CHAPTER Xin—Continued
—14—
AIlegTa's silence bothered me. Her
profile was clear and sharp *s the
head on a coin in the uneven puls
ing of lights beyond the taxi window.
She said, looking straight ahead:
"I lied to Agatha today. I don’t
usually do that. I told her, when
Grove dropped out. that I couldn't
get anyone to take me to the opera
tonight I never tried. 1 only said
that I was disappointed and she did
what 1 hoped she'd do.”
Once or twice in a lifetime, for
tune offers you the thing you want
most and. remembering the way she
has treated you, you don't believe it
1 did not now. 1 thought I was
reading wild meaning into her
words. She turned toward me with
an odd little smile and hurried on:
’Tve been lonely and frightened
and 1—needed you, 1 guess. I need
ed to be alone with you and Tell
AIL 1 thought we could be—friends.
And instead, you behave as though
you were—welL a millionaire that a
low-down gal was trying to compro
mise”
“If I have” 1 told her, "I beg
your pardon, my dear. I think,
though, that you've got the parts
mixed up. You’re the millionaire.
Wait a minute—” I saw? she was
trying to break in and I hurried on:
“It galls you to have—misled your
aunt. AH right What about me?
She's lifted me out of a ha liman’s
uniform: she's given me a job and
her confidence. I have little integ
rity. maybe, but I'm not a complete
so-and-so. It mightn’t do you a bit
of harm to consider the problems
of someone else now and then.”
The girl did not answer. She had
turned her head and was looking
out of the window. I did not won
der that so few persons in this world
were ever nobly renunciatory.
There was no pleasure in it. I said:
"And now that that is all cleared
up to our mutual dissatisfaction,
how about changing the subject?”
“It’s not necessary,” she answered
and turning as though she had de
cided something, looked squarely at
me. “We're almost home.”
“And maybe that’s just as well,
too,” I answered. “Thank you. Miss
Paget—for a great many things.”
Her laugh was like a breaking
stick. Then she caught hold of her
sell.
“If you don’t stop patting me on
the head,” she warned, “I’ll take a
poke at you. Will you answer one
question for me—honestly? Just
one?”
I could see the marquee of the Mo
rello, just ahead, and a group of
men who lingered on the curb be
neath the street light
“Will you?” Allegra asked again,
and I wondered why her voice was
so tense.
“I promise,” I told her and be
latedly wondered if I were pledg
ing myself to disloyalty to Coch
rane. "Unless," I added, “it con
cerns someone else.” For a few min
utes I had forgotten the murder and
Lyon’s almost certain part in it.
It came back to me now and made
me a little sick. The cab slowed
down. Allegra asked in a low, clear
voice:
“You're in love with me, aren’t
you?”
The taxi had stopped and Walters
was opening the door. I might have
kept silent, but her hand clung to
mine as I helped her out. I heard
myself say:
“You’ll never know how much.”
She hurried on into the foyer while
I paid the fare. As I turned to fol
low, someone said:
“The society bellhop, himself.”
Larry Duke was of the group that
gathered around m*e. I knew the
faces of others and the malease
within me quickened into nausea.
Why were reporters Hanging, like
vultures, about the Morello again?
“Any statement,” Duke asked
nastily, "on the most recent—un
pleasantness, Count?”
The foretaste of disaster was bit
ter in my mouth. Its savor made it
easier to hold my temper.
“I’ll leave the issue,” I told Duke,
“to the good sense of the American
people.”
I started away but someone else
caught me by the sleeve.
“Listen, fella,” he begged.
"They've just found this Everett
Ferriter’s body at the bottom of the
area. What’s it all about?”
When I could speak, I said as
steadily as I might:
"You tell me. Suicide?”
“Suicide, hell,” Duke said with
relish. “They caught your girl
friend’s brother in the Ferriter flat,
right after Everett' went out the
window. And they’re dusting off the
hot seat for him, right now.”
CHAPTER XIV
A reporter asked another ques
tion. The words made no sense.
As I broke away, I stepped on some
one’s foot and he swore. I ran
into the foyer.
It W'as not flight. Duke's tidings
hatf rubbed out thought of self. My
purpose was to reach Allegra as
quickly as I might. I must get be
tween her and the blow’s full force.
