WNEHA&T CV SYNOPSIS. Mlns InriM , rplmlor and ett.ardlan of Gertrude niM llaNoy , established minimer headquarter/ Punnynldn. Ainlilnt nu merous dtmuultlen the nprvants deserted. A Minn Irmcu Indeed up for the night ho WHH rtnrllcd by a d/irk flguro on the \erandn. Uiviormly nolscH duttuibnd her flurlnc tlin night. In tlin mornlntf Mln-j ijpncs found u fttrnngo link ntiff-lnuton In * hamper. CJertruUo and Halsey arrived i-wllh Jaett Halle ) ' . The houuo wan nwak- nert by a revolver nhot and Arnold Arm strong wun found nhot to dentil In the fliMI. Mlwi Jnnrji found Hnlpey'H revolver ion the town. Ifo and Jack IJalley had dls- mppcared. The link enff-huttnu tnyHtorl- ouMy dlwippeared. Dntactlvo Jarnluson iwrlved. Ocrlrudo revealed ulio.wiif en- raced to Jack llalley , with whom uho talked Irt the billiard room n. few mo menta liefdro the murder. Jamleson ac cused Miiwi Jnnei t holdliiK bark evi dence IIo Imprisoned nu Intruder In an fctnpty room. The pil-ioner cscapr-d down ' * laundry chute . Gertrude wn Htmperted. A negro found the other half of what proved to bo .lark Hulloy'n puff-button , llalsey ronppcarn and HU > H ho and lliilley left In rcnponie to n telegram. ( Jertrudo * ald uho hud Riven llalloy tin unloaded ( revolver , foarlriK to Klvo him u loaded ( Weapon. Cashier llallcy of Pniil Arm- tronn'H bank , defunct , wan nrri'Med for * mbezlcmnnt. llalsey mild Armstrong ( wrecked his own .bank and could clear pBalley. Paul ArmHtrons'H death WHM an- fnounccd. Ilalscy'n llancoe , I.oulso Arm- Wtronp. was found at tint Indue. The llodKelsceper nald Ixiuluo and Arnold had in lorn ; talk tlin nlnht of the murder. 1,011- ilso WIIH nrostrated. hotline told llnlncy , [ that while nho still loved htm Him watt to Iniarry another , and that ho would dcupltfo licr when ho learned tlin wholn Htory. nt developed that Dr. Walker mid I.onluft rwero to lw married. A prowler was heard tin the liouiiu. I.oulso wan found at the fcottom of the circular Htalrcuso , CHAPTER XVI. Continued. "I was not Bleeping well , " oho he- Kan , "partly , I think , because I had /fllopt / during the afternoon. Llddy ( brought mo some hot milk at ton o'clock and I slept until 12. Then I Iwakened and I got to thinking about ( things , and worrying , .so I could not fco to sleep. "I was wondering why I had not 'heard from Arnold since the since I ( * nw hltn that night at the lodge. I was afraid he wtui ill , be cause he was to have dona something for mo , and ho had not como back. It must have been three "whon'fl heard some ono rapt > ! ng. I at up and listened , to bo Quito sure , End the rapping kept up. I was cau- | Uous , and I was about to call Llddy. Then suddenly I thought I know what it was. The cast entrance and clrcu- r staircase were always used by mold when ho was out late , and ometimcB , when ho forgot his key , ho ould rap and I would go down and ot'him in. I thought ho had como tmck to ECO mo I didn't think about jtho time , for Ids hours were always erratic. But I was afraid I was too weak to got down the stairs. The knocking kept up , and just an I was i bout to call Llddy , she ran through uio room and out Into the hall. I getup up then , fooling weak and dizzy , and jput on my dressing-gown. If it was Arnold , I know I must sco him. | "It was very dark everywhere- , of course , I know my way. I felt along tor the stair-rail , and went down as Quickly as I could. The knocking had stopped , and I was afraid I was too ( late. I got to the foot of Uio staircase - > case and over to Uio door on to the east veranda. I had never thought of Anything but that it was Arnold , until 1 reached the door. It was unlocked kind opened about an inch. Everything ( was black ; it was perfectly dark out- 'aide. ' I felt very queer and shaky. iThen I thought perhaps Arnold had JOBed his key ; ho did strange things ( sometimes , and I turned around. Just fis I reached the foot of the staircase K thought I heard some ono coming. iMy nerves were going anyhow , there 'In ' the dark , and I could scarcely Inland. I got up as far as the third or fourth step ; then I felt that some cue wao coming toward mo on the staircase. The next Instant a hand met mine on the stair-rail. Some one brushed past me , and I screamed Then I must have fainted. " That was Louise's