Zurich Herald, 1932-09-08, Page 2Murder at Bridge
By .4NNE AUSTIN,
SYNOPSIS.
Special Investigator Dundee, at the
house of Juanita Selina, killed at a bridge
party, que.,tions Clive Rammond and his
fiancee, Polly Beale, and learns that Polly
came to Nita's house before lunch, found
Ralph Hammond there. Dundee Y.:lieves
that their actions have something to do
with Ralph's acknowledged infatuation
for Nita. Miles, Dundee learns, drove
straight to the house and came in, Judge
Marshall was driven there by a friend,
John Drake, walking from the riountry
Club, came in from the road. Dexter
Sprague, the most nervous of the group,
took the bus and walked to the house.
Janet Raymond, stationed on the front
porch, came in with him.
CHAPTER XIV.
"Where is the maid now, Captain
Strewn?" Dundee asked. "I haven't
seen her yet—"
"Because she's in her room in the.
basement, Bonnie," Strewn answered.
"Sort of forgot about her, didn't you?"
and the chief of the homicide squad
chuckled at the younger man's diseom-
feture. "But I got her story -out of
her, you bet! Nothing to it, though.
One of my boys—Collins it was --
found her in that short, dark hall that
runs between the Selina woman's bed-
room and the kitchen. Sicker'n a pup
she was. Said she'd—"
"I'd better have her up and ques-
tion her, if she's able," Dundee inter-
rupted, as tactfully as possible. ''It
seems that she had an abscessed tooth
out today, with gas and a local anaes-
thetic. , Nov, Miss Raymond, will
you tell me exactly what you meant
by saying it ;lust have been Lydia
Carr who killed her mistress?"
"I certainly will!" the red-haired
girl cried defiantly. "What I can't
see is why Tracey and Lois and Drax
-Mr. Sprague 'idn't think of it, too.
It's as plain as-"
"Yes, as the nosc on my face," Dun-
dee cut in grimly, but with a glance
at Strewn. ".rust stick to the facts,
however, Miss acayznond, and maybe
we can all agree with you."
"Well, when Mr. Sprague and I
went.dnto the dining room, there were
Lois and Tracey cutting up like a
cut pie of children," Janet began, de-
termined to take her time. "Tracey
was trying to make Lois drink some.
outlandish concoction he'd mixed in
a glass, and. Lois was laughing and
fighting him oar. When we carne in,
1 ois said, 'Good Lord, Tracey! Get
busyl Or your job as bartender will
be taken away from you,' :and. Tracey
lega_z to get awfully busy at the side-
board—"
"Guess I'd better tell it, Janet, for
what it's worth," Lois cut in impa-
tiently. "It's nothing more nor less
tI an that I had to ring twice for poor
Lydia before she came," she explained
tc Due,dee. "Tracey is full of original
ideas about co:ktails, ..nd wanted
some sort of bitters. He was going to
shout for Lydia, but I stepped on the
bn tton under the dining table, and the
poor thing in the basement nursing
her jaw, probably—didn't hear. Tra-
cey and I got to kiddin. as Janet says,
and had scarcely noticed how long
Lydia was in coming. I rang again,
and she came... , That's all!"
"That isn't all!" Janet denied an-
grily. "I was there when Lydia came
in, and she was looking white as a
east, -except for her swollen jaw.
What's more, she acted so dumb Tra-
cey had to tell her twice what he
wanted, and then spell it for her... .
And she said Nita didn't have any of
those bitters anyway."
"An open-and-shut case against
poor Lydia!" Penny Crain cut in der-
isively, "Go pick daisies Janet!
'You'd be a lot more help,"
"Here's your maid, Bonnie," Cap-
tain Strewn announced lazily, as one
of his plainclothesmen appeared in
the arch between dining and living
rooms, dragging by the hand a woman
who was resisting strangely, her
apron pressed to her face.
""i'ou are Lydia Carr?" Dundee
asked, his voice kinder than it had
been for many minutes. "Don't be
afraid. And I'm sorry about the
tooth.. Come along in. I'll not
keep you long."
