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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 10, 1929)
THE COPPER HOUSE A Detective Story BY JULIUS REGIS AUTHOR OF "NO 13 TORONI" 13 CHAPTER XITI pona Ivanovna Asks a Second Question and Gets on Unexpected Reply. As soon as Leo had read ! Wallion's message, a feeling of jreat relief came over him. For the first time he dared to con- I (ess to himself that he had been pn the point of giving up hope ! altogether. The realization of Baron Fayerling's true charac ter had brought home to him ! his own utter helplessness. No j one knew better than he that ! the isolated position of the Copper House gave, for the time being, a tremendous ad vantage to the dangerous fang; the baron’s high-handed proceedings had also made him fear that the journalist—his only friend at this crisis—had already been secretly done away with. But the little slip of paper, so unexpectedly flung through his window, came a sunbeam into a darkened room; Wallion was evidently still free, and at work. Ilow, under present con ditions, he had managed to evade the enemy, was more than Leo could imagine, but the mere knowledge of the fact exhilarated him like a glass of champagne; he drew' a deep breath, and his mind, which bad seemed frozen, began to work once more. I he situa tion was, after nil, full of pos sibilities as long as Wallion was anywhere in the neighbor hood. The wish to do something himself returned to Leo with double force, and one idea af ter another chased through his active brain; he had a danger tils craving to lend a hand, to lurprisr his friend by some tlever move, some stroke of genius that might even settle the whole affair for good. He thrust the note into his Waistcoat poekot, left his room, . *nd ran whistling downstairs. In the hall he found Lona Ivanovna, very quiet and with t look of painfully concentrat ed thought on lur thin face, lie noticed at once that the guard by the door had disap peared, and that a new kind of iilence reigned over the house; a silence that kept one’s ears and nerves per; y on the Btretch. The whoso doors stood op a > very side of the hall, g v» , > toe im pression of 1 .. o dy just been \a<jatcd, v I t.. I at any minute somef rg n'ght hap pen in them. A flash of !i ;ing flick ered from the ivy bank of elouds outside, like the expir ing ray of a searchlight, and was followed by a low growl of very distant thunder. Lona Ivanovna turned, as she heard the young man’s step on the stairs. “They have gone,’’ said she, “and they have not found him yet.” J*?o glowed with satisfac- J lion: fur the first time the pug- j naeious old lady addressed him in the friendly tone hitherto reserved for her brother and j Sonia. He was quite pleased to j bear that Bernard Jenin had 1 not been found, but that was not the most important thing from his point of view. “Has the baron gone ■way?” he asked eagerly. ^‘Yes, he went just now, with that miserable creature Tassler. But it’s too soon to rejoiee, my boy, Kastakov is left behind, and we are prison ers,’ she added in a dry sar easlic tone, as if she found this fact rather amusing. “Prisoners!” echoed Leo, “how can that be* You must be joking. There is no prison here. ” “Dear me, how shall 1 make you understand!” she mut tered. scratching her forehead with her croehetliook; **havn you ever been in the fortress of St, Peter and St, Paul?” ‘‘No, never!” cried Leo, considerably taken aback. ‘‘So I should think. Put I have! It was in the days when I used to throw bombs,” she said confidentially; ‘‘well, it would have been easier to es cape from Peter and Paul than to get out of the Copper House now. Of course, I was young then....” Leo stared at her, opened his mouth and—remained silent. He went over to the glass door, threw it open, and hurried out on to the terrace. ‘‘Where are you off to?” de manded Rastakov, appearing in front of him, with his right hand in his pocket. “Whatever business is it of yours!” retorted Leo furiously. “How dare you speak to me like that! I go where I choose.” Rastakov sneered provolcing 1 y. “Yes, after 11 or 12 o’clock tonight, maybe; but until then you have got to keep quiet, or you may find yourself taken elsewhere first thing in the morning. Co indoors, and get your friends to amuse you; we have a small job on out here, and don’t want to be inter fered with: so that’s all there IS to It.” Leo took a couple of steps towards him, but the man qui otly drew a huge revolver from his pocket: his face was grim and watchful. “I mean it!” he said; ‘‘go indoors.” Leo looked all round him; he could not repress a shudder ns he counted nine or ten armed men posted in front of the house, and he guessed that if would be equally well guard ed on the remaining sides; Lona Ivanovna was right; they wore