st6ry. There could bo no doubt of Us truth , and the thing that made it inexpressibly awful to mo was that the poor girl had crept I down to answer the summons of a 'brother ' who would never need her kindly offices again. Twice , now , without - out apparent cause , some ono had on- 'tered ' the house by means of the cast ' 'entrance ' ; had apparently gene his vay unhindered through the house , nnd gene out again as ho had entered. Iliad this unknown visitor been there a third time , the night Arnold Arm strong was murdered ? Or a fourth , the time Mr. Jamieson had locked some ono In the clothes chute ? I Sleep was impossible , I think , for ! nny of us. Wo dispersed finally to bathe and dross , leaving Louise little the worse for her experience. But I determined that before the day was over she must know the true state of affairs. Another declslcti I made , and I put It into execution immediately nfter breakfast I had ono of the unused bedrooms in the east wing , back along the small corridor , pre pared for occupancy , and from that time on Alex , the gardener , slept there. Ono man in that barn of a Louse was an absurdity , with things happening all the time , nnd I must say that Alex was as unobjectionable as any ono could possibly have been. The next morning , also , Halsoy and I made an exhaustive examination of the circular staircase , the small entry at its foot , and the cardroom opening from it. There was no evidence of anything unusual the night before , and "My Home la In Englewood , " the Doctor Began. had wo not ourselves heard the rap ping noises , I should have felt that Louise's Imagination had run away with her. The outer door was closed and locked , and the staircase curved above us , for all Uio world llko any other staircase. Halsoy , who had never taken seri ously my account of the night Llddy and I were there alone , was grave enough now. IIo examined the panel ing of the wainscoting above and be low the stairs ; evidently ; looking for a secret door , and suddenly there Hashed into my mind the recollection of a scrap of paper that Mr. Jamicson had found among Arnold Armstrongs ef fects. As nearly as possible I re peated Its contents to him , while Hal- soy took them down in a note-book. "I wish you had told mo this be fore , " ho said , aa ho put the memo randum carefully away. Wo found nothing at all in the house , nnd I ex pected little from any examination of the porch and grounds. But as wo opened the outer door something fell , lnto the entry with a clatter. It was a cue from the billiard room. llalsey picked It up with an excla mation. "That's careless enough , " ho said. "Somo of the servants have been amusing themselves. " I was far from convinced. Not ono of the servants would go Into that wing nt night unless driven by dire necessity. And n billiard cue ! As a weapon of cither offense or dofens.0 It was an absurdity , unless onb tic copied Llddy'a hypothesis of a ghost , and oven then , as Halscy pointed out , a billiard-playing ghost would be a very modern evolution of an ancient institution. That afternoon we , Gertrude , Hal- soy and I , attended the coroner's In- ( lucat in town. Dr. Stewart had been summoned also , it transpiring that in that early Sunday morning , when Gertrude and 1 had gene to our rooms , ho had been called to view the body Wo went , the four of us , In the ma chine , preferring the execrable roada to the matinee train , with half ot Cas anova staring at us. And on the way wo decided to say nothing of Louise and her Interview with her step brother th'o night ho died. The girl was in trouble enough as it was. CHAPTER XVII. A Hint of Scandal. In giving the gist of what happened nt the Inquest , I have only ono ex cuse to recall to . the reader the events of the night of Arnold Arm strong's murder. Many things had occurred which were not brought out at the Inquest and some things were told there that were now to me. Al together , it was n gloomy affair , and the six men In the corner , who con stituted the coroner's jury , were evi dently the merest puppets In the hands of that all-powerful gentlemen , the coroner. Gertrude and I sat well back , with our veils down. There were a num ber of people I know : Barbara Fitz- hugh , in extravagant mourning she always went Into black