THE DESERT MOON MYSTERY BY KAY CLEAVER STRAHAN CHAPTER LVI A Whisper I stayed in my room for toalf an hour, thinking with all my might t hat I was think tng At the end of that time, discovering that I had not turned out one single rational thought, I gave it up and went to find John. I forgot all about the men who were guarding the ranch. I went straight down to the putf it’s quarters. I hadn’t been j pn the back of a horse for more than ten years. I got a lazy puncher to stop doing toothing long enough to saddle pn old nag for me, and boost me up on her, and off I went. Jogging along through the •lean, clear air, I at last be Kn really to do some think g. I came to my senses in ponsequence. It was high time. | turned the nag around and rode back to the outfit’s quar ters. I slid off of her, and left her there, and went walking to the house. It was fortunate that i naa Sven up my wild goose chase. here on the porch sat John, talking to Miss MacDonald. When I got close enough to Ihe a to see how he looked, I felt as if my heart would break for him. He looked, in spite of his tan, like death. When I had reached the loot of the steps, both of them, without saying an aye, yes, nor no to me, got up and Went Into the house. My legs were shaking under me. I had to go slowly up the ■tops. Neither Jofrm nor Miss MacDonald was in the living room when I got there. I went on into the kitchen. Miss MacDonald was putting on her big apron. Zinnia was clattering the silver in the dining-room. “John knows, doesn’t he?” f questioned. “Knows?” “I think that I know what you—" “Don’ll” she shot out at me, anti I wouldn't have Jumped any higher If she had shot a gun instead of a word. “Don't,v she calmed down and came over to me and apoke in a whisper, “say any thing'in here. Not anything.” “I've got to,” I said. “I’m human. You .listen to me.” I whispered it, right Into her MU’. I hadn’t half finished what I had to say before she moved away from me; but she nod ded her head, with those quick, short little nods that always .mean confidential agreement. For almost an hour i naa been thinking that I knew it. That nodding of hers made me realize that I had only feared It; that I had believed that *hc could deny and disprove it I had planned biscuits for dinner. I went and got out the bread-board, and opened the flour binrbut I couldn’t do it. ' “I’m sorry," I said, and to my disgust I began to cry. "I guess you’ll have to make out to do alone, for a while—” I— I’m not feeling well. I’ll have to go and lie down—" Still blubbering and blind with tears I went upstairs, and bumped into Sam, standing outside John's door. I dried my eyes and saw that he was holding his six-gun. ready for ■hooting, in his hand. CHAPTER LVII Grief ’ What is the matter with you?” I demanded. “What are you doing with .that gun?” •‘John is in there packing hli valise. He says he is going to leave the place. I say he is not.” •‘Going to say it with the ■ix-gun, if possible, ugh?” I a&ed. “If necessary, Mary, by God, he put it up to me, straight. He came to me, and said that Pg Club Realizes 'Profits of $1,073.16 Warner, 8. D.—CAP)-*A profit of $1,073.18 was realized by nine mem ken of the Warner 4-H sow litter ait* this year, Clarence Nelson, lo cal leader, reported. Ttoe nine Ufters raised included •1 pigs grown to maturity, an ex ©apUo me, “Now then. . she said. CHAPTER LVIII The Puzzle Listen. Bit by bit it works into the whole, like a picture puzzle—each segment slipping right into place. There is just j one hole in it all, and I think your Danny’s kindness and uuselfishness will supply that necessary bit.” She began then—to use her own way of saying it—to put | together the pieces of the j puzzle. She was right. Bit by bit it fitted together. Almost J at once she came to the place that she had called a hole. “There is no hole there,” I told her. “Under those circum stances, Danny would have been just sweet, and unselfish, and foolish enough to have done that very thing. She did it. That was why she was ; worried and unhappy, all that i dav.” “I’m sure of it. Now then j . . . She went on: Danny’s calling after Gaby that day easy to understand now, of course, and leading straight to Chad’s suicide and confes sional note. Gaby’s fear; Mar tha’s murder; Sam’s ashes on the bag; Gaby's note to Dan ny; each one fitting right into place, until spread in front of me was one of the most hideous pictures that any hu man being has ever been forced to look at. “Only,” I gasped, “there can’t be such wickedness in the world! I mean—not such long wickedness.” “In all my experience,” she said, “I have never investi gated another murder case where the thing was so cruelly, vilely premeditated; so wickedly, cunningly carried out. If this is true, it will be, also, the first time that I have found a really brilliant mind belonging to a fiend.” “If it is true!” I echoed. “But it is proven. You have just proven it all to me.” She shook her head. “We have a seemingly perfect fab ric made up, wholly, of cir cumstantial evidence. As yet, we have nothing else. Now I have a question to ask you. It will seem to you that I should have asked you this