HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1940-04-11, Page 6imnigpM’, april mo THE EXETER TIMES-AD VQCATE
CHAPTER XI
Johnnie Cope bate?
“Think they’ll be safe?”
Hendringham nodded back as he
spoke towards the shed where the
mechanics had already resumed
their labors. Prepared to set off with
Cope in the car, he had qualms about
leaving the others unprotected.
“I fancy so. One reason for my
wanting you away from here this
morning is to give the impression
that everything is finished. That's
why I'm making all this fuss about
stowing this junk as publicly as
possible.” His hands were full of
the spoilt pieces that they had
brought from the Gresham Works,
and he was busy stowing these in
the dickey, which he ostentatious
ly locked in the end.
Hendringham objected that he
did not see any signs of their being
under observation.
“You can bet your life we are,
though," he was assured. “There’s
probably a fellow in one of those
trees over there, or else a new lod-
ger in one of the cottages with a
window that commands the yard,
It’s up to us to spread the idea that
we’ve got everything we want. The
more they believe that the less likely
they will interfere with our friends
in the workshop. Anyway they’re
not going to do much attacking in
an open space during the day. They
don’t want to run foul of the police
either. When we see our friends
Mr. Mench we must try to encour
age the idea in him that we are all
set for our trip to town this after
noon -with the completed sample, so
to speak, in our pockets. If we do
that he’ll call his bullies off and
concentrate on some stupendous
coup on the road to London. He
won't want to strike until we’re
actually on the road because he’ll
reckon we shall have the tubes as
well as the samples on us then. He
will have made up his mind by now
that the tubes cannot possibly have
been destroyed in the explosion a
couple of nights ago, and he’ll con
centrate on getting hold of every
thing in one stroke. Meanwhile
everyone he’s got will be employed
in keeping a -watch on us and set
ting his traps, and as they -won’t
know within hours when we really
mean to start it will be rather a har
assing afternoon for them. There
are two sorts of strategy for these
occasions. One is to keep the other
side on tenderhooks, the other to
lull them into a sort of complacency
that means carelessness. I don’t
fancy Mench is the sort to be lulled.”
He drove straight to the board-!
iug-house. where he dropped his
passenger, saying: “Give you pre
cisely forty-three minutes for a bath
a shave and a change of clothes. I
shall have ten minutes less than that
if I pick you up here when I’m done
but you’ll find shaving an awkward
matter, I expect. Anyway, however
painful it proves, see you don’t keep
me waiting.”
Hendringham, grinning at the pre
cision of his instructions, protested
that he never did keep anyone wait
ing, which was approximately true,
and made his way to his room.
Three quarters of an hour later he
was more or less shaved, the sore
patches on his cheeks being the ex
ceptions, and attired, in a less dila
pidated suit, he smoked a cigarette
and speculated as to the most cut
ting form of comment with which
to greet a Johnny Cope already two
minutes behind his schedule.
Five minutes later he had forgot
ten his urge to score in a growing
anxiety, for in all their acquaint
ance he had never known Cope to
be as much as a minute late for an
appointment of his own making.
A minute later convinced that
something serious had happened,
he set out to walk to the hotel. He
reached there as the clocks were
striking eight. There was a slight
rain falling and few people about at
that hour. In the lounge a maid,
perfunctorily dusting the piano, in
formed him that Mr. Cope had not
yet come down. She was positive of
Painful Boils
Bad Blood the Cause
When boils start to break out on
different parts of the body it is an
evidence that the blood is loaded up
with impurities.
just when you think you are rid
of one, another crops up to take its
place and prolong your misery.
All the lancing and poulticing you
may do will not stop more coming.
Why not give that old, reliable,
blood purifying medicine Burdock
Blood Bitters a chance to banish the
boils? Thousands have used it for
this purpose during the past 60 years.
Take B.B.B. and get rid of the bad
blood and the boils too.
The T. Milburn Co., Ltd., Toronto, Ont
] that, because there was no one yet
i in the breakfast room. Evidently she j was aware that Cope had not been
J in his room overnight.
Hendringham told her he would
slip upstairs and see if his friend
was up, affecting flippancy, though
he was increasingly perturbed. He
hurried upstairs and along the cor
ridor where, for some reason not yet
clearly defined in his mind, he kept
carefully to the thick carpet that
rendered his footsteps inaudible.
Outside the door of Number 17 he
paused to listen. There was a, low
mumble of voices. Evidently Cope
had been detained by company, but
that -was totally unlike Cope. Very
stealthily he tried the handle. The
door was locked.
For a moment he stood thinking
and then, acting on a nfemory of the
way Cope had been as he put it
sandwiched between the mysterious
Mr. James, he tiptoed to the door
of Number 16 and tried the latch.
