tie y uest of
etty. Lancey
Hy MA.CDA. F. WEST
Copyright, 1909, by W. 0. Chapman. Copyright In Great Britain
CHAPTER IIL
They held the Inquest that same
afternoon, and In the room where
Cerlsse Wayne's body had been found.
Or. McGann, the coroner, could find
ao trace of violence on the young and
perfect body.
"She died of heart failure," he re
narked, very simply. "Probably the
inlmal who caused the police such
bright and trouble gained access to the
room, and the sight and shock were
soo much for her patently fragile con
stitution to withstand. Remember,
that this apparition has brought on
Mrs. Desterle a stroke of paralysis,
tnd may result In the permanent de
rangement of her mind.
"I have wired Doubleday, Frans &
Co., in San Francisco," he continued.
Their reply Just received Is that they
know but little about Cerlsse Wayne.
They declare that they knew her as
..rs. Wayne. Alu Um.t for live
fears past $2,000 a month has been de
posited to her credit with them. Parke
ft Gray, solicitors, of London, Eng
land, have handled the drafts sent to
the San Francisco bankers. Mrs.
Wayne drew on this amount so freely
that at times her balance was practi
sally nothing, and frequently her ac
count showed a small overdraft For
the past several months, however, her
demands on the account have been
very slight Last month $4,000 was
ent for her credit, and her present
balance Is approximately $6,000. Be
tides this they have a casket said to
contain almost priceless Jewels, that
fcelong to her. A copy of a photograph
f Mrs.- Wayne, which they have in
their possession, has been forwarded,
nd Henry Franz, one of the Junior
members of the firm, Is coming East to
view the body. They report they have
eared for her mail for some time past
and during this time she has had it
forwarded to nearly every imaginable
point both In this country and abroad.
In her handbag there was nearly $150
and nothing to indicate that she had
been mentally depressed or was in poor
health. Over-indulgence In cigarettes
may have unduly excited her mind. It
la patent that she read and smoked till
he grew drowsy and then lightly
tossed her book aside. Possibly she
wakened from some quiet dream to be
hold that creature In the room, and
flled of fright There was one second
vt Intense horror and all was over."
"How did that that that get In
floctor?" Interrupted the still dishevel
ed Doherty.
"Don't you know that there's no place
n the front of this, nor any other
buildin' In the block where a cat could
erawl up for a footin'T Ain't they all
smooth sandstone, worn as slick as me
8t year's coat And wasn't both of
the windows there closed and locked
In the bargain, and no chimney In the
room? Maybe pie creature killed the
prltty little girl after It got In al
right but how did it get InT Here's
another thing. Will ye look at that
bed? Now there's been two people
sleeping In that bed, sir, one of them
far heavier and bigger than the poor
tittle girl you've Just been lnquestlng
over. And here, now, is a cigarette
atub that's different from the others
atronger, can't you see?"
The policeman held out the stub In
question, and it was passed wonder
Ingly from hand to hand, and later
marked "exhibit "A."
"Entrance might have been effected
from the hall," said the Coroner with
a puzzled frown.
"So? Wasn't the door bolted from
the Inside? Can't you see where It
was broke to get In?" retorted Do
herty. "Ah, someone was Inside and rush
ed out when Mrs. Desterle opened the
door," muttered Larry Morris of the
"Times.-
Everybody In the room directed his
attention to the corner where the
newspaper folk were sitting. There
were eight or ten men In the little
group and one woman, a fair, calm
eyed girl, Betty Lancey of the "In
quirer." Betty was barely 23, one of
those tall, athletic, wholesome girls
who demand classification In the men
tal menu as well-cooked oatmeal with
rich creamj country honey, baked
apples or new -"milk. Larry Morris
was very much In love with Betty,
but he didn't know It and neither did
she.
Pierre Desterle denied Larry Mor
ris' suggestion. His wife Annie Des
terle could not come as a witness to
corroborate his statement Raving
and shrieking they had carried her off
to the hospital hours before. Pierre,
for his wife, and himself, told all be
knew of their unfortunate boarder.