at least a week ago. I did not, because I was certain that, unless I shared all of my suspicions with you, your answer would be exactly the answer that you gave me before. Now, thinking as you think, I want a very careful answer to this ques tion.” When she had astcea it, 1 re fused my first impulse to an swer it, at once, and sat think ing carefully for several min utes. The answer that I was forced to give, then, made me sick with Shame. “No,” I said, “I didn’t. I thought, honestly, that I did. But now I know that I didn’t. That—that,” I knew I was chattering it, “puts Canne ziano’s murder right at my door—” “Nonsense,” she folded one of my trembling hands into her steady, capable hands. “We can’t go poking about like that, into the machinery of fate, and stay sane. The blame in this case is entirely for me. But, if I had not allowed my self to be misled then, but had worked straight on. something equally tragic might have happened. We don’t know. What we do know is, that no more time must be wasted. “I have spent this past week in trying to obtain the neces sary proof. I have failed. Now, I am going to ask you to help me. Will you?” “I will, and gladly. But you’ll have to tell me what you want me to do. I haven’t the faintest idea.” She told me. “Lands alive!” I said. “That ought to be easy.” I could see that she was annoyed. “ T haven’t found it so,” she said. “I have made three attempts, as many as I dared make, this week, and have failed. Do you realize that it must come that It is: whereas the world of anyone old enough to vote before 1914 vanished overnight. In remarking upon the changed attitudes and equipment of young er students. It is well to remember how surprisingly young thev really are. Using 1914 or even 1918 merely as dates, ask anv group of college students what they remember of the war. and let the trivality of their answers reveal how fast the years have sped. “We have vacation Armistice day," someone will probably tell you: or “I saw a parade at night.” or “The sugar was in little en velopes.” 1 It seems incredible, until I we co a little counting and discov simpiy? and naturally* You must realize that—” “See here,” I interrupted, “why not do as Sam wants you to do? Why not arrest the criminal now, and force the proof, afterwards? This sort of evidence could be gotten then, as well as now, and a lot safer, too, it seems to me.” “Mrs. Magin,” she said, “un til we have evidence of guilt we have no criminal to arrest Incredible as it seems, wt might still be wrong concern ing every bit of this. I once made a horrible mistake. It was on my third case—that is, after I began to work foi myself. I don’t talk about it I can’t think about it. But 1 made myself a promise then a promise that I have nevei broken, and which I never will break. Except in extreme necessity, proof, positive, and perfect, must come before any accusation or arrest in a case of mine. Twice, as I have said I have had men arrested be cause of circumstantial evi dence. Each time the evidence was far stronger than any thing we have in this case. The first time, the man would have undoubtedly escaped if he had not been put in con finement. The second time was on my third case, which I have mentioned. If you force me to make this the third time—” “I can’t force you to do any thing,” I reminded her, hoping to cool her down a bit. ‘‘Yes, you can. If you go at this so clumsily that you give the thing away, and so en danger your own life, I shall have to force matters. I must, of course, risk a reputation— I’m not speaking of my own, you understand—in preference to risking a life—again I am not speaking of my own. But, if we are wrong in this, and remember we may be— cir cumstantial evidence is the trickiest thing in the world— it would be bitterly cruel and wrong. It would be even worse than the other mistake of mine. Will you remember that, when you make your first at tempt?” “Yes, I’ll remember. When do you want me to make the first attempt?” “As soon as possible. This afternoon, if you can do it." “But—how shall I do it?" “I am going to leave that to you, and to your natural wil. You can do it much more spontaneously if you are not attempting to follow set di rections. But do, do be careful. Don't make a mistake.” Witn that she left me. I am ashamed to say that excite ment had made me forget my sorrow. I sat there saying my prayers, planning, and shaking in my shoes, for a good half hour before I corid get enough courage to go downstairs. In all probabilities, the next hour would bring me face to face with ihe mardero iS fiend; and not by the blink of an eye, not the gnost of a shiver, must I bell ay mv horribia knowledge , CHAPTER LIX The Fatal Mistake When I finally did get my self downstairs, I found Sam, seemingly alone in the living room, playing solitaire. 1 Judged, from the look he gave me, and from the way he had his shoulders hunched, that he was still in a right ugly humor. “Where’s everybody?" 