Cloverdale courier., July 23, 1915, Image 1

VOL. 11.
4 *
CLOVERDALE
CLOVERDALE, TILLAMOOK COUNTY, OREGON, JULY 23 ,1915
Ry CLARISSA HACKIE
4
A severe th u n d e rsto rm w as raging
when th e telephone bell tin k led softly.
Dr. E dm onds' m an. Jo sla h . roused
him self from slum ber on th e office
sofa and reached apprehensively for
th e receiver
N
"I d ou’t like techin' telephones no
w ays when de lightning’s kyooting
a ro u n d .” m u ttered Jo siah .
“ Hello,
dar!" he called tim idly. “ Ya-us, suh.
dis am de d o ctor's—ya-as. sah. He'll
com e rig h t a w a y .”
Jo sia h hung u p th e receiver a n d w ent
u p \ o th e d o ctor's bedroom on th e sec
ond lloor. T he d o cto r cam e ou t—a tall,
lithe, red bearded m an, ru b b in g his
eyes sleepily.
“W h a t is it. Jo siah ?” he yaw ned,
‘Mr. Dixon got a n o th e r bad spell?"
Josiah's eyes rolled affrightedly.
“No. sah; it w as a call from d e Ged-
ney p lace."
“G edney place! You've m ade a m is­
tak e. I t ’s been unoccupied fo r y e a rs.”
“D a t’s w h a t he said. ‘T ell d e doctor
he’s needed a t once a t de G edney place
on d e H ollow ro ad .’ ”
"H um ph!" m u tte red the physician.
“ W ell, you Defter go o u t a n d h arness
D aisy an d get out my r a in c o a t”
I t w as a d re ary ride to th e G edney
place.
Josiah, huddled in one co rn er of the
huggy, w as sh ak in g w ith fe a r o f th e
approaching ordeal. D r. E dm onds w as
puzzling over th e stra n g e sum m ons.
To his know ledge th e G edney place
i had been unoccupied fo r th e p a st ten
years. As a fam ily th e G edneys had
died o u t nil save one son. th e black
sheep of his gen eratio n W illiam G ed­
ney w as serv in g a life sen ten c e in p ris­
on. convicted of killing u m an in a
quarrel. T he plea w as self defense,
a n d G edney had escaped w ith his life.
T h e village people had gossiped ever
since the last funeral a t th e place ten
y ea rs ago. It w as said th a t th e sp irit
o f the m urdered m an. Tom Collins,
h au n ted th e room s of th e flue old m an ­
sion on th e Hollow road. L ights had
flickered th e re a t m id n ig h t, an d m en
|
strag g lin g hom e betw een m id n ig h t a n d
I d aw n h ad declared th a t a m a n ’s dim
form restlessly paced th e pine grove
th a t w as gro w in g up around th e neg­
lected house. But little credence w as
given to such tales
“H ere w e am , d o cto r." qu av ered J o ­
siah. “I ’ll je s t git out an d open de
j g a te .”
T he long unused g a te creak ed open,
j
and th e doctor tu rn ed into it tru stin g
j
m ore to D nisy’s in stin c t th a n to a n y ­
th in g he could see. Jo sia h did not r e
i tu rn to th e buggy. H e tram p ed be-
side th e doctor, m u tte rin g c a a ri^ s u n ­
d e r his b reath .
T hey w ere in th e protection of the
front
porch
now
Dr
Edm onds
brought out his electric torch und
found th e doorbell. H e pulled it vig­
orously. an d a re so n an t peal rang
through th e house.
T here w as no an sw er.
Again and ngaln th e d o cto r ran g , and
a t la st he im p a tie n tly tu rn e d th e door-
t
N e s tu cca
V a lie y
Bank
C L O V E R D A b E . O R E ON
P ay bills by
check and
Avoid all Li=
ability of
Dispute.
Open an account with this Bank and k* ep your money in
your own locality.
NSSTUCCA VALLEY BANK
E. L. McCABE, Cashier
|
Several of our customers are people we'do not know by sight
though we have done business by mail with them for years.
We
believe we have given them satisfactory b a nk in g service and can
give you the same satisfaction.
Mai] us Your next Check or Checks
It saves you time, and T I M E IS MONEY, especially at this season
of the year.
No need to come to the bank in person.
SECURITY AND SERVICE our Motto
knob. To his am azem en t it responded
to ills pressure.
T he door w as unlocked!
T hey en tered com plete d ark n ess.
“H ello, there!" shouted th e doctor,
stan d in g nt th e foot o f th e g re a t s ta ir­
case th a t w ound up into d ark n ess.
“ A nybody here?"
