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The Tribune
F M KIM M ELL Publisher
MCOOK
NEBRASKA
The Mystery
OF
CarneyQroft
By
JOSEPH BROWN COOKE
Copyright HOT by 8tory Pres Corporation
CHAPTER VII
A Misplaced Joke
The door was securely locked and
bolted on the inside as I had left it
the night before and a most thor
ough search disclosed no other door
opening into the room and no pos
sible place of concealment for any
thing of the bulk of a man
The thought of a concealed opening
in the ceiling over the bed naturally
suggested itself to my mind but noth
ing of the sort existed and a moments
examination with a towel on the end
of a walking stick showed a layer of
dust which evidently had not been dis
turbed for years
In short the presence of the envel
ope on my bed seemed to be shrouded
in mystery of the most impenetrable
kind but even it was exceeded in
Its incomprehensibility by the aston
ishing contents of the note
My love for Florence Carney whs I
had thought a secret buried deep In
my own breast Surely I had never told
it in all the years that I had cherished
it so fondly and on one occasion at
least I had denied it flatly Yet it was
mentioned here in as matter-of-fact a
way as if our engagement had been
formally announced and our wedding
day named
I turned the matter over and over
in my mind as 2 strolled slowly along
in the winding road that led to Hos
kins hotel but I was rib nearer a so
lution of the problem when I finished
my breakfast than I had been when I
left the house There were a number
of letters for me at the post office but
I had no interest in them and stuff
ing them unread into my pocket I
wandered back to Carney Croft still
pondering deeply
Unlocking the door I returned at
once to my room and again made a
careful search for any possible means
of ingress after the door was closed
and secured for the night While the
lock might have been turned from the
outside with a master key there was
still the holt to hold it and that this
could not have heen slipped by any
other hand than mine I was absolutely
sure Moreover there was no hidden
mechanism connected with the holt
which was a simple commonplace af
fair bearing the name of a well known
maker and evidently attached to the
door after the house was completed
Giving up in despair for the pres
ent at least I descended to the
ground floor again intending to make
a minute inspection of the house and
grounds when a faint odor of cigar
smoke attracted my notice and I saw
that the library door was ajar
Tiptoeing forward I peered through
the opening and beheld to my amaze
ment a familiar figure seated comfort
ahly in one of the large leather chairs
with his feet resting lazily on an
other in all the assurance of appar
ent proprietorship At the same in
stant he turned his head slightly in
my direction and uncertain as to
whether he had seen me or not I re
treated rapidly and noiselessly up the
stairs to my room where I locked my
self in and tried to smother my an
ger and view the situation logically
While the manner in which the
-note had reached me was still as much
of a mystery as ever its contents at
least were explained and my fury
knew no bounds at the wholly unwar
ranted impertinence of this sorry at
tempt at a practical joke
To me the matter was so sacred so
precious so entirely my own that my
rage at the frivolity of this contempt
ible jest drove from my mind all
thought of wonder that a man who
I had every reason to believe was
miles away should be at this very
moment under the same roof with
me
I sat down and gazed out of the win
dow across the river to the heavily
wooded hills in the distance and
made an almost superhuman effort to
control myself Finally I opened the
letters that had come by the morn
ings mail and began to read them in
a perfunctory way The -second was
from my secretary and as I perused
it I suddenly awoke from my apathy
and read with interest
Two letters came this morning
from Mr Carney one postmarked Lon
don and the other Paris I forward
them with other papers under sepa
rate cover
Dr MacArdel called this afternoon
and was greatly surprised to learn
that you had gone away so suddenly
and without sending him- word He
said he wanted to see you on a person
al matter and seemed quite disap
pointed at missing you
The Jarvis case has been post
poned to the fall term
The letter closed with a few memo
randa of business matters and by the
time I had finished reading it my mind
was clear to an extent that enabled
me to see things in a reasonable light
and to appreciate that the mystery of
the note was as deep if not deeper
than ever