prisoners. “Ydu must be mad!” ho ex claimed; ‘‘we are not. in Rus sia. T have only to report this to the police, and you would all bn arrested.” ‘‘Do so, by all means,” rc nlied the other scornfully; ‘‘perhaps you would like me to send the message for you!” ‘‘I shall 1 shall.,.. ” Leo checked himself, and turned back into the house. He was angry with himself, with Rastakov, with the whole world; he was aware that he olayed a sorrv figure, and the knowledge did not imnrove his temper. However, the recol lection of Wall ion's message was some consolation, and by 'he tin,p bp saw Lona Ivanovna "gain in the hall, he was able to speak to her almost cheer fully : “1 must borrow one of those bombs of yours; I have biul a dispute with Rastakov, and couldn't find any argument strong enough to convince him. She stopped working, laid ; her bony hand on Ins arm, and ' said, with a weary little laugh; “My boy, it is many years since I imagined that 1 could set the world to rights with a handful of dynamite in a sar dine tin: gunpowder, or words, it all comes to the same in the long run.’’ They entered the drawing room as she was speaking, and the blind man’s feeble voice chimed in : “Ye*, you are right, it does n’t matter: it all ends in noise Though a bomb is more straightforward, it seems to me,” he added thoughtfully, and as if to himself. This appeared to be a topic they had often discussed be fore, and I ona Ivanovna im mediately joined issue with her brother. “Not a single bomb that, was ever thrown has improved the world in any way. It was the ‘‘oily of youth that blinded us to the truth, when we were striving so desperately to bring about Russia’s freedom. Rus sia is free now, but it is not our bombs that have brought it about.” “Possibly,” answered An drei Bernin, his voice sounding somewhat stronger; “but it i; not finished yet. Who knows whether in this very house ff Ilis sister made a sudden movement, and lie was silent. After a pause he asked: “Is the young man here?” “Yes, he is here. Rastakov has just told him that he can not leave the house. ... Would you like to speak to him?” “I should like to do so,” said Andrei Bernin; “let me give you a piece of advice, Mr. Grath: leave this place as soon as you can.” “How can I do that? You heard....” “Yes, yes, but give them your word that you will say nothing, and they will let you go. It will be better for you.” “He is right,” said Bona Ivanovna, softly; “I will tell you the truth: we who are obliged to stop here are ex pecting nothing less than a ca tastrophe. I know you want to help us, but what can you do by yourself? You can leave us with a clear conscience.” “But you? What will you do?” \*e? Oh, it will soon he over, we must just have pa tience.” Before Leo could reply, Sonia sprang up, her eyes wide open, her hands clutching at her throat. ‘‘Patience! T hate that word,” she exclaimed. ‘‘I will not he patient, [ want to sec those wretches heaten, who are using Russia’s misery as a step ping-stone for their own for tunes. It is cowardly to be patient, and l won’t....” Her voice broke, and she turned and went quickly out of the room. Her passionate words left the others silent; they scarcely ventured to look at one another, hut at last Leo said: ‘‘She is right. What you said was kindly meant and 1 am grateful, hut let me toll you in my turn that L have no inten tion of leaving here. I am not a pessimist, and f am intensely anxious to see what will hap pen, especially as the matter concerns my own house.” He waited an instant for their reply, but none was forth coming. Andrei Bernin sank hack among his cushions, and his sister remained standing by the window. Leo bowed, and went out to see what had be come of Sonia; she had not gone further than the stairs, where he found her leaning against the banister. She turned her faefi to him with a dazed expression, and, in her black dress, she looked so small and frail, that the young man seized her little sunburnt hands impulsively, and said: try to be patient a little longer, won’t you? Perhaps help is nearer than you think.” ‘‘It will have to come pretty quickly, then,” she answered in a low voice; ‘‘all the same, 1 am not afraid.” Ijt'o did not know what to say next. A vague masculine sympathy prompted him to try and console her, but he knew instinctively that she would take it amiss. She drew h3r hands away, and said gravely “There is no need for you to trouble yourself about 11s; we have been uninvited guests in your house, but it won’t last much longer; in a short time vve shall have gone for good.” “Yes, but look here!” he cried out impetuously, “that is just what 1 don’t want, 1 ask nothing better than to know more of you, to be one of your best friends; you persist in keeping me at a distance!” “You mustn’t say that!” whispered