The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965, April 08, 1943, Image 6

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    V* ~ Hi
PIR/VTES HE/\D
11 ISABEL WAITT^.C^T
THE STORY SO FAR: Judy Jaion,
*»ho la telling the story, receive* an
anonymous letter enclosing $800 and ask
ing her to bid for an abandoned church
to be auctioned the next day. She finds,
In an old chest, the body of a man Iden
tified as Roddy l.ane. The body disap
pears a tew hours later. A fish shed
burns, apparently killing an old man
named Brown, who is supposed to have
lived there. Judy finds Roddy f-ane’s dia
mond in her handbag. I-lly Kendall Is
found dead, with Hugh Norcross' scarf
around her neck. Albion Potter gives
Judy a picture of the rhurch he has Just
finished. Bessie Norcross writes a con
fession.
Now continue with Judy's story.
CHAPTER XVI
"She confessed to save—him!"
Even I could see it, now that Vic
tor had pointed it out. During the
reading. I'd noticed a few discrep
ancies in Bessie's confession, but no
where near the number he had. Take
the wind itself, for instance. It
couldn't have blown the blue scarf
back into the Pirate’s Mouth be
cause there was a land breeze be
fore the tide turned, and the place
was entirely sheltered.
"We've got to show it to the po
lice.”
"And incriminate the brother she
tried to save?"
“May not incriminate him," Vic
tor said. “It’s the cleverest thing
I ever read. What Bessie says about
her light not showing from the path
to the bluff; little things like that.
And her timing’s pretty good, too,
only she's forgotten Mr. Quincy was
sitting on the piazza all the eve
ning, until she wheeled him down to
the church. He saw her go up to
her room, before dark, and she
didn’t come down again. But Hugh
did, he admits. I think it may have
been Hugh you spoke to, later.
We were walking back rapidly to
where the men were working on the
boat. Thaddeus Quincy had man
aged the ramp somehow, and was
wheeling himself toward us with his
table cloth tied to his cane. He
passed us, giving me a reproachful
glance, I thought.
“Don’t forget what I told you,
Judy." And he shot a warning nod
at Victor. Then he stationed him
self in the middle of the road and
began waving his signal.
"We’ve got to And Norcross and
tell him about this, Judy.”
“He’s around somewhere. 1 should
think the scarf would eliminate him
from the suspects, wouldn’t you?"
“Perhaps.”
“That makes you and me, Bessie
and Hugh, Aunt Nella and Uncle
Wylie, who aren’t on the list. Why,
it only leaves Potter and De Witt
and Quincy!"
“Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Are
you forgetting your Uncle Wylie
knew Miss Kendall hadn't been
strangled, at a glance. He was
right, it happens, but personally 1
had to make an examination, to be
sure."
“Now. who’s crazy? Maybe lu
made an examination, tool"
I rushed up the steps in high dudg
eon. Perhaps I’d better take Thad
deus Quincy’s advice. Victor Quad*
seemed to say things like that ev- j
ery little while which forced me |
to suspect the suspicioner. Wylie !
Gerry!
Hugh Norcross was coming down
the stairs. He came directly toward
me. "Bessie says she gave you a
letter for me. I don’t know what’s
gotten into her. She won’t speak to
me. Locked herself in."
Was she afraid of him? I was
glad I could see the men across the
road and hear my aunt’s movements
in the kitchen. Then Bessie's de
spair made me forget my own fear.
“You didn’t give her any more of
.hat sleeping medicine?”
’Til say I didn’t. She takes far ;
oo much of the stuff Why. an over
dose—"
"Exactly. Don’t let her have it. I
You’ll understand when you—’’ I j
nearly said when he’d read the let- j
ter. which would have been an ad
mission that I'd done so myself.
“You’re sweet, Judy. My sister’s
nerves are an awful care. Go up
•rd see if you can get her to quiet
down, will you? I wish she was out
of this mess. And you, too. When
it's over there’s something I want
to say to you. Just now all I dare
say or think of is—be careful.” He
was squeezing my hand till it hurt.
“Where’s the letter?”
“Mr. Quade has it. He’s with the
others at the bam. He told me to
find you. It’s important, Hugh.” He
took a few steps forward.