The door opened freely and a cau
tious glance showed the room to be
no longer occupied, though it was
evident that someone had slept in it
that night. A similar essay re
turned equivalent results, at door
18. It was possible, of course, that
Messrs. Marsden and James were
both enjoying baths, ^but unlikely,
as there was only a single bathroom
on this floor.
Puzzled and now definitley sus
picious, he made his way upstairs in
search of Mr. Marvel’s room, which
he recollected Cope having stated
to be immediately above Number 17.
He found it easily enough, the two
floors being identical in disposition.
It was, Ike Cope’s, the fifth room
from the staircase end of the corri
dor. The latch yielded here also.
The opened door betrayed an empty
room, bedclothes tumbled, an un
latched suitease, pyjamas tossed
aside, shaving tackle strewn about
the washbowl, window* open w’ide to
the morning air.
He closed the door behind him
and tried to listen for sounds from
below*. There was not so much as
a murmur, though he listened for
the period of a whole minute, and
imagined himself to have been lis
tening for five. But just as he was
growing convinced that the floor
was too thick for sounds to pene
trate, he seemed to catch a suddeif
queer noise that might have been
due to the shifting of furniture in
one of the lower rooms, or might
have been a choking effort to con
trol a groan. For him in his now
excited state of mind it was indis
putably the latter.
To the Rescue
Springing to the window*, he gaz
ed below. Immediately beneath
some twelve or thirteen feet away,
w*as a balustraded square of crumb
ing plaster and wet shiny lead-work,
the roof of the porch that formed
the hotel entrance. Between him
and this porch there projected from
the wall a -huge bracket of scrolled
ironwork that bore tile sign of the
place. The top member of the
bracket was some three feet below
the sill over which he w*as leaning,
and its low*er member reached the
brickwork immediately abtjve the
window of Number 17.
Evidently the window of Number
17 was open, for from above he
could now just hear the sound of
voices again, low*, urgent voices,
with occasionally breaking across
them a louder, more urgent voice
that was Cope’s.
A glance about the market place
show*ed this to be empty except for
a shopboy taking down the shutters
of an establishment on the far side
in preparation for the day’s work.
He was a leisurely boy, and whistled
unmusically as he worked. A cart
was rumbling over, the stone setts
of one of the narrow streets that
led out of the square and from other
streets came the noises of milkmen
yodelling competitively. Concluding
the boy distant enough to be unlike
ly to notice anything unusual about
the front facade of the hotel, he de
cided to trust his weight to the iron
bracket beneath him. If that prov
ed an inadequate support it was an
easy drop to the porch below, but
he did not wish to appear on the
porch to begin with. If his fears
for Cope's safty proved groundless,
he wanted to get back again with
out discovery of himself. On the
other hand, if his help was needed,
he wanted to reconnoitre and form
a plan. There would probably be
three men to deal with since three
were misSing from their rooms, and
also since it would take quite that
number to restrain a man of John
ny Cope’s uncanny energy. On these
grounds he cofirmed his impulse to
trust his weight to the sign, feeling
fairly confident that to do so was
the one way in which lie could pro
ceed with a chance of escaping
Cope’s redoubtable satire if his in
tervention should prove unneces
sary. Actually at the moment he
was* dreading that satire far more
than the prospect of tackling three
experienced gangsters or that of
being caught in Mr. Marvel’s bed
room.
The^e thoughts flashed through
his head and he acted on them as if
by a single reflex. In a couple of
seconds he was perched precarious
ly on the iron bracket, clinging to
its tortuous members*' and devoutly
wishing that some long-dead smith
had seen fit to make the top of the
thing more acceptable as a support
for a man’s chest. Gradually he
manouvred his body over and
twisting, his feet into the interstices
of the scroll-work, craned down
ward until he was just able to bring
his eyes to the level of the top of
Number 17’s single window.
The window was open a few inches
at the top and he was able to peer
in and command what was precisely
a bird’s eye view of the interior.
In the room were three men bend
ing over a fourth who was stretched
out on the bed, his hands and feet
secured to the posts at each corner.
Tn the hand of one of the men who
now bent hesitantly over the one on
the bed was a little 'bright object
familiar to one who had seen it pro
duced on several occasions for the
benefit of some sufferer, most re
cently for that of “poor little Pain-
phlett” dying in agony on the harsh
surface of a newly-ploughed field.
The men with the hypodermic set
was saying: “Lots of people commit
suicide with one of these. We’ll
pump you full and leave you quite
tidy, Mr. Cope. The scandal won’t
worry anyone but your relatives, if
you have any."
“Dead men are not reputed to
give very much information away,
you know." The 'voice was that of
Johnny Cope and it was as caustic
ally indifferent as if he himself had
been the threatener.