1 Eskcd. “Out committing murders, somewhere, likely.” “That’s a nice way to talk, isn’t it?” He mumbled something. “What?” I said. “I can’t hear you when you mutter like that.” “I didn’t talk much louder when I told Miss MacDonald about John’s trying to make a getaway. She heard me all right. That’s all the good it did. Do you know how much I trust that woman?” “No, I don’t know. I don’t care, either.” (TO B> CONTINUED) This Will Be Good News to the Damage Suit Lawyers, Too! In New Jersey a locomotive was derailed by an automobile. Which will serve to encourage that kind of drivers.—Waterloo (la.) Tribune. er that present-d&v freshmen were hardly born In 1914. They, were still in rompers in 1918. Seniors of 1930 at best were In the third grade The war, which for us closed one great era and began another, for modern college students resolves itself into a great noise and a few dim memories at a nursery win dow That is to be young indeed. Handicapped. Friend: I wonder, Ethel, that you allowed that Frenchman to kiss you in the conservatory. Ethel: I couldn’t help It. Friend: Why couldn’t you? Ethel: Because I can't speak , ^repch. Pl.xil.K IHAitiUfcK bA» .\ ■ OF CHRISTMAS PKOUHAM Pender, Neb. — (Special) — The Chamber of Commerce is sponsor.ng a community Christmas program here. About 1,500 sacks of candy will be given to the children and a chil dren's program will be given in the opera house, Monday evening, De cember 22. The streets will be decor ated with Christinas streamers and colored lights. EIGHT HORSES LOST IN FIRE Explosion of Lantern Re sults in Heavy Loss on Farm Near Randolph Randolph. Neb. — (Special)—The oarn on the John Brandt farm, six miles south of Randolph was de stroyed by fire, Tuesday morning. Eight horses, large quantities of grain and ha.v, his garage, a new coach and valuable farm machinery was also burned. The loss is a heavy one, but is said to have been fairly well covered by insurance. It is said the fire was caused by the explosion of a lantern which Brandt was using while doing his early morning chores about the barn. RESISTS RAISE LAND VALUES Burt County Carries Its Case to Supreme Court of Nebraska Lincoln, Neb. —(Special)— Argu ments have been submitted in su preme court in the appeal where the county of Burt is contesting the action of the state board of equali zation in raising land values in the county from $102.86 to $105.94 an acre. It is the contention of attorneys for the county that a finding of fact is a prerequisite to the action and that none has been made. They say the board should have shown that Burt county valuations had to be equalized with those of other counties or be brought within just relation thereto. They argue evi dence did not justify the increase and that the court should take no tice that Burt county is situated along the river, its lands being subjected to the action of the river and they are more hilly than Cum ing, Dodge and Washington coun ties. The arguments for the state board insist there was sufficient evidence to justify the action and that Burt county lands are as valuable as those in Dodge epunty, assessed at $112 an acre; Cuming, assessed at $115, and Washington, assessed at $117. Attorneys for the county contend that the board must justify its findings while attorneys for the state board say the county must prove the values to be clearly wrong. TO FIGJHT REINSTATEMENT OF OMAHA POLICEMAN Omaha, Neb. — (UP) — City council Wednesday postponed for two weeks the hearing of the appli cation of Policeman Nick Sanko for reinstatement to the police force. Sanko was suspended a year ago following his arrest on a federal li quor charge. He wa* acquitted by a jury after his wife took full respon sibility for selling liquor to under cover agents, asserting her husband knew nothing of the transaction. Sanko stands to lose a $90 a month pension to which he will be eligible in eight months if the council de cides against him. Police Commissioner Westergaard and Acting Chief George Allen gave notice that they will fight Sanko's the grounds that an officer who didn’t know hi* wife was bootleg ging would be a poor man to enforce liquor laws. SWEDISH CHURCH BODY PLANS CHILDREN’S HOME Omaha, Neb. — (UP) — A chil dren’s home has been added to the building program of Swedish Evan gelical churches of Nebraska, Iowa. Colorado and Wyoming, it is an nounced here. Previously it had been announced that a $150,000 addition would be built at the denomination’s hospital here and an old people's home constructed. The total amount to be expended approximates $1, 000,000, according to Theodore Young, superintendent of the hos pital. The construction work is ex pected to be completed in less than three years. COMPENSATION GOES TO CHILDREN OF DEAD MAN Lincoln, Neb. —(Special)— State Compensation Commissioner Jef frey has ordered payment of $15 a week to be made to the minor chil dren of Bert Pearson, lineman for the Interstate Power company at Long Pine, who was killed. The company’s insurer had been making the payments to the widow who is now married again. The usual award is for 350 weeks in a case of this kind and the widow had received payment for 225 weeks. The other 125 payments will go to the or phans. BROTHER AND SISTER IN DOUBLE WEDDING Crofton, Neb.