"You tell Bessie I’ll be back soon,
will you?”
"Sure,” I said, glad to escape the
ievouring gaze of his haggard eyes.
I knocked on Bessie’s door. She
a as crying
"Hughie? I can’t sleep! I can't
sloep!”
“It’s Judy. Want me to get you a
cup of tea?”
“No, thank you. Did you give my
brother the letter?”
“He has it now.”
I heard a scrambling off the bed.
“Did he give you the—my medi
cine?”
“No. Said you couldn’t have any
more till night. Do let me in, Bes
sie—Miss Norcross. I’ll rub your
head if it aches so badly.”
But evidently she’d flung herself
on the bed again, for muffled sobs
were her only reply. I gave it up
finally, tiptoeing past poor Lily Ken
dall's room and on up into my own.
The picture of the now hateful old
church stood in a corner of the hall
near my door, where Victor had
moved it when he’d gone to see if
the $500 was still there. It stood on
a newspaper, where Albion Potter
had thoughtfully placed it to save
the floor. 1 didn't pick it up until
I’d made sure about the money. It
was still where I’d left it! Certain
peculiarities in the letter came to
my mind, and it occurred to me at
least Bessie had given me some
hand-writing to compare, only I
hadn’t examined it closely. I’d go
down and try to take a look. But
first I picked up the picture to put
it into my room.
A wet painting isn't easy to han
dle, but when it’s wet on both sides
it is really difficult. Potter had
painted the entire back of the can
vas an apple green, which was even
wetter than parts of the picture it
self. I, too, got it on my hands,
and just when I placed the thing
under one of the windows to dry, it
fell over. I made a grab, fearing
it would be spoiled and smooched,
and caught it. doing more damage
probably than as if I’d let it go.
Now my hands and a bit of floor be
yond the newspaper were a horrid
sight. I seized the paper and tried
to wipe off the place where my hand
had been, messing up the back mis
erably. Then I stood the picture up
again and raced downstairs to wash
my hands. Never heard of painting
a canvas on both sides before. Per
haps the artists did it that way now
or maybe Potter had painted on the
"You sick, Mr. Norcross?"
back of another picture. It didn’t
matter. The thing was not to miss
anything outside.
I could see Mr. Quincy still wav
ing his red banner at the dots in
the harbor. The men were hammer
ing at the bottom of the Eleanor.
The boat, they called to me, was
virtually water tight—they hoped.
The thing was to get it to the shore.
Would I go get Wylie Gerry to tell
them how? It was too heavy to car
ry, and they were afraid they’d
scrape the patch off if they just
dragged it along. Weren’t there any
rollers?
"Uncle Wylie’U show you. He's at
the bridge." If De Witt or Potter
thought I was their Western Union
boy they were much mistaken. I
skedaddled over to where Victor was
standing beside Hugh, who had
just finished reading his sister's let
ter. Now he held it out to Quade.
"For God's sake, what shall I
do?”
"You could destroy it.”
"You read It?"
Victor nodded. "You all invited
me to sort of take charge. I'll help
any way I can, Norcross."
"But surely you don’t think—?
Bessie? She wouldn’t kill an ant!
She’s afraid, that's all. And she'll
stick to her story. You see, it
wouldn’t do any good to destroy this.
She'd only confess all over again.
She knows I’m guilty. You’ve got
to believe me, man! I murdered
Roddy Lane."
"Hugh Norcross! I—I don’t be
lieve you.” I gasped, tears smart
ing my eyes. He didn’t have the—
the courage, I was thinking.
Victor said: "And Miss Kendall?
You killed her, too, of course.
Why?”
"Because she knew too much. Be
cause she saw me coming out of
Potter’s room with that confounded
cleansing fluid of his, and because
she was on the church steps when
Roddy and I had the row and I hit
him. So I strangled her with my
scarf. Bessie? Absurd!”
He looked like a handsome dark
shadow, haunted by remorse. He
crumbled his sister's letter in his
hand.
"I shall tell the authorities every
thing. Will you agree to leave her
out of this? Here. Judy," he reached
in his pocket and drew out his wal
let, removing a few lean bills. "Give
her this. I'll be taken to jail as
soon as they come. I'd rather not
see her. You tell her, Quade, to
keep her mouth shut.”
