Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 31, Number 345, 15 January 1907 — Page 7

The: Richmond Palladium, Tuesday, January 15, 1907.

Page Seven

The Mystery of Agatha We

2I Wever will any r tnem torget mat sight. They bad not as yet recovered any more than the mass of their townsfolk from the shock of seeing Agatha Webb lying In her blood on the old horsehair sofa. But this this was so unexpected . and so deplorable that, hardy men though they were, they succumbed without being able to resist the overpowering impression made upon them. , On the floor near the entrance lay one brother In a streak of moonlight which showed every feature of his worn and lifeless face, and at a table drawn np In the center of the room sat the other, rigid In death, with a book . clutched In hi3 hand. Doth bad been dead some time, and on the faces and in the aspect of either was visible a misery that added Its own gloom to the pitiable and grewfiome scene and made the shining of the great white moon, which filled every corner of the bare room, seem a mockery well nigh unendurable to those who contemplated it. John dead in his chair! James dead on the floor! "What could be sadder and what more piteous? Knapp, who of them all would naturally feel this least, was of course the person to speak first. "Both wear long beards." said he, "but this one on the floor was doubtless Loton's customer. Ah!" he cried, pointing at the table, as be carefully crossed the floor. "Here Is the bread, and" Even he had his moments of feeling. The appearance of that loaf had stunned him; one corner of It had been gnawed off. x "A light! Let us have a light!" cried Mr. Fenton, speaking for the first time since his entrance. "These moonbeams are horrible. See how they cling to the bodies as If they delighted In lighting up these wasted and shrunken forms." "Could It have been hunger?" began Abel, tremblingly following Knapp'a i every movement as he struck a match and lit a lantern which he had brought In his pocket.

"God help us all If It was," said Fen-; stick on the empty and . dust covered ton In a secret remorse no one but Dr. j mantel. Only on a bracket in one corTalbot understood. "But who could ' uer there was a worthless trinket made have believed it of men who were once j out of cloves and beads which had prosperous. Are you sure that one of j doubtless been given them by some them has gnawed this bread? Could it i country dam.sel in their young bachelor

not have been" "These are the marks of human teeth," observed Knapp, who was examining the loaf carefully. "I declare. Jt makes me very uncomfortable, notwithstanding It's in the line of regular experiences.".. And he laid the bread down hurriedly. Meantime Mr, Fenton, who had been bending over another portion of . the table, turned and walked away to the window. "I am glad they are dead," he muttered.' "They have at least shared the fate of tht'lr victims. Take a look under that old handkerchief lying beside the newspaper, Knapp." The detective did so. A three edged dagger, with a curiously wrought handle, met his eye. It had blood dried on Its point and was. as no one could doubt, the weapon with which Agatha Webb had been killed. CHAPTER XT TWO CORPSES. - "Gentlemen, . we have reached - the conclusion of this business sooner than 1 expected." announced Knapp. "If yon will give me Just ten minutes, 1 will endeavor to find that large remain"tier of money which we have every reason to think Is hidden away in this house." "Stop a minute," said, the coroner. "Let me see what book John is holding so tightly. Why," he exclaimed, drawing it out and giving it one glance, "it is a Bible!" Laying It reverently down, he met the detective's astonished glance and seriously remarked: "There is some Incongruity between the presence of this book and the deed we believed to have been performed down yonder." "Not at all." quoth the detective. It was not the man In the chair, but the one on the floor who made use of that dagger. But I wish you had left it to me to remove that book, sir." "You? And why? What difference would It have made?" "I would have noticed between what pages his finger was inserted. Nothing like knowing the details, sir." Dr. Fenton gazed wistfully at the book. He would like to have known himself on what especial passage his friend's eyes had last rested. "I will stand aside." said he, "and hear your report when you are done." The detective had already begun his investigations. "Here is a spot of blood," said he. "See, on the right trousers leg of the one you call James. -This connects Jaira indisputably with the crime in "Stop a minute," said the coroner. "It is a liiblcr' which this dagger was used. No signs cf violence on his body. She was the only one to receive a blow. The rest was'the result of God's providence." "Or man's neglect," muttered the constable. "There Is no money in any of their pockets, or on either wasted figure."