on the slight est provocation , because It was becom ing and Mr. Jarvls , the man who had come over from the Greenwood cl'ib the night of the murder. Mr. Harton was there , too , looking 1m patient as the inquest dragged , but alive to every particle of evidence. From a corner Mr. Jamleson was watching the proceedings Intently. Dr. Stewart was called first. His evidence was told briefly , and amount ed to this : On the Sunday morning previous , nt a quarter before five , ho had been called to the telephone. The message was from a Mr. Jarvls , who asked him to como at once to Sunny- side , as there had been an acclden there , nnd Mr. Arnold Armstrong had been shot. IIo dressed hastily , gath ercd up some instruments , and drove to Sunnysldo. Ho was met by Mr. Jarvls , who took him at once to the east wing. There just as ho had fallen , was the body o Arnold Armstrong. There was no need of the Instruments ; the man was dead. In answer to the coroner's question no , the body had not been moved , save to turn it over. It lay at the foot of the circular staircase. Yes , ho believed death had been in stantaneous. The body was still some what warm and rigor mortis had not sot In. It occurred late in cases of sudden death. No , he believed the probability of suicide might be elim inated ; the wounds could have been self-inflicted , but with difficulty , and there had been no weapon found. The doctor's examination was over , but ho hesitated and cleared his throat. "Mr. Coroner , " ho said , "at the risk of taking up valuable time , I would llko > to speak of an incident that may or may not throw some light on this matter. " The audience was alert at once. "Kindly proceed , doctor , " the coroner ner said. "My homo is In Englewood , two miles from Casanova , " the doctor be gan. "In the absence of Dr. Walker , a number of Casanova people have been consulting mo. A month ago live weeks , to bo exact a woman whom I had never seen came to my office. She wap In deep mourning and kept her veil down , and she brought for examination a child , a boy of six. The little fellow was ill ; It looked like typhoid , and the mother was frantic. She wanted a permit to admit the youngster to the Children's hospital In town hero , where I am a moinbor of the staff , and I gave her ono. The Incident would have escaped mo , hut for a curious thing. Two days before Mr. Armstrong was shot , I was sent for to go to the Country club ; someone ono had boon struck with a golf-ball that had gene wild. It was late when I loft I was on foot , and about a milo from the club , on the Clayburg road , I met two people. They were disput ing violently , and I had no dilflculty In recognizing Mr. Armstrong. The wom an , beyond doubt , was the ono who had consulted me about the child. " At this hint of scandal , Mrs. Ogden Fitghugh bat up very straight. Jamie- son was looking slightly skeptical , and the coroner made a note. "Tho Children's hospital , you say , doctor ? " ho asked. "Yes. But the child , who was en tered as Luclen Wallace , was taken away by his mother two weeks ago. I have tried to trace them and failed. " All at once I remembered the tele gram sent to Louise by sonio one signed F. L. W. presumably Dr. Walker. Could the volled woman bo the Nina Carrlugton of the message ? But It was only Idle speculation. I had no way of finding out , and the Inquest was proceeding. The report of the coroner's physi cian came noxt. The post-mortem examination * amination showed that the bullet had entered the chest In the fourth left Intercostal space and had taken an oblique course downward and back ward , piercing both the heart and lungs. The loft lung was collapsed , and the exit point of the ball had been found In the muscles of the back to the loft of the spinal column. It was Improbable that such n wound had been solf-lnfllctcd , and Its oblique downward course pointed to the fact that the shot had been flrcd from aliovo. In other words , ns the mur dered man had been found dead at the foot of a staircase , It was prob able that the shot had been fired by some one higher up on the stairs. There were no marks of powder. The bullet , a 38 caliber , had boon found in the dead man's clothing , and was shown to the Jury. Mr. Jarvls was called next , but hla testimony