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The Wingham Times, 1908-10-15, Page 5TUE WINCH& I TIMES, OCTOBER 15 1908 1111111111111111111111111111111111111 Ito fiu'c& :Course,{ Slit; wasbut iiri M amateur detective at best, and could THE GHOST OF A LOCRAIN CASTLE 4 BY MRS. C. N. WILSON " Author of "The Princess Passes, "The Lightning Conductor; Etc., Etc, oP,�a Oght, 1906" by Diss, . N4 Williamson. not do the things which a professionI n I e S - 1 al would have done without scruple, in pursuit of an end. She must work alone; for, though she did not like or trust James Grant, she would not deceive him had caught her 'Mention.Thain she •could hardly keep back a cry of as- tonishment, for tangled in the lace was a ruby and diamond hoop ear- ring, which she had often seen the Countess Radepolskoi wearing. For a second or two an odd giddi- ness came over Elspeth, but it was gone as soon almost as it had come, and she felt cold and calm, as if in the face of a great danger requiring all her reserve force and presence of mind. "Look, Lady Hilary," she said, drawing no nearer, lest Lady Lambert should enter, "Look at thatthing caught in your frill. Hrtw very odd that it should be there."' Surprised, the girl stopped' in the midst of her note, and following with her eyes the direction of Elspeth's "If they have other proofs against her, they've made them, as they tried to make this," she said to herself. "But is this only a part of some great scheme, or is it the whole? It's time I set myself to find -out, and I will. There may be some work for me to do here before I go, for which I was never engaged, and will never be paid —except by success. If they have de- tectives to help them—those people who wish Lady Hilary harm—they will have one against them, too. And, oh, how hard that detective will try to beat the others." Strange thoughts floated in Els- peth's brain. She began to weave them together, and her pulses beat with the weaving. "What shall I do with this note?"• she asked herself. "It I'd dared to tell Lady Hilary , she was wrong— that no man had come with a sum- mons—would she have wished to take extreme steps? Shall I wait before handing the note to Mr. Trowbridge, and give fate a chance? I could ex- plain to her that I had delayed a little. I can't see how it can do harm, as he is trying to work in her inter- est at this very minute, without knowing that he's to have a reward— a reward a thousand times greater than he has deserved. Oh, I will wait, whatever happens." By the time she had decided upon her course she was back again in the great hall. A quick glance showed her that neither the Countess nor Lady Ardcliffe was there, but Mr. Trowbridge, who had evidently been expecting her return, came forward to meet her. "I think that Lady Hilary will be safe from annoyance now," he said; and Elspeth saw that he was very pale. "You persuaded them both to do nothing?" she asked. "I have persuaded the Countess; and so far as I can make out, Lady Ard- cliffe relied for proofs upon the Coun- tess. Without her, she's harmless, ex- cept for spiteful gossip, perhaps." `You're sure the Countess won't help her in some secret way?" "I am sure," said Trowbridge grimly. Elspeth was assured; but not com- fortable. "They had told Mr. Mc- Gowan their suspicions. you know," she reminded him. "Yes, but I have spoken with Mr. McGowan. I told him that the Coun- tess Radepolskoi didn't intend, after all, to drag Lady Hilary's name in- to the affair; that she had come to see, on second thought, that she must have been mistaken in her sus- picions. I said that there were no proofs at all against Lady Hilary, and that, if, Lady Ardcliffe persisted in her accusations, he would bitterly, regret afterward having paid any at- tention to them." "I'm sure it must have been a re- lief to him to hear that." "I think it was." "But I suppose there's already a detective in the house, or soon will be. Suppose that Lady Ardcliffe 13hould direct his attention to Lady Hilary"— • ;pointing finger. "Why, that's an ear- ring of Co•ntess Radepolskoi's," she exclaimed. "How could it have got •caught in my dress?" "The Countess was wearing those earrings yesterday afternoon," said Elspeth. "Yes, I remember. But I didn't ,have on this dress." "Where was it?" Elspeth asked. "Hanging up in the wardrobe. It was taken out only this morning. How .queer it is. I must give the Countess ler earring when I—when I see her. If she has missed it, she must be anx- ious, and I" -- "I'll see that it's properly disposed