CHAPTER XIX—Continued.
—21—
Silently Hoyt looked at me with a
smirk of terror. Intent on the up
roar in the foyer, shocked by the
disembodied voice we both had
heard, he had let the elevator down,
without checking it, on the cross
beams that guarded the shaft pit.
“What was it?” he babbled. "Ja’
hear that?”
Then I saw that the car rested un
evenly on the beams as though
something were pinned beneath one
side and I knew what that last,
abruptly stilled outcry had meant
• * •
“He had done trapeze work," I
told Miss Agatha. “When the ele
vator was at the floor above him, it
was easy for him to open the shaft
door below it and leap to the travel
ing cables. They’re the power ca
bles that are attached to the bottom
of the car.”
The old lady sat in her living
room, cigarette in hand, highball
beside her. She was personification
of the quiet that spread after tem
pest. The useless ambulance that
had tarried before the Morello had
gone away. Shannon had left, with
Cochrane. Allegra had vanished. I
hoped that I, too, might depart be
fore her return. Meanwhile, I gulped
my drink and supplied, at Miss Aga
tha’s insistence, those fragments of
the tragedy that were not already
hers.
“Apparently, then, with a thrust of
his foot he shut the open door and
went down unseen to the basement
beneath the car. cL^Dping into the
elevator pit when the elevator halt
ed at the foyer. Tonight, you see,
it didn’t stop. He jumped too late,
or else he lost count of the floors
and was pinned between the pit
crossbeams and the car floor."
I drained my glass.
Miss Agatha said:
“So that is why his hands were
grimed the night after the murder
and why he wore no overcoat?”
"Right,” 1 answered. “The ca
bles are greased, and dirty. Per
haps he threw his overcoat into the
furnace. At any rate he wiped off
the knife and hid it in the base- >
ment, for fear someone would stop
him when he went out into the
street.”
“Pride killed him,” the old lady
told me. “Let that be a warning
to you, David. He had killed in
self-defense. A lawyer no better
than Tertius Groesbeck could have
saved him. Lyon Ferriter had too
much sense of drama.”
“He’d been on the stage," I point
ed out. “That’s why he spoke so
well, until he got excited, and then
lapsed into his native tongue. It
was just a veneer he had acquired.”
“Odd, isn't it.” Miss Agatha
asked, “what you find when you pry
off veneer—odd and terrible, David?
I’ll do no more prying. The Paget
book will never be written. People
that throw stones should live in in
tact glass houses.”
She peered at me and my face
seemed to disappoint her.
“Usually.” she prompted, “you
grin at my epigrams. That's been
one of several reasons I've endured
you.”
“Sorry,” I said. “1 was thinking
of lone. Her father's gone. They
must have loved each other. It's
going to be brutal for her.”
“I sent Allegra to see her,” Miss
Agatha said briefly.
“That was generous.”
She shook her head.
“It’s easy to be generous when
you've won Presumably she'll be
financially secure, for she’ll inherit
Lyon's—1 mean Horstman's—prop
erty. She'll never have Grove now
Grove will know how nearly he was
trapped and how little she really
cared. And 1 can't see him marry
ing a widow who had been a dance
hall hostess and was accessory to
her husband’s death. There’s that
thing I call noblesse oblige. You
probably call it snobbery.”
I grinned and rose, explaining that
I was to meet Cochrane at the Press
office at seven. I fumbled badly
over my farewell, for 1 owed much
to the woman who listened to my
flounderings and offered me no aid.
“And tell,” I stumbled, “your
niece good-by for me, too.”
Her sharp gray eyes dug into me.
“I wonder,” asked Miss Agatha,
“if you think I’m the utter fool that
I know you are, David Mallory. You
talk as if we never were to meet
again.”
"That,” I answered, “is exactly
what I do mean." I had faced it
for the last half-hour. Quarrels and
rasped feelings seemed in the after
math of tragedy trivial things, but
my purpose ran deeper than that.
By every measurement one might
employ, Allegra was out of my reach
and the best tribute I could pay her
was to leave her so.
The old lady had leaned forward
in her effort to beat down my eyes.
