The Hermiston herald., May 12, 1917, Image 6

TEE
SHEEP’S
CLOTHING
By LOUIS JOSEPH VANCE
“THE LONE WOLF,” "THE BRASS BOWL,'
HERMISTON
HERALD,
MRS. BEGGARSTAFF DISCOVERS THAT LUCY CARTERET
OWNS A BEAUTIFUL NECKLACE WHICH HAD
BEEN STOLEN FROM A VALUABLE COL­
LECTION SOME TIME BEFORE
OREGON.
HERMISTON,
NEW MAIL SORTING MACHINE ALMOST HUMAN
MISSIONARY'S FEARFUL EXPERI
ENICE IN OLD VAULT.
A beautiful, well-bred English-woman, nervous and suspicious,
finds when she boards the steamer Alsatia, bound from Liverpool
for New York, that her stateroom mate is Mrs. Amelia Beggarstaff,
a fascinating wealthy American widow of about sixty years. The girl
says her name is Lucy Carteret and that she is going to America to
meet her father, who has lived there many years. Something about
the girl’s manner makes the widow wonder what’s the trouble. She
is much surprised to find Lucy possesses a magnificent necklace which
the girl said her father had given her for Christmas.
Cowardice of His Two Zulu "Boys"
Nearly Led to Disaster—Wife
Helped Rescue Him In the
Nick of Time.
—
Yrl A
t
14
CHAPTER II—Continued.
The Dowager Dragon glanced fore
and aft ; but there were no other pas­
sengers within earshot, and the ports
behind them, though alight, were shut
and sound-tight. “Betty Merrilees,”
she said.
“You’re warm—as the children say
In hide-and-seek.”
“Aha !” the lady cried in triumph.
“Well, then ! Betty doesn’t mean to
try to beat the customs. She told me
so herself. The row that man Loeb
has kicked up about smuggling has
scared her so that she's made up her
mind to declare every blessed trinket.
So you see, Quoin, you’re simply wast-
Ing your time trailing Betty Merri-
“Bless my income !” exclaimed Mrs.
Beggarstaff indignantly. “No! Who
is he—or she?”
“I don’t know; that's why I asked
you—who know everybody. One ques­
tion more : What do you know about
your friend Mr. Craven?”
“Tad Craven?” exclaimed the Dowa­
ger Dragon in blank amazement.
"What's he been doing?"
“Nothing very desperate: only mak­
ing love to Mrs. Merrilees. Think
she'll marry him?”
"Couldn’t say. She’s a flighty crea­
ture, and Tad’s tremendously amusing.
What concern is it of yours?”
“None whatever. You haven’t told
me what you know about him.”
“Why—of course !—what the world
knows. He’s an entertaining little
man who came out of nowhere to cheer
us up about fifteen years ago. Never
was heard of before one fine morning
when we all woke up to find he be­
longed. No money, so far as I know—
or just enough to enable him to live
well without working too hard. Nowa­
days New York teems with Just this
type of unaccountable persons—de­
cent, diverting, well-bred, and three-
quarters idle. That’s all—except I
like the man."
“You never heard he was married?”
“He Isn’t !” Mrs. Beggarstaff ex­
claimed, dumfounded.
“I don’t say so. I only wonder. Of
course, If you never heard he was mar­
ried, you never suspected him of hav­
ing a daughter—you’re too pure-
minded.”
"Thank you for nothing. What are
you driving at?”
“And if he hasn’t a daughter, who
in thunderation is Lydia?”
“Quoin," said the Dowager Dragon
solemnly, “I warn you, if you keep me
on tente-hooks another Instant—"
"Here you are, then," the detective
interposed hastily; “but keep it to
yourself. Yesterday afternoon, when
I was killing time in the wireless
house, a message came in which I
read over the operator's shoulder as
he wrote it down. It was for Craven,
and ran something like this: 'Lydia
disappeared. What shall I do? Await­
ing advice before notifying police.’
Quoin smiled vaguely at his finger
tips. “No, I'm not,” he contradicted.
Mrs. Beggarstaff sniffed suspicious-
ly. “I've guessed wrong?”
“For once in a way. The truth is, I
don’t care whether Mrs. Merrilees de­
frauds the government or not. It’s
over a year since I left the secret
service. I don't like the work—too
tame—and having learned all It could
teach me. I quietly dropped out and
returned to my old field.”
“Private Investigation, eh?”
“There’s some fun In that,” Quoin
said with mild enthusiasm. “Odd
Jobs—I love 'em. They’re generally
so very odd—unexpected besides.”