"She came Monday night" quavered
the little black-skinned fellow. "She
was all dressed In green. She had the
prettiest eyes you ever saw, they were
Just like those of a hurt baby. So many
violets were pinned on her breast you'd
have thought 'twould have wearied her
to carry them. She brought no trunks,
only the green bag there. Said she
wanted room and board for two weeks
and would pay well for them. Annie
took her because of what she paid, and
because she was so pretty. She slept
late mornings and Annie was going to
make her move to-morrow because she
Blept so late It made breakfast drag
along till noon. The women In the
house didn't like MJss Wayne. They
said she painted her face and smoked
cigarettes. The men made soft eyes
at her and the woman got Jealous.
Annie said she had awful fine things
In her valise, and lots of Jewelry. An
nie came up stairs to wake her, for it
was lunch time, and then It all hap
pened. There couldn't anybody have
rushed down the stairs. I was In the
hall when Annie fell, and Doherty was
with me, and he came right up here
after wa'd carried Annie to her room.
That was the only time the hall was
alone."
"How long did that take you, Do
herty?" asked Johnny Johnson of the
newspaper coterie.' He was thinking
that the. Coroner was a shade too Judi
cial and prosy about the Inquiry.
"Some six minutes or so," slowly an
swered Doherty. "Mrs. Desterle's a
weight to carry; she's pretty fat you,
know, lately. Her room, too, It's clear
back on the second floor.
They read the letters aloud. The
enterprising newspaper boys had al
ready had them photographed so that
their papers might reproduce them.
The longer of the two was undated,
the other bore date of eight months
previous, In mid-August and ran:
"Cerlsse Dear Heart of mine, I
have so longed for a letter. Do you
still refuse to remember? Will you
not forgive or must I die without word
or sign from you? Forgive me, Cerlsse,
dear, forgive me."
The other, couched more formally,
though In the same writing, read: '
"Cerlsse So the wander-lust still
pervades your heart? Can you calm
your restless mind and soul and body
sufficiently long to realize that home,
husband, children and the develop
ment of womanhood's Ideals Is the
tithe life exacts from each of your
sex?
"You must pay now, Cerlsse, or pay
at the end. If you defer payment of
your Indebtedness to the scheme of all
creation till the end you will find the
Interest hard to handle. I shall ap
peal no more. Entreaties do not
move you. Neither do threats and
commands are naught to you. But let
me Impress one thing upon you. If
you do not return to me before the
first of the coming year, I will kill
you. Do you understand what I mean
when I write this? I have never
seemed able to make you comprehend
anything I have ever written or said.
Tou won't understand this, you won't
realize that you will be dead, murder
ed, before the blossoms weight the
orchards if you still persist in absent
ing yourself from H."
"Seems to me that 'H,' whoever 'H'
Is, must have been Intoxicated, de
ranged or doped on his correspondence
course," whispered Larry Morris to
Betty Lancey.
"Oh,' Jon't Joke," replied Betty.
"How can you. at such time? Such a
beautiful woman as she was, too. I'd
have loved to have seen her as she
must have been when she was alive."
"Death from causes unknown. Prob
ably heart failure superinduced by
fright" came the Coroner's verdict
This ultimatum . disposed of the
body, which was burled next day. But
It didn't of the Monster. That was
in a cage in the municipal zoological
gardens, snarling, whining and mak
ing the hours hideous. And it didn't
dispose of the story. That went flash
ing around the world on the wires,
while newspapers the country over
seized the scent to track the "greatest
crime mystery of the age."
CHAPTTER IV.
Early next morning Larry Morris
sat in Le Roy's cafe, an all night res
taurant and rendezvous of the news
paper men, industriously disposing of
a roast beef sandwich.
Larry's forehead was twisted Into
half a dozen corrugations. He was
hoping none of the boys would come
in till he had got this Wayne story a
little clearer In his head. Larry and
two photographers had made three
trips out to the Park to see the awful
Thing which some apt reporter had
christened -the Man-aperllla.