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By Anna Katharine Green. Author cf 'The Xieavenwortb. Case," "IJost Kan's Lane," "Hand

Copyright, 1900, by Arina Katharine Green. tne aeiecnve continued, arter a rew minutes of silent search. "It must be hidden in the room, or Look tbrougt that Bible, sirs." The coroner, glad of an opportunity to do something, took up the book, and ran hurriedly through its leaves, then turned it and shook It over the table. Nothing fell out; the bills must be looked for elsewhere. "The furniture Is scanty," Abel observed, with an Inquiring glance about him. "Very, very scanty," assented the constable, still with that biting remorse at bis heart. "There is nothing In this cupboard." remarked the detective, swinging open a door In the wall, "but a set of old china, more or less nicked." Abel started. An old recollection had come up; some months ago be had been present when James had tried to sell this set. They were all In Warner's store, and James Zabel he could see his easy attitude yet and bear the offhand tones with which he tried to carry the thing off had said, quite as if he had never thought or it beror?. "By the by, I have a set of china that came over In the Mayflower. John likes It. but it's grown to be an eyesore to me, and if any of you hear of any one wanting such a thing send him up to the cottage. I will let the old thing go for a song." Nobody answered, and James had soon disappeared. It was the last time, Abel remembered, that he had been seen about town. "I can't stand It," cried the lad. "1 can't stand It. If they died of hunger I must know it I am going to take a look at their larder." And before any one could stop him be dashed to the I rear of the bouse. ' The constable would have liked to ! have followed him, but he looked about the walls of the room Instead. John and James had been fond of pictures and had once Indulged their fancy to j the verge of extravagance, but there were no , pictures on the wails now, nor was there so much as a candledays. But nothing of any value anywhere, and Mr. Fenton felt that he now knew why they had made so many visits to Boston at one time and why they' always returned with a thinner valise than they took away. He was still dwelling on the thought of the depth of misery to which highly respected folk can sink without the knowledge of the nearest neighbors, when Abel came back looking greatly troubled. "It's the saddest thing I ever heard of," said he. "These men must have been driven wild by misery. This room is sumptuous in comparison to the ones at the back; and as for the pantry, there is not even a scrap there a mouse could eat. I struck a match and glanced into the flour barrel. It looked as if it had been licked. 1 declare It makes a fellow sick." The constable with a shudder withdrew toward the door. "The atmosphere here is stifling," said be. "1 must have a breath of outdoor air." But be was not destined to any such immediate relief. As he moved down the hail the form of a man darkened the doorway and he heard an anxious voice exclaim: "Ah. Mr. Fenton. is that you? I have been looking for you everywhere." It was Sweetwater, the young man who had previously shown so .much anxiety to be of service to the coroner. Mr. Fenton looked displeased. "And how come you to find me here?" he asked. "Oh. some men saw you take this road, and I guessed the rest." "Oh. ah, very good. And what do you want. Sweetwater?" The young man, who was glowing with pride and all alive with an enthusiasm which he bad kept suppressed for hours, slipped np to the consuiuie ana wuisperea in nis ear: "I have made a discovery, sir. I know you will Acuse the presumption, but I couldn't bring myself to keep quiet and follow in that other fellow's wake. I had to make investigations on my own account, and and" stammering" in his eagerness "they have been successful, sir. I have found out who was the nurderer of Agatha Webb." The constable, " compassionating the disappointment in store for him, shook his head with a solemn look toward the room from which he had just emerged. "You are late, Sweetwater," said he; "We have found him out ourselves, and he lies inside there, dead." It was dark in this narrow passageway and Sweetwater's back was to the moonlight, so that the blank look that must have crossed his face at this announcement was lost upon the constable. But his consternation was evident from the way he thrust out either hand to steady himself against the walls, and Mr. Fenton was not at all surprised to hear him stammer out: "Dead! He! Who do you mean by he, Mr. Fenton?" "The man In whose bouse we now are," returned the other. "Is there any one else who can be suspected of this crime?" Sweetwater gave a gulp that seemed to restore him to himself. "There are two men living here, both Tery good men, I thought. Which of them do you mean, and why do you think that either John or James Zabel could have. killed Agatha Webb?" For reply, Mr. Fenton drew him toward the room in which such a great heart tragedy had taken place. "Look," said he, "and see what can happen In a Christian land. In the midst of Christian people living not 50 rods away. These men are dead, Sweetwater, dead from hunger. The loaf of bread you see there came too late. It was bought with a $20 bill, taken from Agatha Webb's cupboard drawer."