Opening the door I strode down
stairs Into the library and up to the
figure In the chair
Hello r exclaimed grasping him
by the arm
Better late than never he re
sponded with a hearty laugh What
made you sneak upstairs in that mys
terious way Think I was a ghost
No I replied slowly and serious
ly I thought you were a scoundrel
and I owe you an apology from the
bottom of my heart
Have a cigar old man said Mac
Ardel
CHAPTER VI il
A Disappearing Cigar Case
What on earth brings you here
Mac I exclaimed accepting his prof
fered cigar and lighting it with a sud
den Interest and respect for the tradi
tional pipe of peace
Train said MacArdel coupled
with an overwhelming desire to seize
upon you and take you off with me
for a months vacation
So thats why you called at my of
fice yesterday afternoon eh I quer
ied
How did you know that I was
there asked MacArdel
My secretary mentioned in his
letter that came this morning I ex
plained And its a great good thing
that he did for while the information
only made a big mystery out of what
appeared for -a moment to be a com
paratively small one it served fortu
nately to clear you in an instant from
a very serious charge that I was nurs
ing against you
Humph said MacArdel
the way you treat your
Condemn em -without a
So thats
friends
hearing
eh
Well Mac I replied this had to
uimn
positive way unless he had known
that it was true Now you are the
only person living with whom I have
ever talkod on this subject for you
will remember that you once inti
mated pretty broadly that I was in
love wfth Miss Carney
And you denied it flatly he re
marked
Yes I replied I denied it
flatly
MacArdel I said soberly looking
him squarely in the face youve cpr
nered me and I might as well tell you
the whole thing It was three years ago
when we talked of this before and 1
must have loved her then and from
the day I first saw her 13ut not as 1
love her now old man for now she is
my all in all and my only thoughts are
for her welfare and her happiness
You know I saw her very frequently
when she was living in town and now
that she is away our correspondence
is necessarily frequent so that I can
keep informed of her whereabouts
and know of her needs from the es
tate
Of course you could not pay her
any attentions unless you meant to
ask her to marry you said MacArdel
but I dont see any objection what
ever to that I know you havent any
money but your social position is as
good as hers and you are doing well
in your profession It seems to me
that it would be a very appropriate
match if you love each other
No Mac I insisted Its better as
it is Considering my position In con
nection with the estate it would he a
mean advantage for me to take and
Mac if she refused me I helieve 1
would kill myself Im such a fool
over it
But suppose she didnt refuse you
said MacArdel softly laying his hand
I on my arm
I lJ Jllml Afi 3
- v fatten J zirm
When Did You Get It
do with a matter that -only you and I
knew anything about and what you
know about it you have merely in
ferred Then when I saw yoirhere in
the house there seemed to he no other
explanation at all -at least of the most
important part of the thing But now
it is more hopelessly tangled up than
before for as you were in my office
yesterday afternoon you could not pos
sibly have had anything to do with it
Delightfully interesting Imsurel
said MacArdel and most appropriate
when occurring in a hpuse alleged to
be haunted Still I confess I could
follow you more closely if I had some
faint glimmer of an idea of what you
are talking about
I handed him the note and he read
it slowly and thoughtfully
When did you get it he asked
Found it on my bed this morning
when I woke I replied
Who put it there he continued
How the devil do I know who put
it there I returned excitedly The
bouse was locked up and so was the
room The window was open I ad
mit but I am positive that no one
could have gotten in that way There
are too many vines about it and not
a twig was bent
So you thought it was a miracle
and that it must have been I who
performed it eh said MacArdel I
know you always maintained that I
worked a miracle when I cured your
typhoid
Hang it all Mac- I exclaimed I
dont care a snap of my little finger
how it got on the bed I want to know
who wrote it
Well I didnt anyhow said Mac
Ardel I never heard of it before I
suppose somebody wanted to play a
joke on you for your temerity In sleep
ing alone in a haunted house Pretty
poor sort of a joke to be sure but I
dont see anything to warrant your
getting so excited over it
See here Mac I said drawing my
chair up close to his you dont seem
to understand just what 1 mean The