One by one the boys came trooping
In. And the Wayne murder was the
toplo of the night
"I'll tell you what It la, boys," said
Hank Smith. "That Man-Aperilla Is
half -human ' and I know It When
those white and black eyes were turn
er upon me I felt my soul crawl out
from under me, and I was left there
hanging In space. Tell you what It Is,
there's a story there."
"Cut It Hank, cut It," called little
red-headed John Johnston, the best
police reporter In town. "Here, Ma
mie," to the waitress, "bring Hank
some eatings so the rest of us can
take a rubber at the conversational
game. Wasn't that girl a stunner,
though? And t".!d you notice, too, what
a dead match that her hair was for
the color of the pelt on the beast?"
Now every man at the taMe had
noted Just that point. It was so ob
vious a point that It was startling.
Each had been loath to launch an opin
ion on it But Johnny had a way
with him of pumping all you knew by
bold plays. Each man took counsel
with himself wondering what Johnny
would do next. For ten years these
boys and Johnny had niet every Mon
day night, and the crowd had learned
when to give him rope.
But Just now Johnny and his bowl
of rice and milk relapsed into silence
while his companions ranged far In
wild theories of who "H" was, what
part he had played in the life and
death of Cerlsse Wayne, whether she
was wife, widow, murdered or simply
another victim of the suicide list
By and by Johnny dug down Into
one of the ever bulging pockets of his
always baggy trousers. ' The by-word
was that Johnny always looked so
much like a burglar that he never had
any trouble gaining the confidence of
the rather reticent people of that pro
fession. "Hunting for a quarter, Johnny, or a
toothpick?" questioned Larry Morris.
"Here, look at this," answered John
ny. Into their midst he twirled the some
thing he had drawn from his 'pocket
It was a man's garter of lavender silk
elastic, the buckle hand wrought from
rose gold, set round with amethysts
and on the face the Initial "H," worked
out In emeralds and amethysts of ex
cessive smallness but exceedingly great
brilliancy.
"Whpr flif you jet thp.t?" came trse
chorus.
"Well," said Johnny, "listen. I pick
ed this up In the Desterle house about
an hour ago. Say, everybody about
that house has got stage fright They
are all moving out An earthquake
couldn't move them quicker than they
are going. The death watch has got
its grip on the whole thirty-five board
ers. More than half of them are speed
ing away to spend the night with
hand-baggage only. Great show, too,
to watch them hustle out I'm going
to sleep up there to-night I picked
this garter up in the closet where It
had rolled down behind a little shelf.
Now women, you know, don't wear
garters like this."
"Might" bellowed Hank Smith.
"Saw a telegraph story the other day
that they had taken to wearing half
hose In New York."
"But here's the question," continued
Johnny, "no man In the house knew
Mrs. Wayne nor anything about her.
Why, the only decent word any one
of those curious passed about her was
that no one had come to see her since
she arrived, and that she had appeared
embarrassed when her fellow boarders
of the sex masculine attempted to pay
her any attention."
"I'll Just wager that she was some
poor, sweet little girl who had mar
ried some old fool for his money," In
terposed Philip Hartley, whose sym
pathetic heart beat for all the mis
treated women In the world. "She's
found him unbearable, and refused to
live with him, and he's Just hounded
her to death. That 'H' may have stood
for Hubby," In the letter that had the
threat to kill her. I believe she's been
taking slow poison, and came here
where she wasn't known to snuff It off
quietly."
"How about the Man-Aperilla V
flouted Larry Morris. "Proceed, Jules
Verne It Why don't you go farther,
and have It a trained ape sent carrier
pigeon, bloodhound-fashion by the
ogre-husband, to choke her to death?"
"Because she wasn't choked," con
tended Hartley. "Heavens, what a
woman she must have been."
"Oh, to kill from Jealousy," added
Hank Smith. "Why, hallo; here's Bet
ty Lancey at this hour of the morning.
Betty, don't you ever get through
work? And you're all out of breath.
What's wrong. Mamie, get her some
tea. What Is the matter, Betty?"
Betty, white as print paper, sunk on
a chair. Her big blue eyes were open
ed wide. "Boys," she said. "Come
with me; come quick, don't say a word,
but tell me, am I crazed or dreaming;
has it really happened or am I hav
lons? Oh, no! don't stop to finish eat
ing; come quick or It will be too late.
