Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Corvallis gazette. (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 1906)
MoUaday ocs He stared at me in astonishment. "Do you mean to tell me, Mr. Les ter," he questioned, "that you haven't been spending the evening with Jim Godfrey of the Record?" Then, in a flasn, I understood, and as I looked at the rueful faces of the men gathered about me I laughed until the tears came. "So it was you," I gasped, "who chased us up Broadway?" He nodded. "Yes, but our horses weren't good enough. Where did he take you?" "To the Studio Sixth avenue." "Of course!" he cried, slapping his leg. "We might have known. Boys, we'd better go back to Podv.nk." "Well, at least, Mr. Lester," spoke up another, "you oughtn't to give Godfrey a scoop." "But I didn't give him a scoop. I didn't even know who he was." "D;dnt you tell him what was in the note':" 1 ' "Not a word of it. I told him only one thing." "And what was that?" "That the person who wrote the note didn't know that Rogers was color blind. You are welcome to that state ment too. You see, I'm treating you all alike." They stood about me staring down at me, silent with astonishment. "But." I added, "I think Godfrey sus pects what was in the note." "Why?" "Well, his theory fits it pretty close ly." "His theory! What is his theory, Mr. Lester?" f'Oh, come," I laughed. "That's tell ing. It's a good theory too." They looked at each o,ther, and, I fancied, gnashed their teeth. "He seems a pretty clever fellow," I added, just to pile up the agony. "I fancy you'll say so, too, when you see Lis theory In tomorrow's paper." "Clever!" cried Rankin. "Why, he's a Tery fiend of cleverness when it comes to a case of this kind. We're not In the same class with him. He's a fancy fellow just the Record kind. You're sure you didn't tell him any thing else, Mr. Lester?" he added anx iously. "Godfrey's capable of getting a story out of a fence post." "No, I'm quite sure I didn't tell him anything else. I only listened to his theory with great interest." "And assented to it?" "I said Lihouzbt it jjlau&ibjg." An electric shock seemed to nxa around the room. "That's It!" cried Rankin. "That's what he wanted. Now, it Isn't his theory any more. It's yours. Oh, I can see his headlines! Won't you tell us what it was?" I looked up at him. "Now, frankly, Mr. Rankin," I asked, "if you were in my place would you tell?" i He hesitated for a moment and then held out bis hand. "No," he said as I took it. "I shouldn't. Shake hands, sir; you're all right Come on, boys; we might as well be going." They filed out after him, and I heard them go singing up the street. Then I sank back into my chair and thought again of Godfrey's theory. It seemed to fit the case precisely, point by point even and I started at the thought to Miss Holladay's reticence as to her whereabouts the afternoon before. The .whole mystery lay plain before me. In some way she had discovered the ex istence of her half sister, had secured he? r.:-"r: -V.? !:r.a gone to visit her ami had f jund her away from home it was probable, even, that the half Bister had written her, asking her to come though, In that case, why had she not remained at home to receive her? At any rate, Miss Holladay had awaited her return, bad noticed her agitation; had, perhaps, even seen cer tain marks of blood upon her. The news of her father's death had pointed all too clearly to what that agitation and those blood spots meant. She had remained silent that she might not be smirch her father's name, and also, perhaps, that she might protect the other woman. I felt that I held In my hand the key to the whole problem. Toint by point but what a snarl It was! That there would be a vigorous search for the other woman I could not doubt, but she had a long start and should easily escape. Yet perhaps she had not started. She must have re mained in town, else how could that note have been sent to us? She had re mained, then but why? That she should feci any affection for Frances Holladay seemed absurd, and yet how else explain the note? I felt that I was getting tangled up in the snarl again. There seemed no limit to its intricacies; so, in very de spair. I put the matter from me as completely as I could and went to bed. The morning's Record attested the truth of Rankin's prophecy. I had grown famous In a night, for Godfrey had In a measure made me responsible for his theory, describing me with a wealth of adjectives which I blush to remember and which I have even yet not quite forgiven him. I smiled as I read th first. Hrtont A Myslery Of Two Continents BURTON E. STEVENSON Copyrtfb. 