance had come on the last two of motor-bandit gang; vengeance come on the mysterious being had employed them. Whether real name was Matthews no one ever know. From inquiries made, the fact emerged that there was a man of that name, whose description tallied with Matthews, employed in the Paris police round about 1900 and whose reputation was above' reproach. And if they were the same it may well be that it was an extraordinary example of dual personality, a second case of Jekyll and Hyde. For without some such explanation it is wellnigh im­ possible to conceive how the sauve, capable, courteous known could to a snarling * The "Maid ly into the side, rail was. the usual Channel passengers calling, out their greetings to their friends on the quay. An odd Customs, man oi* two drifted out of their respective’offices the R. A. entreating hands to High Heaven lest one of his charges should arriv without his the usual scene on the arrival of the Boulogne boat, and mentioned only because you must end a story some­ where, and Folk-stone Harbour is as good a locality as any. (Standing side by side on the quay were two men, waving their hands in that shame-faced manner which immediately descends -on the male sex when it indulges in that fatuous An itching «klnt Ugly pimple* f The active fluid disease germs out of a few flfops to formula one, two u. Touch spot—watch the ■I Repeat the tost ~,IL ........ ree times—the rough uot sightly spots have disappeared. W- S. HOWEY, DRUGGIST USBORNE & HIBBEBT MUTUAL FIRE’ INSURANCE COMPANY Head Office, Farquhar, Ont. President Vice-Pres.j twoanswered the algo in unison. (The End) BIMON aw FRANK McCOWELL DIRECTORSANGUS flNCLAIR, J. aj^ALLISON, ROBTf NORRIS, BROCK / AGIOTS JOHN ISSERY^Bntralia, Agent flJsbonLfRind Riddulph OLIVE® HARRIS, Munro, Agent Hlfb^FFullarton and’ Logan WW. A. TURNBULL Secretary-Treasurer Box; 98, Exeter, Ontario GLADMAN & STANBUBY Boncnon, Exeter the first place it gave him a aredy-made Bossu to plant on us: in the second, it would fit in. with any possible at­ tempt Picot might make to get even. In fact, I should imagine that our friend, as he sat in the dining-room that evening, just before Picot’s shooting practice, must have thought himself on velvet. "He had removed in his path, without falling on him. The pretty August wedding wasA solemnized at St. James Catholic Church, Seaforth, when femily Eliza­ beth, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R. Kennedy, became the pride of Mr. Frlank W, Murray, of Detroit, the j Rev. Father E. F. Goetz officiating.] lt an animal flies at’hm? He flings up his left arm to protect his face, ..................................’ I TUe cloth was its condition was on And from that, mo- to read everything by the light of sup­ position that Victor Matthews was De Bossu Masque. ,.J was prepared to abandon it at any moment, but it was always present in my mind. The revolver shot through his coat, of course, was a /very old trick, ,lt might have been fired by someone’ else: equally w.ell it might have been fired by himself as a blind. "The first thing was to gp through everything that had happened, and find out if there was any episode that ruled it out. And up to date there wasn't. The chimney-pot on my head; there was no reason why Matthews shouldn't have done it. You get the line I was going on? True, there was no proof that he had: but there was no proof that he hadn’t. Therefore the chimney-pot didn’t rule him out. "Stealing John’s plan. Once again there was nothing to prove that Matthews wasn’t the culprit. He bad plenty of time to go to Laidley Tow­ ers, steal the plan, and then be back iit Spragge’s Farm at the hour we saw him. "Then came number one difficulty —my spark-plugs. True, there was time for him to have walked back to where the car was, after he had! been were rule very to float into my mind, he come in? seen when and uses his right for attack, studied the sleeve. not torn, but the tired side, meat I begtiu that happened caught by the light, whrlst we lying up. It didn’t absolutely him out—but I didn’t like it much. And Jean Picot began Where did It was him we had skulking by the warehouse we started in the car. Was mv, w.. ...........~ league wth Le Bossu? If so throat, only to have them torn aWay. I what about the Vandalia? At that ■He tried to wrap Himself around I had to leave a lot to chance, ■{.Drummond: he fought like a ipad-l311(1 a11 1 11a(l arrived at uj) to date Aflened beast. And at one moment 1,1 was that nothing had happened Drummond’s; be in ■{.Drummond: he fought like a ipad-1311(1 a11 I 11a(1 arrived at uji to date /dened beast. And at one moment 1,1 was that nothing had happened Fwho knew his strength, began to feel which absolutely had ruled him out. ( "Then came the biggest all. Why, in view of the he had got well away from the murder of Gaspard, had he de­ liberately delivered himself, so , tn speak, into our hands? Well, the answer to that, after a good deal of thought, struck me this way. We were a completely unexpected factor in his calculations. Four large men, barging r-ound for sport, were a com­ plications he hadn’t bargained for at all. He had failed to get into Temple Tower, through knowing nothing about the verse at the back of the plan. .So he knew he would ■ try again the fallowing And he came to the instan- eaneous decision that if we were going to be there he would soouer have us as allies than enemies. That seemed to answer that. "Then the Inspector arrived on the scene with the information about the Nightingale’s murder. And I cast my optic on Matthew’s face. There was no doubt about it: news had qpset him. noyed. How did that fit in wit'i my assumption? "All right: at any rate, it didn’t disprove it. When he murdered the Nightingale his idea was that he ......