I am afraid to stop alone In that aw
ful room. You know I missed my train
home and stopped at the hotel to
night, and, oh, it startled me' so."
"What's up, anyhow?" asked John
ny. "Tell the rest of them, Betty.
I'm going up to get chummy with the
mystery, sleeping all night In the Des
terle house. Maybe I'll have a visi
tation, seeing as how my own head Is
some reddish. Tlsn't like you to have
stage fright, Betty."
"I haven't got it" she snapped.
"But Just as I started to get Into bed
and went over to raise the shade, I
looked across the court into one of the
other rooms of the hotel. And In there
what do you think I saw?"
Womanlike Betty paused to give her
audience a thrill.
"Oh, nonsense; out with It," com
manded the boys.
"Cerlsse Wayne, her ghost or her
double, and the handsomest man I ever
sawl"
(To be continued.)
Often (he Cms.
The editor of the magazine WAS
somewhat dubious.
"Curious," said he, "that this anon.
dote of Napoleon has never been la
print before."
"It has been In print before." AT.
plained the apace writer, "but not t.
tached to Napoleon." Louisville
courier-Journal.
Spraying; for Apples.
Experiments at Tragg Orchard, lo
oted at Rock ford, Ia have proven
that It pays to spray. In an orchard
of 2,900 trees two small plots were
sprayed. The average yield for the
orchard was less than one-fifth bushel
per tree, while In one of the plots un
der experiment the yield averaged two
bushels per tree. This Is proof con
clusive that If the whole orchard had
been sprayed, and It could have been
done at but little more expense, the
result would have been 5,000 bushels
Instead of 500, or even less.
The benefits of the treatment were
not confined to increasing the yield.
Not only was there more fruit and
finer fruit where the trees were
sprayed, but the fruit hung to the
trees better. The great superiority of
the sprayed fruit over corresponding
grades of unsprayed fruits was appar
ent to every one who examined the
crop. The treatments may be given
In this order: When the leaf buds
are opening, just before the blooming.
Just after blooming, about two weeks
after the third treatment, the last of
July or first of August. In all this
work It Is best to use liquid Bordeaux
mixed with parts green or some other
effective poison. S. A. Beach In Agri
cultural Epltomist.
Box for Sitting; Hena.
I have often been troubled by hav
ing hens fighting over their eggs. The
hen that wishes to lay always prefers
to get on the same nest with the hen
that Is sitting, and the result Is sev
eral broken eggs. I have fooled them
y making a box like the one shown la
the cut. Each door opens Into the nest
where the hen Is sitting, and from this
nest there is a little covered runway In
which the hen can exercise.
The nests are made 14x16 Inches
KEEPS HENS FROM FIGHTING.
ind the affair will accommodate six
hens. When a hen wishes to sit I put
her In one of the nests and give her
three or four china eggs until she has
demonstrated that she Is willing to la
cubate In this new place. Mrs. M. K.
Anderson, In Farm and Home.
Hour Hakes Meat Quickly.
No animal on the farm la better
adapted to turning good feed quickly
Into marketable meat than the hog,
and none can better repay, from a mar
ket standpoint, a discriminating sys
tem of feeding. This Is particularly
true as to first costs, for the hog Is
by nature planned to utilize the least
expensive feeds and will manufacture
Into toothsome pork much that might
otherwise be reckoned of little value,
If not waste. In any phase of farm
economy the hog Is a feature, and his
proper feeding has in Innumerable In
stances been the factor that kept a
farm's profits on the right side of the
ledger. From Coburn's "Swine In
America."
Alfalfa fur Coir.
Where there Is an abundant supply
of alfalfa, do not feed the dairy cows
any timothy hay, but let them have
all the alfalfa they can consume with
out waste. A mixture consisting of
400 pounds of ground corn, 300 pounds
of bran or oats supplements the al
falfa very well. Seven or eight pounds
of this combination Is sufficient to pro
duce one pound of fat when fed with
all the good alfalfa hay an animal
will consume. If the droppings of
the animal seem somewhat dry, do not
hesitate to recommend the use of one
pound of oil meal per day. Farmers
and Drovers' Journal.