“David,” she said, “life doesn’t
begin at fourteen and stay there.
What happened to the last person
who went in pride out of this apart
ment should make you think a lit
tle. I’m fond of you, which is more
than I admit to most people. Don’t
be a posturing idiot.”
“Miss Agatha,” I said and it was
hard to speak clearly, after the odd
tenderness I had heard in her voice,
“I love your niece. That sounds old
fashioned."
“All the important things in the
world are old-fashioned," she told
me. “And that’s why you want to
make things as distressing as possi
ble for everyone concerned? Be
cause you love Allegra?”
What I knew was truth seemed
trite when spoken under her steady
regard. I went on:
‘Tve got a job. At about fifty a
week. I can’t offer that to a girl
who has everything.”
”My dear boy,” said Miss Aga
tha and jerked her head, “match
making isn't among my sins. And
besides I’ve never fixed Allegra’s
worth in dollars. Have you?”
“That's why,” I went on fast be
cause my throat was tightening,
“I’m saying good-by. Probably this
also sounds idiotic to you, but I
love her too dearly to ask her to
marry me.”
“Rhetoric, rhetoric,” said Miss
Agatha and laid her hands on her
chair’s wheels. “I hope newspaper
work sweats some of it out of you.
David. Will you wait a minute?”
She propelled herself through that
door which opened into her bedroom.
I picked up my hat and coat and
turned toward the hall, half minded
to go.
Allegra stood there. I thought that,
till now, I had not known how fair
she was. She was a cool wind blow
ing through my mind, routing the
rubbish of old wretchedness.
“Going?” she asked.
Her eyes smiled.
"I am,” I said. “Or—-I mean, 1
was just saying to your aunt—"
Part of my mind screamed “Idi
ot!” at me. None of it did any
thing else to help me. She cam<
nearer.
“I heard you,” she told me. “I’vi
been standing here for five minute:
Let's not review that again; let'
go on from there. Have you no bet
ter reason for not marrying me. Da
vid?”
Miss Agatha did not come bac
for a long while
I THE END I
1 -
Law in the Making
With the turn of the year a new Congress—the 77th~began its
job of determining what shall be the laws of this nation. It's a long
and sometimes rough road between the introduction of a bill in
one of the houses of Congress and its enactment into law. These
pictures take you over that road. This particular bill is the I inson
bill, authorising the “construction or acquisition of naval aircraft
Rep. Carl Vinson of Georgia,
chairman of House Naval A ffairs
committee, drops a resolution
into the “hopper,” at the Speak
er's table in the House of Rep
resentatives—the first step in the
making of a law.
HR-9848. William J. McDer
mott Jr., bill clerk of the House,
puts a number on the resolution
-HR-9848. The “J/. R." is for
“House ResolutionResolutions
indicate temporary legislation.
Bills become continuing laws.
Next milestone on the bilFs journey is at the desk of Lewis
Deschler, parliamentarian of the House, an encyclopedia of legis
lative procedure, who sits at the Speaker s table during sessions.
Mr. Deschler decides which House committee will get the resolution.
And now HR-9848 is delivered
to Robert H. Harper, a clerk of
the House Naval Affairs commit
tee. Many copies are run off.
Debate ... In due course
hearings are heard on HR-9848.
Here Rep. L. B. Johnson of Tex
as, member of the Naval Affairs
committee, is having his say.
Author-Booster . . . After the
Vinson measure was given the
green light in committee, it went
to the House, where its author
said his piece in its favor.
Chairman Vinson, having de
cided to call a hearing, checks
the resolution uith Commander
I. C. Bogart.
Read in Session . . . After
making a few changes, the com
mittee reported favorably on
HR-9848. Roger Calloway, read
ing clerk, reads it in session.