point is simply this No one could have
written a hlng like that in such a
No old man its no use talking
that way I replied Ill just go on
as Ive been doing Its the only thing
I can do as I see it
Bet you a dinner at Sherrys that
you propose to her and marry her
within two years said MacArdel
with a quizzical look in his kindly
eyes and with a half hearted grasp of
his hand I accepted the wager with
a temerity that was half wishing and
half hopeful
So you see why I feel so strongly
about this note I said rising and
opening the door which I had closed
carefully on my entrance The sub
ject is one that I cannot bear to have
trifled with and anyway I cannot im
agine who could have rend my inner
most thoughts so correctly That
puzzles me more than the mysterious
appearance of the letter in my bed
I fancy well be able to explain that
without much trouble said MacArdel
lighting a fresh cigar and laying his
cigar case on the table beside him
These mysterious occurrences always
happen in a most simple fashion after
all is said and done One night last
summer I ras reading in bed and just
before putting out the light I laid my
eyeglasses on a Mttle table about six
feet from the window I was pe rfectly
sure about it for the spring was bent
slightly and I had spent several min
utes fussing with them before I put
them down The next morning they
were gone and never turned up in
spite of the most vigorous search un
til the maid found them three or four
days later hidden completely in the
folds of the lace curtain which had
blown across the table and caught
them up As my room was on the
fourth floor and had been securely
locked all night the affair was quite
mystifying until it was so simply ex
plained Well find out before long
how the letter got on your bed and
that will doubtless lead to the dis
covery of its author Have a fresh
cigar and show me around the place
a bit It looks mighty interesting and
romantic
TO BE CONTINUED
DONE IN A HURRY
GREAT RAILROAD STUNT OF THE
LONG AGO
Man Who Helped to Narrer the
Grand Trunk Line Tells How the
Work Was Pushed to Its
Completion
Uncle Ame By rant of By rants Pond
Me took part in a railroad stunt back
in 72 which makes one realize that
the much abused railroads have ac
complished some big things in 35
years
Uncle Ame helped as he says to
narrer the Grand Trunk It may
Uncle Ame
surprise some folks to know that the
Grand Trunk was originally built to
a five foot gauge
The result was endless trouble
Tioth when the Grand Trunk cars were
sent over other lines or strange cars
were to he run on the Grand Trunk
Cars had to be specially constructed
to meet the contingency with loose
wheels on one side so that they could
be set over to fit whatever gauge
might come their way
These loose wheels were fastened
with metal pins which were forever
working loose and causing all manner
of smashups Traffic suffered delays
ensued and the system was eventual
ly found to he impracticable Some
thing had to he done about it
Finally the wise ones got their
heads together and agreed that the
track would have to be narrowed It
would never do to suspend traffic
while the herculean task was being
accomplished The wise ones talked
and talked and finally hit upon a plan
Uncle Ame helped carry out that
plan
Word came to us long in the spring
of 72 that the old railroad was a goin
to be narrered he said to a reporter
That was good news mister The
wide gauge was no end of bother
what with transferrin freight an pas
sengers wheels comin off perpetual
an trains runnnin into th ditch So
we was glad to hear the standard
gauge was a comin spite o all the
trouble and expense you bet
First thing we had to do y see
was to unspike one rail all along the
inside leavin jest three spikes to
hold her
At four a m we was all ready on
the depot platform Pretty soon along
comes an engine and some flat cars
to take us to our new positions Mine
was furthest from the depot
There you be says the conduc
tor lettin us off Now you wait
right here until you see two trains
pass with signs on the back car then
get busy
Purty soon we heard a whistle an
along comes the east bound makin
things hum Twant a great while
before we heard number two kitin
along tother way By she whizzed in
a cloud of smoke an cinders Stick
in out from the back platform we see
the sign Last train going west
Now jump boys I hollered an
they jumped some I tell ye
They certainly did make them
spikes fly One man held a gauge
two was armed with drawbars an the
rest had sledge hammers an spikes
Those with the bars run along pullin
out the three spikes that held each