Sonia, blushing deeply: “You understand something of what we are suf fering: a man's life is at stake, and we are bound to keep silence for his sake....” “Do you mean Sergius!” **Yes," she answered softly, “lie is hidden here, in spite of all their searching; he is my cousin/' This piece of news struck the young man like a flash of lightning. “Your cousin! Bernard Jenin your cousin! That ex plains it. Then he must be. .” “Lona Ivanovna's soe.” Sonia completed the sentence. Leo’s hands trembled with ex citement. He felt that Wallion ought to know this at once, and he looked round the hall, almost as though he expected the journalist to be somewhere in it. “Come!” he exclaimed, “come! You ought to have told me that before. We must go straight to him.” “To whom?” “Mauuiee Wallion.” The girl gave a little cry. “Is he here?” “I don’t know. But we must find out where he is.” Leo had no plan, no idea oi what he was going to do. Jt did not occur to him that b.\ acting too precipitately he might spoil everything, he was j only conscious of a frantic ue sire to do something before it ( was too late, and he rushed off, dragging the girl after min. They ran like two children through the silent eouse, and Leo began to call Wall ion loud ly by name. “No, no,” the gill hushed him; “don’t call, they may , la ar us.” “We must find him! If Ber nard Jenin can hide himself Wallion can do the same ” “No,” said she, “your friend couldn’t hide himself here, in the way that Sergius has j done.” Leo felt that she was speak ing the truth. She knew then, where Jenin was hidden. “’then it’s impossible,” he faltered dejectedly; “Wallion J can’t be here after all.” “No, he certainly isn’t inside the Copper House.” Leo began to wonder wheth er the journalist had aban doned them to their f ! >, and his eyes grew dim, but Le .-.look i ff tjw feeling of hopelessness whicji, was stealing over him. and skid quickly: “He • must be somewhere dose by.!’ A h w minutes later, they went boldiy out by die kitchen door, and took the path to the garden, their intention being to ■ walk right round th$ house, in defiance of their jailms. Bastakov was fori match not to be seen, but four or five of the sentries shouted to them from a distance. The girl, who was the more level-headed of the two, picked a rose, and arranged it delib erately in the lapel of her coat. “Look as unconcerned a.* you can,” she whispered. “They oughtn’t to mind our taking a breath of fresh air; when they calm down, we will no- • i -jo our round. . .. ” But at this moment an un fftr s > - obstacle blocked their way. Rosenthal came striding towards them from the garden er' Inge, and as soon as he was within speaking distance, he called out in a threatening voice: “Hallo, my young cockerel, what are you doing out here?' Leo grew white with rage, and replied furiously: “Mind what you’re saying!’’ Rosenthal closed with him, and gave him a form!'able blow with his fist, on the point of the chin. Leo staggered back, but noticed with surprise that the blow was not so severe in reality as in appearance. And. next minute, he could hardly believe his own ears, when Rosenthal said, almost inar "“My: “Hit me back, make the hell of a row, it’s for your own ad vantage! ” The man’s eves were on a level with his, and he was aware of an extraordinarily ’umo-ous look in them. Rut. the next instant, the gardenei was bellowing at the top of hi? voice: ITO BE CONTINUED) Anti-Saloon League Home Receives Appropriation WESTERVILLE, OHIO— (UP> This village, headquarters of tht Antl-Salocn league and known at the “dry capitol of the world,” has appropriated $500” to aid the vil lage officials enforce the Eighteenth amendment,” for the ensuing year The action fo’owed an applica tion by Dr. Howard Jirde Russell chairman of the Corafhittee of On Hundred on Law Observance. Dr. Rufiotll said the money would bi ■•tilteed to make and lnves .Ljaticns of Uquor violations and to .'btain evidence to enforce the li quor laws. boosters Win in Court; May Continue to Crow CLENS FALLS. N. Y.—(UP' — Roosters of this vicinity may crow as long, loudly and early as they please according to a recent decision of J. Ward Russell, city attorney, who was called upon to settle the matter. Numerous residents had com nlaired to the mayor that ambitious ch«u_ticl**rs oftntinua'lu rtie+'o-h®-* their matutinal slumbers with lusty vocalizations. The birds were so noisy, particularly on cloudy days, the citizens claimed, that they should be declared nuisances and done away with. The mayor stated he had never heard oi an ordinance for quieting roosters and consulted the city at torney. Russell decided there was nothing to be done about the fowls outside of using them for Sunday dinners or following the ancient maxim of “early to bed and early to nse " Plane