amounted to little. He had jccn summoned by telephone to Sun- nyslde , had come over at once with the steward nnd Mr. Wlnthrop , at present out of town. They had been admitted by the housekeeper , and had found the body lying at the foot of the staircase. He had made a search for a weapon , but Uiero was none around. The outer entry door in the east wing had been unfastened and was open about an Inch. I had been growing more and more nervous. When the coroner called Mr. John Bailey , the room was filled with suppressed excitement. Mr. Jamleson wont forward and spoke a few words to the coroner , who nodded. Then Halsoy was called. "Mr. Innes , " the coroner said , "will you tell under what circumstances you saw Mr. Arnold Armstrong the night ho died ? " "I saw him first at the Country club , " Hnlsey said quietly. IIo was rather pale , but very composed. "I stopped there with my automobile for gasolene. Mr. Armstrong had been playing cards. When I saw him there ho was coming out of the curdroom talklug to Mr. John Bailey. " "The nature of the discussion - was it amicable ? " llalsey hesitated. "They were having a dispute , " ho said. "I asked Mr. Bailey to leave the club with mo and como to Suunysido over Sunday. " "Isn't it a fact , Mr. Innes , that you took Mr. Bailey away from the club house because you were nfrald there would bo blows ? " "Tho situation was unpleasant , " Halsoy said evasively. "At that time had you any suspicion that the Traders' bank had been wrecked ? " " " ' "No. "What occurred next ? " "Mr. Bailey and I talked In the bil liard room until 2:30. : " "And Mr. Arnold Armstrong came there , while you were talking ? " "Yes. He came about half-past two. Ho rapped at the east door , and I ad mitted him. " The silence in the room vras In tense. Mr. Jamieson's eyes never left Halsey's face. "Will you toll us the nature of hla errand ? " "Ho brought a telegram that had come to the club for Mr. Bailey. " "Ho was sober ? " "Perfectly , at that time. Not earl ier. " "Was not his apparent friendliness a change from his former attitude ? " "Yes. I did not understand it" "How long did ho stay ? " "About five minutes. Then ho left by the east entrance. " "What occurred then ? " "Wo talked for a few minutes , dis cussing a plan Mr. Bailey had In mind. Thou I went to the stables , whore I kept my car , nnd got it out. " "Leaving Mr. Bailey alone in the billiard room ? " "My sister was there. " Mrs. Ogden Fitzhugh had the cour age to turn and eye Gertrude through her lorgnou. "And then ? " " 1 took the car along the lower road , not to disturb the household. Mr. Ualloy came down across the lawn , through the hedge , and got Into the car on the road. " "Then you know nothing of Mr. Armstrong's movements nfter ho left th9 house/ "Nothing. I read of his death Mon day evening for the first time. "Mr. Bailey did not see him on his vray across the lawn ? " "I think not. If ho had seen him , ho would have spoken ot it. " "Thank you. That Is all. Miss Ger trude Innes. " Gertrude's replies were fully as con cise as Halsey's. Mrs. Fitzhugh sub jected her to a close inspection , com mencing with her hat and ending with her shoes. 1 Hatter myself she found nothing wrong with either her gown or her manner , but poor Gertrude's testimony was the reverse of com forting. She had boon summoned , she said , by her brother , after Mr. Armstrong had gone. She had waited In the billiard room with Mr. Bailey until the automobile had been ready. Then she had locked the door nt the foot of the staircase , and , taking a lamp , had accompanied Mr. Bailey to the main entrance of the house , nnd hrid watched him cross the lawn. In stead of going at once to her room , she had gone back to the billiard room for something which had been left there. The cardroom and billiard room were in darkness. She had groped around , found tWa article she was looking for , and was on the point ot returning to her room , when she had heard some one fumbling at the lock at the east outer door. She had thought It was probably her brother , and bad been about to go to the door , when she heard It open. Almost Im mediately there was n shot , and she had run panic-stricken through the drawing room and had roused the houso. ( TO DE CONTINUED. ) MAKES A DISCOVERY PIPPIN GETS WISE