rail others slipped the rail over to
the gauge an the rest spiked down
to every other tie
Mister that was snappy work In
an hour wed covered all but half a
mile of our section an had the finish
in sight where another section had
started
Coaches for Honeymooners
The young folk whose springtide
fancies turn toward wedding bells
and honeymoons will rejoice to hear
that the Midland Railroad company
has its fatherly eye on them and
hence a honeymooners carriage has
been introduced into the service of
the railway says the Dundee Scot
land Advertiser Happily the car
riage is not to attract the unmerciful
curiosity of other passengers It is
just a plain cozy first class compart
ment on the coupe principle and it
holds two persons and no more
These two seat compartments will en
able honeymooners to obtain the ad
vantage of a reserved compartment
at the price of two tickets The new
compartment is in the middle of the
new composite coaches which have
just been built they are linked up by
a side corridor with the other com
partments of the coach At present
these carriages are known in cold of
ficial language as Composite corridor
coaches
AUTOMATIC STOP FOR TRAINS
Simple Device Which Sets the Brakes
If the Danger Signal Is Ignored
On the subway in New York city
and on the Boston elevated operating
practically all the interurhan servico
of that city there is now and for
some time has been in use a simple
mechanism a mechanical tripf by
means of which when an engineer
runs past a danger signal the motive
power is shut off and the brakes
are set mechanicully writes Carl
Snyder in Everybodys This is
what is known as the Kinsman stop
It has been highly successful and has
permitted much freer and closer run
ning of trains than had heretofore
been deemed possible It Is a practi
cal and demonstrated success
Its elevator has likewise developed
an electrical device of the same na
ture and this Is now being tried by
one or more steam roads It is ex
tremely simple It consists merely
of an inner guard rail about 120 feet
in length forming part of an open
circuit in connection with the ordi
nary block signal Projecting from
under the engine is a heavy steel arm
strong enough to resist all breakages
and fixed on a stiff but sufficiently
flexible spring so that it may be
knocked about without danger The
arm scrapes along the guard rail as
the engine passes over it thereby clos
ing the circuit and if the signal be
at danger it automatically shuts the
engine throttle and throws on the
brakes It is set a little beyond the
danger signalso that if the engineer
has obeyed the signal it has no ef
fect If he has run past the train is
automatically stopped With this de
vice goes a very Ingenious recording
apparatus which shows every time
such an automatic stop is made in
other words how often the engineer
has gone by his signals It Is a me
chanical surprise test This record
ing apparatus is under lock and key
and is opened only by the inspectors
at the end of the run
HIS WRATHFUL GOOD BYE
The Train Dispatcher Was Irritated
at the Operator
When the weather is foggy and
damp telegraph wires work badly due
to what is known as escape that
is loss of current due to imperfect
insulation moisture being a conduc
tor On such occasions it is difficult
for operators to keep their instru
ments properly adjusted It frequent
ly happens therefore than an opera
tor will begin to use the wire while
it is already in use This is termed
breaking in and is at times a source
of great annoyance especially on a
train dispatchers wire
Recently C M Pierce Missouri Pa
cific dispatcher at Osawatomie Kan
was up against such a proposition It
was quitting time for the day men
along the line and one chap out in
the western part of the state broke in
to say G N which is the telegraph
ers manner of saying good night A
similar response from the dispatcher
is authority to close up
This man was not adjusted and did
not hear Pierces acknowledgment
Every few minutes he repeated his ex
asperating G N Pierce was cov
ered up with work and every interrup
tion meant a set back to his plans
that can only be fully realized by a
member of the craft
For the seventeenth time was heard
the same old appeal G N
Pierce in sheer desperation re
sponded Good night good morrow
good Lord good bye
FREIGHT TRAFFIC THE CAUSE
Responsible for Excess of Accidents
in the United States
How little we really know of the
casualties on foreign railroads is in
dicated by the fact that while French
railroad statistics give the total of
railway employes killed in 1904 at
22G and the injured at 509 the re
ports to the labor inspectors under