of, if you like," replied Elspeth, with a diplomatic meaning which •seemed to convey nothing mysterious •to the other's mind. "Thank you," said Hilary. "That will be better, as—as I mayn't be go- ing down for some time. Please ex- plain to her how we found the ear- ring, and perhaps in some way site ,may be able to clear up the mystery." Elspeth did not answer; but Hilary, taking it for granted that she ac- quiesced, went on with her writing, instead of making the request again. A moment later, she had finished her note, which consisted of but a few lines, and had given it to Els- peth. At the same time she put the Countess's ruby earring into her hand. "You know what to do with both of these," Hilary said wearily. "Quite," replied Elspeth. "You may depend on me." Then, at the door she turned, and said, "Lady Hilary, do you lock yourself in at night?" "No, not always. Why do you ask?" returned the other girl. Elspeth was slightly confused. "The —the key looks bent," she said. "I -thought you ought perhaps to speak 'to Mr. McGowan about it. In a huge 'place like this, with so many strang- ,ers about, it isn't safe not to lock one's door at night." Lody Hilary smiled bitterly. "I :have nothing of value for anybody to ;steal," she said. "It's true the key is a little bent. I don't know how it happened, but it must have had a knock. I dare say the maid could tell how, if she would—but no ser- vant will ever confess an awkward- ness, if she can help it. I only know 'it's been like that for a day or two, ;and that the key won't turn proper- ly. But it really doesn't matter for such a poor person as myself. With Countess Radepolskoi or with Lady ,1.rdcliffe it would be different." ' Elspeth fet herself blushing. Had Lady Hilary heard the story of the robbery yet, or had she not? The girl dared not ask, but went away, with much food for thought in her mind, and the note, and the ruby ear- ring in her hand. As soon as she was out of the room, ;and shut the door, however, she slip- ped the earring into her pocket. She believed that there was a plot ;against Lady Hilary, and that Provi- .clence had sent her at the right mo- ment to frustrate it. Late in the afternoon Grant spoke to her for the first time that day, ex- cept upon the business of correspond- ence. "Mr. McGowan has asked me to tell you," he said, "that he has a very good offer for your room, and that • ;For Diarrhoea, Dysentery AND ALL Summer Complaints DR. FOWLER'S EXTRACT OF `WILD STRAWBERRY IS AN INSTANTANEOUS CURE. i "She won't do that at present. Lady Hilary is safe enough from her for a few days. By and by it may be dif- ferent, but then, I hope, the real thief may have been discovered; or •at Worst, nothing can be proved against !i.ady Hil'ary unless these women have plotted against her more cleverly than 1 think." 'le th reflected for a moment ami instantly'EZ,spetlt guessed the their minds. consequently you will have to change into another. The servants will help you, but perhaps would would like to oversee them." "When am I to change?" inquired Elspeth. "At once, please. You are to have No. 33, on the third floor, in the west wir ,, You had better go up to your room now and superintend the maids putting your things together. This is your free hour." "Very well," said the girl, hiding all emotion; but in reality she was as much excited as surprised. She was' convinced that something was to happen in that room from which she had been banished—something con- nected with the mysterious sights and sounds that had kept her waking through so many nights of fear. "Who is to have my room?" she asked, with an air of indifference. "Lord Loehrain, I believe,"tanswer- ed Grant, in the same tone. tiioub7zt in Monads trouble is beta symptom of, and not in itself a true disease. We think of Dyspepsia, heartburn, and Indigestion as real diseases, yet they are symptoms only of a certain speciflu Verve sielmess—nothing else. A was this fact that first correctly led Ar. Shoop In the creation of that now very popular Stomach Remedy—Dr. $hoop's Restorative, Going direct to the stomach nerves, alone brought, that success and favor to Dr. Shoop and his Restorative.. With- out that original and highly vital principle, no such lasting accomplishments were ever to be had, For stomach distress. bloating, btlionsness, btu breath and sallow complexion, try Dr. Shoop's Restorative—Tablets or Liquid—and see for your. self what it can and will da We sell and cheer. fully recommend It has been used in thousands of homes during the past sixty-two