TO CAUSE OF DUTTONINQ TROUBLES. Finds That His Wife's Dresses Button the Wrong Way and Attributes His Awkwardness to This Fact. "I suppose you'll bo late us usual , " observed Mrs. Pippin , when she noted that 1'lppln was still cocked back In the big chair with his newspapers. "Yes , It looks as If you would wait until I'm all dressed before you start , just as you always do when we're goIng - Ing to the theater. " She talked as she stood preening herself In front of the ; mirror. After thosu observations of hora Pippin started In and gut busy at the ( ( nick-change work. Even after giving Mrs. Pippin a half hour's handicap , he'd have overtaken her except for one thing. Mrs. Pippin asked him to button her dress up the back. It al ways upsets Pippin , a job llko that. This time It was a particularly tech nical task , because there was a layer of stuff that had to be hooked , then a row of something llko 01 buttons no larger than a cross section of a pea to be jabbed Into ad many buttonholes that were even smaller. Pippin ulwuyti lieuiules at the pos sibility , that when he thinks ho's all through the buttons and buttonholes may not como out even , and ho will have to go through the entire French maid job again from the b6giunlng. This time ho was careful enough to overcome that danger , but Mrs. Pip pin made several disparaging remarks about the clumsiness of masculine fin gers , and Pippin felt deep mortifica tion because he realized that there was truth in what the good wife said. He was awkward. He wondered why It was that he could button his own shirts , and other garments , so dex terously/ and that his present work seemed so baffling. Then he noticed something. "Turn around a minute , " he told Mrs. Pip pin suddenly. "Now back again. " IIo walked around her two or three times sizing her up , as If she were some thing ho was thinking of buying. Then he'd look at his own clothes and back at his wife's. "Sure they're wrong ! " he exclaimed , elated by the joy of discovery. "They're been wrong for years. All women's clothes button wrong. That's why it'a been a matter of common jest for all these years that a man's awkward when it comes to fastening up female garb , look at the buttons on my coat. Do they button up on the lefk hand side ? Of course they don't. They button up on the right side just as the Almighty intended things to button. Now look at yours. Look at any outfit you've got in the house and you'll find It buttons up on the left- hand side and wrong side. No won der you call men awkward. And what's more , the buttonholes run up and down instead of crosswise. Well , I'm glad I happened to notice it at last. " Waste of Money. The telephone bell rang loudly In the silent watches of the night in one of the larger hospitals of New York recently and one of the young in ternes , who was' doing duty in the office at the time , answered. "Is dls der hoRplttle ? " came a fe male voice In a strong German ac cent. "Yes , " said the doctor. "I wand to speag to der doctor , " came the voice. , "This is one of the doctors , " said the interne. "What is it you want ? " "I vishes to inkvire , " said the voice , "how IBS Rosa Schmide ? " It happened that this was the name of ono of his recent patients. "Rosa Schmidt ? " he said. "Why , Rosn Schmidt was discharged four days ago is cured. She la not here any long er. " "Ach , Gott ! " came the voice in a : one of profound vexation. "A nickel gone ! " Freckles to Tan. We hymned the freckle a year ago. In lyric periods we demonstrated that It is a beauty spot on thb face of man kind. What words are left to sing of tan ? For tan Is to the freckle as an apple orchard in bloom is to a single blossom , as the ocean is to one whitecap - cap , as the firmament to a single star. Tan Is the freckle expanded , subli mated , softened , raised to the tenth degree. How mysterious Is its crea tion "beginning doubtfully and far away. * First , guessed by faint auroral blushes. " Llko all things beautiful , tan springs from the travail of pain. It blossoms from the "burn , " the first result of the sun's rays. It is as If the sun llrst tested the temper of the individual whom ho is soon to lacquer with his unapproachable- ment. Who would think that first blush blazing face , crimson neck , scarlet