HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1926-12-22, Page 7THE BRUSSELS POST
•„.
atima•ete Wen+
:he Red Lam
(Copyright)
And nothing said. The boy goe
to the city and tries to buy a re
velvet!, but there is a new law in ef
feet, and he fails, Ho has tho tnif
'andebas to trust to that. I -le think
of goi»g to the police while he is la
the catty; the reward would be a bi.
thing. 'He says: "i could go amen/
the, world on ten thousand." Hu
1115 1811 isn't complete; he needs th
outside man, He suspects me. but h
"hasn't the goods" on Inc.
And •there are times when he ad
snits the possibility that T may no
be the outside man, One night he
hears the unknown in the house
There is a reddish glare anal he sees
the figure steal into the den. But
it "did not look like Portee." And
he is more puezled than ever, for
Bethel is in his room, asleep, and
although the boy camps on the stairs
until daylight, he does not see the
figure again.
"At daylight examined den and
library. All windows closed and
locked. It beats me."
It is about this time, to, that he
begins to believe that Bethel is net
by MARY ROBERTS RINEHART
AfiXiingat040
s ter," he said, "and the ouisid) man
- we are going to get"
- 1 But on my mentioning InY right
e Ito know who was under suspicion,
s he only repeated what the .deimetive.
: had mid.
g "You understand," he said,
1 "thereie no case in law yet. Knowing
t vho did a thing, and proving who
e fid it., are different thinge entirely,"
e But they would prove it, he was
emfident. So confident, indeed, that
lefore he left he inquired the make
t rnd root of my car. Evidently he
has already mentally banked the re-
, ward.
On the other hand, cestain thing
. seem to me to still be far Nem clear.
Halliday, I understand, paes'ed ov-
er to the police the following facts:
(a) .A. copy of the unfinisned let-
ter from Horace Porter to earn/a un-
known.
(1)) A description of the print of
a hand, left on the window board.
(e) A small illustration from the
book "Eugenia Riggs and her Phenr
bmena," and showing the eame heed
print.
only watching him, but that 110 le
expecting trouble from som a other
source. He tells Bethel he has seen
a figure go into the den at night, and
Bethel shows alarm.
"He and the other one, have quar-
reled," he says. "And B.'s afraid
of him."
But on the 'night when he came
'home, to find Starr, Hallidoy and
myself in the house, his suspicions
of me returned in full force. He
decides that Bethel and I have had
a quarrel, and that -one of iie hes
tried to shoot the other! But his
knife had been taken; he steals one
from the kitchen and carefully /thee-
-pens it; but he is not so frightene I
as he has been. Bethel and I have
quarrelled and he "can handle the
old man."
But matters • were rapidly ap-
proaching a clime*. Bethel was go-
ing to give up the house and let him
go. He seems to have dared Bethel
to discharge him, and to have more
than hinted at what he eumects.
"I can talk for ten thoueand," he
Writes, "or keep quiet for twenty.
He can take his choice."
He has the upper hand, now. The
other man is no longer Mrs eadrienee;
they have apparently" quarrelee and
Bethel is left to bear the eituation ;
alone. The boy lays varioua traps,
but no one enters the house. "The
mueder pact". is broken and the old
man sits in his chair and broods
"Blackmail is an ugly weed," he
.says once.
"Not half so ugly as murder," re -
'torts Gordon, and notes it with satis-
faction in his diary.
"Murder" was the last word he
wrote there
Beet, for all 'Ms appament %rank-
ness, Greenough's errand was dearly
only to relieve my anxieties concern-
ing myself. He refused all further
information;
"We have: a suspect all right," he
said. "I din't mind saying that. But e
we haven't g case yet, end its touch
and go whether we get one. Until t
we do, we're, not talking."
(a) .A sworn statement • of the Liv
ingetones' butler, the nature of tvhleh
I do not know.
(e)-lAn analysis of his own theory
of the experiments refeered to in
the diary.
(1) And a letter to Edith from an
anonymous correspondent. (Te be
referred to later.)
(g) The possibility that tee two
attempts to enter the mdin ho•use
are due to the fact that, in the haste
of the escape, something was left
there Which is both identifyiug ard
ineriminating. •
But so far as I can •ileenvele,she
has net told them that, from the time
the guards were taken away from
the house at night, he waS on wateh
there. •
In other words, from shortly after
the murder he must have known that
something incriminating had been
left there, when Bethel and hit ac-
complice, Gordon's "outside man,"
made their escape the night the sec-
retary was murdered. He may gem
know what it is, and where. But he
has not told Greenough.