4 bb. g ti ! TT s ? v ?'

and Tiins,n Etc., Eta. Sweetwater, to " whom the wnoie scene seemed like some .horrible night mare, stared at the figure of James lying on the floor, and then at the figure of John seated at the table, as if his mind had failed to take in the con stable's words. "Dead!" he murmured. "Dead! John and James Zabel. What will happen next? Is the town under a curse? And he fell on his knees before the prostrate form of James, only to start up again as he saw the eyes of Knapp resting on him. "Ah." he muttered, "the detective!" And after giving the man from Boston a close look he turned toward Mr. Fenton. "You said something about this good old man having killed Agatha Webb. What was it? I was too dazed to take It in." Mr. Fenton, not understanding the young man's eagerness, but willing enough to enlighten him as to the situation, told him what reasons there were for ascribing the crime In the Webb cottage to the mad deed of these starving men. Sweetwater listened with open eyes and confused bearing, only controlling himself when his eyes by chance fell upon the quiet figure of the detective, now moving softly to and fro through the room. "But why murder when he could have had his loaf for the asking?" remonstrated Sweetwater. "Agatha Webb would have gone without a meal any time to feed a wandering tramp. How much more to supply the necessities of two of her oldest and dearest friends." "Yes," remarked Fenton. "but you forget or perhaps never knew that the master passion of these men was pride. James Zabel ask .for bread! I can much sooner imagine him stealing it, yes, or striking a blow for It. so that the blow forever shut the eyes that 6aw him do it." "You don't believe your own words, Mr. Fenton. How can you?" Sweetwater's hand was on the breast of the accused man as he spoke and bis manner was almost solemn. "You must not take It for granted." he went on, his green eyes twinkling with a curious light, "that all wisdom comes from Boston. We in Sutherlandtown have some sparks of it If they have not yet been recognized. You are satisfied" here be addressed himself to Knapp "that the blow which killed Agatha Webb was struck by this respectable old man?" Knapp smiled, as If a child had asked him this question; but he answered him good humorediy enough. "You see the dagger lying here with which the deed was done, and you see the bread that was bought from Loton with a $20 bill of Agatha Webb's money. In these you can read my answer." "Good evidence," acknowledged Sweetwater; "very good evidence when we remember Mr. Crane's story of the old man be met rushing from the gateway with something glittering In his hand. I never was so beat in my life, and yet and yet If I could have a few minutes of quiet thought all by myself 1 am certain 1 could show you that there is more In this matter than you think. Indeed, I know that there is. but I do not like to give my reasons till 1 have conquered the difficulties presented by these men having had that-$20 bilL" "What fellow is this?" suddenly broke in. Knapp. "A fiddler, a nobody," quietly whispered Mr. Fenton In his ear. Sweetwater heard him and changed In a twinkling from the uncertain, half baffled, wholly humble person they bad just seen to a man with a purpose strong enough to make him hold his head with the best. "I am a musician." he admitted, "and I play on the violin for money when ever the occasion offers, something. which you will yet congratulate your self upon if you wish to reach the root of this mysterious and dastardly, crime. But that 1 am nobody, I deny, and mean that this fellow shall agree with me before this very night is over. Only give me an opportunity for considering this subject and the permission to walk for a few minutes about this house." "That is my prerogative," protested the detective firmly, but without any display of feeling. "I am the man employed to pick up whatever clews the place may present." "Have you picked up all that are to be found in this room?" asked Sweetwater calmly. o Knapp shrugged his shoulders. He was very well satisfied with himself. "Then give me a chance," prayed Sweetwater. "Mr. Fenton," he urged earnestly, T am not the fool you take me for. I feel, I know, I have genius for this kind of thing, and though I do play the fiddle, I swear there are depths to this affair which none of you have as yet sounded. -TSirs, where are the $980 in bills which go to make up the clean thousand that was taken from the small drawer at the back of Agatha Webb's cupboard?" "They are in some secret hiding place, no doubt, which we will presently come upon as we go through the house," answered Knapp. "Umph! Then I advise you to put. your hand on them as soon as possible," . reported Sweetwater. "I will confine myself to going over the ground you have already investigated." And with a sudden Ignoring of the others' presence, which could only have, sprung from an intense egotism or from an overwhelming belief in his own theory he began an Investigation of the room that threw the others more commonplace efforts entirely in the shade. Knapp, with a slight compression of his lips, which was the sole expression of anger he ever allowed himself, took up his hat and made his bow to Mr. Fenton. "I see," said he, "that the sympathy of those crcscnt ! TrltL. lis tucai