ear tips could ever lead to beauty ? Collier's. Cook a Professor of History. Moscow university has a professor of history who is only a cook. The university telegraphed to the minister of education in St Petersburg for a cook to bo hurried to Moscow. The operator made a mistake in sending the message and the cook was a pro fessor of history when ho arrived at Moscow. Ho protested to the faculty that he knew nothing hut pots and pans , but while the Russian rod tape Is being unwound ho still holds his professorship , though no ono attends bis lectures. WEAK KIDNEYS WEAKEIT t THE WHOLE BODY. No evnln is stronger than its weak est link. No man Is stronger than his kidneys. Over- I work , colds , strains , | etc. , weaken tbo kid- | ieys and the whole body Buffers. Don't neglect the slightest kidney ailment. Be gin using Doan'a Kidney Pills at once. They are especially for sick kidneys. Mrs. George La- joie , 162 W. Gamble St. , Care , Mich. , says : " 1 had lost in flesh until I was n mere shadow of my former self , and too weak to stand moio than a. few minutes at a time. My rest was broken and my neryoua system shattered. Had Doan's Kid ney Pills not come to iny attention , I firmly believe I would be In my grave. They cured mo after doctors had failed. " Remember the name Doan's. For sale by all dealers. BO cents a box. Fostcr-Mllburn Co. , Buffalo , N. Y. There Should. Fritz the gardener was a stolid Ger man who was rarely moved to ex traordinary language. Even the most provocative occasions only caused him to remark mildly on his ill-luck. Not long ago he came back from the city In the lute evening after a hard day In tbn market place. Ho was sleepy , and the train being crowded , the bag gageman gave him n chair in his roomy car. Finally the train reached Bloom- field. Fritz still slept as it pulled in and his friend had to shako him and tell him where he was. "I tanks you , " said Fritz , as ho rose slowly to his feet. The open door of the car was directly In front of him. Ho walked straight out of It.1 The baggageman sprang to look aft er him. Fritz slowly picked himself up from the sand by the side of the track , looked up at the door , and said with no wrath in his voice : "There should here bo some stepa" St. Paul Dispatch. Clever Joke of Kind King. King Edward's great nature was Il lustrated the other night by a London correspondent at the Press club 1 New York. "The king , " said the correspondent , "was visiting Uufford Abbey , and ono morning , In company with his host. Lord Arthur Savlle , ho took a wall * over the preserves. "Suddenly Lord Arthur , n big burly man , rushed forward and seized a shabby fellow with a dead pheasant protruding from the breast of his coat. " 'Sir , ' said Lord Arthur to the king , 'this fellow is a bad egg. This Is the second time I've caught him poaching. ' "But the king's handsome face beamed , and he laughed his gay and tolerant laugh. ' "Oh , let him go , ' he said. 'If ho really were a bad egg , you know , he wouldn't poach. ' " Yes , Indeed. Hostess ( at party ) Why , so silent. Miss Do Muir ? You've scarcely said 11 word slnco you camo. Youthful Guest Really , Mrs. Lead er , I am having a very enjoyable time , but my father has told me 100 times never to say anything unless I have something to say , nnd I suppose Hostess But , my dear child , think what a stupid and tiresome thing so ciety trould bo if everybody followed that advice ! Mathematical Request. Little Mary , seven years old , was saying her prayers. "And , God , " she petitioned at the close , "rnako seven times six forty-eight. " "Why , Mary , why did you say that ? " asked her mother. " Cause that's the way I wrote it In 'zaminatlon In school today , and I want it to bo right. " Llppincott's. If black could not bo made to look llko white , toasted cheese would not have so much drawing power toward the mouse trap. After n dog has Indulged In short pants ho usually goes In swimming. find delightful satisfaction in a bowl of toothsome When the children want lunch , this wholesome nour ishing food is always ready to serve right from the package without cooking , and saves many steps for mother. Let the youngters have Post Toastieo superb sum mer food. "The Memory Lingers" Postum Cereal Co. , Limited. Battle CreeV , Mich.