1903. by Henry Holt and Company - A Record representative had the pleas i are yesterday evening of dining' with Mr. Warwick Lester, the brilliant young- at , torney who achieved such a remarkable J victory before Coroner Goldberg yester- day afternoon in the hearing' of the Hol i laday case, and, of course, took occasion to discuss with him the latest develop ments of this extraordinary crime. Mr. Lester agreed with the Record in a the ory which is the - only one that fits the facts of the case and completely and sat isfactorily explains all Its ramifications. The theory was then developed at great length, and the article concluded with the statement that the Record was assisting the police In a strenuous endeavor to find the guilty woman. Now that the police knew in which quarter to spread their net, I had little doubt that she would' soon be found, since she had tempted Providence by remaining in town. Mr. Graham and Mr. Royce were looking through the Record article when I reached the office, and I ex plained to them how the alleged inter view had been secured. They laughed together in appreciation of Godfrey's audacious enterprise. "It seems a pretty strong theory," said our senior. "I'm inclined to be lieve it myself." I pointed out how it explained Miss Holladay's reticence her refusal to as sist us in proving an alibi. Mr. Royce nodded. "Precisely. As Godfrey said, the the ory touches every point of the case. According to the old police axiom, that proves It's the right one." CHAPTER VII. THE body of Hiram Holladay was placed beside that of his wife in his granite mausoleum at Woodlawn on the Sunday fol lowing his death. Two days later his will, which had been drawn up by Mr. Graham and deposited In the office safe, was read and duly admitted to probate. As was expected, he had left all his property, without condition or reserve, to his daughter Frances. There were a few bequests to old serv ants, Rogers receiving a handsome leg acy; about half a million was given to various charities In which he had been interested during his life, and the re mainder was placed at the absolute disposal of his daughter. We found that his fortune had been overestimated, as la. usually the case with men whose wealth depends upon the fluctuations of the Street, but there still remained something over four mil lions for the girl a pretty dowry. She told us at once that she wished to leave her affairs in our hands and in finan cial matters would be guided entirely by our advice. Most of this business was conducted by our junior, and, while, of course, he told me nothing, it was evident that Miss Holladay's kind ly feelings toward him had suffered no diminution. The whole office was more or less, conversant with the affair and wished him success and happiness. So a week or ten days passed. The utmost endeavor of newspapers and police had shed no new light on the tragedy, -and for the great public it had passed into the background of the forgotten, but for" mo, at least, it remained of undim.lnisb.ed Interest, and more than once I carefully re viewed its features to convince my self anew that our theory was the right one. Only one point occurred to me which would tend to prove it un trueIf there was an illegitimate daughter, the blow she had dealt her father had also deprived her of what ever Income he had allowed her or of rny hope of income froic fc.hr; ro she had acted in her own despite Still, Godfrey's theory of sudden passion might explain this away. And then again Miss Holladay could probably be counted upon, her first grief past, to provide suitably for her sister. Granting this, the theory seemed to me quite impregnable. One other thing puzzled me how had this woman eluded the police? I knew that the French quarter had been ransacked for traces of her, wholly without success, and yet I felt that the search must have been miscon ducted, else some trace of her would surely have been discovered. Miss Hol laday, of course, rigidly refused her self to all inquirers, and here again 1 found myself on the horns of a dilem ma. Doubtless she was very far from wishing the discovery of the guilty, woman, and yet I felt that she must be discovered. If only for Miss Holla day's sake, in order to clear away the last vestige of the cloud that shad owed her. Then came new developments with a startling rapidity. It was toward quit ting time one afternoon that a clerk brought word into the inner office that there was a woman without who wished to see Mr. Royce at once. She had given no name, but our junior, who happened to be at leisure for the moment, directed that she be shown in. I recognized her in an Instant, and so did he it was Miss Holladay's maid. I saw, too, that her eyes were red with weeping, and as she sat down beside our junior's desk she began to' cry afresh. "Why, what's the matter?" he de manded. "Nothing wrong with your mistress?" "She ain't my mistress any more," J Bobbed the s3rL . . "She. dtecharsed me- this afternoon?" "Discharged yon!" echoed