Again, there is the feet that a
etatement by the Livingatones' but-
ler was a portion of the evidence he
submitted. ,Surely they are net en-
deavoring to incriminate Living-
stone!
S•eptember Pile
Tt is Halliday's idea to hold anoth-
er seance, ,using Camera -de coming
as an excuse for it. I gather that
he believes that, under :lover of the
seance, another attempt :nag be
made to secure the e incriminating ,
evidence left in the 'house. Not that
be says so, but his questlons con-
cerning the sounds I heard in the
hall during the second seance point
in that direction.
"'Phis herbal odor you speak of,
Skipper," he asked, " ',vas that be.
fore you heard the movement 01/1-
ide?"
• "Some time before. Y. But
he odor seemed to be in th.a room;
he sounds were beyond the door."
"You don't connect them then?"
"I" hadn't thought about ite b•ut 1
lon't 'believe I do."
"Dicl you hear any footsteps?"
1 ha dto consider that. "Not foot -
10130; there was a sort of scraping
along the 'floor."
"And the moment yen poke this
oise ceased?"
e. September Stle
Halliday's attitude is vete) ourioee.
He it 'taciturn in the extreme; he
avoids any confidential talke with
nee, and jane comenmted on it thia 8
' morning, '
"He weeriesme," she said, "and
'he is woreying Edith. If you go nut Is
new and look, you'll see him pacing
the boat -house verandah, and he has
been 'doing it foe the last hour." te
achnit that he puzzles me. Tt f
was Greenough's errand, eo fala as I b
•can make out, to relieve my Tided as w
to mys.lf, but to treat Hallicley's
ease, as given td the pollee, as en-
tirely condential.
"It's the outside man we are /if -
ayes."
The whole situation is bad -ling in
10 extreme. I cannot ignors the
not that the eeanche were propoeed
y Mrs. Livingstone, that it was she
ho left the hall door unbolted at
the second sitting, or that Living-
stone himself was absent at the sec-
ond sitting, presumably ill. At the
same time, it was Livingstone who
Indirectly advised me against the
business,
"Let it 010110;" he wTrned.
Let well enough alone."
So far as Halliday le concerned, it
is clear that he does not liko the idea
of another ,seenee, but fBels that it
is ,necessary. He assures am that
the police will be on hand, insides
and outside, the house, but he does
not minimize the fact that that% will
be, o certain risk, and that he decade
taking Sane and Edith into it, '
"It's like this," he said to -day,
feeling pall/dully for words. "Ira a
sense you and 1 aro at the parting of
the ways in this thing. We can let
it go, and tulef loose on the, world a
cruel and deadly idea which may go
Olt 'claiming victims indefinteely." Ho
made a small getstn•e, "Or—we plat
into the other side of the scale )111
we have in the world, and then—"
He pained 111Mself up. "There's only
Letterheads
'Envelopes
Billheads
.And all. kinds of Business
Stationery minted at The
Post Publiehing House.
We will do a job that will
do credit to yen)! buainese.
Leek over your stock of
Office Stationery and if it
requiree replenishing call
no by telephone 31,
The Put Publishing House
tf
tioe:dhlar danger," he said. "Unless him if he made any preparation for
eireli airtime, he laughed and aheok
hie head,
"Except. that I eometimee tains 0
eup of coffee to keep me awake!" he
e
things slm, there 5/10111,1 be very 1.1-
'fhic..eame list of those pessaiit ax
before, There is an uneon,Mieue ein..
:heels placed by Halliday ou Hay-
ward and Livingstone, but perhaes On the %any up tin. drive I walked
with Livingstone. Why, I hardly
know, eseept that he sr.eann! 1 to drift
towarde me. He waver spoke but
once, and it seemed to in0 that li
was surveying the ehrubleare and
trees, like a man who. eumected
trap. Ornea---bra was CM any be
was aware that he bad put hie hand
to his hip pocket, and 1 Was 50
1(1 that that I adumbled and ilmo it fell.
I knew, as confidently as I have ever
known anything, that he had a re-
volver there.
"Careful, man," he said.
Those were his only words thartrig
our slow progress toward the main
house, and so tango were his nerves
that they sounded like a curee.
Cameron and Edith were leading,
and 1 eould hear her talking, eaery-
ing on valiantly, although are it turn-
ed out she knew better than any of
us, except Halliday, the terrible pos-
sibilities ahead. Hayward walked
alone and behind us, hie rubber soled
shoes making no sound on Ilia
It made me uneasy, somehow; that
silent progress of -his; it was etealthy
and diconeerting. And I think Liv-
ingtone felt it so too, for he stopped
once and turned around.