"Don’t take it, Judy. I’m telling
you to keep your own mouth shut,
but I suppose it’s too late."
"What's all this? What’s all this?”
None of us had noticed the minister
and Quincy, who’d come up behind
us and were listening for dear life.
"God bless my soul! Not you, Nor
cross?”
Thaddeus Quincy wheeled back a
pace and took a firmer grip on his
cane, even yanking off the red cloth.
"Knew it was you all the time,
Norcross—last night when you
wouldn’t answer Judy and me.”
"Yes, it was I. On my way to
kill Lane.”
"Good heavens, Norcross, do you
know what you’re saying? You don't
have to admit anything,” Victor
said. "Less you say the better for
you."
"I want to talk. I want to con
fess. I wish to God the police would
come—say, what’s Potter running
for?”
We could all see the artist climb
ing into his car and driving like mad
down the narrow Neck.
"To get Gerry to help us launch
the boat.”
For a moment our eyes watched
the car, but our ears were tuned to
Hugh. He was ranting, almost the
way his sister did.
"I came down here to kill Lane
for what he did to my sister. I saw
him coming down the Castle drive
way. We went over to the church
and foughi it out, man to man. Hit
him too hard, I guess. Anyway, he
died and I put him in the chest, just
as Judy said. I ought to have locked
it, but I heard someone corging.”
Following the pattern—following
the pattern—just like the letter.
“Hugh, let me see that a min
ute. I’ll give it right back,” I said
t^ him. He didn't seem to care what
he did. He automatically handed
me the crumpled ball of a letter. I
turned my back and took a good
look at the writing. Neat, tiny, very
individualistic. Nothing at all like
mine, with the money, I gave it
back to him.
"—so I tied the scarf around her
neck and choked her,” he was al
most shouting. “But she wouldn’t
fall through the Pirate’s Mouth,
so—"
“God help us all!” ejaculated De
Witt.
I could see Potter’s car coming
back with my uncle. “How much
money was it you sent me, Hugh
ie?" I had never called him that
pet name before, but he was so
distrait, and I couldn't think him
capable of all those crimes.
“What ails him?” Albion Potter
asked.
“He's confessed,” shrilled Mr.
Quincy. Anyone would have thought
he was enjoying himself.
“Norcross? Well, I vum!” Uncle
Wylie marched straight up to Hugh.
"Keep your trap shut, young feller,
me lad. IfTen you did kill Lane I
guess we’ll all back you up It was
—self-defense, warn’t it?”
“And Old Man Brown?”
“And Miss Kendall?”
The men gathered around the
boat, shaking their heads and mur
muring to themselves. They might
be good witnesses as far as Lane
was concerned, but the others—
Uncle Wylie screamed in a high
falsetto, the way he did whenever
he wanted anything: “Nella!”
Auntie came running.
“Where'd you hide the Eleanor's
rollers?”
"Hide ’em? How should I know?
Up in the barn chamber, ain't
they?" She stood, a trim whisp of a
woman in a neat checkered bib
apron, her gnarled hands on her
hips. Then, catching sight of Hugh,
“You sick, Mr. Norcross?”
Hugh raised haggard eyes and
said nothing.
"I declare I feel a spell cornin’ on,
too. Want some of my elderberry
wine?" Her eye fell on the patch on
the boat. "Land sakes! I’d ruther
put to sea in a barrel, 'tain’t safe,
is it, Wylie?”
Uncle Wylie was examining the
patch. He looked at it outside and
in, then he scratched his head. "Nev
er git acrost the gap. Cove nei
ther. Course we can roll her down
and see. Me, I’d tear that thing off
and do it right."
"Why don't you do it then?” his
wife asked tartly.
“Take too long. Let's see if she’ll
hold water.”
“Oh, what the heck!” Hugh sprang
up to help get a log under the Elea
nor. "Let’s get going. 1 want the
police to come. I want to be ar
rested before my sister comes
down."
Thaddeus Quincy wheeled himself
out of the way. De Witt stood with
closed eyes, praying again, I
thought. Potter and Uncle Wylie
took hold of the boat.