taient. uct local taient work, tnen, sir. and when you want me send to the tavern on the docks, where I will be found till I am " notified that my services are no longer required." "No, no!" protested Mr. Fenton. "Ths boy's enthusiasm will soon evaporate." Let him fuss away if he wilL His petty business need not interrupt us." "But he understands himself." whispered Knapp. "I should think be had been on our own force for years." "All the more reason to see .what he's up to. Wait, if only to satisfy your own curiosity.' I shan't let many minutes go by before I pull him up." Knapp. who was really of a cold and unimpressionable temperament, refrained from further argument, and confined himself to watching the young man. whose movements seemed to fascinate him. "Astonishing!" Mr. Fenton heard him mutter to himself. "He's more like an eel than a man." And indeed the way Sweetwater wound himself out and in through that .room, seeing everything and examining everything that came under his eye, was a sight well worth any professional's attention. Pausing before the dead man on the floor, be held the lantern close to the white, worn face. "Ha!" said he, picking up something from the long beard. "Here's a crumb of that same

bread. Did you see that. Mr. Knapp?" The question was so sudden and so sharp that the detective came near replying to It; but be bethought himself and said nothing. "That settles which of the two gnawed the loaf," continued Sweetwater. The next minute he was hovering over the still more pathetic figure of John, sitting in the chair. "Sad! Sad!" he murmured. Suddenly he laid his finger on a small rent in the old man's faded vest. "You saw this, of course." said .he." with a quick glance over his shoulder at the silent detective. No answer as before. "It's a new slit." declared the officious youth, looking closer, "and "Ha! Here's a crumb of that same bread. Did you see that, Mr. KnappT" yes there's blood on the edges. Here, take the lantern,-Mr. Fenton, I must see how the skin looks underneath. Oh, gentlemen, no shirt! The poorest dockhand has a shirt! . Brocaded vest and no shirt; but he don't want my pity. not now. Ah. only a bruise over the heart. Sirs, .what did you make out of this?" As none of them had even seen It Knapp was not the only one to remain silent. "Shall I tell you what I make out of It?" said the lad, rising hurriedly from the floor, which he had as hurriedly examined. "This old man has tried to take his life with the dagger already wet with the blood of Agatha Webb. But his arm was too feeble. The point only pierced the vest, wiping off a little blood in its passage. Then the weapon fell from his band and struck the floor, as you will see by the fresh dent in the old board I am standing on. Have you anything to say against that?" Again the detective opened nis' lips and might have spoken, but Sweetwater gave him no chance. "Where is the letter he was writing?" he demanded. "Have any of you seen any paper lying about here?" "He was not writing," - objected Knapp; "he was reading reading in that old Bible you see there." Sweetwater caught up the book, looked it over and laid It down, with that same serious twinkle of his eye they had noted in him before. "He was writing," he insisted "See, here is his pencil." And he showed them the battered end of a small lead pencil lying on the edge of bis chair. "Writing at some time," admitted Knapp. "Writing just before the deed," insisted Sweetwater. "Look at the fingers of his right hand. They have not moved since . the pencil fell out of them." "The letter, or whatever it was, shall be looked for," declared the constable. Sweetwater bowed, his eyes roving restlessly into every nook and corner of the room. "The brother, James, was the stronger," he remarked; "yet there is no evidence that he made any attempt at suicide." "How do you know that it was suicide John attempted?" asked some one. "Why might not the dagger have fallen from James' hand In an effort to kill his brother?" "Because the dent in the floor would have been to the right of the chair Instead of to the left," he returned. "Besides, James' hand would not have failed so utterly, since he had strength to'pick up the weapon afterward and lay it where you found it." "True, we found it lying on the table," observed Abel, scratching his head In forced admiration of his old schoolmate. "All easy, very easy," Sweetwater remarked, seeing the wonder In every eye. "Matters like those are for a child's reading, but what is difficult and what I find it hard to come by, is how the $20 bill got into the old man's hand. He found it here, but how" "Found It here? How do you know that?" "Gentlemen, that i3 a point I will make clear to you later, when I have laid my hand on a certain clew I am anxiously seeking. You know this is new work for me, and I have to advance warily. Did any of you gentlemen, when you came Into this room, detect the faintest odor of any kind of perfume?" "Perfume?" echoed Abel, with a glance about the musty apartment. "Bts-atherJ-