The woman's knees seemed about to
fail her, but with a sudden effort she
released the detective's grip on her
wrist. Very tall, very bony in her
black cotton dress. Pathetic, too, with
her thin, iron -gray hair, and that
apron concealing the left half of her
face. It was odd, Dundee thought,
that it was not the swollen jaw she
chose to cover, . .
Mrs. Dunlap sprang to her feet and
hurried across the room to where
.Lydia Carr stood.
"Don't mind, Lydia ple.Ise. You
must not be so sensitive," she said
gently, and even more gently pulled
down the concealing apron.. .
"Good God!" Dundee breathed, and
Strewn nodded his understanding .of
the younger man's horror.
For the left half of Lydia Carx'e
face was drawn and puckered and
ridged alnn.ost out of htinnan sent-
blante: Even the eye was ruined—
a milky hall which the puckered, hair-
less eyelid could never cover again.
"Poor Lydia is ashamed of her
scarred face," Lois Dunlap explained,
cr arm still about the maid's .slow! -
der, "She isn't, q ..ite used to it yet,
but none .of us mind—"
"You were burned recently, Lydia?"'
Dundee asked pityingly.
"That's my business!" the woman
astounded him by retorting harshly.
"How did it :aappen, Lydia?" Du;, -
dee persisted puzzled.
"I had an accident. It was my own
fault,"
Lois Dunlap's kind gray eyes
caught and held Dundee's firmly, "I
think, if Nita could speak to ycu now,
Mr. Dundee, that she would beg you
itot to try to force Lydia's confidence
on this subject. Nita was devoted to
Lydia—we can all testify to that!—
.d one of the sweetest things about
h.ee was her constant effort to protect
Lydia from questions and curious
glances. I, for one, know that Nita
oaten begged 'Lydia to submit to a
skin -grafting operation, regardless of
expense—"
When that kind voice choked on
tears, Dundee abruptly abandoned his
intention to press the matter further.
"Lydia, your mistress had been
married, or was married, wasn't she?"
The woman's single, slate -gray eye
stared into his expressionlessly. "She
had `Mrs.' in front of her name, to use
when she felt like it, That's all I
'-now. I never saw her husband—if
she had one. I only worked for her
about .five years."
"You say she used her married
name 'when she felt like it.' What
do you mean by that, Lydia?"
"I mean she was an actress, and
used her stage name—Juanita Leigh
—pronounced like it was spelled plain
`Lee'; but she was mostly called 'Nita
Leigh: "
"An actress, you say?" Dundee re-
peated thoughtfully. "I had heard of
her only as director of the Forsyte
School plays.... What shows was
she in?"
"She was what they call a specialty
dancer in musical comedy," Lydia an-
swered. "Sometimes she bad a real
part and sometimes she only danced.
She was a gaol hoofer and a good
trouper," she added, the Broadway
terms falling strangely from those
austere lips. "And when she wasn't
in a show she sometimes got a ob in
the pictures. She never had a real
chance in the -movies, though, because
they mostly wanted her to double for
the star.: -in • lene.': allots, 71vhaZe dancing
'came into the picture, or in close -urs'
where they just show the lege, you
know."
"I see," Dundee agreed gravely.
"Where were you during the fifteen
minutes or so before your mistress
was shot, Lydia?"
"I was down in my room in the
basement," the woman answered.
"Nita—I mean Miss Nita—was going
to get Judge Marshall to build me a
:room on the top floor. She hated me
tc have to sleep in the basement, but
I didn't mind."
"You were not required to be on
duty for the part ?"
"No," she answered in her harsh,
flat voice. "I'd fixed the sandwiches
and put out the liquors for the cock-
tails—set therm all out on the dining
room table and sideboard, and Miss
Nita had told me to go and lie down
as soon as I was through. So I did.
I had an abscessed tooth pulled this
morning, and I was feeling sick,"
"Did you hear the kitchen bell. at
all?" Dundee went ore
"I dropped off to sleep—that fool
dentist had shot me full of dope—but
I did hear the bell and I come up to
answer it. Mrs. Dunlap said she'd
rL'ng twice, and I said r was scrry"
"Lydia, did ; ou go into your mis-
tress' bedroom before or after you
answered that bell?" Dundee asked
with sudden sharpness. All records were broken when mail
"I did not! I didn't even know she' from London was landed in Vancou-
was in her bed''oom, until I saw her ver six days three hours, eclipsing
sitting at her dressing table --dead" previous plane to ship record of six
7: he harsh voice hesitated over the last: days seven hours.
word, but it did not break.