There was a cop in the Morello’s
hall once more. I wondered if Al
legra had read the portent of his
presence. He scowled at me and
said something I did not catch. My
evening clothes must have daunted
him, for he backed up and let me
pass. Then 1 saw her at the end of
the gloomily ornate foyer.
She waited beside the elevator
shaft but the car was upstairs.
Wherefore, I was thankful and, at
the same time, wretched. I must
tell her what had happened, here
and now.
She looked so small, in her bro
caded evening wrap—slender as a
flame and unconscious that the wind
of fresh tragedy rose to blow her
about She heard me coming and
turned.
I saw in her smile a trace of the
last words 1 had blurted. She
thought 1 was a lover, returning to
complete a pledge half-spoken. That
made it harder. The world had
changed since I had helped her from
the cab.
The elevator might appear; some
one else might intervene, at any sec
ond. There was no time for tact
A dirty job was best done quickly.
1 let her have it all in one breath.
“You’ll have to take it my dear.
Everett Ferriter is dead and they
think your brother had something
to do with it,”
Vaguely, all that evening, I had
wondered how much of her high
color was make-up. I knew now.
Her face grew white. Her lips were
gray, but they did not tremble. She
took it standing and never wavered.
Her eyes hurt me. She asked,
"What happened?” in a level voice,
and I told her what Duke and the
others had told me. She said, “He
didn’t do it”
I said, as cheerfully as I could:
“Reporters think in headlines. It’s
probably much less serious than
they say. I only wanted to tell you
before you walked into it.”
“Where is he?" Her eyes held
mine as though that impersonal
contact kept her up.
I said, “Upstairs,” and rang again
for the elevator. After the far shrill
of the bell, I heard the old ma
chinery groan.
I stumbled over hnany things I
wished to say—yet might not, and
at last managed:
“I’ve hurt you but it seemed the
only way. I'll leave you here, but
I’ll wait. If you, or your aunt, want
me, you can telephone the foyer.”
“Please,” she whispered as the
shaft door slid open, “please come
up with me.”
She stood, stiff and silent, on that
journey upward. Toward its end,
she turned as though her neck were
stiff and asked:
“A cigarette?"
I lighted it for her and we stepped
from the car. The door clanged
behind us. She fumbled in her bag
for her key. The first shock of the
blow was wearing off. Her mouth
worked and her fingers blundered.
In front of the Ferriter flat, a plain
clothes man watched us. He
chewed gum and his derby rocked
with each movement of his jaws. Al
legra said at last:
“Please ring the bell. I don’t
think,” she added with a twisted
smile, “we're likely to get anyone
out of bed."
Annie, in a rumpled wrapper,
opened the door. Her eyes were
red and her breath came in small
explosions.
“Where is Miss Paget?” Allegra
asked crisply.
“In the livin’ room,” the woman
faltered and closed the door behind
us.
“And Mr. Paget?” the girl went
on.
Annie wept. "Yonder,” she wailed.
“Them cops—” She jerked her head
toward the Ferriter apartment and
could say no more. I followed Al
legra down the hall.
Miss Agatha Paget, her body fold
ed precisely in a black silk dress
ing gown, sat in her wheel chair and
smoked. The lids of her keen eyes
were unreddened by tears. Her hair
was drawn back by a thin braid
from the face that had the bold
calm of the hawk.
For an instant, as her niece ran
to her and the old woman looked up
for her kiss, I saw the hard features
soften. The girl bent over her a
long instant and then, with one hand
locked in her aunt’s, turned to me.
“He didn’t want to come up,” she
defended. "I made him. Agatha,
what is it? What's really hap
pened?”
Miss Agatha drew on her ciga
rette and blew smoke through her
beaked nose. 1 thought, as she
looked at me, of the figurehead of a
ship, worn and immune to storm.
She asked dryly:
“Material for another chapter in
the book, David?”
“No,” 1 said. “I had no business
barging in. Only if there is any
thing I can do—”
“Name something," she broke in.
I stammered:
“Have you thought of a lawyer?
I mean—”
“Long ago,” she told me. "I think
I got Tertius Groesbeck out of bed.
If he doesn’t take too long dressing,
he should be here before Shannon
finishes with Grove, across the
hall.”
