W hy not trade with a Store
that can fill A L L vour order
We carry a full line of staple and fancy
Groceries
We
are
headquarters
for
Fre*h Fruits and Vegetables
Fruit Jars Jar Tops Jar Rubbers
JellyGlasses
Look over our
Dry Goods Department
consisting: of Dress Goods, Shoes, Sox
Shirts, Overalls, Underwear, Mus
lin, Sheeting, Thread, Hand
kerchiefs and Notions.
Feed Department
Wheat Oats Corn Chick-food Bran
Scratch-food Shorts Flour Grits
Oyster-shell and Gr«und-bone
Waterbury & Chapman
“ The Quality Grocers”
Sleep Out of Doors
These not summer nights. Dont bother
to move your regular heavy beds around.
Invest
$ 3.50
in one of our latest
Folding .Cota
with heavy mattress and double rein
forced springs.
Ideal for porch, tent or
lawn.
Specially adapted for couch
during the day time.
Folding Camp Stools 2 5 C eac^
Hammocks of all kinds
Special canvas camper’s
hammock with carrying bag
$ 2.50
Others from $1.75 to $2.25
Porch Rockers
B ig and Roomy
$3,
If you’re traveling, inspect our line of
Trunks, Suitcases or Bags
Estacada Furniture Co.
U n d ertakers
Just as th e D octor ordered
Every
ingredient pure and
fresh— exquisite care in every
detail—skill of
long experi
ence-price lowest consistent
with quality.
That’s how we fill prescriptions.
I V
Estacada Pharmacy
The
S tore
that Howell was u lucky chap.
“ That is what worries me. Mr. Hoi
combe," I said “ I am Helping the af
full- along and what If It turns out
hudly ?"
lie looked at me over his glasses.
X
“ It Isn't likely to turn out badly." he
said. “ I hav«» never married. Mrs. Bit
mail, and 1 have missed a great deal
out of life."
T
“ Perhaps you’re i»etter off. I f you
had married and lost your wife’’ -
I
By
i > was thinking of Mr. Pitman
“ Not at all." he said with emphasis.
| MARY ROBERTS RINEHART ii “ It's
letter to have married and lost
7
I *
V Copyright, IBIS, by the B o bb»- | ) than never to have married at all. Ev
M e r r ill Company
< • ery man needs a good woman, and it
doesn't matter how old he Is. The
older he Is the more he needs her. 1
am nearly sixty ’’
Continued from last Issue
I was rather startled, and I almost
nle Brice Haying she wag going owuy.
uml that we need not try to find her. drop(>ed the fried |M»tutoes. But the
I went to Horner, but I had lost track next moment he had got out his uote
of her completely. Even then, we did book and was going over the items
not believe things so bad as they turn again. “ Pillowslip." he said, "knife,
ed out to be. We thought she was broken; onyx dock wouldn't think so
giving us a Imd time, hut that she much of the clock If he h ain't been
would show up
so damnably anxious to hide the key.
“ Dudley was in a blue funk for a the discrepancy in time as revealed by
time. Bronson and 1 went to him. We the trial yes. it is as clear as a bell
told III in how the thing had slipped Mrs. Pitman, does tint Maguire wo
man next door sleep all day?"
“ Sim’s up now." I said, lookiug out
the window.
He was In the hall In a moment, only
to come to t V door inter, hat in hind.
“ Is she the only other woman on the
street who keeps boarders?"
“ She’s the only Woman who doesn’t."
1 snapped “ She'll keep anything that
doesn't belong to her except Is »ardent.**4
“ Ah!"
He lighted his corncob pipe and stood
pulling at it and watching me. He
made me uneasy
1 thought he was
k'Otng to continue the subject or every
inun needing a wife.
But when he spoke he wus back to
the Crime again: “ Did you ever work
a typewriter?" he asked.
What with the surprise. I was a lit
tle sharp. “ I don’t play any Instru
ment ex» ept mi egg beater." I replied
shortly, and went ou clearing the table
“ I wonder do y«»q reineiulier about
the village idiot aud the horse? But
of course you do. Mrs. Pitman, you are
a woman of imagination. Don't you
think you eouid be Alice Murray for
u few moments? Now think —you are
a stenographer with theatrical arnbl
tlons. You meet an actor aud you fall
111 love with him uml he with you "
"That’s hard to Imagine that last."
"Not so hard " he said gently. “ Now
:he actor Is going to put you on the
«tuge. perhaps In this new play, aud
up. We dldu’t want to go to the po mine day be Is going to marry you."
lice and confess If we could help It.
“ Is that what lie promised the girl?"
Filiully he agreed to stick It out uutil
"According to some letters her moth
a he was found, at $100 u week. It took ¿r found, yes The uctor Is married
all we could t>cg. borrow and steal hut he tells you he will divorce the
But now—we have to come out with wife. You ure to wait for him. and In
the story auyhovv.”
the meantime he wants you near litin-
Mr. Holcomlte sat up and Hosed his iwny from the office, win re other men
uotebook with a snap. “ I'm not so ire apt tc come lu with letters to he
sure of that, he said Impressively. ’*1 typed and to -chaff you. You are a
wonder If you realize, young man. that, »retty girl."
having prodded a perfect defense for
* It Isn't necessary to overwork m.v
this man Dudley. you provided him imagination. " I said, with a little bit
with every possible inducement to terness. 1 had been a pretty girl, but
make away with his wife. Secure In work uud worry-
your coming forward at the last min
“ Now you are going to New York
ute and confessing the hoax to save very soon, uud In the meantime you
him. was there anything he might not have cut yourself off from all your
have dared with ImpunityY"
(leople. You have no one but this man.