years and has always given satisfaction. Every home should have a bottle so as to be ready in case of emergency. Price 35 Dents at all druggists and ,. dealers. Do not let some unprincipallcd druggist humbug you into taking stat called Strawberry Compound, The or- • iginal is Da. FowrEn's. The rest are sub- . stitutes. Mrs. G. Bode, Lethbridge, Alta.. writes : "We have used Da. Pommies ExrrnecT or Weep S' xtnwnxiuty and • found it a great remedy for Diarrhoea. Summer Complaint and Cramps. We would not like to be without it in the r. Shoest r WALLEY'S DRUG SI'C, Ills. dor, just beyond which was the en- trance to the tower; and their eorri- dor could be shut off from a small, square hall (on which several private sitting rooms opened) by a heavy, sliding door. This door Elspeth had never seen closed, and so far as her knowledge extended, it never was closed by night or by day; but now, to her as- tonishment, it was shut. "It is sure to squeak and wake somebody up," the girl thought rue- fully, as she tried cautiously to push the door back. But for some time she tried in vain, and it was only when she discovered an odd. old-fashioned catch, which held the latch down as she strove to turn the handle, that she was able to open the door. "Supposing anyone on the other side had wanted to come through," she said to herself, "he could not have got out of the corridor this way." And then the thought sprang into her mind that the closed and locked door was perhaps part of the mystery she was hoping to unravel, The idea frightened her, as it made the plot—whatever it was—appear so elaborate and so formidable, she felt that the elucidation might prove to be beyond her powers, or. that she might be destroyed in the attempt she was about to make. Still, she persevered, and slowly pushed back the sliding door which, so far from squeaking, glided so much that her friend was still in smoothly along its groove that Els- danger from the secret plottings of- lately oAs the door slid back a wave of iled red if it had not been two jealous women. As for the letter which Hilary had acrid smoke rushed out into the girl's asked her to give Mr. Trowbridge, face She could see no light in the she had not handed it to him during their short conversation in the morn- ing, and, when several hours had passed without her seeing him again, she had enclosed the letter in an ex- planatory note and returned it to Lady Hilary. What had happened since—whether the girl had given her answer by word of mouth instead of writing, or whether the question was still in abeyance, Elspeth did not know, for she had heard nothing. None of her regular work went on that day; except with Mr. McGowan; for she was informed by him that nei- ther Mr. Kenrith nor Captain Oxford would need her services, and she could not guess whether this were because of her disgrace or because the theft of Mr. Kenrith's jewels had upset the ordinary routine. Later, when the time came for her to go to Lady Ardcliffe, she was in- formed that she would not be wanted that afternoon; therefore she would have been idle during most of the McGowan had len- CHAPTER XIII. Number 33 was a small and com- Mon-place room, such as might have been given to a lady's maid; and Els- peth reflected, when she saw it, that Mr. McGowan would not have offered it to her had she not been going to leave his employ. Now, it did not matter to him whether she was sat- isfied or not at Lochrain Castle; she would have to stay on through her fortnight; and then some other girl would arrive to take her place, to be treated With all the kindness and con- sideration that had been hers at first. But, after all, she said to herself, such unimportant things mattered no more to her now than they did to Mr. McGowan. She was so unhappy both for herself and for Lady Hilary Vane that little details of physical com- fort were too insignificant to be thought of twice. She was miserable because she was going to be turned out into the world again, where she would be worse off than ever, because she had failed—or, if she had not really failed, it was the same as if she had. She was mis- erable because she knew that she had been foolish enough to fhll deeply in lave with a man as far removed from her as the sky is from the earth—a then felt that slie urgerstood 1ils ve3T man who tliougltt of her, when he ed meaning. He hoped that Lady thought a her at all, as a clever child Hilary would promise to marry him; in a different class from her own, a but in any case the engagement would Poor little