■’•■’ through with the whole I thing that night, and since the ■uueasy. But not for long: the strauger had met his match at last. Under the lio-od went Hugh’s vice-like fingers and the snarling gave place to a Then that;liideous gurgling noise. .loo, ceased. And when Hugh final­ ly relaxed his grip, it was into the feoat, which he had planned him to safety, ftell dead. •"His eyes Hugh said to 3iis hands together thoughtfully. "A isort of greeny yellow.” He bent over the delid man, and Tan his hands through his pockets., have to "The lot,” he said curtly. And ■ night, ‘then—"Greony yellow. For a mo­ ment it shook me.” "Anyway,” I remarked, "Jean Pi­ not will strangle no more.” He stared at ’ me thoughtfully. "You’ll blamO me, Peter: all of you blame me. I ought to Brave told--you sooner. But- I never thought it would be quite such touch mud go as- this.” He stepped into the boat, and rip­ ped off the mask land liood from the rlead man. . And I gave an involun­ tary cry. "You knew?” I almost shouted. "All along,” he said. For the man who lay dead in' the that Le Bos.su were green, me. He was to take Masque 1 Peter,” rubbing i1i Ii J you’ll ’ poser of fact that us, aft si* four obstacles any suspicion outside public , thought the murderer was Vandali: we thought it was Picot. Tn addi­ tion to that he had all of us eating 1, out of his hand. And at that time I thought, as I told Peter, that his plan was, one of subtlety. He had presented ns with the map—incident­ ally, how any of you could ever thought that was an accident I don’t know. It was the one flaw in an otherwise brilliant scheme. How­ ever, he had to take a chance, and he took it. “We now know he made an alter­ ation in the verse, but that does not effect what I believe his scheme to have been. .It merely gave him an alternative lino of action which, as events turned out, he 'availed him­ self of. And his scheme, I am con­ vinced was this.. Tie intended to re-, main Victor Matthews with us to the end. With us he would have^ en­ tered the grounds. Bossu. found would house, and disgorge. other, he would have given us slip. That was his scheme, I convinced, before I gave way to extremely stupid impulse. "You remember when Picot drive through the window and Mat­ thews turned out the lighs. Well, I couldn’t help it: I knew I was a fool at the time—but I just couldn’t I help it. 'The door opened slowly I didn’t it?—largely because I pulled | it. Then it shut, largely because J. (shut it. And Matthews screamed, and gurgled, largely because I had my hands on liis throat.” "You’re the limit, Drummond,” cried Freckles ecstacially. "Far from it, young fellow.” said Hugh gravely. "It was <3 damned silly thing ton do, knowing what I did. From being absolutely confi­ dent that he had us fooled, he sud- I denly became suspicious. Was it 1 Picot who had caught him by the No trace of Le would have entrance: with us he 1 forced his way into the in the name ‘of the law compelled Granger And then, somehow With us he the have and order'to or the am an let throat, ‘o'r was it not? "However, the mischief was done, and I did my best to rectify it. 1 took the precaution of making him sleep in a room from which he could out without my knowledge, did my best to allay Ills But I know I did not It was then he changed ’boat, his face still distorted in the Nightingale had served his purpose smart of death, was Victor Matthews.' CHAPTER XIV In. "Which the “Maid of Orleans'’ Returns From Boulogne "My dear people,” remarked Drummond lazily, "you have every •tight to pelt me with metaphorically with bad eggs. I abase myself: I grovel. I should have let you into "Xhe secret. My only excuse is that ^between you. I thought you’d give it .away to the'swab: and in addition 7 .believed I had the situation, easily in hand.” Wo were all of us sprawling in ■easy chairs in his garden late that •afternoon; ‘"How did ®<1 Freckles. "I spotted ms the tale,” Xfte Chateau d.u Lac Noir, scidently, I have taken the werify. It was absolutely Tact; where Matthews’ tame in was that all the way through ninety per cent. of what he told us was the truth. But to •ike moment when I spotted it, He Weached out his left hand to pick tip a» glass of ale. In doing so his ofloeve slipped '.back, and on his fore- titm were some peculiar red marks. They were evidently caused recent­ ly, because in places the blood was showing purple under the skin* And you spot it?” demand it'when ho was tellin said Hugh.’’All about Which, in- trouble to true/ In cleverness v- <-’<nnlying the ladder, he way a nuisance who might well bo removed. If you remember, Matthews himself said all this afterwards, which