our junior. "Why, I thought she thought so much of you?" "And so did I, sir, but she discharged me just the same." j "But what for?" persisted the other, j "Thafs Just what I don't know, sir. : I begged and prayed her to tell me, but " she wouldn't even see me. So I came down here. I thought maybe yon could help me." "Well, let me hear about it just as It happened," said Mr. Royce soothingly. "Perhaps I can help you." "Oh, If you could, sir!" she cried. "Yon know, I thought the world and all of Miss Frances. I've been with her nearly eight years, and for her to go and treat me like this why, It just breaks my heart, sir! I dressed her this afternoon about 2 o'clock, and she was as nice to me as ever gave me a little brooch, sir, that she was tired of. Then she went out for a drive, and about an hour ago came back. I went right up to her room to undress her, and when I knocked, sir, a strange woman came to the door and said that Miss Frances had engaged her for her maid and wouldn't need me any more, and here was a month's Wages. And while I stood there, sir, too dazed to move, she shut the door in my face. After I'd got over it a bit, I begged that I might see Miss Frances, if only to say goodby, but she wouldn't see me. She sent word that she wasn't feeling well and wouldn't be disturbed." Her sobs mastered her again and she stopped. -I could see the look of amazement on our junior's face, and did not wonder at it. What sudden dislike could her mistress have con ceived against this Inoffensive and de voted creature? "You say this other maid was a stranger?" he asked. "Yes, sir; she'd never been in the house before, so far as I know. Miss Frances brought her back with her in the carriage." "And what sort of looking woman is she?" The girl hesitated. "She looked like a foreigner, sir," she said at last. "A Frenchwoman, maybe, by the way she rolls her r's." I pricked up my ears. The same thought occurred at that instant to both Mr. Royce and myself. "Does she resemble Miss Holladay?" he asked quickly. "Miss Holladay? Oh, no, sir. She's much older her hair's quite gray." Well, certainly, Miss Holladay had the right to choose any maid she pleased and to discharge any or all of her servants; and yet it seemed strangely unlike her to show such seeming injustice to any one. "You say she sent down word that she was ill?" said Mr. Royce at last. "Was she 111 when you dressed her?" "Why, sir," she answered slowly, "I wouldn't exactly say she was 111, but she seemed troubled about something. I think she'd been crying. She's been crying a good deal, off and on, since her father died, poor thing," she added. That would explain it, certainly, and yet grief for her father might not be, the only cause of Frances Holladay's tears. "But she didn't seem vexed with your "Oh, no, sir; she gave me a brooch, as I told you." "I fear I can't promise you any thing," said Mr. Royce slowly, after a moment's thought. "Of course it's none of my business, for Miss Holladay must arrange her household to suit herself ; yet, If you don't get back with your 'old mistress, I may perhaps be able to find you a position somewhere slse.l Suppose you come back in three or four days, and I'll see what I can io." "All right, sir, and thank you," she said, and left the office. I had some work of my own to keep me busy that night, s devoted no thought to Frances Holladay and her affairs, but they were recalled to me with renewed force next morning. "Did you get Miss Holladay's sig nature to that conveyance?" Mr. Gra ham chanced to ask his partner in the course of the morning. "No, sir," answered Mr. Royce. with just a trace of embarrassment, "a called at the house last night, but she sent down word that she was too ill to see me or to transact any business." "Nothing serious, 1 hope?' asked the other quickly. "No, sir. I think not Just a trace of nervousness, probably." But when he called again at the house that evening he received a sim ilar message, supplemented with the news Imparted by the butler, a servant of many years' standing in the family, that Miss Holladay had suddenly de cided to leave the city and open her country place on Long Island. It was only the end of March, and so a full two months and more ahead of the season. But she was feeling very ill, was not able to leave her room, indeed, and believed the fresh air and quiet of the country would do more than anything else to restore her shattered nerves. So the whole household, with the exception of her maid, a cook, house girl and underbutler, were to leave the city next day in order to get the country house ready at once. "I don't wonder she needs a little toning up," remarked our chief sym pathetically. "She has gone through a nerve trying ordeal, especially fo a girl reared as she has been. Two or three months of quiet will