creature to whom one must not be announced for some days, and be kind out of sheer pity for her meanwhile, perhaps, he intended to loneliness. She was miserable be - be particularly attentive to Lady Ard- cause that man would perhaps marry cliffs, as a "bribe" to her for spar- I Lady Lambart, who was doing all she ing Lady Hilary. I could to secure him, and who—if she This was clear enough, but it seem- . succeeded—would sooner or later fin- ed to the girl that he must have found duce her lover to believe the young much greater difficulty in dealing with stenographer a scheming little pre - the Countess, a far more dangerous tender. enemy than flighty and foolish Lady These were Elspeth's own personal Ardcliffe. It was the Countess 'whom griefs, but she had others. She was Elspeth had feared, yet Mr. Trow., very sorry .f or Captain Oxford, whom bridge seemed to have disposed of her she liked and admired, and whose 'without a struggle. 1 cause she would have championed if She would have liked to ask more she could. She was wretched in sym- questions, but Trowbridge glanced at Pathy with Lady Hilary, who would .bis watch and said that he must go. probably be forced into accepting a "You haven't had breakfast yet;" man she_,did-not Jove; -and she feared corridor, except a dim yellow gleam faintly visible through a thick brown smoke cloud. Instantly the tears started to her smarting eyes, and she kept herself from coughing only by covering her mouth and nose with a handkerchief. "Something on fire here," she said to herself, and with a start of terror, her thoughts turned to Mr. Kenrith, His room was in the corridor. What if it should be burning while be slept? What if the same person who had stolen his jewels wished him now to die by fire? Her eyes and lungs stinging with the acrid smoke, Elspeth felt her way down the corridor, and was about to stop before Mr. Kenrith's door, when she saw a red light glimmering through the keyhole of the door op- posite. "Captain Oxford's room !" the girl gasped. "It's on fire." For a few seconds she lost her pres- ence of mind, and ran to the door of ty of work to give her in the office the tower, not knowing what she did. to replace tht,t which she usually But the fact that this door was lock - undertook outside. ed, as the other had been, recalled Altogether, she was in a strange Elspeth to herself, Never had it been state of mind—a state which she felt locked before; never hadat even been could not endure for long. Toward shut. It ere could closed beto-nighttt both these evening, as she tried to make the ugly dent;doorthat this was a mere coacci- new room look habitable, she decided had for that she would pay a secret visit to dente; and that pbeenslocked br the tower that night, and • discover, a purpose, if she could, the reason for her ban- no other than to prevent the escape ishment. She knew nothing of Lord' of someone whose room opened on Lochrain, and could not suppose that the c kiidor. ndled red e light g person d loohodwho had he had any connection with the mys- he terious occurrences in the tower; in -1 doors as well; and the person who deed he had not been in the hotel! lus Cap- tain Oxford hlanned le destruction of ad attempted hisli once before. Elspeth knew that a moat ran round this part of the castle, which was the oldest of all; and should remarked Elspeth. He smiled vaguely. "Haven't I? I forgot." And without another word he was gone. There was great excitement in the hotel during the morning, when the news of the double jewel -robbery had spread among the guests, and every one wondered much what was being dcne; but to the annoyance of their friends, Countess Radepolskoi and Lady Ardcliffe not only did not appear in public, but refused through their maids to receive visitors. Had Elspeth been on her old terms with James Grant she would prob- ably have hoard from him what was being done; whether the police sus- pected any one; whether there was a disguised detective at work in the house. But as it was, he kept such secrets as he might possess, though he looked at her wistfully from time to time, as if he hoped that she might yet change her mind. It occurred to the girl that, if she wished to penetrate the mystery she had now set herself to solve she could not do better than tell James Grant that, after all, she would be engaged to him, and would help him in any way he wished. Ho would then open his 'heart to her, and it might well be that, through his com- munications, idle would be put in possession of the very