A complete line of
Groceries
Fresh Vegetables every week
Agents for the popular
Tip Top Bread
Garden Seeds
i
Brooms
f
. ■ 7
1
^
•>
p y a ,
We Also Carry A I ine Of
Overall-, Jumper?, Sox, Ladies Hose,
Mens Underwear, Shirts, Mens and
Ladies Handkerchiefs, Suspenders,
Thread, Gloves, Pms and needles,
Muslins, Gingham and Calicoes.
! , ■■■■i ■
Waterbury & Chapm an
Lstaiddj,
•
Oregon
Beds
from
$ 2.90
to
$ 9.50
Full line
mattresses
and springs
New Stock of Heywood BABY BUGGIES
and GO CAItTS, ru ^ * rtired, with auto
tops at from
$11.
id
Bdby Cribs
Estacada
Fu rn itu re
Green Tra in* Stamps
$2. a day.
Co.
Undertaker«
$10. a we^k
The Hotel Estacada
Modern Conveniences
One of the most delightful
Resorts on the ( ’.oast
Local and Tourist Trade Solicited
Reduce the High Cost
Of
Liv in g
Preserve Your
EGOS IN WATER-GLASS
Estacada Pharmacy
Z) m \
4 y.L,, v W
>">.< v-
Ì
M R IS
RI\tH4!tl
Copyright, 1913, by the Bobbs-Merrill Company
àJ
PROLOGUE.
W i pay C ASH for E g g s
“The Qjality Grocers”
^ ••• .•«**,>
W as Jen n ie B rice m u rd ered ?
i f she were m urdered, w ho was
g u ilty o f th e f o u l d e e d ?
i f sh e were n o t d o n e away
w ith by an a ssassin, w h a t b eca m e
o f her?
W hence d id she d isa p p ea r?
T h e se u n d a f e w o th e r in te r
e stin g q u e s tio n s a re r a is e d at
o n c e in t h i s v e r y c le v e r ta le o f
m y s te r y w ritten by a w om an
w h o is n o t on l? * a n a d e p t a t
w ritin g fic tio n o f th is c h a r a c
ter, b u t t h e p o s s e s s o r o f a s t y l e
t h a t c h a i n s t h e i n t e r e s t b y i ts
cle a rn e ss a n d d ir e c tn e s s u n d
w in s b y iis rich hum or.
CHAPTER
I.
i h a v e ju s t h ad a n o th e r flood,
bad enough, b u t only a fool
»«• iw o of w a te r on th e first
loo,-. Y iaterd u y w e got the
m ud shoveled o ut of tin* ce lla r and
fo u n d P eter, th e spaniel t h a t Mr. Lad-
ley left w lifii lie ‘•w ent a w a y ." T he
flood, an d th e f a r t th a t it w as Mr.
L m liey’s dog w hose body w as found
h a lf hurfWl in th e b a se m e n t fru it
closet, br*.....,,f back i - m e th e s tra n g e
eve?7s of th e o th e r flood five y ears
ago, w hen th e w a te r reached m ore
th a n h a lf w ay to th e second story,
and brought w ith It, to som e, m ystery
an d su d d en d e a th , and to m e th e w orst
case of ••shingles’’ I h av e ev er seen.
My nam e is 1 'itm au —In th is n a r ra
tive. It is not re a d y 1‘iti tan. b ut th a t
dot*s w ell enough. I belong to au old
P ittsb u rg h fam ily.
1 w as boru on
P en n avenue, w hen th a t w as th e best
p a rt of to w n , a n d 1 lived, u n til ! w as
lift ecu. v ery close to w h a t is now the
P ittsb u rg h club, it w as a dw elling
th e n ; I h av e fo rg o tten w ho lived th ere
:it th a t tim e.
1 w as a girl in ’77. d u rin g th e ra il
road rio ts, a n d 1 recall o u r driving
1», th e fam ily c a rria g e o v er to one
of th e A llegheny hills, an d seeing th e
y a rd s b u rn in g , an d a g re a t noise of
sh ooting from acro ss th e river.
It
w as th e next y e a r th a t 1 ra n aw ay
from school to m arry M r. P itm a n , and
1 h ave n ot know n my fam ily since.