Aunt Nella came down the steps
and I went to meet her. She shot a
querulous glance at Hugh and asked
me what he'd meant. I tried to tell
her in a breath.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Greet the Day With a Well-Balanced Breakfast
(See Recipes Below)
Good Morning!
What’s your breakfast? A squirt
of orange juice and a sip of coffee
or fruit, cereal,
eggs, toast and
coffee? No need
to tell you which
one you can start
a man-sized
day’s work on, is i
there? A break
fast should supply almost a third of
the day’s calories and food value.
A slight breakfast will prevent you
from waking up fully—and thus
starting to realize your full quota
of production whether you’re on the
home or factory front. But, treat
the first meal of the day with the
same respect you do the other two,
and you find yourself refreshed and
more than ready to do your job—
and do it well.
If you’re still in doubt about the
value of a good breakfast, look at
breakfasts fed servicemen. Do you
think they could get up and do their
work if it weren’t for fruit, cere
als, eggs, toast or hotbread and
beverage for their first fare of the
day? No, ma’am.
Breakfast affords a grand chance
for you to get your vitamin Bl—
that important morale vitamin
which prevents nervousness and
restlessness. You need this vitamin j
every day—and its best sources are
whole grain cereal and bread—and
yeast.
On warmer days, serve oatmeal
or whole wheat cereal, on cooler
days, use the enriched, ready-to-eat
cereals which arp unrationed. When
the berries and fruits start coming
in, use a few of them with the cere
als for a delightful breakfast dish.
Breakfast is a good way to take
care of the citrus fruit requirement
of the day, too. A
half grapefruit, a
large orange or a
large glass of or
ange juice will
fulllll the vitamin
C quota of the
day. Remember,
however, that vi
tamin C is easily
destroyed by air, and that means
you should not squeeze or cut up
oranges until just before serving.
•Old-Fashioned ropevcrs.
3 eggs
It* cups milk
lt4 cups enriched flour
% teaspoon salt
Sift flour and salt into a bowl.
Beat eggs and add milk to them
and stir gradually into the flour to
make a smooth batter, then beat
thoroughly with egg beater; put in
hot greased muflln tins two-thirds
full of mixture. Bake in a hot oven
(450 degrees) half hour, then in mod
erate (350-degree) oven 15 minutes
until brown. Note: No leavening
agent is used in popovers, and their
rising action is dependent upon thor
ough beating.
Lynn Says:
Make Rationing Work: Keep
food essentials in mind when
planning your menus, and use
point-rationed food to best advan
tage. When you spend any of
your coupons for rationed food,
make sure you are not buying
anything that you could buy
fresh.
In buying meats buy those of
which you get the most for your
points. Extend whatever cuts
of meat you can with cereals,
stuffings, food extenders and
vegetables to make them go fur
ther.
Start today to save sugar and
put it in a bank so that you will
have enough for the canning you
are going to do this summer.
Do not use sugar anywhere that
you possibly can avoid it Start
planning your victory garden, so
that you will be ready to put up
! as much of your share in fruits
and vegetables.
Buy quality foods to get the
most value of your points. This
applies to canned and processed
foods, meat, cheese and butter.
Lynn Chambers’ Point-Saving
Breakfast
•Baked Apples
Ready-to-Eat Cereal
Cream and Sugar
•Old-Fashioned Popovers
With Jam
Beverage
. *Recipes Given
If possible, have eggs for break
fast—with bacon, if you can man
age it, but remember that a nice hot
bowlful of oatmeal will give a good
ly quantity of health. Then, of
course, you can vary the menu
with pancakes, french toast and waf
fles when the mood strikes you.
Baked pears or apples are a good
fruit for breakfast variation. Try
apples this way:
•Baked Apple With Orange
Marmalade Filling.
Select apples that are suitable for
baking. Core, and fill cavities with
orange marmalade. Prick skins
with fork and place in a baking pan
with a little water. Cover with lid
and bake in a slow oven until ten
der. Remove lid just long enough
to brown.
Creamed Chipped Beef Omelet.