The Duke of York pauses for a
moment before taking a dip at
Southwall, Suffolk.
Fainted to Captain Strawn—'said
could go and lie ,town. He helped me
d,wn the basement stairs."
Dundee tapped his teeth with the
long pencil wh.ch he had kept so busy
that evening—tapped them tong and
thoughtfully. Then:
"Lydia, did you see anyone—any-
one at all'!—from your basement room
window before you answered- Mrs.
Dunlap's ring?"
(To be continued.)
I
TALK
We talk of depression and failute,
And mourn over times that are bad,
And seldom we say that a far b tghter
day„,71s
is eoxn r tb'9nalerl
But we're `'used to the changeali?-e•
weather,
And, though it is not always bright,
The very worst clime turns to sun-
shine in time
And darkness is vanquished by light.
Getting Children
Ready For Schoo
Eclitln Loc:lzridgo !tole!
"Excuse me, I'll have to wake Bole
bie," Mrs, .Allen told her neighbor, as
slue rose from the Cosy front porelt
where the two had boon visiting.
"Don't you let hien sleep as long as
ha will?" inquired the neighbor with
some surprise,
"Not any more," replied Mrs. Alien.
"you see, I am getting hint broken In
to start to school, 11e used to sleep
two hours in the afternoon. Then in
July I began to speak to him wheu be
had slept an hour, Now I have his
nap reduced to half an hour, and by
the last of August he will not be talc -
Mg an afternoon nap at all, but will go
to bed early after a light supper."
"That's a good idea," agreed the
neighbor.- "I've heard the teachers
say' that little children do get sleepy
after lunch when they first start to
school."
Mrs. Allen laughed. "Yes, I know
they get sleepy, for I was a teacher
myself. I made up my mind that I
would not have either Bobbie or Ills
teacher troubled by trying to keep
him awake when I could co-operate in
this way."
"I'm glad you mentioned that, for
my little Ellen will start next year,
and I really do want to provide every
advantage possible in her school con-
tacts. If we only had a good kinder-
garten here! That would provide the
very best kind of preparation, wouldn't
it?"
"Yes, I wish we had. Bobbie's
cousin goes to kindergarten, but as my
boy must begin his school career with-
out this help I am trying to get him
ready for the formality of our grade
school.
"I begun to put him on a 'clock
schedule' three months ago, allowng
him a certain time to dress himself in
the morning, including teeth -brushing
and folding his pajamas. He was en-
couraged to be at breakfast promptly,
and after breakfast I always sent him
on some sort of errand which re-
quired him to get back by nine o'clock.
In this way I fixed the hour of school
in his mind. Then, too, at nine o'clock
I bad something interesting for him to
do."
"Wonderful idea!" the neghbor ex-
claimed, "and I'm going to give Ellen
training in finding her own things
when they get lost. She always calls
me to help her, and I can imagine how
she might get in aflurry hunting her
hat or handkerchief at the last min-
ute."
Mrs. Allen smiled at the keen en-
thusiasm which Ellen's mother was
showing im this preparation for school,'
so she continued to make further sug-
gestions.
."I have taught Bobbie to tit quietly
in the'mor;ning'. n ' , x`s •<
the afternoon. He must draw or paint
or cut out pictures neatly or work with
his number board. During that time
he does not speak aloud nor do I Speak
to him. At other times I read him a
story and he tells it to me when I have
finished."
"I'm so glad we got started on this
subject," replied Ellen's mother, "for
I now have a whole year to encourage
Ellen to develop habits that will help
both Ellen and her teacher."
"Such habits make life at home
more pleasant and interesting, too,"
responded Mrs. Allen, "and they can-
not be acquired in the two or three
weeks before school opens."—Issued
by the National Kindergarten As-
sociation, 8 West 40th Street, New
York City. These articles are appear-
ing weekly in our columns.