In th e silence th a t follow ed th ey d is­
tinctly heard th e d is ta n t strik in g of th e
tow n clock In th e valley below
| It stru ck the h o u r of m id n ig h t, and
on th e heels of ttie la st stro k e there
cam e a sound In th e G edney house
I t w as a cry. a m oaning cry. th a t
sen t a sh u d d er th ro u g h th e doctor's
stro n g fram e.
Josiah alm ost san k to th e floor.
“ De ghos'!” he g ibbered..
Dr. E dm onds recovered his nerve,
poked Josiah In th e ribs w ith th e a u ­
to m atic pistol ho alw ay s ca rried nt
night an d brought th e d a rk y to his
senses.
“Som e one is u p sta irs," he said s te rn ­
ly. “Rome one w ho Is h u rt and needs
me. U nderstand! T ak e my bag and
follow m e. If you trv to ru n a w a y , re­
m em ber. I’m a d ead shot!”
Jo siah m utely fell Into step behind
th e doctor ns th ey m ounted th e s ta irs .
f f l H e w ould have been m ore terrified
th an ever If he had rem otely guessed
why th e doctor had handed him th e
m edicine case
It w as th a t both his
own h an d s m ight be free to g ra p p le
w ith an y d a n g e r th a t m enaced th em In
th e d ese rted bouse.
T he cry had com e dow n from th e
upper regions of th e house.
They
»enrehed th e second floor and found It
u n ten an te d sav e by sp id ers and scut-
flhig m ice. H ere, as In th e low er
room s, th e fu rn itu re w as covered w ith
dust.
Now th e m oaning cry w as repented
It cam e from th e th ird sto ry u n d er th e
m an sard roof.
T hey reached th e .n a rro w up p er hall,
w ent dow n Its carp eted length to the
so u th w est ch am ber.
T he door w as
a ja r. T he doctor pushed It open and
raked It with th e light o f his to rch .
T h e light revealed sev eral s ta rtlin g
fa cts.
T h ere w as n n arro w cot on th e c a r­
peted floor, a pine bureau litte re d w ith
bottles and dish es nnd c ru sts of b read .
•n d a b attered tin coffeepot stood otl
an oil stove. T h e re w ere heavy b la n ­
k ets b u n g before th e th ree w indow s,
i K
NO. 2
uad b esides oue or tw o rocking ch airs
th ere w as a pile of books from th e li­
b rary d o w n sta irs nnd a m an ’s b lack­
ened pipe ou th e deal table.
l i k e lig h tn in g the doctor’s keen eye
searched th e room niul th e n w en t back
to th e sp ace lu fro u t of th e cot. A
m an’s body lay th ere In e rt
“H old th is to rch ." com m anded th e
doctor, an d . bending dow n, he lifted
th e m a n ’s em aciated form to th e cot.
T he rag g ed co at fell back, rev ealin g a
glim pse of a broadly strip ed g a rm e n t
u n d ern eath .
I t did n o t need th is b etray in g glim pse
of th e convict strip e s for tho physician
to recognize In tho m an W illiam G ed­
ney!
T he room revealed th a t it had long
been the h ab itatio n of som e recluse.
W ho w as it? H a rd ly G edney. for be
w as still In prison.
T he doctor m ade a b rief ex am in atio n
and found th a t th e m an had been s ta b ­
bed In th e right shoulder. An ugly
wound, b u t not necessarily dan g ero u s.
Josiah, relieved a t tills p ractical lay ­
ing of th e G edney ghost, w aited upon
bis m aster w ith unusual Intelligence.
H t heated w ater on th e oil stove,
found n lam p and lighted it and held
I t to g eth er w ith ttie torch, w hile th e
doctor skillfully w ashed an d dressed
th e wound. W hen It w as bound and
a pillow placed u n d er th e in ju red
m an's back th e d o cto r ad m in iste red a
I stro n g stim u lan t and presently W il­
liam Gedney opened his wild, d ark
\
eyes nnd searched th e ph y sician ’s
countenance,
"Edm onds!" ho gasped. “Y’ou? How
did you come here?”
“ A telephone m essage,” said th e doc­
to r quickly. "A n d you. W illiam , you
have escaped?”
Gedney nodded w earily. “Sit dow n,
and I will tell you nil," he said.
Ills story w as b rief nnd to th e p o in t
H e declared t h a t he had been Innocent
o f th e crim e ch arg ed a g a in st him Al­
though th ere had Lo«n a fight a n d a
shot had been fired, he sw ore th a t he
had not he'd th e w eapon. Ills com ­
panions had s c a tte re d leaving him
w ith the body o f Tom C ollins—to lie
th e scapegoat.
;
C ircu m stan tial evidence w as a g a in st
him , and to sav e Ills client G edney’»
law yer bad pleaded self d efense; hence
(C o n tin u ed on last page!