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.