Mllo for Feeding; Poultry.
Many poltrymen prefer mllo to
corn for feeding poultry. The seeds
are of convenient size for feeding, and
the composition is nearly the same
as that of corn. Dry-land farmers In
eastern Colorado state that in an aver
age season they can raise a ton or
more grain to the acre by - planting
carefully selected seed and giving It
thorough cultivation. It Is their
surest feed grain crop.
Crops for Col-Over Lands.
Observations of the sandy pine cut
over lands in Michigan, Wisconsin and
Montana have been continued by the
Department of Agriculture, and work
begun In the growing of hairy vetch
as a seed and forage crop. The light
sandy soils of the North promises
to be well adapted to this crop.
Growing; Spanish Onloas.
An experiment carried out by the
New Mexico experiment station shows
that Spanish onions may be grown
with good success In that region, h.
clear profit of over $150 was realized
from one-half acre of ground the past
season, the product being shipped to
the Chicago market. This does not
take Into account about 5,500 pounds
of culls that would have brought at
least 1 cent a pound.
Good Grubbing; Hoe.
A light grubbing hoe for use about
the garden or truck 'patch Is shown la
the accompanying Illustration from
Popular Science. Secure a leaf of an
old buggy spring, about eighteen Inch
es long, and cut the ends off square and
grind them sharp. Two short pieces
of strap iron with holes for rivets and
one, end of each upset and threaded
for a nut will be needed to fasten the
spring to the handle, which should be
v4y (nutiel
Buaor-spniNo obudbiko hoe.
of wood. Assemble as shown In sketch
and you will have a very handy littlo
tool for light work.
Wonderful Work of Cow.
According to modern standards ot
measurements of a dairy cow, one that
gives 6,000 pounds of milk a year, Is
but an ordinary milker. And yet to
elaborate this amount of milk, this
cow must manufacture not less than
780 pounds of milk solids. The cow
may weigh more than 800 or 900
pounds, and the dry matter of her body
la only the half of this amount, so we
see the cow may manufacture new
material annually amounting to more
than twice that contained In her own
body. To do this wonderful work she
must be In the best of physical con
dition and must have an abundance
of material containing the elements
she needs.
Roup and Cholera.
Of the two diseases, says a poultry
man, we fear roup more than we do
cholera. The best remedy for a bird
In the advanced stages of roup Is the
hatchet. Upon the first appearance of
any disease, the ailing birds should be
Isolated and the poultry house thor
oughly renovated and disinfected. It
Is always well to have some good roup
remedy at hand, as the time lost In
sending for a remedy after the fowls
become affected only gives the disease
a chance to get firmly established.
A Removable Clothespost.
For the resident, nroud of his lawn.
there has been designed a removable
clothespost which may be taken up
after use on wash
day and thus tho
lawn Is freed from
any unsightly ob
struction. The post
and the socket
base In which It Is
held are separate.
The latter Is 2 ',4
feet long and la
driven flush with
the ground, a driv-
Ing cap being provided for this pur
pose. When In position the post is
Inserted and can be lifted out again,
leaving the lawn free of obstruction
to the lawn mower or other uses. The
posts are made of special high carbon
steel tubing.
Brief Farm Hints.
It is a great mistake to feed pigs
sour milk when they are learning to
eat.
Milk the cows clean every time If
you would keep up a uniform flow of
milk.
The man, the cow, the feed, are
three essentials to successful, dairy
ing. Choose for the breeding mare a
solid color dark bay, black or chest
nut. The disposition of a horse has a
great deal to do with his value on a
farm.
A farmer's wife will not find It hard
to get private customers in town for
genuine fresh eggs.
Do not keep cows for a side Issue;
make it a business, like any other
branch of farm work.
Examine seed potatoes to see they
have not sprouted at the bottom, al
though the top may look all right. -
Get a garden. Make up your mind
to live well this summer. Life Is too
short to live on the husks of the farm.
The fact that a hog will eat almost
anything and turn it into meat does
not Imply anything will do for the
hog