the French law give the following
figures of accidents to employes in
the transportation industry Killed
374 permanently disabled 513 dis
abled not exceeding four days 327SS
results unknown Goo a total of
34330
The reason why there are more
casualties on American railways than
on European is because the units of
risk are greater here as can be seen
in the following comparative table
All Europe Unitd States
1904 1306
Miles of railway 1S977J rSftit
Passengers car
ried one mile UmOOOOOo 5000000000
Tons carried one
mile S929J000000 iiOOOOOOOOCO
The enormous freight traffic is the
overshadowing element of peril in
railway operation in the United
States It is almost three times great
er than that of all Europe Freight
trains figure in three quarters of the
prominent collisions reported here
Slason Thompson in The World To
Day
OLD ENGINE HAS HISTORY
Locomotive used by Dana in his
earlier days in getting news into New
York city from Albany
Relieves
Spring Catarrh
y t V BjpBBffifflfcS i v--v vv
IXVv fcpvS fcy
MISS BORA UATDEN
Without hesitation I write to thank
you for the great relief I have found in
your valuable medicine Pcruna and
will call the attention of all my friends
suffering with catarrh to that fact Be
sides Ichecrftdly recommend it to alt suf
fering with catarrh in any form
Miss Dora Hayden Sig 6th St S W
Washington D C
A Case of Spring Catarrh
Mrs N P Lawler 423 NBroadway
Pittsburg Kas writes Last spring I
caught a severe cold which developed
into a serious case of catarrh I felt
weak and sick and could neither eat
nor sleep well
A member of our club who had been
cured of catarrh through the use of Pe
runa advised me to try it and I did so
at once I expected help but nothing
like the wonderful change for the better
I observed almost as soon as I started
talcing it In three days I felt much
better and within two iveeksl was in
fine health Peruna is a wonderful
medicine
STUDENT MADE HIS POINT
No Doubt the Policeman Understood
What He Meant
W H Mallock the well known
English writer and political economist
said at a dinner in New York apropos
of a new definition of socialism I
find that definition rather confusing
It reminds me of the young Oxford
students badinage with the police
man Officer said the youth late one
night Id like to ask you a Question
Very well sir
- Does the law permit me to call
you an ass
You move on the officer growled
But stop a bit continued the
youth Does the law permit me to
call an ass a policeman
The law dont say nothing about
that was the gruff reply
Then said the youth good night
Mr Policeman
BABY IN TERRIBLE STATE
Awful Humor Eating Away Face
Body a Mass of Sores Cuticura
Cures in Two Weeks
My little daughter broke out all
over her body with a humor and we
used everything recommended but
without results I called in three doc
tors hut she continued to grow worse
Her body was a mass of sores and her
little face was being eaten away Her
ears looked as if they would drop off
Neighbors advised me to get Cuticura
Soap and Ointment and before I had
used half of the cake of Soap and box
of Ointment the sores had all healed
and my little ones face and body were
as clear as a new born babes I would
not be without it again if it cost five
dollars instead of seventy five cents
Mrs George J Steese 701 Coburn St
Akron O Aug 30 1905
English Ribbon Trade Flourishing
The English ribbon trade is said to
be now in a more flourishing condi
tion than it has been in many years
owing to the huge demands the dress
makers and milliners are making up
on the output of the manufacturers
Shake Into Your Shoes
Allens Foot Ease It cures painfulswollen
smarting sweating feet Makes new shoes
easy Sold by all Druggists and Shoe Stores
Don t accept any substitute SamnleFREE
Address A S Olmsted Le Roy N Y
Queen Alexandra after a residence
of 45 years In England has visited the
tower of London She is said to have
been ruch interested in what she
Baw
It is a pity to be ill Take Garfield Tea
the laxative exactly suited to the needs of
men women and children At is made
wholly of herbs it purifies the blood
eradicates disease overcomes constipation
brings Good Health
Work of Cupid in Germany
The number of marriages in the
German empire in 1905 was 485906
Krauses Cold Cure
For cold in head throat chest or back
liest remedy lor La Grippe Druggists 25e
There are lots of people In the so
clal scale who do not weigh much
ir WintlowB Soothlntr Synip
For children tcetMnz tof tens the numa rolncen In
flammation allay palncures wlnl cutft 25ca botUe
A bad Imitation is often better taa
the real thing
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