Sweetwater shook ms ncau witn a discouraged air. but suddenly brightened, and. stepping, quickly across the floor, paused at one of the windows it was that one In which the shade had been drawn down. Feering at this shade he gave a grunt. "You must excuse me for a minute," said -he. "I have not found what I wanted in this room and now must look outside for it. Will some one bring the lantern?" "I will." volunteered Knapp. with grim good humor. Indeed, the situation was almost ludicrous to him. "Bring it round the house, then, to the ground under this window." ordered Sweetwater without giving any sign that he noticed or even recognized the other's air of condescension. "And, gentlemen, please don't follow. It's footsteps I am after, and the fewer we make about the house ourselves the easier it will be for me to establish the clew I am after." Mr. Fenton stared. What had got into the fellow?

CHAPTER XVL THE MONEY FOUND. The lantern gone the room resumed its former appearance. Abel, who had been much struckby Sweetwater's mysterious maneuvers, drew near Dr. Talbot and whispered in his ear: "We might have done without that fellow from Boston." To which the coroner replied: "Perhaps, and perhaps not. Sweetwater has not yet proved his case; let us wait till he explains himself." Then turning to the constable he showed him an old fashioned miniature which he had found lying on James' breast when he made his first examination. It was set with pearls and backed with gold and was worth many meals, for the lack of which its devoted owner had perished. "Agatha Webb's portrait." exclaimed Talbot, "or rather Agatha Gilchrist's! For I presume this was painted when she and James were lovers." "She was certainly a beauty," commented Fenton, as he bent over the miniature in the moonlight. "I do not wonder she queened it over the whole county." ' "He must have worn It where I found it for the last 40 years," mused the doctor. "And yet men say that love Is a fleeting passion. Well, after coming upon this proof of devotion, I find it Impossible to believe James Zabel accountable for her death. Sweetwater's instinct was truer than Knapp's." "Or ours," muttered Fenton. "Gentlemen," interposed Abel, pointing to a bright spot that Just then Inade its appearance in the dark outline of the 6hade before alluded to, "do rou see that hole? It was the sight of lhat prick in the shade which sent f$w etwater outside looking for footr:'"uts. See! Now his eye is to it" (as tiie bright spot became suddenly eclipsed). "We are under examination, sirs, and the next thing we will hear Is that he's not the only person who's been peering Into this room through that hole." He was so far right that the first words of Sweetwater on his re-entrance were: "It's all O K, sirs. I have found my missing clew. James Zabel was not tne oury person " who came up here from the Webb cottage last night." And turning to Knapp, who was losing some of his supercilious manner, he asked, with significant emphasis: "If, of the full amount stolen from Agatha Webb, you found $20 In the possession of one man and $980 in the possession of another, upon which of the two would you fix as the probable murderer of this good woman?" "Upon him who held the lion's share, of course." "Very good. Then it is not In this cottage you will find the person most ! wanted. You must look But there. first let me give you a glimpse of the money. Is there any one here ready to accompany me in search of It? I shall have to take him a quarter of a mile farther up hill." "You have seen the money? You know where it is?" asked Dr. Talbot and Mr. Fenton In one breath. "Gentlemen, I can put my hand on It In ten minutes." At this unexpected and somewhat startling statement Knapp looked at Dr. Talbot and Dr. Talbot looked at the constable, but only the latter spoke. "That is saying a good deal. But no matter. I am willing to credit the assertion. Lead on, Sweetwater. I'll go with you." Sweetwater seemed to grow an Inch at least. "And Dr.Talbot?" he suggested. But the' coroner's duty held him to this house of death, and he decided not to accompany them. Knapp and AbeL however, yielded to the curiosity which had been aroused by these extraordinary promises, and soon these four started on their small expedition up the hilL Sweetwater headed the procession. He had admonished silence, and his wish in this regard was so well carried out that they looked more like a group of specters moving up the moon lighted road than a party of eager and impatient men. Not till they turned into the main thoroughfare did any one speak. Then Abel could no longer restrain himself, and he cried out: "We are going to Mr. Sutherland's." But Sweetwater quickly undeceived him. "No," said he, "only Into the woods opposite his house." But at this Mr. Fenton drew him back. "Are you sure of yourself?" he said "Have you really 6een this money, and is It concealed in this forest?" "I have seen the money." Sweetwater solemnly declared, "and It is hidden In these woods." Mr. Fenton dropped his arm, and they moved on till their way was blocked by the huge trunk of a fallen tree. "It is here we are to look," cried Sweetwater pausing and motioning Knapp to turn his lantern on the spot where the shadows lay thickest. "Now, what do you see?" he asked. "The upturned roots of a great tree," said Mr. Fenton. "And under them?" "A hole or, rather, the entrance to one.' "Very good. The money Is In that hole.- Pull it out. Mr. Fenton." The assur&sce with which Sweetwater spoke was such thst Mr. Fenton at once stopped and plunged his hand Into the hole: but when..after.a hurried