“Quoin,” the lady inquired with a
change of tone, “you remember the
Joachim collection?”
"Do I remember It !” Quoin protest­
ed with reproachful sincerity. “I
wish I might hope ever to be repaid
for the sleep I lost on that case!”
"Yon never got a clue?”
"Never one. That was a masterly
job.”
"Has none of the stuff ever turned
up?”
“Oh, plenty of it, here and there—
mostly In Europe. In fact, I’m told
that Joachim has reassembled most
of the collection ; but It has cost him
five times his original outlay.”
"There are, of course, pieces still
missing?”
“Oh, naturally !”
"Well, then,” said the lady delib­
erately, “I don’t mind telling you that Signed, ‘Hicks-Lorrimer.’
there’s one piece I distinctly remem-
ber, on board this ship—a magnificent
■ardonyx cameo.”
« "Truly?”
"Would you care to see it? Then—
Mrs. Beggarstaff unclosed her left
hand. In its palm lay Miss Carteret's
brooch !
With . a wondering exclamation.
Quoin bent forward to examine the
cameo, while Mrs. Beggars ta IT regard­
ed with a triumphant smile his bent
head. It was something to have star­
tled the greatest living detective,
which was precisely the distinction the
keen-witted old woman accorded this
man.
"Take it to the light and have a
good look.”
"Thank you,” said Quoin, rising in-
stantly and moving forward, to the
lighted companionway, where he lin­
gered a long minute, intently Inspect­
ing the brooch with a small magnify­
ing glass.
“Unquestionably one of the missing
pieces," he declared flatly, returning,
"and, If I'm not mistaken, one of the
finest In the collection. How did you
come by It. please?”
“It's the property of the young per-
son who shares my cabin ; name, Lucy
Carteret. She’s an American, about
twenty, and has lived abroad all her
life. Now she's going to New York to
join her father, who—she says—gave
her this on her fifteenth birthday.”
“The question is, Who is Carteret
“I’m not psychic," Mrs. Beggarstaff
objected. “The woods are full of Car­
terets ; but I know none that this child
resembles In any way. Besides, she
has denied every relationship I’ve sug-
geste«! so far.”
“But we mustn't forget that, when
found, thia paternal Carteret will
probably prove to be a perfectly hon-
eat bourgeois who picked up the cameo
casually In some out-of-the-way shop,
at home or abroad. I’ve often thought
that the widespread distribution of
that loot might be taken as pretty good
evidence In support of something I've
always contended was a popular chi­
mera—the existence of a regular or­
ganisation of social freebooters. You're
going?” he added as Mrs. Beggarstaff
stirred and sat up, preparatory to ris-
lug.
| “The present owner of this bauble
Is asleep—and I want to replace It
before she wakes up.”
“One minute. If you don't mind. Per­
haps you can tell me something—”
I “On one condition,” the old lady stip­
ulated firmly. “You must let me in
on the ground floor. I'll not lift my
hand to help you In anything that'a a
(mystery to me."
1 “I don’t mind telling you In the least.
This Isn't a case— Just simple curiosity
on my part. Did you ever know any-
And after
Almost immediately the Hiss Was
Answered by Quick, Light
steps.
a while Craven’s reply was brought In
for transmission, ’Keep away from po­
lice. If girl doesn't return, wire me
New York Saturday.'
Addressed,
‘Hicks-Lorrimer, eleven King Charles'
court, London, West.’ Now who is
’Lydia' to Craven if not wife or daugh­
ter, that wireless messages must ad­
vise him of her disappearance? Not
his wife; for he refers to her In his
reply as the 'girl.' If his daughter,
he must be a widower.”
After a thoughtful moment the Dow­
ager Dragon exclaimed, “Quoin! This
Joachim brooch—has it struck you that
the cameo bears a resemblance to any­
one we know?
“Craven, of course ! Now you men­
tion It, a distinct resemblance.”
'This Miss Carteret says her father
gave It to her because of Its likeness
to him.”
“What did you say the name was. In
full?"
“Lucy Carteret. But when she told
me she tripped and stumbled over
something that sounded suspiciously
like 'Lid.' ’Lid' for Lydia, eh F
"Lucy Carteret—Lydia Craven," the
detective mused aloud.
“Help me up," the Dowager Dragon
demanded excitably. “I'm going down-
stairs this minute and have a goed
look round that cabin. If the girl isn't
awake. Quoin,” she added with ani­
mation, as the detective gave her his
hand, “If it turns out as we think—"
“Hope?” he suggested, smiling.