Costs $175 M’COOK, NEB—(UP)—A home made plane, costing only $175 Is expected to be ready for flight soon. C. R. McNeil, the builder, said. Mc Neil, who has completed a course in aviation, constructed the plane in his garage in Culbertson. OH, WHAT DID HE SEE? SHANGHAI—(UP)—-What 3 Saw in the Dancing Halls.” a re cently published Chinese book, has been ordered suppressed in Greater Shanghai by edict of General . Chana Chun, the rn&var. i ► WHAT YOU THINK ► AS DEATH NEARS ► - ► AKRON—What does a man, ► who falls four stories to land K on the pavement below to al ► most sure death, think in fall ► ing? ► Not very mucr. is the answer ► of Thomas Davidson, window ► washer who recently went ► through the experience. There ► is no immediate flash of your ► past life's history, as has been ► reported. ► “The air got awfully hot," ► Davidson says. "The first ► thought I had was, ‘I'm gone!’ ► And I realized too that 1 was ► still conscious. Twenty feet ► from the bottom everything ► went dark and I did not feel ► the shock of striking the ► pavement. It was Just like ► dreaming of falling." ► For several day3 after David ► son's fall it was feared he would ► die, but he survived. Investment Trust “Mysteries.” Prom New York Times. Compilations of the new stocks ind bonds placed last month on the market by Investment trusts give a still more extraordinary color to the picture which they present. August is not a month in which issue of new securities is usually active; it is vacaticn-time for the markets as (or the general public. But company securities put out last month to raise new capital amounted, by The Financial Chronicle's summary of Saturday to $751,000,000, or four limes as much as in August of 1928, »nd the difierence is almost wholly accounted for by investment trusts. Their application fer new capital reached 3485,735,000, whereas the records indicate tiiat it could not have exceeded $25,000,000 in August of any previous year and averaged about $160,000,000 in the earlier months of 1929. Thus far in the year their total issue of new stocks and bonds has been 31,596,635,000, as against $4,608,368,000 put out by all ether classes of corporations combined, During the last four or five years the capital offerings by public utili ties hive reached a magnitude that was described, even cn the markets, as sensational; thev have surpassed all precedent this year. But the offerings by the investment trusts have been even larger. Except for the government’s war-time bend issues, there has probably never been so great an increase within so short a time in any cne type of securities Comparisons of this sort raise two questions: Hew will this huge mass of capital be employed when it has been acquired in so short a time and what was the source from which it was so suddenly obtained? The first question still remains a prob lem over whose precise solution Wall Street is in doubt. The Mid land Bank of London makes tin comment. In its monthly review, that subscription to other new securities by investment trusts themselves must account for much of the dis position of their capital, and that the process involves something like duplication in estimates of total new capital issues for all accounts. The ' soure'e of the subscriptions to this year’s enormous issues of invest ment trust securities Is itself per plexing. These r.e-,v stocks and bonds would not be absorbed Gn a great scale, like railway, industrial and public utility issues, into the port folio of fiduciary institutions, and it is difficult to imagine the financial public, even in its present highly receptive mood, actually taking up $1,500,000,9C0 cf such new securities in eight months. There naturally remains the pos sibility that the greater part of this huge amount has not been “distrib uted,” but i3 being can-led through loans, by original promoters or in termediaries. Yet this supposition would introduce another complicat ing Influence into the already con fused credit market. Whether the increase of $407,825,003 in brokers' loans during August, as reported by the Stock Exchange, was to any large extent attributable to the in vestment trust security issues, may be debatable. If it were true, it would emphasize the extent to which the stock market, directly and in directly. is absorbing credit. The episode has added to the numerous obscurities of the existing economic situation. ORATORY AS SUCH HAS NO STANDING IN FASCIST ITALY CAPRI, ITALY - - Fascism has done at least one great thing for Italy—it has practically cut out after dinner oratory. This was bluntly apparent to everyone who attended a national touring convention here, designed to “boost” central and southern Italy, and the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, as excursion centers. The meetings were