searen. lie urrw u out again, mere was

nothing in It: his hand was empty. Sweetwater stared at that hand amas ed. "Don't you find anything?" he asked. "Isn't there a roll of bills in that holer "No," was the gloomy answer, after a renewed attempt and a second disappointment. "There is nothing to be found here. You are laboring under some misapprehension. Sweetwater." "But I can't be. I saw the money saw it in the hand of the person who hid It there. Let me look for It. con stable. I will not give up the search till I have turned the place topsy turvy." Kneeling down in Mr. Fenton's place, he thrust his Land into the hole. Oa either side of him peered the faces of Mr. Fenton and Knapp. (Abel had slipped away at a whisper from Sweetwater.) They wore lit with similar expression of anxious Interest and growing doubt. Ills own countenance was a study of conflicting and by He showed two rolls of nexo crisp bill. no means cheerful emotions. Sudden ly his aspect changed. With a quick twist of his lithe, if awkward, body. he threw himself lengthwise on the ground, and began tearing at the earth inside the hole, like a burrowing ani mal. "I cannot be mistaken. Nothing will make me believe it is not here. It has simply been buried deeper than thought. Ah! What did I tell you? See here! And see here!" Bringing his bands into the full blaze of the light, be showed two rolls of new crisp bills. "They were lying under half a foot of earth," said he, "but if they had been buried as deep as Grannie Fuller's well. I'd have unearthed them." ' Meantime' It. Fehfbn' was rapidly counting one roll and Knapp the other. The result was an aggregate sum of $9S0, just the amount Sweetwater had promised to show them. "A good stroke of business," criod Mr. Fenton. "And now, Sweetwater, whose is the hand that buried this treasure? Nothing is to be gained by preserved silence on this point any longer." Instantly the young man became very grave. With a quick glance around which seemed to embrace the secret recesses of the forest rather than the eager faces bending toward him, he lowered his voice and quietly said: "The hand that buried this money under the roots of this old tree is the same which you saw pointing downward at the spot of blood in Agatha Webb's front yard." "You do not mean Amabel Page," cried Mr. Fenton, with natural surprise. "Yes, I do. I am glad it is you who have named her." CHAPTER XVII. MISS PAOE SUSPECTED. - ' A half hour later these men were all closeted with Dr. Talbot in the Zabel kitchen. Abel had rejoined them, and Sweetwater was telling his story with great earnestness and no little show of pride. "Gentlemen, when I charge a young woman of respectable appearance and connections with such a revolting crime as murder, I do so with geod reason, as I hope presently to make plain to you. "Gentlemen, on the night and at the hour Agatha Webb was killed, I was playing with four other musicians in Mr. Sutherland's hallway. From the place where I sat I could see what went on in the parlor and also have a clear view of the passageway leading down to the garden door. As the dancing was going on in the parlor I naturally looked that way most, and this is how I came to note the eagerness with which during the first part of the evening Frederick Sutherland and Amabel Page came together in the quadrilles and country dances. Sometimes she spoke as she passed him and sometimes he answered, but. not -always, although he never failed to show he was pleased with her or would have been If something perhaps it was his lack of confidence in her, sirs bad not stood In the way of a perfect understanding. She seemed to notice he did not always respond and after ! awhile showed less inclination to speak herself, though she did not fail to watch him and that intently. But she didn't watch him any more