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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 22, 1932)
IF® A Life For Sale BY 8Y0NEY HURLER __I The man writhed in a vain «ndeav«r to free himself. “* Ml it before I caught aight of you!” he gasjed; “the tube is Just outside . . . we aiiall both be blown to hell!” Chipstead briefly hesitated, while the terror of the man threatened to rob him of aanlty. "You blasted fool! Take me away! Take me away!” lie ahrieked hysterically. Even then Chipstead did not reply. This man might be a 'coiuumrnuteiy clever actor, lie was taking no chances. "I’ll carry you out,” he an nounced. After all, he had ob tained what he personally wanted and was quite ready to go. wiinoui wasting any wiviu time he picked up the man, who must have weighed at least two stone more than Inmself. and commenced to walk up the worn stone steps «»f the-cellar. On arrival at the top, he caught an acrid smell of burning. “Quick! Quick!" screamed the man. Cliipstead hurried now in real earnest. Unable to use l>i,s tttrch because both hands were occupied, he lived titrough an eerie experience. The only thing to guide him was his sense of direction. The weight in hts aims became licavlpr every moment, threat ening to drag him down. By the time he reached the ground-floor rooms, his breath was coming in short, staccato gasps. He was almost apent with exhaustion. Still he kept on. He had to aave this man as well as him self. Hus burden now lay passive in his arms, whimper ing like a child. The ordeal had seemed to turn his brain. Just as Bunny felt he could go on no longer, he saw across the room the window through which he had entered the I muse half an hour previously. Lurching now like a drunken man, he flung himself through this with his burden, and the two i oiled down a grass bank Into the Jungle-like grounds. One moment of blessed rest, and then he had picked up the man again. Progress now was exceedingly difficult, but lie did not stop until he bad reached a high wall bordering the street. Scarcely bad he flung himself down beneath this before a terrific explosion shattered the si lence. like the crack of doom. The night sky was lit up by gigantic tongues of flame, and the air became full of flying fragments. When comparative stillness bad come again, Chipstead turned to the shivering man crouched by his side. “I’m going to let you clear off now,” lie said, “because the police are bound to be here soon, and they may ask some awkward questions." This fellow might be a hireling of The King, and therefore a danger to society, but he had gone through suf ficient that night. Untying the silk handkerchief that bound the man's wrists, Bun i>y wished his companion in that strange adventure good night and slipped away. As be dropped quietly over the garden woll. there came to bis cars the hurrying foot steps of an approaching crowd. (JliAl .1 tire aaa Lord Belshaven put down (he telephone received with a Jerk. He war, considerably perturbed. Tire world seemed to be going mad that morn ing. and the information lie had Just received from Rough moor had spoilt an unusually good appetite for breakfast. He had barely reseated Scores for Show Hit Written in Houston Houston. Tex. — (Ui?>—“Of Thee f sing,” the musical satire on politics, has won a Pulitzer prize felt lew people know its words end frmsaic were written i.i a Houston frolci room. The fact has just come, to light that the brothers Gershwin. • •oorge and Ira, Si»ent th? summer «# mi here, with t.'.eir presence Known only to three or four peo himself at the table before a footman, after uttering an apology, brought him In a | card. “The gentleman said he must see you at once, your lordship,” stated the man. The face of the Foreign Secretary cleared as he noticed the name. “Show Mr. Chipstead in here immediately,” ho or i dcred. The famous politician shook hands warmlj with his early visitor. “I hope you haven’t break fasted, Chipstead?” he asked. “Everything seems to be go ing wrong this morning, and your company will be wel come.” The visitor’s reply was brisk and businesslike. “I’ll drink a cup of coffee, and. if you don’t mind, I’ll ! talk whilst you have your meal, Belshaven. I’ve come on here from Sir Robert Hed dingley. He tells me that your secretary, Miss Margery Steers is still missing.” The politician paused In the act of pouring the coifee, and the cloud returned to his face. "Yes,” he replied. ' I nave appealed to the police, but they have given me no help. By the way, you remember that young fellow Creighton ! —the man who created the disturbance in this