—(Special)—A dou ble wedding will take place here when Anton Schieffer will marry Miss Clara Peldhacker and Bernard Feldhacker will marry Miss Helen Kuehler. Clara and Bernard Feld hacker are son and daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Feldhacker of Crofton, who are the parents oi 17 living children, 10 daughters and seven sons. One set of twins is in cluded in the sons. Three of their daughters are married to three brothers. HAS APPE4L TO PARDON BOARD Former Wakefield, Neb., Banker Seeks Parole from Term in Prison Lincoln, Neb.—(Special—Charles S. Beebe, former Wakefield banker, will appear before the pardon board at its meeting December 9 to ask for a parole from the state peni tentiary. Beebe was convioted in Dixon county, on a charge of forgery when, as a cashier of the Security State bank of Wakefield, he was accused of forging notes for the purpose of keeping the bank on its feet. Sentence was imposed in Oc tober, 1929, four or five years after the offenses occurred. He claims to have confessed these irregularities to the state banking department in 1927 when the bank went into re ceivership and says that he realized little personally from the transac tions. Beebe is 60 years old and has served one year of a 1 to 20 years sentence. PIERCE COUNTY DAMAGE ACTION IN HIGH COURT Lincoln, Neb.—(Special)—Attor neys for John Kersenbrock have ap peared before the supreme court in an appeal from the action of the judge of the Pierce county district court. Kersenbrock sued the Se curity State bank of Osmond and Joseph Cizek for damages on the charge that he was falsely accused of stealing hogs. He was acquitted of the charge of theft. In the dam age action the judge directed a ver dict for Cizek and the bank on the ground that they had probable cause to swear out a warrant. Kersenbrock says Cizek, a banker, acted without warrant of fact. He says he had borrowed as much as $12,000 at the bank at one time and that he was a man of high stand ing. He said he took the hogs from a farm in payment of a debt under an agreement with a man named Hauswirth and that he did not know they belonged to the bank. His at torneys contend the question at to whether the defendants acted in good faith is an issue of fact for the jury. WOMAN SENTENCED AS INTOXICATED DRIVER Omaha, Neb.—(UP)—Police Judge Lester Palmer's war on drunken automobile drivers knows neither sex. race, creed nor color, he as serted in sentencing Mrs. Ruth Beneda, 26 years old. Cuba, Kan., to 90 days in Jail. The woman was arrested in South Omaha by officers who asserted she was intoxicated. Her car collided with a truck. She denied the charge. DEATH CLAIMS PIONEER OF DAKOTA COUNTY Homer, Neb. —(Special)— Mrs. F.ed Stading. 84 years old, died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Fred Kipper, two miles northeast of Homer, Tuesday night, after a lin gering illness. Funeral services will be at the home Friday and burial will be in Ponca. Mrs. Stading came to America I from Germany in 1863 and to Da kota county in 1876. Children surviving are: M!rs. Fred Kipper and Frank Stading, of Homer; John Stading, of Dakota City; Herman Stading. of Lincoln; Charles Stad ing, Mrs. Julia Ehnke and Mira. Julius Stark of Ponca; Mrs. Frank Thomas, of Newcastle. The husband preceded Mrs. Shad ing in death seven years ago. CO-OPERATIVE STORE AT LYONS CLOSES ITS DOORS Lyons, Neb. —(Special)— The Lyons Co-operative general store, which has done an extensive busi ness during the last 20 years, closed its doors, Tuesday, being unable to meet its financial obligations. TOWN OF LYONS ALL READY FOR NATURAL GAS Lyons, Neb.—(Special)—The city of Lyons is piped and ready to be connected with the natural gas line recently constructed into this part of Nebraska. The main line 1s about two miles outside of the city. MISSING FARMER BACK IN HIS NEBRASKA HOME West Point, Neb.—After searchers had scoured the countryside (for the last three days for Henry Muhle, a farmer living near here, he returned to his home late Tuesday night. Muhle disappeared Saturday night, abandoning his car about a mile out of West Point. A cap and coat laid out on the Elkhorn river bank caused searchers to believe he had taken his life though unbroken ice disputed this theory. Hundreds aided in the search. Muhle seemed to be greatly fa tigued and he was suffering with a badly bruised fcot, evidently re ceived in a fall. A sen gave out the information that his father said he had been as far as Omaha. COUNTY OFFICERS TO MEET AT OMAHA DECEMBER 9-11 Omaha, Neb.—(UP)—Five hun dred members of the Nebraska as sociation of county commissioners, supervisors, highway commissioners and county clerks and registers of deeds are expected to attend the association's 36th annual conven tion here December 9 to 11. FINE HOME AT CROFTON DESTROYED BY FIRE Crofton, Neb. — (Special) — The 12-room residence of Mr. and Mrs. P. T. Malone was consumed by fire Monday. The fire is thought to have been caused by a defective chimney. All furnishings were saved, except several hundred quarts of canned goods in the base ment. -♦♦ Q When and where was Jesse James born? C. B. A. Jesse James was bom in 1847 in Clay County. Missouri. He was killed April 3. 1882.