HEPPNER GAZETTE TIMES, HEPPNER, OREGON, THURSDAY, JULY 11, 1929.
PAGE THREE
i
msm
BY i
IttUSTRATEP EV FRANK B.ERVKN,
13th Installment
WHAT HAPPENED BO PAX
The Sheridan Dramatic Club, of
which Tom Bllbeck, the narrator, Mary
ella, the girl he cares for, and Jim
Cooper, his rival, are members, start a
performance of Pygmalion and Galatea
at the Old Soldlerr Home, but are In
terrupted by a fire. During the re
hearsals Tom Bllbeck is accused by the
husband of one of the actors. Mr. Hem
ingway, of being in love with his wife.
Riding away from the scene of the
ill-fated play In their costumes and
overcoats, the group of players Is held
up by two escaped convicts, one of
whom is captured by Bllbeck after a
struggle.
The captured thief Is tied to a chair
at the Old Soldiers Home.
leave the home
Unable to
the car refuses to
budge, the players must stay there, and
Mr. Hemmiugway, hearing this over the
phone, says he is coming right to the
home as he Is suspicious of his wife
and Bllbeck, Meanwhile the Sheriff ar
rives. Hemmlngway arrives Just when Bll
beck Is asnlHting Mrs. Hemmlngway,
who bus fainted, and of course thinks
the worst. Meanwhile a disturbance Is
heard in the cellar, and all in the house
ruMh down to it.
The Sheriffs horse has broken loose.
Meanwhile Hemmlngway suspects Bll
beck more and more, and Jim Cooper
lixes in to tell Bilbeck he has arranged
that the Hemmlngways be divorced and
thut Bilbeck is to marry Mrs. Hem
miugway. To get back home, Hemmlngway must
travel by foot, and Bllbeck offers to go
with him. In violent disagreement,
they nevertheless start out together on
snowshoes and skis and soon Bllbeck
tumbles over Hemmlngway, the going
being difficult.
They lose their sense of direction.
They separate. Bilbeck finds himself
back lit the Old Soldiers' Home after
going in a circle, sees an intruder and
jumps in a window, to find himself in
Maryella's room. The sheriff comes in,
holding out a gun and saying he saw
someone come In and Bilbeck has to
come out from under the bed, where he
had been hiding.
NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY
In the room stood an army com
prising almost all of the male pop
ulation. The sheriff was taking no
chances of being outnumbered.
"You didn't know I was awake,
did you?" the sheriff exulted. "Well
I was. I heard you break in and I
followed you to this room and lock
ed you in." He peered nearsightedly
at my face. "Well I'm blessed, durn
me If I ain't. Ain't you one of the
men that started for town?"
"I am," I admitted.
"Tom Bilbeck," exclaimed Jim
Cooper, coming forward. "I'm glad
you came back. It's all for the best
I want you to be the first to con
gratulate me on my engagement to
Miss Waite."
My stunned mind refused to as
similate his statement In the midst
of a battle I suppose a soldier would
not pay much attention to the news
that his sweetheart had married
another man.
The mention of Maryella's name,
however, made me think with a
sinking sensation of the predica
ment I had unwillingly placed her
In. I looked around to see how she
was taking it.
She was nowhere in sight
At first I was puzzled. Then I
noticed the door across the room.
She must have gone In there. Prob
ably It was a closet.
I made no mention, however, of
my suspicion. Possibly the Incident
could be ended without her taking
part in it
"What were you doing here?" de
manded the sheriff. "There's some
thing peculiar about this."
"Yes, there Is," I admitted. "Come
down stairs to the main room where
It Is warmer and I'll explain what
happned.
My plan was obvious. By leading
the crowd off I would give Mary
ella an opportunity of getting out
The men started to go when we
were stopped at the door by the hur
ried arrival of Mr. Hemmlngway,
who forced his way past the others
into the room and stood a figure of
vengeance, shaking his flat under
my nose.
"I've caught you," he said, glaring
at me.
"Caught me?" I repeated wondcr
Ingly. "Yes! I thought there was some
thing funny about it when you ag
reed to separate from me out there.
I suspected that you wanted to
throw me off the track and come
back to my wife. You didn't de
ceive me. I came back and follow-
ed your tracks In the moonlight
And now I've caught you, you vi
per!" All at once his eyes fell upon the
dresser. There In plain view lay
the strand of pearls which Mary
ella had worn at Galatea.
"My wife's pearls!" he exclaimed
savagely. "So you came right to
her room! My God, I can't conceive
of such iniquity. Where is she now?
What have you done with her?"
I preserved a dignified silence.
What use to argue with a raving
maniac like that?
"Have you killed her?" he de
manded hoarsely. "Where is the
body?"
He ran around the room, looked
under the bed and In bureau draw
ers as if he expected to find mangl
ed portions of his spouse cut up into
convenient size and stored away.
At last he saw the other door and
approached It.
"Don't go In there," I warned.
"Why not? Ha! So that's where
you have her concealed?"
I barred his way but he ran at
me like an enraged bull and hurled
me aside, with insane violence.
He yanked the door open and
then fell back in open mouthed am
azement. Standing In the doorway blinking
at the sudden light was a man
whom I recognized after a moment
as Julius, the escaped convict!
No one was more surprised at the
turn of events than I was. To be
expecting to see a beautiful girl in
negligee emerge from a closet, and
instead to behold a tough-looking
man with three days' growth of
whiskers, is startling.
Where was Maryella? I did not
ask the question out loud.
Evening, gents," said Julius ge
nially.
What are you doing here .' tne
sheriff inquired.
'Why it was sort of cold outside,
explained Julius, "and I thought you
wouldn't mind my coming in to get
warm. Besides I thought it was
about time for Bill and me to be
moving, so I come to get him."