She had lighted another cigarette
while she spoke. I saw her hand
twitch as she uttered her nephew's
name. Allegra asked:
“Agatha, what happened? Everett
is dead and—”
The old head jerked agreement.
The old voice said without a falter:
"Very dead. In the area, with a
broken neck. I believe.”
"But why—" the girl cried, and
her aunt answered the anguish in
her voice without waiting for more
words.
“My dear, there was a struggle of
some sort before he—fell. 1 heard
it So did everyone else whose win
dows open on the area—bumping
and voices and then a yell and a
fall."
Her thin shoulders drew together
in the least possible shudder.
"Grove," said Miss Agatha, quite
calmly, “was in the Ferriter apart
ment. They caught him coming out
You know he had a latchkey?”
She looked up sharply at her
niece.
"Yes,” the girl admitted.
Miss Agatha patted Allegra's
hand.
"I wonder,” she mused aloud, "if
there aren’t limits beyond which
loyalty is no virtue. We both knew
and yet—”
The bell rang and we heard Annie
shuffle to the door.
"Because," the girl began, but
her aunt took the thought away from
her.
"Because Grove is such a stub
born young devil that we were
afraid if we protested it would only
drive him further. We were wrong,
my dear. Marriage with lone is
better than the murder of her broth
er.”
"He didn’t!" Allegra exclaimed.
Miss Agatha nodded and bit
through an invisible thread.
"You know it," she answered. "1
know it. I don't think Captain Shan
non who has kept Grove”—she
glanced at the clock on the mantel
—"for almost an hour now, is so cer
tain. There is that struggle, which
everyone heard, which turns a sui
cide theory rather sour.”
The calm in which they endured
their wretchedness was too much
for me. I said:
"One might fight to prevent a
suicide, as well as to commit a
murder.
Miss Agatha looked at me hard.
“Every now and then, David,”
she told me, “1 admire your mind.
It is so much like mine. Obviously,
that’s what happened. I doubt
whether the police will accept our
explanation.”
Captain Shannon entered. At once,
: Miss Agatha and her niece drew
I down, over their emotion, the opaque
shades of utter calm. Shannon
ducked his head toward them and
looked hard at me. Inwardly, he
fumed. Anger or bewilderment had
reddened his face and blurred its
freckles. Outwardly he was calm
and his voice was regretful.
"Miss Paget,” said he, “I’m sor
ry, but we’ll have to take him in.”
I heard Allegra catch her breath.
Miss Agatha’s face did not stir. She
asked:
“Then he, my nephew, has im
plicated himself?”
Shannon’s exasperation got away
from him. He rumpled his reddish
gray hair.
“We’ll have to take him in,” hi
repeated, “for obstructing justice, if
nothing else. Implicated himself!
The facts implicate him. Miss Pag
et. We can get nothing out of him
He’ll not say a word, beyond tha'
he tried to stop this Ferriter frorr
jumping.”
Tiny lines about Miss Agatha's
eyes deepened with satisfaction.
“My own explanation,” she said
Shannon shook his head like £
worrying terrier.
“Unfortunately,” he told her
“that’s not all of it. Why was he in
that flat? He won’t say. How came
he to have a latchkey? He won’t
say. Why, having one, didn’t he
admit it when the first murder was
committed? Same answer. Where
was he the afternoon this Black
beard was stabbed? He was walking
uptown.
His grunt was thick with disgust.
I stuck my oar in.
“Mr. Paget came in a full hour
after that killing. I saw him.”
They all looked at me. There was
no friendliness in Shannon’s regard.
“Sure,” he snorted. “Didn’t ev
erybody? Nobody could have killed
Blackboard, but his corpse is still in
the morgue, isn’t it? I’m thinking
this second murder—or whatever—
is going to solve the first.”
Anger pushed him beyond discre
tion. He fished in his pocket and
drew forth a folded sheet of type
writer paper.
“Among the things that your
nephew won’t tell,” he said to Miss
Agatha, “is why he wrote this note
we found in his pocket.”
I could have choked him for the
pleased voice in which he read
aloud:
“ ‘My dear: I have failed as usual
and can stand no more. When an
other death may settle everything,
I do not hesitate.’ ”
He seemed disappointed at the
woman's lack of expression and
thrust the paper back into his pock
et, muttering. I had peered over
his shoulder as he read and now I
said to Miss Agatha:
"Typewritten and unsigned. It
proves nothing.”