Yet, at the time, as between the
two men, My euspicion that eve.ning,
certainly .pointed to Livingstone.
Not to go into the Cruelty of my 4-
noranee, a cruelty which I now un-
derstand but then bitterly resented,
I had' had both men under cloee op -
servation 'during, the time we waited
for Cameron. And it had eeemed to
me that Livingstone was the more
He Milne an hour or so too early unogsY of the two. Another thing
to start with the ear for Cameron, which I regarded as highly signifi-
and borrowing pen and paper, wrote cant was his asking for water just
a long COmenunication to F-Lankig, before we left the Lodge, and ho'.1-
way. What is in it I do not know, Mg the glass with a tremblime hand.
but he took it with him, to mail on .And, as it happens, it Was that
very glass of water which cryetalliz-
ed my suspicions. The glass, end 7110
hand which held it. For the hand
was a small and wide one, with a
short thumb and a bent little finger!
From that time on, my mind. Was
focused on Livingstone. It milled
about, seeking scene explanation.
could see • Livingstone in the case
plainly enough; I could see him, pur-
suing with old Bethel the "sinister
design" to which Gordon had refer-
i•ed, but to -which I had DO key. I
could see him, with his knowledge of
the countiy, using that knowledge in
furtherance of that idea which my
am over -watchful.
daresay, thus placed.heatween my
duty and -my fears, 1 510111 do my
day. I perceive that ,/ither Hay.
ward or Livinte4one 1 ranee more te,
aerees to the how,., arid
lillder conditions more or lees favor -
:able to whet is to be done, But
whieh one? .
Later: I have done my duty. I
have telephoned Cameron, and he
will come out to -morrow night...
September 10th,
Halliday has taken every poseible
oreeaution as to to -night. Ac it has
been our custom to go over the
house before each seance, and as
Campion may do this with unusual,
thoroughness., it has been decided nnt
to plates Greenough and his officere
until after the sitting begine. Hal-
liday has therefore to -day connect-
ed the bell from -that s•ooin, whisch
rings in th0 kitchen, to a temporary
extension in the garage, with a buz-
zer.- When the lights are. lowered,
he will touch the bell, end Careen-
ough is then fo speuggle his men in
through the kitchen.
While no one can• say what chan-
ges Cameron may suggest in our pre-
vione methods, Halliday imagines he
will trek us at first to proceed 08 118-
((111. In any event, I am to sit 08
nal to thC Switch as poseible, and
when Halliday calls for lights, am
to be ready to turn them on. . . .
8.30 Everything is ready. But I
ann concerned about Halliday. Has
he sole apprehension about his own
safety to -night?
his way to the station.
, (End ,of Mr. Porter's .Tournal) I
CONCLUSION
Chapter I
The Journal takes us or, to the
eveniag of September 10th, 1922.
It was to the fourth and last tragedy
of that summer, which filled the next
day's papers, that little. Pettingill re-
ferred, in the conversation reeorded
in the introduction of this Journal.
It was with this tragedy that, as
Pettingill said aggrievedly, the story
"quit" on them. And qmt it did.
We felt then that the best thing to Unele Horace had termed a mepace
do, under the circumstances, wee to to society in general. With the
let it rest. Once more, do meetuis swiftness with which the:light creetes
nil nisi helium. visions, I could see hine hailing poor
Thcre was nothing to be gained by Maggie Morrison' in the -storm and
giving the story to the public, and her stopping her truck when she re -
much to be lost At that thane, it la cognized him.
to be remembered, a wave of spirit. But I could noi see him in connee-
ualism, or rather •spiritism, was
non with Eugenia Riggs and her
bowl of putty. Strange that 1 did
not; that it required jane's smelling
salts for me to find that conneaction.
A siredl green glass bottle, M Edith's
room, used as a temporary paper
weight on her lesk.
As I eay, my suspicions were of
Livingstone, during that strange
welk up the drive. But 1 had by no
means eliminated Hayward.
He was there, behind me, walking
with a curious stealth, end with an
uneasirmss that somehow, without
words, communicated itself to me.
All emotions are mace, T deresny.
I caught the contagion of feel! from
him; desperate, deadly fear.
And once in the house, try suspic-
ion of hint increased eathee than
diminished. For one thing, he of-
fered to take Cameron through the
house, and on Halliday's ignoring
that and going of with Cameron
himself, was distinctly surly. He re-
mained in the hall at the font; of the
stair, apparently listening to their
progress and gnawing at bis fingers.