"Well, of all the cussed nerve !
the sheriff wondered.
"Then where Is my wife?" shout
ed Hemmingway. "What have you
done with the woman I love?"
"Oh, John, do you mean that?
From the rear of the crowd came
Mrs. Hemmlngways voice. bhe
struggled through the throng to
reach the side of her mate.
He held out his hands to her, but
paused suspiciously. "Where have
you been?"
"Safe in bed until all this racket
woke me up."
"Then this Isn't your room?"
"No."
"But your pearls were on the
dresser!"
"I leant them to Maryella for the
show."
The explanation seemed satisfac
tory. Without asking any further
questions he folded her in his arms
and they cooed over one another
with shameless disregard of the
audience.
While interest was centered on
the reunited Hemmlngway family
Julius the convict seized the oppor
tunity to edge near the door. No
one noticed his gradual progress,
and now. all at once he made a
quick dash for liberty.
The crowd started In pursuit
leaving the Hemmlngways to their
own devices.
Fortunately for Julius most of his
pursuers were at least twice his age,
and were further impeded by rheu
matism, canes and crutches. I might
possibly have caught him, but I
hadn't the heart I was in too low
spirits myself to wish to see any
other human being in trouble.
The rest followed him outdoors,
but I considered that I had done my
duty when I had gone as far as the
main floor. Something else was
worrying me. The problem of Mary
ella's disappearance was of a thous
andfold more interest to me than
the mere capture of the ex-convict.
Knowing that I was safe from In
terruption for a moment, I went up
stairs to Maryella's room once more.
It was empty. The Hemmlngways
had evidently retired to her room to
settle their differences as best they
could.
Maryella's room was certainly a
wreck. The dismantled bed gave a
very dejected air to the entire apart
ment. There was only one place she
could be. I walked directly to the
closet, the door of which stood open,
and penetrated its obscure depths.
There, hidden by old clothes, I
found her unconscious upon the
floor, huddled up in a disconsolate
heap.
No wonder she had fainted. To
step into a closet as a haven of re
fuge and unexpectedly to find It oc
cupied by another human being was
enough to shake the strongest
heart
I lifted her out. How beautiful
she was even in a faint! How clear
her skin and how soft the flesh
around her throat! I put her down
on the floor while I reconstructed
the bed.
After I had put her upon it I
hunted up Mrs. Lillielove, to whom
I briefly explained the facts in the
case, swearing her to secrecy. She
was immensely flattered at being
taken Into one of my amorous ad
ventures, and agreed to help.
Together we worked over Mary
ella until she showed signs of re
turning consciousness. Then, at
Mrs. Lillielove's suggestion, I left.
It would be better to reserve explan
ations until after Maryella had been
rested by a long sleep.
I was glad to let It go at that I
was unbelievably tired myself. The
long hike on skis and the nervous
strain of the last hour had worn me
out completely.
I hunted up the cot which had
been assigned me in the first place
and threw myself upon It, perfectly
content to let things stand in statu
quo until morning.
CHAPTER XIII
By Ice-Boat
The searching party had given up
the chase of Julius long before I
got up. It was a mighty tired bunch
of old men that assembled for
breakfast. They were going to eat
and then go to bed for an all-day
snooze.
As for me, I was tremendously re
freshed and ready to face anything
that came along.
While we were at breakfast the
sheriff, who had gone In to look at
his other prisoner, came back wide
eyed and trembling.
"Boys," he said, "I've got bad
news."
"What Is It?" we demanded.
"My prisoner is dead."
"Dead?" some one echoed.
"Yep. I didn't know he was ailing,
neither. I went In Just now to untie
the ropes that I used to hitch him
In bed with and he didn't move. I
put my hand on his head and It was
cold as ice. He Is a corpse, I tell
you. I want one of you fellows to
come and examine him for me."
The old soldiers showed little in
clination to move, even for so excit
ing an adventure, so It was up to
me. I accompanied the sheriff to
the room which he was using as a
temporary JalL The shades were
drawn, but on the cot I could see
the dim outline of a man's figure.
Just as the sheriff had done, I
first obeyed the Impulse to put my
hand on Bill's forehead.
It was cold and HfeleBS. I shud
dered a little at the presence of
death.
"Pull up the curtain," I suggested.
The sheriff fumbled with the
shade, which escaped from Tils nerv
ous fingers and went up to the top
with a bang. We both Jumped as
if we had been shot.
I drew back the coverB from the
inanimate form on the cot.
It was the papier-mache statue of
myself!
"Gosh! What is It?" stammered
the sheriff, who had not seen our
performance and doubtless thought
that Bill was a trifle pale.
I explained briefly.
"Then he has escaped, too," the
sheriff sighed.
"It looks like It," I said.
Indeed he had. Pinned to the wall
we found a penciled note. It ran:
Dear Sheriff: I am mighty glad to
have met you and should like to
stay longer, but I've got another
engagement Thanks very much for
your horse.
Yours affectionately,
BILL.
I am afraid I laughed. It was such
a foolish ending to our supposed
tragedy.
I went up-stairs to see how Mary
ella was getting along. I found her
awake, but still In bed. She claimed
she felt as well as ever.
I told her briefly what had hap
pened the night before and this
morning. It seemed as if she had
an explanation due hen Then she
told of her terror at finding the
strange man In the closet Of course,
his being there substantiated my
story to her the previous night when
I had said that I followed a man
to that room.
"I am glad he got away," said
Maryella kind-heartedly, "especially
as he didn't steal anything. The
only thing I had of value was Mrs.
Hemmingway's pearls." She looked
over toward the dresser where she
had put them the night before.
"Why, where are they?"
(Continued next week.)
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Prompt delivery, rates reasonable
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$10,000 cargo insurance.
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