was where his damned cleverness camo in. It was true, and his moment­ ary annoyance whs due to the tact that., Having failed to get in, the body Wad been found; as he said, it cut Le Bossu short for time, mean-' J ing that it cut him himself short for I time. I "Then along comes Miss Verney with the news about Gaspard, and he realises that both these murder^, which wouldn’t have mattered if he had now ly. day | very to , U.S succeeded the night before, are going to complicate things bad- Police, reportets—-the light of oil Temple ToweV—altogether awkward. How w rectify it? I assure interested as he was. ‘Well, we know how The cold-blooded, unscrupulous e Vau­ not get and I doubts, succeed his plan, and took the alternative. It was then he decided to work alone and to make use of what he knew ■ was the right verse, and leave us to I stew in the wrong one, "But at once-, he was confronted the' with a difficulty/ Miss Verney and He was an- Scott were going to find the tree, unci under his first scheme of work- png with us that was** good enough for him: working alone it wasn’t. He had 10 find that tree for himself. And he thought of the aeroplane. "Admittedly the man was a devil incarnate, but you can’t deny it was a stroke of genius. Not only clid ’it make him independent of us, but it had the secondary effect of lulling me into <a fool's paradise, I did not see how he could get in without us, That he was going to have a dip at it that night I knew: I was lying in the Marsh yesterday when lie moved the motor-boat from its original po­ sition to where Peter and 1 found it.’ "That's when you took the plugs? I said, and he nodded. "How was he went on. ed to me to whole thing* terday I still Inal idea was that my orig- as he going you I was he rectified i.t' I devil proceeds to murder th' j dalis, and throws suspicion for all (four mjirdefs on Vandali. Matthews! was Mi*. Thomas tit the Dolphin. But go back to ;it was there that lie neatly overstep- ”-- —-•" He had forgotten whom ped the marls Jean Picot, a gentleman wth I had a long talk yesterday. "Jean Picot is another of birds with a past, and, Jean has been serving two masters.. He had been with the Viandalis as chauf­ feur for three years, and in his these Picot he going tp get in?” "That was what seem- be the,essence of the And dll through yes- believed right. Knowing nothing of or the change in the impossible to allow for the alterna­ tive plan. Even when he gave his cry for help over the telephone, I still felt absolutely safe, though that little effort positively reeked of sus­ picion. Why an A. A. boz, of all places, to ting up from? And by what possible fluke of fate could he expect us to believe that De Bossu was waiting there for him? But once again, believing that we were indispensable to him, I saw no risk in going. In fact, to tell you the truth, so- preposterous, did it seem to me as a blind, that t half believed something had happened to him. That possibly he had persuaded Pi­ cot for some reason or other to go with him in tlie car, and that tn the Captain | Miss Hilda Kennedy, was bridesmaid L "We | and Mr. J. J. Murray, of Hamilton , supported his brother. On their • return from a motor trip through the East they will reside in Detroit. man we had turn on the sudden in- brute-beast murderer. * * « of Orleans” drew slow- Leaning over the row of cross- that C. representative raised & triptyquee. In fact, PHOTO BY C.M.R. Lake with Regal Guardians Malignc Lake in Jasper National Park is the largest gla. fed lake in the Canadian Rockies. Its natural beauty unspoiled, it is a veritable magnet for those who love the out-of-doors. The annual camp of the Canadian Alpine Club is at Maligna Lake this year. Constipation MILBURN’S ForNumber of Years' Mr. WmiTI. Brodie, 113 Alberta Blk./ Edmonton, Alta., writes:—!tI have been. ftTaXA-LIV PILLS . , , *'fI have been, troubled for a number, of years with constipation, and have tried a score of different. remedies, but obtained very- little relief. I am on my third vial of Milburn's Laxa-Liver Pills and can honestly say I have had wonderful results with them.” On sale at all druggists and dealers, or mailed direct on receipt of price by The T. Milburn Co., Ltd., Toronto, Ont. Evening rates o. (slatjon-to-station) calls notv begin at 7 pan. Night rates begin at 8.30 pan. Just give "Long Distance1" the num­ ber you want-*-it speeds up the service. If you don't know t the distant number^ "Information" will look ii up for you. .. iitoulWw How excited — and how Jj/ppy —7 she was the first time she heard hetj$m's voice come over the telephone'' from a distort city, 'talking with him was as easy as though he were in the same room. It was something^to remember and to cherish for days aftcrwarcW^ Arid liow^Much happier. she has become, because Fred eocenes .. home, by telephone now every week. He ,„c^Hs her every Sunday evening at eight-thirty, an hour she waits for and looks forward to ft week long. It brightens days that had become bit empty and lonely with th e family scattered. Fred is happier, too. For the price of a movie he gets something no money can measure — his mother’s voice — a touch of home. It’s a fine Way to start a new week's Work.