do her good. When does she expect to leave?" "In about a week, I think. The time hasn't been definitely set. It will de pend upon how the arrangements go forward. It won't be necessary, will it, to bother her with any details' of business ? That conveyance, for in stance" "Can wait till- she gets back. No, we (To be Continued.) You Doubtless want to know about OLLADAY By BURTON E. STEVENSON A Bright, Entertaining, Charming Story DEALING WITH ROMANCE AND MYSTERY Now Running in the CO 0- The New York The reader will put the book down until he has reached the last page.CJ Well written? intoakt hell bargain." You can read it without money in the Corvallis Gazette. New Sub scribers supplied with back chapters of the story. o- OUR JOB OFFICE Isunusually well equipped to!! do all kinds of work. A First-class Job Printer always kept in the office and all work guaranteed to be strictly up-to-date. -o- Bring us the, Work that You are partiouiar about 0- mwi made to ifiit. CASE SOAZ Tribune Says: not want to classified advertisements CLASSIFIED ADTSBTISmOEBTS : Fifteen words or less, 25cts for three sm-cessive insertions, or 50 cts per month; for all op to and Including ten additional words. rent a word for each insertion. For all advertisements over 25 words, 1 ct per word for the first insertion, and K rt per word for each additional inser tion. Nothisg inserted for leas than 25 tts. Lodge, society and church notices, other than strictly news matter, will be chuiwd for. FOR SALE FTJLLBLOOD BARRED ROCK COCK erels. $1-00; two-year old cock (former rot $3) now 11.00. F. K. Borrra. Orvaliis, On,., R F. D. 1 l2-16f 22 HEAD OF CATTLE FROM 1 TO S voars past: fi milk cows, fresh in Feb ruary and Marc. Will sell riffht to riirht party. Wm. Brvans, Wren, Ore u ls PLASTERING PLASTERING AND CEMENT WORK. Cement wa1s a specialty Work guar anteed. H. Bier & Co.. Corvallis, Ores-on. . j2tf ATTORNEYS 1 F. YATES, ATTORNEY-AT LAW. OflPre First National Bank Building. Onlv set of abstracts in Benton County R. RRYSON ATTORNEY AT LAW. yfic in Poet Office Building, CoTval !, Oregon. WANTED w A TE r 500 SUBSCRIBERS TO THE CiAzbttB and Weekly Oregonian at 2.55per year. BANKING. THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF Corvallis, Oregon, transacts a general conservative banking business. Loans money on approved security. Drafts bought and fold and money .ransferred to the principal cities of the United States, Europe and foreign countries. Veterinary Surgeon DR. E. E. JACKSON, V. S., WINEGAR A Snow livery ham. Give him a call. Phones, Ind., 328; Residence, 389 or Bell phone. 12tf PHYSICIANS A. OATHEY, M. D., PHYSICIAN and Surgeon. Rooms 14, Bank Build ing. Office Hours : 10 to 12 a. m , 2 to tp.m. Residence: cor. 5th and Ad ams Sts. Telephone at office and res idence. Corvallis. Oregon. MARBLE SHOP.? MARBLE AND GRANITE MONU ments; curbing made to order; clean ing and reparingdoce neatly: save agent's commission. Shop North Main St., Frank Yanhoosen, Prop, o2tf House Decorating. FOR PAINTING AND PAPERING SEE W. EL Paul, Ind. 480 l4tf Croup. Begins with the symptons of a com mon cold ; there is chilliness, sneezing,, sore thioat, hot skin, quick pulse, hoarse ness and impeded respiration. Give fre queut small doses of Ballard's Here bound Syrup, (the child will cry for it and at the first sins of a cronpy cough apply -irequentlv Ballard, a Snow Lini ment to the throat Mrs. A. Vliet, New Cast:e, Colo.,, writie March 19,1902; "I think Ballard's Horehound Syrup a wonderful remedy., and so pleasant to tke. Sold hv Graham and Wortham. . STEAMER POMONA For Portland and way points, leaves Corvallis Monday, Wednesday and Fri day at 6 a. in. Albany 7 a. m. Fare to Portland, $1.75; round trip $3.00. H. A. Hoffman, Agt- 103-10 Health. Means the ability to do a good day's work without undue fatigue and to find life worth living. You cannot have in digestion and constipation without its upsetting the liver and polluting the blood. Such a condition may be beet and quickest relieved by Herbine, the best liver regulator tfeat the world has ever known, Mrs. D W. Smith writes. April 3. Y2. "I use Herbine, and find it the best medicine for constiparion and regulating the liver I ever used." f0e. Sold by Graham & Wortham, . Luckiest M&ii In Arkansas. "I'm the luckiest man in Arkansas."' writes H- L. Stanley, of Bruno, "since the restoration of my wife's health after five years of continuous coughing and bleeding f'om the lungs ; I owe my good fortune to the world's greatest medicine, Dr. King's New Discovery for Consump tion, which I know from experience will; cure consumption if taken in time. My wife improved with the first bottle and twelve bottles completed the cure." Cures the worst coughs and colds or money refunded. At Allen & Wood ward druggists. 50 sent and $1.00- Trial bottle free.