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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1930-08-14, Page 7
-3 THE STORY SO FAR Uugli Drumnwnd and Peter Darrell are interested in Mr, Granger, ivho Jives at Temple Tpwer, wljich is strongly fortified, Mias Verney- accepts cretary friend . staying t’rjend of Hugh's has the plans of( Temple Tower, .but' somebne steals them. Gaspard, G/anger’s ser vant, his big watch dog and a hoarder at Spragge’s Farm are all (^gkj’«onnd strangled. The men meet Victob Matthews, a member of the New Y.bj’k police, who also retuns with them and tells the history of Le Bossu Masque. While at the Dolphin Inn Peter noticed8 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 (he bed. Before leav ing the ligtel Vandali and Madame V'andali wej-e found strangled, the ' jnau hanging from the ceiling and the woman in a cupboard In the ‘ ij-oom. While- Matthews was sit ting in Hugh’s house a shot was tired and, Le Bossu entered .and nearly strangled him. a position as private se- to Mr, Granger and her (Freckles) Tom Scott Js with Hugh. John, an. old NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY THE EXETER TIMES-ADVOCATE Mmif III 1 ffij, 1 no question of seventy miles an hour; we crept along at the car’s most silent speed, with only our sidelights on. As I worked it out, Le Bossu had about half an hoar'e start of us at the mast, but half an hour was a terribly long time for a cold-blooded murderer to be given a free hand* And though I quite saw the necessity for silence. I chaf ed at the alow rate we were going, A hundred yards from the begin* jiing of the wall Hugh stopped. A grass track ran <oft the road, and __ _ he backed down it for about thirty Other goes into the air. Get into that j yards till a jink in the hedge com-’ line from the air and you pick up pletely hid her from anyone pass-, the tree, It wasn't a journalist who ing. Then he padlocked both sides was In the plane: it was Le Bossu.1 of the bonnet; took out the safety And Le Bossu, whilst we have been|key, and we left her. wasting time here, has calmly ©n-j to make absolutely certain, we tered Temple Tower on the strength I first of all searched under the bush- of the information that We thought es where the rope ladder had been only ‘we possessed. Merciful lieav- left, but there was no sign of it: ens!” he suddenly added in a low Hugh’s forethought over the bol- voice, "and he girl 'is there, too.’* Bters was justified. Le Bossu, The car roared on, whilst I curs- guessing it' would be somewhere ed myself btterly and savagely. Why. near the spot at which it would be had the point not struck me? I had previously entered, had found it and accepted the Inspector’s remark used it, and we wasted no further about a Press photograplmr without time, We passed up the holsters thought. It hqd seemeu quite a'one by/me to Freckles, who was probable explanation, and I hadn’t standing on Hugh’s shoulders, and the Then he fixed the rope, and in turn we swarmed up and down the other side. The final act' had started. The first thing to do was to lo- llllIllIlIlIllIlllllllllIllIllllIIlllIllilllllllhR the ground at ono end, an.d the* bothered, to look any further. And now, with a sick, feeling of fear, I realised the result, Le Bpssu was loose in Temple Tower, and Pat Verney was alone and unprotected in the house. Just qs Hugh lias) ..... ° said,/he had assumed we should j cate the tree, and we crept silently come to Matthews! aid, and had. • forward. To keep in touch had been he wedged them in between spikes. what I can’t make up my mipd about. Is he still here in the ground or has he done a bunk? Why should he stop on when he has- once found out that the verse is wrong?” •. "Well, my dear man,” I said, 'one Iking is pretty obvious. If we can’t find him inside the wall there is even jess chance of our doing so loutside, So it seems to me that „we have either got to sit here and hope, or toddle back to bed." And even as I spoke there came a piost peculiar noise from the house. It; sounded like the clanging of a gong, and we all sprang up and .gtared through the bushes. The noise went on for perhaps a quarter of a minute; then it abruptly as it had began "A burglar said Hugh. "Now, who off?” alarm for liaa caused THURSDAY, AVGUST JR 1080 Tfte ffighwr 7rt/fic Amendment Act 