Shanfton wheeled and glared.
Knowledge of his own incaution
made him still angrier.
“Written,” he said and thrust out
his heavy lower jaw, “on the type
writer in the front room yonder, as
I’ve just proved, my lad.”
rro UK CONTINUEDJ
Thespians Build Their Own
Theater in Redwood Forest
Having graduated from the Pasadena Community School of the
Theater, eight young, enthusiastic Thespians decided that wheret'er
people congregate a theater could be built, with reasonable hope of
success. So they icent to Garbert'ille, California, a thriving commu
nity in the heart of the giant redwood forests, which attracts visi
tors from all parts of the ivorld. Here they built the “Redwood
Playbox”—the first of a series of stepping stones to stage or screen
fame. At the end of their first “season” the Redwood Playbox
group have their own the
ater, sets and costumes all
paid for, and a profit of
$100 in the bank.
The Thespians all got i
jobs to begin with, some
working in stores, restau
rants and on nearby farms.
At the left is Mary Alyce
llarnish, who became, a
“soda jerk.”
Each member of
the Redwood Play
box has majored in
a special field, apart
from their ability as
an actor. One is a
scenic designer, an
other a stage techni
cian, a commercial
artist, and so on. At
the right is David
Breneiser. a grocery
clerk. All have fine
singing voices.
Above—the attractive rustic redwood theater built by the Thes
pians during their spare time. It seats 75 people comfortably. The
players made their men stage sets, sewed their own costumes and
built their own technical equipment, consisting of tin can spot and
border lights; a spaghetti box and a lot of ordinary house wire
became a switchboard.
Left—Interior of Redwood
Playbox dressing room. The
opening piny was “Mr. and Mrs.
Phippsby John Hamilton. It
ran for seven days, and was
held over by popular request
for 12 days more. Among the
plays given this year were
“Molehill" and “The Locked
Door.n
Phyllis Benbow is
shown by the guest
book. Notables such
as Spencer Tracy,
Governor Culbert L.
Olson of California,
ex-President Hoo
ver and others have
been guests at the
Playbox.
Keep Liver
Healthy and
Enjoy Life
By DR. JAMES W. BARTON
• Released by Western Newspaper Union.)
\/OU have heard the ex
pression that “life depends
upon the liver,” but an im
provement on this expression
might be “the -
enjoyment of TODAY'S
life depends up- uraiTii
on the liver.” A HtALIII
healthy, active COLUMN
liver enables us .
to face our responsibilities
and troubles with our best
selves, whereas a sluggish
liver, with slow moving bile,
makes little trouble or re
sponsibilities loom very large
in our minds.
Some idea of the work done by
the bile salts in the body is outlined
by Drs A. C. Ivy
and A. L. Berman.
Chicago, in Minne
sota Medicine, who
reminds us that the
bile salts promote
the formation of bile,
keep fatty acids in
solution, aid in the
digestion of fats and
their absorption into
the blood, enable the
blood to absorb iron
I>r. Barton and calcium (two
very necessary min
erals) more readily, have a laxa
tive action, and take an important
part in destroying poisons in the in
testine.
As mentioned before, this action
of the bile in causing the large in
testine to move its wastes along and
prevent constipation, is one of the
big factors in enabling us to face
our daily work and responsibilities
with the courage man naturally pos
sesses. The fact also that the bile
can destroy the poisons or harmful
wastes that would poison the blood
stream means much in maintaining
our everyday courage.
How to Keep Liver Healthy.
The bile can be manufactured by
the liver and flow freely from liver
only if the liver is kept healthy.
How can the liver be kept healthy?
I have spoken a number of times
of the two ways you can keep your
liver working properly; first by not
eating large meals, especially of fats
and second, by bending, twisting,
and breathing exercises which
“squeeze” the liver, stimulate the
circulation and speed up the flow of
bile from the liver and gall bladder.
Where there is stasis or sluggish
ness of the gall bladder, Drs. Ivy
and Berman suggest the use of bile
salts to increase the flow of bile.
Where there is acute gall bladder
disease, the use of bile salts or other
remedies should be prescribed only
by a physician.