,.Watching him from the den, 1 baw
him make a move to go up the stairs
but ho eau.ght any eye and abandoned
the idea.
It was then that Jane felt fnint,
and 1event back to the Lodge foe her
smelling salts. . •-.
Tho letter, undoubtedly the letter
which Halliday iya shown to the pole'
ice, was lying (Pen on Edith's desk,
under the .green bottle, and as
• the salts 11 blew to the floor. •I
glanced at it as 1 picked it am,
spreading over the country; it was
still filled, too, with post-war psych-
opaths. The very nature of the ex-
periment which had bebn tried NVIAS
of the sort to seize on the neurotic
imaginatioa, and sot it a -flame. It
was not considered advisable to al-
low, it publicity,
Now, of course, things are diffev-
/mt. The search goes on, and Por -
haps some day, not by this method
MR by ,some legitimate and scientie
one, survival inay be proved, I do
not know; I do not greatly care.
After all, T am a Christian, and my
faith is built on a life thee death.
But I accept that; I do not requirc.
proof of it. .
Picture us, then, that evening of
September 10th, when the Juvenal
ends, waiting for we knew lig what;
Jane picking up her tapeade and
putting it down again; Edith powder-
ing her /lose with hands that shook
3>1 spite of her best .efforts; Halliday
at the railroad station with the car
to meet, Cameron; and off in the
woodland, where the red lamp of On
light -house flashed its dative siemel
every ten seeonds from the end of
Robinson's point, Greenough and a
land dozen officers.
Picume us, too, when WO 1104 (111
gatheved; Cameron, with h'a hand.
stiff bandaged, presented to the dna-
(110115 pees/mime of the play and eye-
ing each orie in tin shrowdlY; Mrs,
Livingstone garrtflous and uneasy;
and Livingstone a sort of waxy
vbite and with n nervous trembling
had never oheerved before, Of US
all, only Halliday seemed natural,
A.nd Hayward natural because he
yes never at his 0050.
What Cameron made of It I do
not know. Very probably he saw in
us only >o group of sensatim-seekers,
excited by some small contact with a
world beyond our knowledge, and if
te felt surprise at all, it 10111 that 1
md joined the ranks.
He himself did not 099000 10 take
he matter seriously, Ho made it
lain that ho had emne in this man-
or at my request; that hla own
nothode would be entirely different
Wheri Edith, 1 think it was, naked
13
I
Chapter 11.
In recording the events leading up
to the amazing denoumnent that
night—the cieteils of the egaance—I
am under eerUtin
Thus, 1 kept no notes: roe the
first time T found myself a part of
the circle, sitting between Living-
stone and Jane, anti with Cameron
tinar the lamp, prepared to make the
notes of what should occur.
"OS course," he said 400 IVO took
ar places, "we arc not observing the
usual precautions' of what I would
eon toot mono, M1 we aro at-
tempting to do ig to reproduce as
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 22, ?0211I
aearly as possible, the conditions ex
ieting at the other two sittings, And
--" he glunced et Ine and mailed "—
if afr, Porter'e admission to girds)
:mown to be disturbing, we oidra di-
n/Mate him."
TM asked Us to remain quiet, no
'natter what happened, and to be
011010 that no hend was freed with-
out an immediate statement to that,
"Not that I expect frau], of
'nurse" he added. "But ft is cus-
tomary, under the eircumstaneee,"
l'am quite certain that nobody, ex-
cept myself, saw Halliday touch the
bell as the light was reduced co the
faint glow of. the red lamp.
It was not surprising, I daeesay.
that beyond eertain movements of
the table and fine rape on ite env -
face, we get nothing at first! 41 faet,
that we got anything at all was pro.
belay due to Jane' e ignoranee of the
underlying eituatien. Livingetone,
next to me, was 'ita nervous. that -his
hands twitched on the table; across.
Halliday was beelele Hayward, an/I
ae my eyes grew accustomed in the
semi -darkness, I could see himfor-
bidden recourse to his fine", jerk-
ing his head savagely.
And for the /de of MO, I could net
see where all this was leading W.
A breaking of the circle was, by
Cameron's order, immediately to ho
announeed. Even in complete dark-
ness, when that came—as I felt it
would—what was it that Halliday ex-
pected to happen? .
Bu•t the table continued to move,
It began to slide along the carpet;
my grasp on Livingstone's hand was
relaxed, and indeed, later, as it lees
gen to rook violently it was all 1
could do to retain .contact with the
table at all. I began to see poesi-
bilities in this, but when 11 11011 quiet-
ed the circle remained as before.