Caieafar No. 1809
H. R. 9848
w the senate of the united states
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Mar >1 (k(irlrll'a !•», Mar »), IMO
Soyartod by Mr. Waiaa »db g.iniOi l»
|OM IP- MM M«*4 laaara rod loaol Ma part pHaPad la MOM
AN ACT
To anthoriae Jhe construction or acqnirili— of naval aircraft, the
construction of certain public weriu, and for other purposes
1 Be il enacted by the Senate end IIante of Utprteenla
2 liner of the United 8latee of A meric* in Congrm aaeembUJ,
t That the President of the United States is hereby authorised
4 to acquire or construct bars! airplanes sad lighter thee air
5 eeeft nonriyd lighter-tkan-ir craft, and spare parti and
For Defense . . • And here is
the first page of HR-9848, calling
for the construction or acquisi
tion of naval aircraft. A long
route, but it's democratic way.
The public is privileged to listen to committee arguments.
WHO’S
NEWS
THIS
WEEK
By LEMUEL F. PARTON
(Consolidated Features—WNU Service.)
NEW YORK —Judging from past
performances, any spot where
Baron Manfred Von Killinger is op
erating is a good place to watch
for a sanded
Feinting at Ruse deck, a pair
And Swinging at of trained dice
Everybody El.e ^
have been the diplomatic parapher
nalia of the eminent Nazi statesman
who, it is now reported in Europe,
will be the new gauleiter, or Hitler
straw-boss in Rumania. Lately, for
eign correspondence has converged
on the idea that Herr Goebbels is
faking a possible run-in with Rus
sia and letting word leak out in the
Balkans that the Nazis are sending
troops to menace Russia, while in
reality, he is dealing under the ta
ble with Stalin, as usual.
That would be a grand way to
dampen American war ardor—this
country getting into the war on the
side of red Russia. Anything as
elaborate and devious as this would
be right on Baron Von Killinger’s
target. With his genius for duplicity
and complicated intrigue he would
be a marvelous advance agent for
just such a grand razzle-dazzle as
that.
When Baron Von Kllllnger
was German consul-general at
San Francisco, from August,
1937, to January, 1939, Rep.
Samuel Dlckstein denounced
him on the floor of congress as
a “Nasi adventurer.” On No
vember 6, 1937, the Americani
sation committee of the Ameri
can Legion demanded his sum
mary rejection from this coun
try as a spy delivering secrets
of the American fleet to his gov
ernment. He stayed on the job
until the Nazis saw fit to recall
him, as the war loomed, for
more immediately urgent in
trigue over there.
He spent nine months in jail, in
1922, on charges of complicity in
the murder of the conciliatory Ma
thias Erzberger. Bullets like those
used by the murderers. Schulz and
Tillesen, had been found in his pos
session. He was acquitted and
moved through the turbulent years
of the Nazi ascendency to a spot at
the right hand of Der Fuehrer. Hit
gift for intrigue was such at some
times he ran the ball the wrong
way, and during the blood purge of
1934, Hitler put him in a concen
tration camp and fired him as pre
mier of Saxony.
However, they could find no sub
stitute for his legerdemain and let
him out to pick up his old line of
mystagogy.
IN 1933, a young man from Potts*
ville, planting his typewriter on
his bed in a New York hall bed
room, rounded out 25,000 words of a
book he was
When the Utterly writing. He
Improbable Does was down to
u ia> ki his last three
Happen,It sNews doljars He
sent unfinished manuscripts to three
publishers, with a take-it-or-leave-it,
flrst-come-flrst-served letter, telling
them he would finish the book under
a contract which would allow him
to live decently while he was work
ing. The next day came three ac
ceptances. Harcourt, Brace was
first in line and got the book, “Ap
pointment in Samarra." The author
got $50 a week for the three months
and delivered the finished book with
in four days of the dead-line.
Such was the literary get-way
of Young John O’Hara, author
of the current hit musical show
In New York city, “Pal Joey,”
the same being one of the most
poisonous portraits of a “heel”
ever etched with the steel-point
of contempt. The book clicked
and in the years/between there
was the routine stretch at Holly
wood, and a series of magazine
stories from which the unlovely
portrait of “Pal Joey” gradual
ly emerged.
“Pal Joey” isn’t a show to which
you would want to take your Aunt
Tabitha, but there is a moral in
the story of how young John O’Hara
began to rise and shine. When he
decided to become an author, he
swore off liquor, cut smoking down
to a minimum, went on a diet and
worked a punishing shift, seven
days a week. He is tall, person
able and gathers his garlands and
his royalties at the age of 35.