house the ; night of the reception?" Chipstead nodded. "You mean the man who is supposed to have murdered Sir Simon Baste? Yes, I re j member him very well." Lord Belshaven frowned. "Well, he’s disappeared too. I must explain that I took the law into my own hands in connection with Creighton. After being arrested by the police, he made a sensational escape. Whilst working his way to the Kentish coast, with the intention of crossing to France, he took refuge in a barn at my country place, Roughmoor, which is not far from Hythe. He was disguised as a tramp, and my servants | were going to deal summarily with him, when I gave him the chance of telling me his story. “It was an amazing story— so amazing that I knew that he could not possibly have invented it. It appears that, being very down on his luck through being swindled out of five thousand pounds, he inserted an advertisement in the Personal Column of the Meteor ofering to sell his life! He received an answer through the telephone, and got in touch with a man whom he referred to as the Colossus—quite evidently a very dangerous criminal. He was taken blindfolded to the London house of this man, and there saw my secretary. Miss Margery Steers! What Miss Steers could have been doing in tills house I have yet to discover, but from Creigh ton’s statement it would cer tainly seem that by some extraordinary means the man had some hold on her. It was a peculiar household, appar ently, for another member of it was a particularly hideous dwarf.” "I thins i may ue auie w help you. Belshaven,” he put In. “I haven’t told you be fore, because Heddingley wished the matter to be en tirely private, but I have been working on this Cabinet Blackmail Scandal.” Lord Belshaven softly whistled. “A very terrible scandal, too. Chipstead,” he comment ed. “It has already killed two of my colleagues, whilst the Prime Minister himself Is daily expected to collapse. pie who carefully guarded the i secret. The Gershwins had a piano hauled up to the room and spent the summer at work — George on the score, Ira on the lyrics. Relatives of the Gershwins live here, and Ira once visited them. George came here once with Paul Whitemans orchestra. Casting about for a quiet place to work on | "Of Thee. I Sing," it was only ; natural that this city should come to mind. However, even their relatives did not know they were here at I But what ha.i that to do with ! tne Creighton affair?” ’ A great deal, unless I am mistaken The evidence is | pretty strong that both Miss Steers and Creighton became entangled with the very gang wo are running this audacious blackmail business. The dwarf you just mentioned is em ployed by this gang, who used to meet at a house in High gate called The Mount. This was blown up last night, and I"—with a somewhat grim smile—‘‘nearly went up with i it.” “I called there.” continued i the speaker, “in the hope of getting Information. You say i you have a place in Kent. Bel shaven—is it anywhere near an old castle known as Wildwood?” Lord Belshaven nodded. “Roughmoor is only three | and a half miles from Wild wood Castle,” he replied. “Why do you ask?” “Because,” replied the Secret Service man slowly, “I think that Y/ildwood Castle will have some interesting disclosures to make to us. I shouldn’t be surprised, more over, if your missing private I secretary, Miss Margery ! Steers, is being kept a prisoner there at the present time.” His host sprang up. “And the man Creighton, too,’’ he said. “I was going to tell you just now that alter j Creighton—who unless I am very much mistaken, is in love with Miss Steers—had told me his story, I was con vincea nor oiuy umu ac was I innocent of the murder of Sir Simon Baste, but that he had been made a catspaw by this man he referred to as the Colossus. Instead of hand ing him over to the police, as I suppose I should have done, I decided to help him. Engag ing him as an indoor servant, I resolved to keep Creighton under cover at Roughmoor until the real murderer had been discovered. Just before you called this morning, I re ceived a telephone message from my butler at Roughmoor saying that Creighton had gone for a walk last night— ! and had not returned. It may be, assuming that your sur mise is correct, and that Creighton , wandering near Wildwood Castle, fel lagain into the hands of his enemies. The thing is, what are we to do? The police—” Chipstead waived the sug gestion aside. “Believe me, Belshaven, this is not a matter for the police,” he said, so seriously that the politician stared at him: “I am going to follow your example and go outside the law for once. I shall spend the rest of the day hunting i up a number of men whose assistance Bob Heddingley has placed at my disposal. These fellows can be relied upon, all or them being in the Service. But we shall want a G. H. Q.