presided over by Filippo Pennavaria, under-secretary for railroads, and the way ha brought the wouldbe speakers to the point was a caution. One by one the representatives of the various regions began to descant upon the natural beauties of the sites they proposed to ex ploit. “Bang” went the gavel. “We all know about the beauties of Amalfi, and a lot about Its his tory!” His Excellency Pennavaria would bark. “What we do want to know is what you’ve done about roads, better sanitary conditions, and regulation of hotel prices. If you have anything to say cn those subjects we’ll listen: otherwise not! “Please remember, gentlemen, that we are under Fascism, which be lieves in nothing but results.” Q. How many prisoners are there at Leavenworth? N. E. A. On July 21, there were 3.777. What with arrivals, discharges and paroles, the number is everchang ing. Child Tobacco Growing Protested by W. C. T. U. MADISON, WIS— —Members of the Women’s Christian Temper ance union will ask the Wisconsin state organization to disapprove of children raising tobacco. The state union meets in October. “Children who plant tobacco and tend it while it is growing will think nothing of smoking it, not realizing the ill effects it has upon their sys tems,” remarked Mrs. Flora C. Hop kins, president of the Dane county branch Los Angeles Boy Needed Help Leroy Young, 1118 Georgia St., Los An geles, Is a “regular fellow,** active In sports, and at the top in Ills classes at school. To look at him now, you’d think he never had a day’s sickness but his mother says: “When Leroy was Just * a little fellow, we found his stomach and bowels were weak. He kept suffering from con stipation. Nothing he ate agreed with him. He was fretful, feverish and puny. “When we started giving him Cali fornia Fig Syrup his condition Im proved quickly. His constipation and biliousness stopped and he has had no more trouble of that kind. I have since used California Fig Syrup with him for colds and upset spells. He likes it because It tastes so good and I like it because It helps him so won derfully !’’ California Fig Syrup has been the trusted standby of mothers for over 50 years. Leading physicians recom mend it. It is purely vegetable and works with Nature to regulate, tone and strengthen the stomach and bowels of children so they get full nourishment from their food and waste is eliminated in a normal way. Four million bottles used a year shows how mothers depend on it. Al ways look for the word “California” on the carton to be sure of getting the genuine. AS FIRST AID Use Hanford’s Balsam of Myrrh All deal srs are authorized to refund your money forthafirst bottleif not sultad Baby Dress Society Vogue Dressing as babies and going to par ties with scooters and toy motor cars has gripped the fancy of those who have been called derisively “Bright Young People” in England. The fash ion has started another serious wag ging of heads over the younger gener ation. r Kill Rats Without Poison A New Exterminator that Won’t Kill Livestock, Poultry, Dogs, Cats, or even Baby Chicks K-R-O can be used about the home,bam or poultry yard with absolute safety asitcontains no dsadl; poison. K-R-O is made of Squill, as recom mended by U. S. Dept, of Agriculture, undet the Connable process which insures maximum strength. Two cans killed 578 rats at Arkansas State Farm. Hundreds of other testimonials. Sold on a Money Back Guarantee. Insist upon K-R-O, the original Squill exter minator. AU druggists, 75c. Large size (four times is much) $2.00. Direct if dealer cannot supply rou. K-R-O Co., Springfield, O. School Teachers’ Salaries Elementary school teachers in cities over 1U0.000 received $837 more last year thnn did the teachers in cities in the 2,7.00-5,000 population group. Ac cording to the research division of the National Education association, the Tiedian salary for elementary teach ers in large cities was $2,049 last year, while in the small cities it was only $1,212. We realize when a man has "evolved” far beyond us—and between us there is a great gulf fixed. KILLS-RATS-ONLY Seldom has any single act been of greater benefit to niankina than, that of Dr. Caldwell in 1885, when lie wrote the prescription which has carried his fame to the four comers of the earth. Over and over, Dr. Caldwell wrote the prescription as he found men, women and children suffering from those/common symptoms of constipation, such as coated tongue, bad breath, headaches, gas, nausea, biliousness, no energy, lack of appetite, and similar things. Demand for this prescription grew so fast, because of the pleas ant, quick way it relieved such symptoms of constipation, that by 1888 Dr. Caldwell was forced to have it put up ready for use. Today, Dr. Caldwell’s Syrup Pepsin, as it is called, is always ready at any drugstore.