1930, A New Law for Motorists ceased as a fjver chances -of get- through a win- Hugb, "short of •only that damu- * There is an amendment to the Highway Act, effective Sept. 1st,, which all motorists should understand. (We have prepayed and printed, an analysis pf this, a dopy of which you may have with- ppt charge by applying to any of our agents.) You may drive carefully, not committing a the offences mentioned in the Act, and if fortunate escape accident, but even the m drivers sometimes become involved in acd come to Matthews’ ; turned that assumption‘to good mc- couht. Probably we had actually ..passed him on the road,as we came, in one of the cars we had met, "Lord! Peter,*” said Hugh, as I expressed my opinion of myself, "this is no time for regrets. And it, wouldn’t matter a tinker's curse, old man, but for the girl. But it, 1 is the one point that has been worry ing me ever since Le Bossu present- I ed us with the plan. How was he I going to find the tree without our assistance? And since it seemed an impossibility to me, I assumed lie was proposing to invoke our assist- ';ance. On that assumption I map- . ped out his plan • of campaign—a ; plan which I think., I told you was one of subtlety.” . "What was it?” I asked. ^Here’s the telephone box,” he remarked, "about fifty yards ahead.” • He pulled up the cai? and in the glare of, lights the box stood out xlearly cmtlined by the roadside, j But of anything else there wa-s no sign; the ro.aid was empty, there was aio trace of aiijx body. '"He would Mhave hidden „ it,” I said. ."He wouldn’t leave it where Anybody passing could see it.” "No,” said ■ Hugh. "He would, «iot. Can it ;be possible?” lie add- -ed half to himself. He suddenly savitclied off the lights. Come on -—we must look. But, for God’s .sake, move warjly. l'liere’s some thing here I don't understand at all.' ■ Halfway to ‘ the box he halted,, say one thing: I agree And for a time we stood in the road* thews” description of him. Mstening instently. Not a sound clever, and dangerous man. Hugh’s order as we started, and he led us quickly through the under brush. Away to the right' lay the house, silent and forebidding. Two lights shone from it—one from a window at the very top, and the other from one about halfway up. At last we came to the' old chapel wall, and he paused. v "Now then, Scott,” "you take sound.” The tree said, in a, the lead. he whispered, And not' a Freckles hadstood, as little clearing and we found it without difficulty. But it was some lttle time before Hugh made the next move. He stood un derneath it listening intently, though everything was silent, save for the faint creaking of the branch es in the breeze. Once I thought I "AU in good time, old boy,” he t' heard the crack of a twig not far said, "This- is not the moment for off, but it was not repeated, and I . And saw a two said, . .. __ . . ____ discussing theories that have proved' dismissed it as imagination, to be wrong, -All that we have to once I could have sworn I : concentrate on. at the moment, beating the gentleman. I agree is dark shadow move between But I will bushes a few yards away, with Mat-1 He is And I giving ine the creeps.” epuld be heard save a train in the blame myself bitterly for having ...... __ distance,>and I suggested we should given way to an extremely stupid “Use your ears and not your mouth.’ go a. bit. closer, and begin to search, and foolish impulse.” "WhaiT’rq afraid of,” said Hugh iif a low yoice, “is a trap. ^trangle'd■^Matthews, lie must have ‘ Iseard. ■ whaf-; Matthews was saying, a* he crept up to him from behind. X£ iso, what will he assume? Why, <hat we shall do exactly what we Slave done. The flies are walking straight into the parlour, and your theory, Peter, of the bomb is quite feasible here. We must string put': Til go'first. And don’t make a sound.” He faded into the darkness, and we followed at intervals. Every mow and .then I stopped to listen, feit-I heard nothing except an owl footing mournfully in a. little wood ahead of us. Suddenly I saw a light ©n -the road some twenty yards in ■front; y Hugh had turned his torch ©n to the ground at the foot of the ibox, and.;Was examining it carefully. 