Very soon after that came the sig-
nal for darkness, and Cameron 611-
tinguished the temp. Seen Edith,
near the cabinet, said the curtain had
come out into the rooni, and was
touching her. The' next moment. as
before, the bell fell from the stand
inside the cabinet, and the guitar
strings were lightly touched. . I
parently satisfied, and after a few
momenta of experiment with the
lalrim on, resulting only in 4 creaking
and knocking un the table again ease.
tinguiehed it, (In a repetition of the
blowing out of the curtain, however,
loft his chair for the first time,
and with a iinekt.t dash examinel tlb,
cabinet thoroughly, even the wall
coining in for close inspetation.
Wheaa he had finished with that,
however, 1s•Olsed a rdialige ill Mai.
I believe now that he etas/wet creel
but I MD not certain. 11, ,iaiib rath-
,r sharply that he *was goqd
faith an nut to provide an ayeningie
musetnent, laid that, he hopee any
suspicious movement would be re -
r °rind.
"TIIIX is not a gaille,"
8juilire
tiaY.
Jwas Very 40'0,4, and new 1
hoard ic_Vstin thc hcavy brcrnthing
which I knew preceded the trancE
condition, or that -auto-hypnotiem
which we know as -trance.
",,Whowtonise.that?" Cameron !asked in
i
"Mier. Porter," Halliday said.
oe•erybody!"
The room was completeiy dark,
and save for Jane's heavy breathing,
entirely quiet: Strangely, enough,
for the moment I forgot our purpase
there; forgot Greenough and hie
men, scattered through the hoese; I
had n premonition, if I may call it
that, that we were on the verge of
some tremendous psychic expe•icance.
I cannot explain it; I do not know
DOW what unseen forces were gather-
ed there together. I even admit -that
probably I too, like Jane, had hyp-
11 (Wand myself.
And then two things were happen-
ing, and at the same time. 1
There was something moving in the
library, a soft foot -fall with, at 350111-
0d to me, an 'irregularity. For all l
the world like the dragging of a par- 1
nwt, and
Witri quietly releasing his grip or my
hand,
r made a clutch at him, and he
whispered savagely:
"Let go, you fool."
The next inoment Ile hal drawn
iis revolver, and was stealthily get -
hand, was standing hesidc; me, and,
there was a quiet movement /tense
the table. Cameron was apparently
listening also; he made ne cerement,
however, ant' in the , darknees, mad
the sileece the footstrapte went into
the hall, and there cleaseee.
(To Be Continued).
81.11411Eb8 CARDS
.THE Industrial Nioregage and
0 Savings Company, of Sarnia.
',worm. Are, protarrva tt, advance Malley 01,
32.111.4:81;1, fat go, d WW1, deNt01118
,00n.y oa farm mort41'00A Wilt ((l/Om apply to
(11511'n ('.110,,, rint . Who Will fur
IAA) rtasem itga MM.'. Pat 110a14114,
The Ind....atrial Mortgage
and Savings Company
C. C. RAMAGE, D.D.S., TeD.S.
BRUSSELS, ONT.
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Surgeons and Honor Graduate Uni-
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Office Over Standard Bank,
Phone 200
ezxaato Laataxr
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For Brussels and vicinity Phone 647
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Agent Hoick Mutual fire Insurance' Company
Also
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Phone 42 Box 1 .Turnberry Street Brussel
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WorAme=oagany pers.10irlegs.=142s
T. T. M'RAE
, M. 0. H., Village of Brussels.
Physician, Surgeon, Accoucheur
°Mee at residence, opposite Melville Ohumill,
William street.
w. dEr. &Nazar
Without warning Cameron turned ting to his feet.
on the lamp; the curtain subsided The dragging foot moved oat into BARRISTER, SOLICITOR,
CONVEYANCER, NOTARY PUBLIC
and all sounds ceased, He was ap- the hall. Livingstone, revolver in LECKIE BLOCK - BRUSSELS
Ova.
W rth Selling
is
Worth Mill
Oa 9
Advertise what you are doing.
Advertise what you expect to do,
Advertise your old goods and move thent
Advertise your new goods and sell them
before they get old,
' Advertise to hold old trade.
Advertise to get new trade,
Advertise when .busin 'ss is good./ to:make
it better.
•
.."'"Advertise when hoiiness is poor to Ikeep
it from getting worse,
Advertising is not a "cure-all,"
Advertibing is a preventative,
Advertising does not push, it pulls.
Advertising to pay must be consistent and
persistent.
) tee
POST
40 )