clues she want- ed. But Dlspeth could Piot bring herself when they Irad taken place. But she believed that his desire to have the room was only an excuse to get her out of it. Perhaps it was really to be given to to him, perhaps not. Perhaps it Captain Oxford duly certainlyescape be his would not be occupied at all, at any ser- rate immediately;' but of one thing iously injured, if not killed. Kenrith, Elspeth was obstinately certain. Some- too, was in the same danger. He was thing was to happen in that room, at tD be sacrificed with Captain Oxford. all events in the tower, that very All these thoughts flashed through night, or she would not have been the fraction of a moment,swl which carried brain in e her back from moved out so hurriedly. Elspeth did not even say to herself the tower door to the door behind that, if she was right in her sur- which the red light flickered. There, mises, it was nothing to her, She she beat upon. the panel, shrieking had come to have the idea—though "Fire, fire!" and crying Captain Ox - but dimly and vaguely—that many ford's name. mysteries 'were moving shadow -like No sound came in answer, though about the hotel, and that all these rained blows onain and again the heavy oak;Elspeth and she turned to Kenrith's door on the opposite side of the hall. There was no red light there, and Kenrith was not in the deadly peril which threatened his friend, but if she could wake him he would be safe from danger afterward, and would help her rouse Captain Oxford. With all her force she struck upon the door, calling "Mr. Kenrith—Mr. Kenrith 1" But there was no move- ment, no reply. "Have they been murdered al- ready?" she asked herself, trembling with horror now. ".No. It can't be. The heavy smoke of the fire has drug - (To be Continued.) Bilious Spells NnirionipmUl ri urm II IPNIgWIIIIrUIMItIrl ,,4,1 trY ROP A HABIT o Year after year you suffer from attacks of bilious headache, indigestion, constipation al- ternating with looseness of the bowels, dizzi- nem, despondency and ill temper, until your trouble becomes a habit, or develops into Bnght's disease of the kidneys. You can break this chain of bondage by the use of Dr. A. W. Chase's Kidney -Liver Pills dark shades were controlled by o hand, perhaps aided by others; that somehow there was a connection be- tween all the gliding shadows. Kenrith was concerned, if the motor car accident were part of a plot. Cap- tain Oxford was concerned; Lady Hil- ary was concerned; and behind the veil which was impenetrable still, Elspeth seemed to see Trowbridge and Countess Radepolskoi, Maybe, after to -night that veil would not be im- penetrable. In any case, the girl resolved to do her best, even if she risked much to find out what was on the other side. Elspeth remained in her room all the evening, as she had remained in the beautiful old one; but she did not go to bed at the usual hour. She sat up, trying to read, and once in a while glancing at the stained and faded sketch of the boy in old-fash- ioned clothes,'which she had brought away from the other room, between the pages in a book of her own. The face was so like Captain Ox- ford's that she half intended to show it him some day, and though she did not wish and had no right to take it with her out of the house when she left Lochrain Castle she had been disinclined to leave it in its old place. If she did so and the tower room was really occupied she could not get the the sketch if she should make up her Mind to let Captain Oxford see it. The guests of the Hydro, those who were there for pleasure as well as those who were there for health, went to bed early, and by midnight, un- less there were a dance or theatricals, the great house was quiet, the hall and drawing rooms deserted, even by the men. Elspeth knew this, and so when the half hour after midnight had well passed she opened her door and looked out. The dimly lighted corridor was si- lent as the grave. Even the man who collected the boots had come and gone and would not return till early morning. She tiptoed downstairs and was not disturbed by a sound. On the ground floor there was a grandfather clock solemnly ticking and its hands pointed to the quarter before 1. Els- peth told herself that site was safe now. Site would meet nobody—unless some person wandering for as strange a reason as her own. TO go from this part of the house to the tower where Elspeth had lived it Was necessary to pass the doors of Mr. Kenrith's and Captain Oxford's rooms. 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