2 almost called out to him: if there was any chance of a trap, he was surely asking for trouble. But after ai moment or two switched it off Again, and once more I crept for ward till I came to’the telephone ta myself. ‘He had disappeared, .sand for a while I stopped there try ing once more to reconstruct in my > amind what had happened. | What would Le Bossu have done with the'- body? Hidden it, of ( course, but’Tiidden it as quickly as possibly. , 7 (_______ _ ___ ___ ..... . 3wx, but as far as I could see, there thinking, but believe me these pre- Was no gap in it. and after a bit' parations are necessary, There ain’t Che hopeless futility of finding the much good arriving at the wall and "For God’s sake let’s get' on with it,” muttered Freckles. "This is "Shut up,” said Hugh curtly. barred from the road, The suspension of an owner’s permit applies to all his motor vehicle#; A permit or license so suspended \may be reinstated when the judgment against the offender has been satisfied, but even then not until pe has given proof of financial responsibility, which may be done by :— Giving a bond of « Surety Company.. Giving a personal bond, guarr teeing ability to pay. Depositing money or. eecuri- ties tb this amount of $11,000. Presenting proof of insurance against personal injury and property damage. ®ay damages for judgme in ca careful 1 result ing in personal injury or property darvj^e to someone. Among other things If j»u are directly or indirect ly a /party to such an accident, you/must remain at or retuj- more than $S0 dama be$n done, you must re itter immediately to 6 report it to the the -Fpollce,________ _ ■ Registrar jt Motor Vehicles. JjF ; you muot jrsonoi injury I for property it). It you ha-ftlfbommitteil any of " mentioned in the !e failed to pay any recorded against you _JB'f accident, your license p suspended and you will __iles» » motorist Is prepared to pay for the damage he may dp the person or property pf others, he should not drive a car without the protection of Insurance, Get your copy of the pamphlet to-dety from the agent of any Company a member of The Canadian Automobile Underwriters Association that to go He was .rubbing his bauds to gether in his satisfaction. "He’s inside, boys,, he -hasn’t done a guy, Ahd he is trying to get into the house. He has hit a trip .wire or something of that sort. But where —-damn it —where?” Still we peered in front pf us, try ing impotently to see. Somewhere in that inky blackness was Le Bossu but he might' as well have been in Timbuctoo for our tjng him. "He can’t get in dow, anyway,” said using .dynamite. If ed fool inside would realise that he is far safer if he lit every room in the house instead of cowering there practically in darkness. Keep your eyes skinned for the flash of a torch or the faintest suspicion of light.” ’ But there was nothing: the dark ness remained impenetrable, and the minutes dragged slowly on. Had Le Bossu, alarmed by the sudden noise, given up, or zwas he still in front 'of us trying to break in? It was the uncertainty of it and the impossibility of doing anything to make sure that was so maddening. And yet we were better where we were than blundering round blind ly. Suddenly Hugh gripped my arm. , “Peter,” he said tensely, "look at the top room. There were three shadows there a moment ago.” I stared up at' it: the light shone out undimmed. And then, there appeared for an instant the shadows of three people. Distorted into fan tastic shapes, they showed up clear in the light—I again. Miss Verney and Granger— but whose was the third? Even as I asked myself the question it ap peared again—grotesque and mon strous, with outstretched arms! Le Bossu was in the room. "We must get in,” cried Freckles'could see Granger and the girl sit- in an agony. “We must. If neces- ting there, believing themselves to sary by the front door.” j be perfectly safe. And then the The boy was almost beside him- door slowly opening, and that great self, and small blame to him. Until —----- ...i ----- that moment the situation from his point of view had seemed all right: now everything was changed. If the third shadow was le Bossu the dan ger was enough to appal anyone, let alone the fiance of the girl who was the oftencj I now facing him. I "Can’t you fire through the win- 'dow?” he muttered. "Drummond,, you must do something.” I "Steady, old boy,” said Hugh, and ' though to the others his voice was ixcj ouvwcu. up vxcar! normal, I caught the n'ote of -then they vanished | ^nost feverish anxiety in it. In ------ n-------- 'fact, he told me afterwards that in the whole course of his life he had' never felt so desperately afraid. “I visualized the scene, Peter,”, he said to me a few days later, “as if II had been in the room myself. I Bossu would spare her. That, was all I cared about naturally/.Nothiii'g else mattered, Even allowing Le Bossu to. escape altogether was. in finitely better than that the slight est damage should come t'o her.