“Perhaps not, but there’s a long
time silent, and we don’t reckon to
have much trouble With that fellow
Hendringham once his smart friend
is out of the way. What we can’t
get from you we’ll get from him all
right. Now, for the last time, if
you do'n’t answer before I count to
three you’re in for a nice little over
dose of whatever the beastly drug is
you carry about with you. One, two,
three.” The 'needle descended
against the exposed skin of the
victim’s forearm, dimpled it a sec
ond, penetrated.
A sharp little crack of sound echo
ed across the sleepy square. The
tradesman's boy stopped whistling
and stared around. His brain was
not acute enough at that hour for
him to observe anything unusual
about the front of the White Horse.
A pedestrian now hurrying to his
business in the distance did not
even trouble to look around. If
either the boy or the pedestrian had
been able to hear the sudden yelp
of pain from the man with the hy
podermic syringe, or the clatter of
the syringe across the floor as he
spun around and clapped a hand to
his thigh, they have connected the
sounds with the spectacle of a
gentleman hanging by his knees
from the sign of the White Horse
and holding a gold cigarette case
in his hand as if about to console
himself for his discomforts with a
smoke.
It was easy for Hendringham to
draw himself up, indeed it improved
his comfort to do so, which was why,
when the two unwounded men rush
ed to the window and leaned out to
stare into the square, as if they
were suspecting the tradesman’s
boy, he was able to remain unde
tected long enough to bring the wea
pon within some three feet of the
shoulders of one of them. At the
first suggestion of an impulse to
look upwards ’on the part of either
of the men he fired again. Immed
iately both men sprang back and
took cover one on either side of the
window. The pedestrian had gone
his way, the boy, imagining no
doubt, someone of his own age ex
perimenting with toy bombs, did
not this time even quit whistling.
How It Happened
“Anyone annoying you, gentle
men?" It was the voice of Johnny
Cope, from the bed, Ironically key
ed as usual and sounding neverthe
less as if its owner were entirely
happy in the changed situation.
“Damn you, Cope! Who the devil
have you got on your side this time?
Again the ironic Voice, a trifle
more playfully this time: “My guard
ian angel, of course. Didn’t you
know I possessed a guardian angel?
We all have one, you know, so long
as we don’t get so far depraved as
to drive him from.our side. Mine’s
a particular useful shot, and the
third time, I migh’t ^arn you, he
shoots to kill. He’s been merciful
up to now, winged ’one of you and
pinked another in the softer part
of the thigh apparently. The next
one will get it through the head, so
don’t say I haven’t warned you. I’ll
give you all until I have counted to
three to get out of this room and
if any of you attempts to assault me
WINTER’S SNOWFALL
The Exeter Times-Advocate
Established 1873 and 1387
at Exeter, Ontario
Published every Thursday «iorn.hU!l'
SUBSCRIPTION—?2.00 per year in
advance
RATES—Farm or Real Estate
sale 50c. each Insertion for first
fom insertions. 25c. each subse
quent insertion. Miscellaneous ai>
tlcleg, To Rent, Wanted, Lost, or
Found 10c. per line of six word*.
Reading notices IQc.
Card of Thanks 50c. Legal ad
vertising 12 and 8c. per line. I*
Memoriam, with one verse 50o.
extra verses 25c. each.
Member of The Canadian Weekly
Newspaper Association
per line,
Professional Cards
ever so little again my Guardian An
gel will see to it that that is the last
assault of a lifetime. Now . . one
. . two . . .”
There was a simultaneous move
ment towards the door, and casting
nervous glances at the window the
three of them bundled unceremon
iously out. One was nursing his
upper arm, the other groaning as
he limped across the floor. • Cope
speeded them with an offer to come
and dress their wounds for them
if they would wait for him to get
loose.
(To be Continued) -
OBSERVE ANNIVERSARY
Mr. and Mrs. Allen Swayze, of 13
Rogers avenue, London, quietly cele
brated their 50th wedding anniver
sary on Wednesday last. Mrs. Sway
ze is the former Miss 'Ida Broderick,
of Exeter and since the couple mar
ried in London, they have always
lived in West London.
CAN OFTEN BE
PREVENTED
Your child’s coughing at night-
caused by throat “tickle” or ir
ritation, mouth breathing, or a
cold—can often be prevented by
rubbing his throat and ch'est with
plenty of Vicks VapoRub at bed
time. VapoRub’s swift poultice-
and-vapor action loosens phlegm,
relieves irritation, clears air pas
sages, tends to stop mouth breath
ing. This helps M -_________
him relax into! /|CKS ^healing sleep.
93 INCHES
Since December 20th last, when
the first snow* of the season came,
93 inches—nearly eight feet—of the
“beautiful” have fallen in Goderich,
according to the records of J. E-
Mutch, Government meteorologist at
Goderich. He has carefully record
ed the precipitation each day for
the preceding twenty-four hours. A
great deal of this snow still remains
with us, and inasmuch as ten inches
of snow, melted, makes one inch of
water, there’s sloppy weather ahead.