—” This time it was the Fareign Secretary who interrupted. “Allow me to offer you i Roughmoor, Chipstead, and if I'm not too old and too far gone in the wind, I shall be delighted to serve under you I am not only very fond of Margery Steers, but om anxious to see that young Creighton gets a fair deal. What time do you intend to start?” Bunny Chipstead smiled at the boyish eagerness in the tone. CHAPTER XXXI I OU St'IlU 1UI UlC, Margery groped with her hands for the chair which was behind her. She was t’ ankful for this support. “Yes,” she replied. “Mr. Zoab, there are some impor tant questions I must ask you and which you must answer me.” The dwarf inclined his I huge shaggy head. “I have already told you. queen of my heart, that it would be better if you did not know certain things,” he said. “Soon, as I have promised you many times, we shall be away from this place, away from all its associations . . . that time. Mrs. Harry Green i field, a distant cousin, recently re- . ceived a letter from George in which he revealed all and apol ogized. He explained that if he had been threatened with recognition he would luve assumed the na «c j of Throttlebottom. the now fa 1 mous vice-presidential candidate in "Of Thee I Sing." -» + .. Q Of what composition are un breakable dolls made? A. B. A. All dolls of domestic manufac ture are today made of an unbreak - i able comDosition which is entirely and we will never talk of it again.1’ The small hands that were clutching the back of the chair tightened their grip Margery realized that only by means of self-control and feminine strategy could sht obtain the vital information but the mental torture sh» was undergoing was agoniz ing. • yes—yes,” she murmured quickly, "but there are some tilings l want to know now Mr. Zoab. If you have any re gard for me, if—” “I place my life at your service, orincess,” the dwari interjected. ‘‘Then you will tell me?” she pleaded passionately. Zoab made a gesture of re luctant submission. “Ask me what you want to know, princess.” But now that the promise hed been made she felt too afraid to ask. Already she was convinced, from v/hat the dwarf had previously told her, that Martin Creighton was not only in the castle, but was a prisoner like her self. For the third time he had endeavored to help her, but luck must have been against him. Her heart seemed to rise in her throat as she recalled the well-re membered face of the man she now knew she loved. Per haps even at that moment this face was twisted with pain. . . . . , _ _• 1 ! • >» 1 0,111 Will Ling, JJ1111V.LOO. She tried to rally herself, conscious that the dwarf was watching her closely. What a mockery it was that not only the entire future happiness, but the very lives of Martin Creighton and herself de pended upon the will of this malformed creature! Thrice hideous became this mockery at the thought, which now flashed through her mind, that it was this human od dity’s passion for her that had placed both of them in this position of peril. Falteringly she found her voice. "When you were here just now, Mr. Zoab, you mentioned a young man—Mr. Creighton, I believe his name is, I mean,” she went on, conscious that her words must sound very confused, "the young man who was at that house of— did you say the name was Juhl?” The dwarf nodded. In some subtle way Margery felt that he had changed. "And what about that young man Creighton. princess? Did you not tell me when I was here before that he had never made love to you? Why are you showing so much in terest in him?” With a stab of apprehension she felt that at any moment she might make a fatal slip —perhaps she had already done so. "Mr. Creighton did me a splendid service once,” she contrived to reply. “Perhaps you do not know, Mr. Zoab but the man Juhl was beastly to me. He got to know that my father wTas doing some thing . . . something which —which was not quite right, and he threatened to expose him unless I stole some papers from Lord Belshavcn’s private safe. Lord Bclshaven was my employer—I acted as one of his private secretaries.” The dwarf made no com ment. He did not appear in terested. Yet she had to con tinue in the endeavor to gain his sympathy, and the soul panic. which increased every minute, made her further words ring with dramatic fer vor. ‘ I want you, Mr. zcab, to try to realize the embarass ing position in which I was placed. In the particular