(Serves 8)
1 cup chipped beef, cut fine
cups white sauce
6 eggs
6 tablespoons top milk
% teaspoon salt
% teaspoon pepper
Fold chipped beef into white
sauce. Beat eggs until fluffy, then
add milk, salt
and pepper. Melt
enough butter or
margarine into a
heavy skillet to
cover bottom and
sides of pan, pour
in eggs and shake I
gently over fire. <
When set, loosen
sides and bottom, cover with heated
creamed beef, carefully fold over
with spatula, and slide onto hot plat
ter. Serve at once.
For variety, there are many types
of griddle cakes:
Sour Milk Griddle Cakes.
l'A cups flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon melted but
ter or margarine
*A teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar
2 eggs
Sift flour and sugar; dissolve soda
in buttermilk and add to flour. Drop
in unbeaten eggs and beat well,
then fold in butter. Drop by spoon
fuls on a hot, greased griddle and
brown on both sides.
Flannel Cakes.
2 eggs
IA cups milk
2 cups enriched flour
H teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons melted but
ter or margarine
3 teaspoons baking powder
Sift all dry ingredients. Beat egg
yolks and add to milk. Pour this
into the flour, add melted butter,
and lastly the well-beaten eggs. Drop
by spoonfuls on hot, greased grid
dle and serve with syrup, preserves
or jelly.
Crisp Waffles.
(Makes 4 4-section waffles)
2 cups sifted cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
% teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks, well beaten
1 cup milk
Vs cup melted shortening
2 egg whites
Sift flour, measure, add baking
powder and salt and sift again. Com
bine egg yolks and milk, add to flour,
beating until smooth. Add shorten
ing. Beat egg whites until they
hold up but are still moist, then
fold into batter. Bake on hot waf
fle iron.
Lynn Chambers welcomes you to
submit your household queries to her
problem clinic. Send your letters to
her at Western Newspaper Union, 210
South Desplaines Street, Chicago, Illi
nois. Don't forget to enclose a stamped,
self-addressed envelope for your reply.
Beleased by Western Newspaper Union, j
By VIRGINIA VALE
Released by Western Newspaper Union.
THE little town of Brawley,
Calif., woke up one morn
ing recently to find a motor
ized battalion of German
troops, armed to the teeth, lin
ing the streets. As the Mexi
can border’s only 25 miles
away, the townsfolk were a bit
jittery. Then they took an
other look at the “invaders” and
recognized them as Brawley high
school boys, drafted by Columbia
Pictures to represent a unit of the
Nazi Afrika Korps in the picture
“Somewhere in Sahara.” Humphrey
Bogart’s starred in it.
-*
Janice Gilbert, who’s twenty, has
been acting since she was eight, has
been on the radio since she was
ten. On “The O’Neills" she plays
“Janice O’Neill” and also an infant
JANICE GILBERT
and four children. But her most
famous juvenile role is “Little Or
phan Annie”—when she tours army
camps, entertaining the boys, she
gets vociferous requests for a ses
lion with “Annie.”
The night Ann Ayars, Metro star
let, sang for the boys at Fort Mac
Arthur, Calif., she got a rousing
reception, but could have dispensed
with part of it. Arriving in a pour
ing rain, she was escorted to the
hall by a new recruit who led her
smack into a deep puddle at the
stage door. Ann fell in to her hips.
She says that most of what the
soldiers saw of her was mud!
Any Hollywood personage who dis
covers Lupe Velez watching him in
tently is likely to be uneasy; experi
ence shows that Lupe’s just gather
ing material for a devastatingly fun
ny impersonation of him. Her imi
tations seldom reach the screen, but
in “Redhead from Manhattan” she
does several imitations of fellow
stars. She plays identical cousins,
both of whom are revue stars.
-%
Lionel Barrymore was in a dan
gerous spot a while back, and it
wasn’t one of those things that are
part of a scenario, when the actor
knows he’ll be rescued. Driving
home, he miscalculated the depth of
flood water near his ranch, and
found himself sitting in his stalled
car in water up to his neck. The
swift current started moving the car
toward deeper water. But neigh
boring farmers came along with
chains and hauled the car back onto
the highway. The car was ruined,
but the famous Barrymore wasn't
damaged.
-Sfc
When Robert Ryan joined the
army he knew that he’d have a job
when he came back; he has a con
tract with RKO that assures his re
turn to the screen at the war’s end,
at a salary exceeding the one he
was getting when he left. His work
in “Bombardier” and “The Sky’s the
Limit” was responsible for the
scrapping of the old contract and the
writing of the more favorable new
one.