closely than I did her. though I little thought at the time what would csme of my espionage. She wore a white dress and white shoes and was as coquettish and seductive as the evil ose makes them. Suddenly I missed her. She was in the middle of the dance one minute and entirely out of it the next. v "Naturally I expected that she had slipped aside with Frederick Sutherland, but no. he was still In sight, but looking so pale and so abstracted I was sure the young miss was up to some" sort of mischief. Bot what mischief? Watching sad waiting, but no longer confining my attention to the parlor. I presently espied her stealing along the passageway. 1 have mentioned carrying a long cloak which she rolled up and hid bebiiid the pen door. Then she came back, humniiag a gay little song which d!d't deive me for a moment. 'GoodT thought I, 'she and that cloak will soon join company. And they did. As we were playing the Harebell mazurka I again caught sight i her stealthy white figure In that distant doorway. Seizing the cloak, she wrapped it round her, and with just one furtive look backward, seen. I warrant, by no one but myself, she vanished In the outside dark. 'Now to aote who follows her! thought I. But nobody followed her. This struck me as strange, and having a natural love for detective fr-ork. In suite of my devotion

NO MAN IS STRONOER THAN HIS STOMACH. Let the greatest athlete have dyspepsia and his muscles would soon fail. Physical strength is derived from food. If a man has insuflicieut food he loses strength. If he has no food he dies. Food is converted into nutrition through the stomach and bowels. It depends on tha. strength of the stomach to what extont food ectcn is digsted ami assimilated. People can di of starvation who hav abundant food to eat, when th stomach and Us associate organs of digestion and nutrition do nt perform their duty. Thus the stomach s really the vital organ of the body. U th stomach is "weak" the body will be weak also, because it is upon the stomach the body relijs for its strength. And as the body, considered as a whole, is made vip of its several members ami organs, so the weakness of the body as a consequence of "weak" stomach will be distributed among th organs which compose the lxly. If thn body is weak because It is ill-nourished that physical weakness will be found in all the organs heart, lijrr, kidnevs. etc. The liver will be torpfd and inactive, giving rise to biliousness, loss of appetite, vak nerves, feeble or irregular action of heart, palpitation; dizziness, headache, backache and kindred disturbances and weaknesses. Mr. Louis Par, of Queb. writes: "For jrars aftr my health ttetran to fail, niy head rrvw diij jes pained ni and my stomach was sore all the time, while eTerythtnir would eat would se-m to lie iieavy like lead on my stomach. The doctors claimed that It was sympathetic trouble due to dyspepsia, and proscribed for me. and although I took their powders regularly yet I felt no better. My wife adrised me to try Dr. Pierce's tiolden Medical Iioorery and stop taking the doctor's medicine. 8he bouffht me a bottle and we soon found that I bewan to improTe, so I kept up the treatment. 1 took on flesh, my stomach became normal, the digestive orcan worked perfectly and 1 soon began to look like a different person. I can never cease to be grateful for what your medicine baa done for me and I certainly sire It hirhest praise." Don't be wheedled by a penny-grabbing dealer into taking inferior substitutes for Dr. Pierce's medicines, recommended to be "just as good." To gain knowledge of yonr own bodyin sickness and health send for the People's Common Sense Medical Adviser. A book of 1008 pages. Send 21 one -cent stamps for paper-covered, or 31 stamps for cloth-bound copy. Address Dr. R. V. Pierce, 603 Main Street, Buffalo, N. Y.