We w ere n e v e r reconciled, alth o u g h I
cam e back to P ittsb u rg h a f t e r tw e n ty
.years of w an d erin g . Mr. P itm a n w as
d e a d ; th e old city called me. an d I
cam e.
1 had a h u n d red d o llars o r so, and
I took a ho u se in lo w er A llegheny,
w here, b ecau se th ey a r e p a rtly in u n
d a te d every sp rin g , th e r e n ts a r e cheap,
a n d 1 kept b oarders.
My house w as
a lw a y s o rd erly a n d clean, an d alth o u g h
th e ueighltorhood had a b ad nam e, a
good m any th e a tric a l people stopped
w ith me.
l ive m in u tes acro ss th e
b rid g e a n d th ey w ere in th e th e a te r
d istric t. A llegheny at th a t tim e. I be
lieve. w as still a n in d ep en d en t city. ;
«! L u t <¡11 e th e n it lias allied itse lf w ith
W
P ittsb u rg h ; it Is now th e north sid e of
th e city.
1 w as glad to get back. I w orked
h ard , b u t 1 m ad e m y re n t und m y lit
ing an d a little over. Now a n d th en
on su m m er ev en in g s 1 w en t to one oi
tlie p a rk s an d , s ittin g on a bench
“W h a t d o y o u w a n t ? ” he a s k e d
w atch ed th e ch ild ren playing aro u n d
sha rpl y.
an d looked a t m.v s is te r ’s house, close«I
fo r th e sum m er. It is a very large u sin g th e w u sh stan d a s a d esk , an d It
house. H er b u tle r o nce had his w ife k ep t m e busy w ith o x alic acid ta k in g
b o ard in g w ith me—a very nice little ink sp o ts o u t of th e sp la sh e r an d th e
tow els, li** w as w ritin g a play an d
w om an.
it is cu rio u s to recall th a t a t th a t talk ed a lot a b o u t th e S b u b e rts h a v in g
tim e, t h e y e a rs ago, I had never seen p ro m ised to s ta r him in it w heu it w as
m y niece. L ida H a rv e y , an d th en to tinislied.
**H---- !” h e said , and, tu rn in g , spoke
th in k th a t only th e d ay before y e s te r
d ay sh e cam e in her autom obile a s fa r to som ebody in th e room.
"W e can go in to th e back room .” I
us site d a re d a n d th en sa t there, w a v
ing to me. w hile th e police p atro l h eard him say , a n d he closed th e door.
bro u g h t acro ss in a skiff a b a sk e t of W hen he opened it a g a in th e room w as
em p ty . I called in T e rry , th e Iris h
provisions sh e had se n t me.
I w onder w h at sh e w ould h a v e m an w ho does odd Jobs fo r m e now
th o u g h t had sh e know n th a t th e e ld e r an d th en , und w e both got to w ork a t
ly w om an in a calico w rap p er, w ith th e ta c k s in th e c a rp et. T e rry w o rk in g
a n old o v erco at o v er it an d a p a ir of by th e w indow u n d 1 by th e door in to
th e b a c k p arlo r, w hich th e L ad ley s
ru b b e r boots, w a s h e r full a n u t.
T h e Mood an d tile sig h t of Lida both used a s a bedroom .
T h a t w as h ew I h ap p en ed to h e a r
b ro u g h t back th e case of J e n n ie P rice,
fo r even th en Lida .a n d Mr. H ow ell w h a t I a f te rw a rd told th e police.
| Som e one—a m an. b u t not Mr. Lad
w ere in te re ste d in each other.
T h is Is April. T h e Mo«<d of 1907 w as ley —w as talk in g . Mrs. Lmlley broke
e a rlie r, in M arch. It bad been n long iii: “ I w o n 't <l«i ill’* slit* said flatly.
hard w in ter, w ith ice gorges in all th e “ W hy should I help h im ; ll«* 1 «loesn’t
u p p er valley. T h en in early M arch help me. H e lo afs h ere ail «lay. srnok
ther«» cam e a th a w . T h e gorges broke in g m id sleeping, an d sits up all night,
up and Iwgan to com e dow n, tilling th e d rin k in g a i d k eep in g me aw ak e ."
1 T h e voice w ent on ag ain , as if in re
riv ers w ith « ru sh in g , g rin d in g ice.