night of which I am now go ing to tell you, the man you call Juhl issued to me an ultimatum: either I was t<? bring back from Lord Bels havcn’s London house a copy of the new French treaty, or he would hand over my father to the police.” CIO BE CONTINUED I separate and distinct from the bis que doll' which are still imported although to a very much lesser ex tent. into this country. This com position has wood llour, cornstarch, and glue as its principal ingredients The ccmposi ion is placed in moulds which are subjected to heat, and in this fashion the doll head, body, arm. leg, or other part, is formed It is then dipped in a special flesh enamel, with the final fin'sh Ci lacquer enamel being applied through an air brush. The year 1928 was the second largest in the history of foreign financing in the United States. Polifical Warfare Is Resumed ] From the New York Times. _/ With all the inter-party courtesies of the past few weeks, some innocent persons may have supposed that democratic lions and republican lambs were to lie down together in Washington all winter long. A glance at the first page of Tuesday’s Times will convince them that this is a delusion. It is obvious that “normalcy” has re turned to the capital, that democrats have resumed fighting republicans and that republicans are not avoid ing the encounter. Despite the amenities of the White House conference between “the two presidents,” and the polite speech of democratic leaders departing from the presence of Mr. Hoover the day thereafter, all the Richards have become themselves again. “Senate Will Reject Hoover Appointees at Short Session” is the heading over a Warm Springs (Ga.) dis patch, in the course of which Senator Robinson of Ar kansas gravely explains that it is the “custom” not to load up a new administration with appointees of the old one whose doom has been written by the people. “Hoover Vetoes Peril Roosevelt Program; Extra Session Seen” is the caption of a telegram from Washington which quotes . republican Senators as pointing out that the president has no intention of acting as Mr. Roosevelt’s rubber stamp during the dying days of the Seventy-second Congress. Since Mr. Hoover’s vetoes require a two-thirds vote to nullify them, and the democrats have nothing like two thirds in either branch, it is clear that the weapon the president holds is no tin sword. There are also echoes of the partisan debate which Speaker Garner and republican leader Snell are conduct ing sotto voce. Together as recently as last Friday on the plan to put a prohibition repeal resolution through the House on its opening day, December 5, the champions have been drawing apart since Mr. Snell paid a visit to the White House and otherwise refreshed his memory on the terms of the president’s speech of acceptance which disapproved the submission of flat repeal without a qualifying secth:i to “prevent the return of the saloon.” If this rift grows, or even remains, the brethren will make their differences strongly audible when the House as- ' sembles and the flat repeal resolution is offered, which the speaker understood the republican leader to favor. Prosperity may not be “just around the corner.” But partisanship unquestionably is. And the corner is near and visible. OLD HOSPITAL BEING RAZED I Milwaukee — (UP) — Johnston j Emergency hospital, once the pride of Milwaukee, is being wrecked fol lowing its sale for $201. During its 37 years of service Its walls housed many of the city's tragic and dramatic incidents. Through its doors, which never once w'ere locked, passed high and low, pauper and former president. Theodore Roosevelt, leading the Bull Moose movement in 1912. was brought to the hospital after he had spoken two hours at the audi torium with a would-be assassin's bullet in his body. Victor L. F.erger. famous social ist leader. w;as treated here in 1929 alter he had been knocked down by a street car. Victims of some of the city’s greatest fires were given aid at Emergency hospital. Fifteen firemen injured in the Davidson theater fire, when nine others were killed. W'ere brought here. Firemen injured in the Johns-Manville fire of 1913, which killed five firemen and an employe, were treated here and numerous fiiemen and victims of other disastrous fires received med ical aid here. But the last recorded case of the hospital was less dramatic. It reads: i “Bentley Redford, 21. unmarried, Rescue Mission, treated for bron chitis.” Woman Watchman Causes Controversy Tamaqun, Fa. — (UP) — A wom an caused the conti'ovcrsy between New Ringgold Borough, near here, and the Reading company, when the