- But wbat to do? Peter, J damned-ij.ear-' ly went bughouse. There was that poor devil jibibeAmg- beside us,, and I knew that the most fatal‘thing, we could do was to give away ths fact that we were in the grounds. (To be continued) I At last he seemed satisfied, and -t-----r *“x- ----- The and long But what that impulse w.as I lmd stepped out into the open. If Picot no time to ask, because at that mo-.Q.reat Bear was easy to spot, meat’ we drew up outside Hugh’s house. "Bolsters,” he said." Qne apiece.” “What on earth do we want bol sters for?” cried John. "Denny,’ shouted Hugh. “I want four big "Very will get I "If I from it the Pole Star. Thirty paces north—our .next task—''was simple, and there the answer lay. The excitement' of the thing was getting me now—what was the ans wer going to be? Should, we find some hole open 'in the ground— some ancient rusted door, perhaps, through which Le Bossu himself still trying to force an entrance, and unable to do so single-handed? Twen|ty-i£ive: twenty-six long cteps, and Hugh paused, again peer ing into the darkness ahead. I could hear my heart beating in the deathly stillness: even the night breeze had died away. But .noth ing stirred—nothing moved in front. Twenty-eight: twenty-nine: "thirty masked figure standing in silence watching them. Granger mad crazy with fear; the girl wondering des perately what to do, and where we are. She would play for time, of course, and provided Granger hand ed lover the stuff, it was possible Le The Mitchell Fire Department \ were called to the farm of Gordon Whitfield, 14th concession of Logan when *his'large barn/ driving shed and straw shed were destroyed by fire together with 40 tons of hay, a motor car, a horse, 30 pigs, 2 calves and ay the farm machinery except the binder w’liich was in the field at the time.bolsters.” good, sir,” said Denny. "I them at once.” ask for ‘ four elephari'ts,” said Hugh, “Denny would get them at once. (My dear John,” lie remark ed, "you don’t suppose, do you, that, our friend's going to leave the rope ladder in position on the wall? All. nicely ready so that we can follow Him in? He is going to get over, himself, and then, wth that wooden' implement, remove the thing alto-j gether, hiding it somewhere inside We were there—but where was the the wall. Moreover, he won’t even'answer? We were standing ou an go over in the same place as he went ordinary piece of roughish turf, ■< over before, so that we can dismiss | actly the same as the ground we the ladder as a method of entrance.” "Fo.uv bolsters, sir,” said Denny at the door. "Good,’’said I-Iugli. "Now some ropes. I want about four yards.” "Very good, sir,” said Denny. "I ' will ^et it at once.” j ,"W^ may not have a rope ladder,” j remarked Hugh, "but » damned .good makeshift. - - . fidgetty, young fellah,” he added to A hedge ran behind the Freckles. “I know what you’re Freckles ex- fcvus no gap in it. and after a bit' Che hopeless futility of finding the mueh .................. ......... ..... tSiody at night struck me. One might ilaVjng to stand outside the whole sLumble on it, but the chances were night looking at it.” All against it. And at that moment J heard- Hugh’s low whistle. I_____ He <as standing in the ^oad, and m-ably. ' jl joined-him. ( '"Look here, Peter,” he said, “this rpwo 01. three times when T was . ds utterly futile. It's a ^pounds to a banana skin finding him.” "I quite agree,” remarked JopmiUg up. "I’ve stubbed and I don’t want to play any more. The only way to spot him will be 3iy day. “Take an aeroplane and fly •over the ground low, like that bloke was doing this morning at Temple Tower?’ ■"What’s that you iHiigli. "Au aeroplane over Tower?” 