T h e re a r e th re e riv ers at P ittsb u rg h , ply t«i th is, an d 1 heard a ru tile »>f
tin* A llegheny am i th e M onongaliela g lasses, a s if th ey w ere p o u rin g
u n itin g th e re at th e point t«> form th e d rin k s. T hey a lw a y s had w hisky, ev en
Old«». And all th re e w ere c«no red w ith when th ey w ere b eh in d w ith th e ir
broken i«-e. logs an d all so rts of d eb ris 1 board.
from th e u p p e r valleys.
I “T h a t ’s all v ery w ell.” Mrs. L adiey
A w a rn in g w as se n t «nit from th e said. I could a lw a y s h e a r her. sh e
w e a th e r luireifu. an d I got n»v carpet* h av in g a th e a tric a l so rt o f voice one
read y to lift th a t m orning. T h a t wa* (th a t c a rrie s .. “ But w luit about th e
on th e 1th of M arch, a S unday. Mr p ry in g sin* devil th a t ru n s th e houseV*
“ H u sh , fo r H od’s sa k e!’* broke in Mr.
L adlev an d Ins w ife. J e n n ie B rice ha
th e p arlo r bedroom an d th e room be ! L adiey. an d a f te r th a t th ey spoke in
hind it. Mrs. L adlev. o r M iss B rice, as w h isp ers. E ven w 'th my e a r a-gainst
sh e p re fe rre d to be know n, had a sm all th e p an el 1 could not ca tc h a word.
T lie m en cam e ju s t tln*n to m ove th e
p a rt at a local th e a te r th a t kept a p er - r
piano, an d by th e tim e w e had ta k e n
tu aiien t com pany. H er h u sb an d w as
it a n d th e f u rn itu r e u p s ta irs th e w a te r
In th a t b u sin ess, too, but lie iiad n o th
w as o v er th e k itch en floor a n d creep
ing t «* do. It w as th e w ife w ho paid
Ing fo rw a rd into th e hall. I had nev er
tin* hills, and a lot of «piarreling th ey
seen th e riv e r com e up s«« fa st. By
did ab o u t it.
noon th e y ard w as full « f floating ice.
I knocked a t th e door a t 10 o’clock,
and a t .‘t th a t a fte rn o o n th e police
and Mr. Lmlley opened it. H e w as a
: skiff w as on tin* fro n t s tre e ts , an d I
sh o rt m an. r a th e r sto u t an d g e ttin g
bald, an d lie a lw a y s had a cig a re tte . | w as w ad in g a ro u n d in ru b b e r boots.
E v en j e t the p arlo r c a rp e t sm ells of , ta k in g th e p ic tu re s off th e w alls.
' I w as too busy to see w ho th e Lfld-
them .
“ W hat <!o you w a n t? ’* lie ask ed . leys’ v isito r w as am i In* hail gone w hen
sh a rp ly , holding th e door open ab o u t ! 1 remember**«! him ag ain . T h e L adleys
took tin* aecoud sto ry fro n t, w hich
HU i l K ' l l .
•’T h e w a te r's com ing up v ery fa st. w as em p ty a n d Mr. R eynolds, win*
Mr. L a d i e y I said . “ I t's up to th e w as in th e silk d e p a rtm e n t in a »tore
sw in g in g sh e lf In th e ce lla r now. I ’d aero»« th e riv er, had th e room Ju st
like to ta k e lip th e c a rp e t an d m ove the behi ud.
I I p u t u p a coal sto v e in a b ack room
piano.”
"Conn* b ack in an h o u r or so,” he n e x t th e b ath ro o m u ud m an ag ed to
snapped an d trie d to close th e door. rook th e d in n e r tiiere. 1 w as w ash in g
up th e d ish es w hen Mr. R eynolds
B ut I had got my toe in th e crac k.
*T1I h av e to h ave th e piano m oved, cam e in. As it w as S u n d ay he w as in
Mr. L adiey,” I said. “ You’d lief te r p u t ills slip p ers an d bad th e colored su p
•¿lenient o f a m o rn in g p ap er in bis
off w h a t you are d o ing.”
I th o u g h t In* w as probably w ritin g , hand.
C ontinued on p ag e 4
l i e sp e n t m ost «if th e d a y w ritin g .