town authorities opposed instal lation of modern grade crossing pro tection and insisted on retention of the old-fashioned gates. Tire woman is Mrs. Carrie Knit tie. widowed mother of three chil dren and the only known woman crossing watchman in the state. When here husband died in 1919, the railroad company placed her to j protect the crossing. Now the com- j pany seeks to abolish the gates, re move the watchman, and substitute | electric blinkers. The plan aroused the borough to i defend the woman’s job. They point- | ed to her record of never having been absent nor tardy on her job j and of never having had an acci dent at the crossing. More than that, they claimed gates provided better protection than lights ‘'for a sharp curve near the approach to the crossing makes lights unsafe.” -« « Duckneil Announces Entirely New Curriculum Lewisburg. Pa. — (UP) — Buek ncll university announced an en tirely new curriculum for the future beginning with the 1933-34 term, , with the lour-year college period di vided into two two-year groups. Under the plan as announced by j Dr. Komcr P. Rainey, university president, incoming students will b' required to take a general liberal Coed Takes Father’s Place as Undersheriff Cordell, Okla. — (UP) — A shin ing gold star, ready six-shooter, boots. 10-gallon hat and a commis sion as undersheriff e.re the equip ment and means of livelihood of a former University of Oklahoma coed here. Wiimn Hines, 24. was brought home from school by the death of her father, pioneer peace officer. She received her father’s commis sion from the hands of his friend. Sheriff Philo T. Lambert, and the i arts course for two years and pro fessional and major work during the last two years. The new ruling will apply to every department of the school 'except the engineering courses. “The idea toward which we are working is to try to place all pro fessional training on a graduate basis,” Dr. Rainey said. “We are hoping to free the first two years of the four for a general education and to concentrate one pre-professional and major work in the last two years.” PILOT FOR 30 YEARS RETIRES Milwaukee — (UP) — Capt. Wil liam Gnewuch. 77, veteran Milwau kee harbor pilot, looked back on three score years of service on Lake Michigan, during which he towed more than 100,000 vessels into port here when he retired. When he retired his command as master of the tug Conrad Starke Captain Gnewuch was the oldest pilot on the lake in point of service. He brought his tug to aid in the rescue of more than 300 wrecks and stranded ships and figured prom inently in the rescue in the single survivor of the waterworks crib dis aster, in which 15 men drowned. Gnewuch left school at 17 and served his apprenticeship on a lake schconcd. He received his first mas ter's license and command when he was 23. Forty years ago he began 'cun service in Milwaukee harbor. “Towing was different in the old days,” Captain Gnewuch said. “Ves sels are bigger and harder to handle now. The big freighters carry 10 times as much as the old windjam mers did. Back in the 90s', a good day's work was towing in 25 or '30 boats. Now we do well if we bring live into harbor during the day.* —--■■ ■•■■■■ Machines, Weighing Tons, Break Atom Berkeley, Cal. — <TJP) — He’s little, but plenty tough, is this fel low, Lithium Atom. So tough, in fact, that Dr. M Stanley Livingston, of the Univer sity of California, had to desigu machinery weighing tons to smash him. Shooting atomic bullets from Dr. Livingston’s machine with an energy of more than 700,000 electron volts, three University of California scientists, Dr. L'vingston. Dr. E. O Lawrence and Milton G. White, re cently succeeded in breaking the atom into two alpha particles oi ionized atoms of helium gas. This confirmed work done by British physicists, who used low energy protons as the bombarding: projectiles and found that protons shot at lithium atoms combined with them and released energy. Not satisfied with handing the atom such a jolt. Dr. Livingston an nounced he had a larger machine containing one of the world’s larg est magnets, which is now produc ing hydrogen molecule ions with an energy of 3.600,000 volt-electrons. job aT^deputy in charge of the of fice. Undersheriff Hines died follow ing a stroke of apoplexy brought oa by a struggle with a prisoner. On and On. From The Humorist. Lecturer (who has spoken for two hours): I shall not keep you much longer. 1 am afraid 1 have spoken at rather great length. There is no clock in the room, and I must apologize lor not having a watch with me. A Voice: There’s a calendar be hind you mister!