IF HE can’t busk a blizzard of an
avalanche, a Grade A war would
do nicely for big, bucko William
F. Carey, New York commissioner
of sanitation, on leave with the de
fense commission to shove through
army cantonment construction. He
says the building needs bucking up
a lot, but it will all come through.
We saw him win the Culebra cut
steam-shovel record for dirt remov
al when he was helping to build the
Panama canal. He has built rail
roads, dams, canals, roads, bridges
and what not, pretty nearly all over.
BJ»*« tk
JTERNh »v
Department
6636
ONE special beauty of this de
sign (No. 8836) is that you can
make it up in household cottons
for home wear, cutting the sleeves
off short, and in spun rayon or
thin wool for runabout, cutting the
sleeves long! And it’s so easy to
make that you’re certain to repeat
it many times.
Belted only in the back, with
lengthening bodice panels that ac
cent height, thus making you look
slimmer, and gathers beneath the
yoke portions, this dress is clever
ly detailed to give exactly the ef
fect that women’s size* require.
The v-neckline is finished with a
deeply notched collar, the sleeves
(CUTOUTS like this are a happy
idea to be used for plants you
grow indoors. You can add inter
est to the flowers you keep in the
house and to the attractiveness of
your rooms as well if you use
boxes in clever designs like these.
Bits of plywood are cut out with
jig or coping saw, painted and
nailed together to make the boxes.
• * •
Pattern Z9207 15c. brings the kitten,
pup and hen and rooster motifs together
with the needed directions. Send order to:
AUNT MARTHA
Box 166-W Kansas City, Mo.
Enclose 15 cents for each pattern
desired. Pattern No.
Name .
Address ..
are trimmed with narrow cuff
points. And you’ll find it one of
the most comfortable fashions you
ever put on!
• e •
Pattern No. 8838 Is designed tor sizes 34,
38, 38. 40. 42. 44. 48 and 48. Size 38 re
quires. with short sleeves, 4*b yards of 39
inch material without nap; with long
sleeves, 4',h yards; 4b yard for contrasting
collar and cuffs. Send order to:
SEWING CIRCLE PATTERN DEPT.
Room 1324
211 W. Wacker Dr. Chicago
Enclose 13 cents In coins (or
Pattern No. Size..
Name ..
Address ......
Live Stock Commission
BYERS BROS & CO.
A Real Live Stock Com. Firm
At the Omaha Market
BEAUTY SCHOOL
Enroll Now. Nebraska's Oldest School.
Individual Instruction, graduates placed In
good paying positions, write Kathryn Wil
son, manager, for FREE BOOKLET. Cali
fornia Beauty School, Omaha, Nobr.
Largest Active Volcano
Mauna Loa, in the Hawaii Na
tional park, is the world’s largest
active volcano. It soars 13,680
feet above sea level, and its sum
mit crater is three miles long and
a mile and a half wide. The vol
cano has erupted with consider
able violence about once every
four years; the last time was in
1936.
More frequently active is the
neighboring Kilauea, the summit
of which contains the pit known as
"the House of Everlasting Fire.”
Help to Roliovo Distress of
[FEMALE
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WOim^rRYINQ^^^^^^^
Indispensable Supports
Of all the dispositions and habits
which lead to political prosperity,
religion and morality are indis
pensable supports.—Washington.
WHEN kidneys function badly and
you suffer a nagging backache,
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freauent urination and getting up at
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air upset... use Doan's Pills.
Doan's are especially for poorly
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are used every year. They are recom
■ mended the country over. Ask your
neighbor!
WNU—U3—41
Visible World
The visible world is but man
turned inside out that he may be
revealed to himself. — Henry
James.
XHADt^C
Don't cough in public places. Carry with you
a box of delicious Smith Brothers Cough
Drops. (Black or Menthol, 51.)
Smith Bros. Cough Drops are the
only drops containing VITAMIN A
Vitamin A (Carotene) raises the resistance of i
^ mucous membranes of nose and throat to 3
^ cold infections, when lack of resist
W ance is due to Vitamin A deficiency. •<<
^MARS
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