We talk of the wars that are coming,
And make preparation for them;
And good news of Love which came
from above
We either neglect or condemn;
We think that the wisdom of states-
men
May cure, by and by, 3 , ery ill,
But the wisdom of God is just given
the nod
Till He sends in the terrible bill!
We talk of the peoples around us
As it they were seeking our blood,
And mostly forget that we've never
tried yet
A plan which is peaceful and good—
A Word coming down through the
ages,
A. clear, simple message divine,
Ta sea in another a neighbour and
brother,
And share with the world what is
mine.
—A, B. Cooper.
New Record
"And just when did you first see
her—after she was dead?"
"1 was sitting in the kitch in, think-
ing something else might be needed.
M jaw had begun to ache something
fierce, and I don't know just how Long
I set there. Then i heard a scream, It
sounded like it come from Nita's—.
k _as Nita's bedroom, and I run along
the back hall that leads from the kit-
chen to her bedroom. I heard a Iot
of people running and yelling. Nobody
paid any attention to me."
"You came into the room?"
"No, sir, I did not. I stopped in
the doorway. I heard Mr. Sprague
say she was dead. I was sick and
dizzy anyway, and 1 couldn't move for
a minute. I sort of slipped down to
the floor, and I guess I must have
passed out. And then 1 was dick to:
my stomach, and -1 didn't seem to
care if I never moved again."
"Why Lydia?" Dundee asked gently,.
"Because she was the only friend I
Lad in the world and I couldn't have
loved her better if she had been my.
own child," Lydia answered. And the
stern voice had broken at last, "I
wad still there in the back hall when.
ctrl) come and asked me a lot of ques-
tions and then that lean" ---and she
ally •
,Fems
(W"rile Salads, Toronto, for excellent recipe)
269
Planning Your Tulip Beds
If You Want a Gorgeous Riot of Color Next Spring, Begin to
Plan and Plant Later
It won't be long now—until It's time
to set out that tulip bed you've been
planning since you saw your neigh-
bor's burst into a brilliant color
scheme• last spring.
Fall is the"ideal time to set out tulip
bulbs, planters have found. There is
just enough cool weather before
freezes set in to allow thein to start
rooting and get all ready to burst into
bloom when next spring's sun pays
them an early visit.
Tulips are one of the most popular
and widely planted flowers in the
country. But they are by no means
native. In ,fact, it is a matter of con-
jesture as to which country gave the
tulip to the world. It is thought how-
ever, that it is an Oriental flower, for
it has been found in a wild state in
Persia and Asia Minor.
Favorite Turkish Flower
The flower was a favorite with the
Saracens for generations, and it was
in the Constantinople gardens that the
tulip was first seen by De Busbequius,
ambassador of Emperor Ferdinand I.
at the court of the sultan in 1554, and
sent back to the gardens of Spain, Hol-
land, England and Germany.
Holland was the country first to
realize the worth of these, flowers.
Dutch traders began to carry on a
heavy traffic in the bulbs, growers in
Holland commencer a painstaking sys-
tem of raising them, crossing them to
make numerous strains.
During the first part of the 17th cen-
tury the bulb was at its highest value.
Some of them were sold by weight,
like jewels, and one of "Vic Rol" was
known to sell for $1,700, while one of
the "Admiral Van Enckhuysen" strain
brought more than $2,200.
Even On Stock Market
By 1634 the Dutch were so obsessed
"Is
GOOD EVIDENCE
this train all right for Birming-
ham, my man?" asked the kind old
lady.
"'Yes, ma'am, that's right," replied
the ancient porter.
"But are you sure it goes to Birm-
ingham " she persisted.
He scratched his head and pond-
ered.
"Well, ma'am," he informed her
after a while, "the driver, the fire-
man, the stationmaster, the guard,
anti the dining -car attendant all say
it's going to Birmingham, and I'm
banking on them to know"
onsidering Insects
A. ,pan age,
many a gardener may soon be add-
ing to his usual order for garden
supplies. The time has gone when
insects are to be destroyed on sight,
without due consideration being
given to their family and occupa-
tion. Even the insects are coming
into their rights.