'yriteindnt?” ! flow myself, mho to graphs. ■‘■‘Journalist Hugh, "Why you tell me. that Acai*—-and legAit.” “'The one point’ slud Hugh tensely, mister touched’ seventy you bad told hie, Peter! Don’t you ®ee+ man, the vital significance of ‘It? The line between the tower and Eastern turret, when produced, lilts had walked over from the tree. But of any secret entrance, to a passage there was no trace. In front of us were more bushes, but the spot where we were standing 'a little open space. And | that space we felt our way, * ing- every inch of it. but we’ll get a nil; something had gone wrong. Don’t get j Wherever the answer lay, it wasn’t That the tree was the correct one “ i was prepared to swear. That the directions had been thirty long paces north we were all pre pared to swear. So it boiled down to the fact that the directions were wrong. But if they -were wrong for us, they were also wrong for Le Bossu. He was in the same boat actual was in round explor- The result was gone "I’m blaming myself over that aeroplane,” said the youngster mis- "It’s I who ought to have as ourselves, and in that lay the ' spotted it much more than Darrell, only consolation. ~ ...... ~. ---- ------ ---- - - The thing was. so completely un hundred standing by the tree I actually no- expected. All sorts of difficulties against ticecl tlxe tiling coming straight to-we had been prepared for, but none Freckles my toe, , wards the house in a line with the ( of us had ever thought of the pos- IC anything hap- sibility of not finding the entrance | at all. And the problem that im- say?” yelled Temple 'Wlmt under the sun is I cried !. A ; I. "I saw journalist the ex- the fet- taking tower. By God! pens to. Pat . . .’ "Nothing is going to happen to, mediately confronted us was what to Miss Verney.” said ‘ - ■ ■ - - "And here is Denny Now then, a loop at one^enct, and but how we’re ready. Except .for -oiie thing. Waif till Here are throe whistles. Each of best, or you bake one of them, and keep [ obvious: them handy.; And those whistles look for are only to be used for one purpose J that course being eliminated, If, in the darkness, Le Bossu gets'really seemed that there was noth- one Of you, put it to your nioutli and ing else to do but to sit tight and Hugh quietly. ‘ do next. Somewhere within the with the rope.1 grounds was the man we wanted; were we *to get at him? dawn and hope for the what? One thing seemed it was useless to try and him in the darkness. And it be in damned,” snapped God’s name didn’t befQje? To the that was missing,” as the speedo- I£ only blo4 like hell,” / "Are you going to lake the car? I asked, -and lm nodded. "It night "And tions up and over.” And With a feeling strongly re miniscent of y.ero hour itt France, in my chest at any rate, We followed him to the gate, carrying bolsters and rope. But this trip there was will be wanted before the is out,” he said enigmatically, this time we will take precau- over spark-plugs. Now then— wait with What patience we could. It was Hugh who was the most worried. Freckles, ;now that any danger to' Miss Verney had gone, was quite happy: Jdhtl and I Were inclined to view the matter philo.so- phically. But Hugh had worked lunself1 into a condition OE positve irritability, which was an unheard- of thing With him, , "I want that swab, Teeter,” he fumed, "as a cut wants milk. And what is he doing now? That is| Bungalow Camping in Rockies Qpring ____ according to the calendar, though. you may not-otherwise have noticed Jit, and with the spring the thought of vacation begins to gather strength. In another month or six weeks the bunga low camps of the .Rockies, famous the world over for thejr beauty, will have opened again for the season. Outstanding among them aim the Lake O’Hara Bungalow camp (lower left), just behind .Lake Louise; Yoho camp (lower right), under the tear of the Tokakkaw Falls; and Emerald Lake chalet (upper), by many considered to be the gem ■ II 1 <11 1 •of the Rockies, although artists and others will often, dbhteiid that Lake O’Hara is a close rival. Stays at reasonable cost may be made in any or all three of these camps, since they are not very fat from one another and are easily accessible, As a by ho means minor part of the lute of these camps there is the attraction of trail tiding on trained, sure-footed mountain cayhses over mountain passes through, some of the most magnificent scenery in the wdrkL Centre inset are? the famous Twin'Falls near the Yelm Camp* -