“ But I tell you I took Jennie Brice What would you do? Where would
von go?"
out of town ou Monday morning.''
“ I>ld you?" asked Holcombe sternly.
“ How old was the girl?"
But at thut. the schoolteacher, hav
’•Nineteen."
ing come home and found old Isaac*
“ 1 think." 1 said slowly, "that if I
sound asleep In her cozy corner, wet up were nineteen and In love with a man
such a screaming for the |>o!lce tbut and hiding I would hide us near him
our meeting broke up. Nor would Mr, as |K>ssible. I’d be likely to get a win
dow that could see his going out und
Holcomlie explain any further.
coming In—a place so near that he
could come often to see me.’’
CHAPTER XIV.
"B ravo!" he exclaimed "O f course,
r w l R . HOLCOMB'S was up very with your present wisdom aud expe
I IV 1 J early the next morning. 1 rience. you would <fto nothing so fool
M M
heard him moving around ish. But this girl was in her teens.
V a S u f at 6 o’Hock, and at 6 be bang Hhe was not very far away, for he
ed at my door aud demanded to kuow probably saw her that Hnudny after
at what time the neighborhood rose. noon. when he was out for two hours.
He hud beeu up for an hour and there And us the going was slow that day
were u o signs of life. He w h h more aud he had much to tell and explain I
cheerful after he had a cup o f coffee, figure she wus not fur off. probably lu
commented on Lida's beauty and said this very neighborhood."
I The Case of !
Jennie Brice i
I
T
••
During the remainder of thut morn-
lug I saw Mr Holcombe at intervals
going from house to .house. Finally
he came hack, hushed and excited.
“ I found Vie house." he said, wiping
his glasses. “ She was there, all right,
not so close us we had thought, but
as Hose us she could get.
“ Aud cun you trace her?" I asked
Ills fa« e changed and saddened.
"Poor child!" he said. “ She Is dead.
Mrs. Pitman!"
"N ot she—ut Sewickley!"
•’No," he said patiently. "That was
Jennie Brice."
“ But—Mr. Howell’’—
“ Mr. Howell is u young ass." be said
with Irritation. “ He did not take Jen
nie Brice out of the city that morning.
He took Alice Murray in Jennie Brice's
clothing, and veiled."
Well, that is five years ago. Five
times since then the Allegheny river,
from being a mild and inoffensive
stream, currying a few l»oats and a
great deal of sewage, bus Decowe a
raging destroyer and has filled our
hearts with fear and our cellars with
mud
A few days ago. as 1 said at the be
ginning. we found Peter’s ls»dy float
ing in the cellar, and as soou as the
yard was dry I buried him
He bad
grown fat aud lazy, but 1 shall miss
him.
Yesterday a riverman fell off a barge
along the water front and was drown
ed. They drugged the river for his
body, but they did not find him. But
they found something an onyx clock,
with the tattered remnant of a muslin
pillowslip wrapped around It. It only
bore «nit the story us we had knowu it
for five years.
The Murray girl had lived loug
enough to make a statement to the |>o-
llce. although Mr. Holcombe ouly
learned this later. Ou the statement
being showu to l*adley lu the Jail aud
his learning o f the girl’s death, he col
lapsed. He confessed liefore he wus
hanged, and Ills confession, briefly,
was like this;
He hml met the Mur ay girl lu con
nection with the typing of his play,
und had fallen lu love with her He
had never cured for his wife, and
would have been glad to gel rid of her
in any way possible. He had not In
tended to kill her. however
He had
planned to elo|»e with the Murray girl,
and. awaiting an opportunity, had per
suaded her to leave home uud to take
a room near my house.
Here he had visited her dally, while
his wife was at the theater.
They hud planned to go t«» New York
together on Monday. MarHi. .Y On
Sunday, the 4th. however. Mr Bronson
aud Mr Howell had made their curi
ous proposition.
When he accepted,
Philip luidley maintained that be
me.fnt only to carry out the plan as
suggested.
But the temptation was
too strong for him. That night, while
his wife slept, he laid strangled her.
1 Itelicve he was frantic with fear,
ufter he had done It. Then It occurred
to him that If lie made the Iwsly un-
yeoognlzuble he would lie safe enough.
On that quiet Sunday night, when Mr.
Iteynolds reported all peaceful lu the
Ladley room lie had cut off the |s»or
wretch's head and had tied it up In u
pillowslip weighted with my onyx
dock! i
It Is a curious fact about the case
that the near which his wife Incurred
to enable her to marry him was the
means of his undoing. He insisted,
and 1 believe he wus telling the truth,
that he did not know o f the scar—
that Is. his wife bad never told him of
It and had been able to conceal It. He
thought she had probably used paraffin
In some way.
In his final statement, written with
greut care and no little literary finish,
he told the story In detul^; of arrang
ing the clews ss Mr. Howell and Mr.
Hronsou had suggested; of going out In
the tame with the body, covered with
a fqr coat, lu the bottom of the skiff;
of /mowing It Into the current above
the Ninth street bridge, aud of seeing
the fur cout fall from the host aud car
Concluded in next issue.