GLADMAN & STANBURY
(F. W. Gladman)
BARRISTER, SOLICITOR, &c
Money to Loan, Investments Made
Insurance
Safe-deposit Vaults for use of out
Clients without charge
EXETER and HENSALL
CARLING & MORLEY
BARRISTERS, SOLICITORS,
LOANS, INVESTMENTS,
INSURANCE
Office; Carling Block, Main Stree',
EXETER, ONT.
50th ANNIVERSARY
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas M. Grieve,
of Egmondville, celebrated the fif
tieth anniversary of their marriage
last week. On Sunday afternoon
there was a family 'dinner and on
Tuesday many friends called at
their home to extend best wishes
and congratulations on this highly
esteemed couple.—-Sehforth News.
Dr. G. F. Roulston, L.D.S.,D.D.S.
DENTIST
Office; Carling Block
EXETER, ONT.
dosed Wednesday Afternoons
Illustrated—Chevrolet Special
De Luxe Sport Sedan.
STABILIZED FRONT END
C-4I4B
steel to give true front-end stability.
The Stabilized Front End means
freedom from squeaks and rattles
—saves you money on repair bills.
The strongest and most rigid body
and frame construction known to
modern automotive engineering—
makes for solid, long-lasting comfort
and safety.
With double-acting shock absorbers,
and with spring action varying auto
matically according to load and de
flection, “balanced springing” assures
uniform riding smoothness.
... ' ' s. "■
t-s, s"'
features which make i.t^possibl^!
PERFECTED KNEE-ACTION
(On Special De Luxe Models)
Assembled as an integral unit com
plete in itself, to assure perfect bal
ance and, therefore, perfect springing,
steering and braking in each indivi
dual car. Easiest ride on any road!
AUTOMATIC
RIDE STABILIZER
chassis frame, and linked to the
lower Knee-Action member, it im
parts genuine steadiness on curves
and sharp turns!
SCIENTIFICALLY
BALANCED SPRINGS
Dr. H. H. COWEN, L.D.S.,D.DS.
DENTAL SURGEON
Office opposite the Post Office.
Main Street, Exeter
Office 36w Telephones Res. 36)
Closed Wednesday Afternoons
ARTHUR WEBER
LICENSED AUCTIONEER
For Huron and Middlesex
FARM SALES A SPECIALTY
PRICES REASONABLE
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED ,
Phone 57-13 Dashwood
IL R. No. 1, DASHWOOD
FRANK TAYLOR
LICENSED AUCTIONEER
For Huron and Middlesex
FARM SALES A SPECIALTY
Prices Reasonable and Satisfaction
Guaranteed
EXETER P. O. or RING 138
USBORNE & HIBBERT MUTUAJ
FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY
Head Office, Exeter, Ont.
President ............. JOHN
Kirkton, R. R.
Vice-President .... JOHN
Dublin, Ont.
HACKNEY
1
MCGRATH
Rad i a tor,
hood, head
lights and
fenders are
firmly and se
curely bound
together in a
rigid frame-
w o r k of
structural
IMPROVED
WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION
DIRECTORS
W.. H.. COATES .................... Exeter
ANGUS SINCLAIR .... Mitchell, R. 1
WM. HAMILTON .... Cromarty, R. 1
T. BALLANTYNE ... Woodham, R. 1
AGENTS
JOHN ESSERY ........... Centralia
ALVIN L. HARRIS .... Mitchell R. 1
THOS. SCOTT .................... Cromarty
SECRETARY-TREASURER
B. W. F. BEAVERS ....... ....... Exeter
GLADMAN & STANBURY
Solicitors, Exeter
Lumber Shingles
Scientific distribution of weight over
springs in this longest of all lowest-
priced cars—completes the story of
today’s finest ride,“Chevrolet’s Ride
Royal!” Come in and try it today.
RIGID ALL-STEEL BODY
AND BOX-GIRDER FRAME
Snell Bros. & Co., Exeter
Associate Dealers:
G. Koehler. Zurich: J. E. Sorowl Lucan
Our Prices are the Lowest they
have been for several years.
If you are building it will pay-
you to call and get prices.
Just think Matched Lumber at
$35.00 per M. feet
A. J. CLATWORTHY
Phone 12
We Deliver
Granton
Extinguisher Causes Fire in
Seaforth School
Rays of the hot sun being reflect
ed through a glass fire extinguisher
caused a fire in a wooden bookcase
at the Public (School on Tuesday af
ternoon. Shortly after the pupils
were dismissed a teacher noticed
smoke coming from the end of the
bookcase, and upon examination dis
covered the wood was scorched and
smouldering. The glass fire extin
guisher had acted as a magnifying
glass to such an extent that the wood
was set on fro.—-Huron Expositor.