to the arts, 1 consulted the ciocr at the foot of the stairs, and noting that it was half past 11, scribbled the hour on the margin of my music, wlfh the intention of seeing how long my lady would linger outside alone. Gentlemen, It was two hours before I saw her face again. How she got back Into the house I do not know. It was not by the garden door, for my eye seldom left It; yet at or near half past 1 I heard her voice on the stair above me and saw her descend and melt into the crowd as If she had not been absent from it for more than five minutes. A half hour later I saw her with Frederick again. They were dancing, but not with the same spirit as before, and even while I watched them they separated. Now where was Miss Page during those two long hours? I think I know, and It is time I unburdened myself to the police. "But first I must inform ysu of a small discovery I made while the dance was still In progress, -tfiu Page had come down stairs, as I have ssld, from what I now know to have been her own room. Her dress was, in all respects, the same as before, with one exception her white slippers has been exchanged for blue ones. This seemed to show that they had been rendered unserviceable, or at least unsightly, by the walk she had taken. This in Itself was not remsrkable, nor would her peculiar escapade have made more than a temporary impression upon my curiosity if she had not afterward shown an unaccountable and extraordinary interest in the murder which had taken plsce In the town below during the very hours of her absence from Mr. Sutherland's ball. This, In consideration of her sex sod ber being a stranger to the person attacked, was remarkable, and, though perhaps I had no business to do' what I did. I no sooner saw the house emptied of master and servants than I stole softly back, and cHmbed the stairs to tier room. Had ne good followed this fafnuJorrt-wBlth, ranV'qtfTte ready to acknowledge, was a trifle presumptuous, I should bavs held my peace in regard to It; but as l did mske a discovery there jvhichv"bss, as I believe, an Important bearing on this sff sir, I have forced myself to mention It. Tho lights In the house having been left burning. I had no difficulty In finding her apartment. I knew it?by the folderols scattered about. But I did not stop to look at them. I was on a search for her slippers, and presently I came upon them, thrust behind an old picture In tlb dimmest corner of the room. Taking them down, I ex amined them closely. They were not only soiled, gentlemen, but dreadfully cut and rubbed. . In short, they wero ruined; and, thinking that the young lady herself would be glad to be rid of them, I quietly put them into my pocket, and carried them to my own home. Abel has just been for them. so you can see them for yourselves, and. If your Judgment coincides .with mine, you will discover something more on them than mud." Dr. Talbot, though he stared a little at the young man's confessed theft. took the slippers Abel wss holding out and carefully turned them over. They were, as Sweetwater had said, griev ously torn and soiled and showed, besides several deep earth stains, a mark or two of a bright red color quite unmistakable In character. "Blood." declared the coroner. "There is no doubt about it. Miss Page was where blood was SDilled last nltht." (To Be Continued.) Start the New Year with a resolution to save something. One of Dickinson Trust Company's Savings Banks will help you. 31-tf Use artificial gas for light and Beat. 10-tf T DR. HAr.llL.TOH 2 4 126 North Tenth Ot. r.loorc&Ocborn : Write Firs and Tornaao insurance. Ws will bond you. Loans from $100 to $2,500. Phone Home 15X9. Bell 53 R. ROOM 16 I. O. O. F. BUILDING.