• • •
Ulcerative Colitis
Yields to Oil Enemas
\I/■ HAT is called ulcerative coli
* » tis, where the lining of the colon
is greatly inflamed and ulceration
present, the symptoms may be so
severe that surgery is necessary to
obtain relief. For years, mild anti
septic enemas have been used once
or twice a day. and sometimes oil
enemas, which were left in the colon
overnight. What may prove of much
help in severe cases is enemas of
cod liver oil.
Dr. H. Gainsborough in the Lan
cet, London, reports his results of
using cod liver oil enemas in six
cases of ulcerative colitis.
Preliminary Treatment.
Before using the cod liver oil ene
mas. patients were given complete
rest in bed and starch and opium
enemas to reduce the diarrhoea and
irritability of the colon. These
starch and opium enemas kept the
colon so quiet that the patients were
able to hold the cod liver oil ene
mas in the colon all night. This
gave the cod liver oil all these hours
to help heal the ulcers and raw sur
faces At the beginning of the treat
ment the patient was able to hold the
cod liver oil enemas only a short
time and they were given during the
day Later they were given at bed
time and held by the patient till
morning The beginning dose was
two ounces at a time, gradually in
creasing up to eight ounces.
Three of the six patients whose
illness had lasted 3, 6 and 15 months,
respectively, were cured and have
remained cured for the last two
years. One patient suffering for 12
years remained well 15 months and
then relapsed; another suffering six
years relapsed after 15 months, but
was cured after further use of the
cod liver oil enemas. The sixth pa
tient was not helped.
• • •
QUESTION BOX
Q.—Can infected teeth and tonsils
cause heart disease?
A.—Yes.
Q.—What harm could sodium dil
antin cause when taken under physi
cian’s direction for petit mal
epilepsy?
A.—Sodium dilantin gives severe
reactions in some cases. This treat
ment should at first be directly un
der a physician’s supervision. It
has come into more genera! use
(ately.
I
Accessory Set for
Sports or Campus
C PORTS accessories like this are
^ much in vogue among smart
young things, not only for sports,
but also for campus and runabout.
Design No. 1265-B includes weskit,
calot and chunky mittens, all of
which you can easily make for
yourself—all, of course, except the
feather in the calot! The weskit
is drawn in to a tiny waistline by
back-fastened side belts—just like
its masculine prototype; all three
gay little gadgets are trimmed
with stitching.
Choose felt, flannel or suede for
the set, and make it not only for
yourself, in different colors, but
also to tuck away for gifts. Step
by-step sew chart with pattern.
* * •
Barbara Bell Pattern No. 1265-B la de
signed (or sizes 11, 13, IS, 17 and 19. Cor
responding bust measurements 29, 31, 33,
35 and 37. Size 13 (31) requires 1 yard
of 54-inch material; 1% yards of 39-tnch
material to line. Send order to:
Isn’t This Why
You Arc Constipated?
What do you eat for breakfast?
Coffee, toast, maybe some eggs?
What do you eat for lunch and
dinner? White bread, meat, pota
toes? It's little wonder you’re con
stipated. You probably don’t eat
enough “bulk.” And “bulk”
doesn't mean the amount you
eat. It’s a kind of food that forms
a soft “bulky” mass in the intes
tines and helps a movement If
this is your trouble, may we sug
gest a crunchy toasted cereal—
Kellogg’s All-Bran—tor breakfast
All-Bran is a natural food, not a
medicine — but it's particularly
rich in "bulk.” Being so, it can
help you not only to get regular
but to keep regular. Eat All-Bran
regularly, and drink plenty of
water. Made by Kellogg’s in Battle
Creek. If your condition is chron
ic, it is wise to consult a physician.
v_y
World Goes Round
The world is a wheel, and it
will all come round right.—Dis
raeli.
COLDS
quickly u-ie.
| LIQUID
, TABLETS
1 SALVE
NOSE DROPS
I COUCH DROPS
WATCH
tMTOU can depend on the
‘J* special sales the
merchants of our town
announce in the columns
of this paper. They mean
money saving to our
readers. It always pays to
patronize the merchants
who advertise. They are
not afraid of their mer
chandise or their prices.
THE SPECIALS