The United States Department of
Agriculture has found that there are
insects and insects. The pests that
sometimes infest large areas and de-
stroy valuable crops can be definite-
ly held in check by introducing into
the neighborhood certain insect
parasites which are now being bred
and shpiped in quantities.
But—to rear and ship these success-
fully, due allowance must be made
for the whims and peculiarities of
the tiny animals. At Moorestown
N.J., where a Department experiment
station is located an elaborately ar-
ranged refrigerated traveling com-
partment has been invented that the
insects may travel in luxurious com-
fort and arrive at their orchard des-
tinations prepared to carry on a suc-
cessful war against battalions of
Oriental fruit moths.
Now that certain insects have
been raised to the dignity of work-
ers for national prosperity and have
received recognition in the way of
transportation comfort, perhaps
still further consideration may be
given the daily transportation of mil-
lions of human toilers.
Ancient Custom Observed
When Lucille matin, ll.7, became the bride of Thomas 'Whitehorn, 13, both Osage Indians of Ilom ny,
Okla., the groom's Parents gavo the girl's parents 35 horses, in keeping with ancient tribal laws.
with tulip speculation, according to all
account, "that the regular industries
were ignored for the most part, and
by 1636 the demand for rare species
became so great that they were dealt
with on the stock exchanges.
"The manipulation of the market
and frenzied gambling took place. Peo-
ple sold their houses and lands, jewels
and other valuables at any price they
would bring to buy tulips. When the
crash finally came thousands were
left homeless."
With all this early craze over a
single type of flower, it is only natural
that a measure of its attractiveness
should still linger. You can find the
flower in any part of the coantry and,
because it lends itself to beds and bor-
ders, they generally are seen in a
mass.
Plan Now—Plant Later
Planning a tulip bed for next year is
a job for the gardener at this time.
Perhaps a border or bed is required
to touch up some bald spot in the
yard; perhaps the gardener wants to
plant both late and early varieties
in the same bed to secure a succession
of blossoms. All this can be done on
paper before the bulbs are set in.
In selecting the bulbs, if you haven't
a supply pulled up for transplanting
from this year's bed, make sure you
get them from a reliable dealer, There
are many varieties to choose from.
Among them are Darwin, Breeder,
Rembrant, Lily -flowered, Bi -bloom,
Botanical and the new rock garden
types.
The bulbs can be set in the ground
from the latter part of September up
to freezing weather in November.
They should be set about four inches
deep. After setting, which should be
in a sunny place, the bulbs should be
covered with a layer of fertilizer.
"Why did you propose to her?"
"Wanted to get points on how to
refuse an offer and yet be sure of
having it offered again."
•
King Opens Bear Park
The open-air museum at Skansen
has modernized its zoological section.
Bears now occupy a large tract of land
surrounded by a wide moat, where
they can roam freely among the trees,
rocks and in the numerous ponds. The
Ding officially opened this model bear
park, which is said to be the most up-
to-date and largest in the world. Shan -
sen is continually enlarging and add-
ing to its already rich and valuable
collections. A section called "Old
Stockholm" is being constructed;
some of the best examples from vari-
ous periods of architecture and cul-
ture and many fine old houses, which
it has been found necessary to re-
move, have been saved and are being
taken down to be erected again at
Skansen, The latest addition is an
old Burgher -home dating from the
middle of the eighteenth century.
MacDonald's Daughters
Win Scholastic Honors
Ramsay MacDonald, Prime Minister
of Great Britain, is swelling with
parental pride.
d'oan, his second daughter, has just
won an M.D. with high honors at
Edinburgh University, famed for the
difficulty of its medical examin-
ations. +�
Sheila, his youngest, has captured
second honors at Orford University
in philosophy, politics andeeconomics.
infuriated farmer: "What do you
mean by it, madam? 1 give you per-
mission to pitch your tent in ley inea.
dow, and you have the audacity to
leave the gate open and ` let all my
cattle out!" Holiday Camper: "i'v.
awfully sorry, sir—it's .my husband,
you know—he always sleeps with his
bedroom door open..."
ISSUE No, 36—'32