-*
Bob Hope's set for another of those
cross-country tours of army, navy
and marine posts and bases, which
is good news for the men who’ll
benefit; he gives them a swell show.
In fact, he probably works harder
at entertaining servicemen than at
anything else.
-*
Jack Miller, orchestra director for
Kate Smith and “The Aldrich Fam
ily,” can drop off to sleep any time.
He dozed off in the studio before a
recent “Aldrich Family” broadcast,
so the cast slipped out and sent a
page in to wake him and explain
that the program was over and all
visitors must leave. He spent a
frenzied five minutes before he
caught up with the truth.
-*
ODDS AND ENDS
The voice which Willy Maher uses
for “Wilbur" on the Tommy Riggs
broadcasts is going into the movies for
the second time, as the lead in the
Metro cartoon, “The Screwy SquirreT’
. . . After three years' preparation.
King Vidor is nearly ready to begin
production of “America,’’ starring Brian
Donlevy . . . Helmut Dantine, the Nazi
aviator of “Mrs. Miniver," has a leading
role in Warner Bros’ "To the Last
Man," starring F.rrol Flynn , . . New
Orleans’ famous French market, exactly
as it was back in the year 1885, has been
erected as a setting for "Saratoga
Trunk."
Today’s Scrap Bag
Is a Valuable Asset
7458'
/■''HEER up your home with gay
linens—appliqued curtains—
colorful aprons. Get these simple
applique motifs—you can use each
as often as you please. Get out
your scrap bag and put this ma
terial to good use.
• * *
Pattern 7458 contains applique pattern
pieces of 6 motifs averaging 4>,i by 5
inches; directions.
Due to an unusually large demand and
current war conditions, slighUy more
time is required in filling orders for a
few of the most popular pattern numbers.
Sewing Circle Needlecraft Dept.
82 Eighth Ave. New York
Enclose 15 cents (plus one cent to
cover cost of mailing) for Pattern
No.
Name .
Address .
I LICKED MY
CONSTIPATION
Of course, it wasn’t due to
anything organically wrong
with me. It was just ordi
nary constipation, due to
lack of “bulk” in the diet.
A dose of some medicinal
laxative gives only tempo
rary relief for such consti
pation. You got to find
something that gets at the
cause and corrects it. I
found just that-in kellogg’s
ALL-BBAN.
ALL-BRAN is E WOnderful
tasting breakfast cereal and
a swell way to start the
morning. Eat it regularly,
drink plenty of water and
—if your constipation's like
mine-you'll “Join the Reg
ulars,” too! all-bran is
made by Kellogg’s in Battle
Creek, Michigan.
At
Cheerful Beginning
Every beginning is cheerful; the
threshold is the place of expecta
tion.—Goethe.
There’* good reason why PAZO oint
jj mi nt haw been used by wo many million*
of wufferers from wimple Pile*. Find.
PAZO oinlment soothes inflamed areas
— relieves pain and itching. Second,
PAZO ointment lubricates hardened,
dried parts— helpw prevent cracking and
I soreness. Third. PAZO ointment lends
to reduce swelling and check bleeding.
Fourth, it’s easy to use. PAZO oint
ment's perforated Pile Pipe makes ap
plication simple, thorough. Your doctor
can tell you about PAZO ointment. I
From an old French word
“mes" derived from the Latin
word “missus” meaning a course
at a meal, comes the Army’s
name “mess” for its breakfast,
dinner, and supper. Favorite meal
with the soldier is chicken dinner
—his favorite cigarette, Camel.
(Based on actual sales records
from Post Exchanges.) A carton
of Camels, by the way, is the gift
he prefers first of all from the
folks back home. He’s said so.
Local tobacco dealers are featur
ing Camel cartons to send any
where to men in the armed forces.
—Adv.
r Kills
APHIS {
W One ounce makes six gallons
[ of aphis spray... Full direc- A
W tions on label. • Insist on M
' „„ factory sealed packages. j&ji
> TOBACCO IT PRODUCTS l CHCMiCAl «*
CORPORATION, INCORPORATED