"For my part. hope. If It turns out
as we hope, this voyage is going to be
moat amusing. And I was afraid of
being bored !"
“Then." Quoin reminded her, "you
ought to be very grateful to me."
“I love you for It !' Mrs. Beggarstaff
declared ardently.
JUST MISSED DEATH
CHAPTER III.
Long after dark Miss Carteret wak­
ened. For some minutes she lay in
lazy content, unstirring, wide eyes
dreaming into obscurity. The state-
room was dusky with shadows; but
deck lights beyond the open window
I.
ports pointed wan squares upon the
P
white interior woodwork. The sweep
* 47m ... We
of clean sea air through the room was
•P
-2- * 22%
as sweet as fresh cool water to a
V 1."
I
».
parched throat. Feeling stronger and
serw ’
more herself for each delicious breath,
3
humbly the girl gave thanks; for it
seemed that, with the passing of the
“t y.
ene is
gale, the ghastly incubus of mal-de-
mer had been exorcised.
Presently, conscious of a pang of
hunger, she touched the repeating
g
spring on her bracelet watch—an ex­
quisitely small, jeweled extravagance,
8%
her father’s gift of the previous Christ­
mas—and bent an attentive ear to Its
This new mall-sorting machine which is being tried out by Uncle Sam
elfln chime. Eight o’clock. It was too Is wonderfully efficient and seems to be almost human. The machine Is 25
late to dress and dine in public. But feet long and has a system similar to the linotype. It saves a great deal of
as she lay In doubt, trying to decide labor, makes working conditions more ideal, and can be worked by a single
whether she was really as hungry as operator. He sits In front of it with a large stack of letters. He reads Col-
she felt, or would do better to deny umbus, O., on one envelope, Springfield on another and New York on an­
herself food until breakfast, she heard other. He presses the Columbus key and the envelope is whisked away, shot
a sound from the outer deck so singu­ here and there until a certain combination of metal parts releases it and
lar that in a twinkling it focused her it drops into the Columbus, O., box. The same course is followed with the
drowsy, errant wits.
other envelopes.
The sound was “Psst-pssst-psssst,”
a trisyllabic hiss of which each part
was longer and more emphatic than
Its predecessor. Unmistakably of hu­
man origin, though as odd and alarm­
ing as the warning of a serpent, It
brought the girl from her bed to her
Wide Range of Prices Shown by
feet with a start.
Inquiry in Alaska.
Her movement was a noiseless one.
The man who had sounded that strange
call she discovered stealing Immedi­
ately outside the window ; his back Uncle Sam’s Experts Prepare to High Transportation Charges In Some
Sections Are Responsible—Com­
was to IL so that she could see little
Make Survey of Air to
more than the concave line of his
mon Laborers Get Big Wages.
Aid Aviation.
dark, lean, shaved cheek, and the back
of a long, narrow head beneath a
There Is probably no region In which
steamer cap with vizor well down over
the actual cost of the necessities of life
his eyes.
varies so greatly as It does in Alaska,
Almost Immediately the hiss was an­
according to experts of Uncle Sam's
swered by quick, light footsteps, and
department of agriculture, who have
the voice of one as yet invisible, a
recently made a study of that country
voice of guarded accent but vibrant Work Made Necessary by Fact That In order to ascertain agricultural and
with Indignation, "What the devil do
other Information of interest to the
Soon Thousands of Airplanes Will
you mean by buzzing me like that?”
prospective settlers In that section of
Be Soaring Over the Ameri­
The girl trembled. Unless her senses
the United States.
can Continent
were untrustworthy, she knew that
It Is well-known that wages in that
voice better than her own. It seemed
country are high, but, on the other
Now that the airplane is practically hand, there are said to be places in
impossible that she could be mistaken.
It was again audible, the response perfected, and many people learning to the remote interior to which it costs a
of the man outside the window having fly, an effort Is being made by the na­ dollar a pound to transport provisions
escaped her, “You infatuate ass I Don’t tional advisory committee for aero­ from tidewater; consequently the con­
you know better than to take such nautics to promote the study of the at­ sumer must pay this freight rate in
mosphere over this continent and the addition to the actual value. It Is said,
chances?”
“Oh, it’s all right. He’s up on the adjacent waters, and have a set of ac­ however, that at other places in the
boat deck, chinnin’ with some skirt curate charts made for the benefit of coast towns, particularly those nearest
I made sure of that before I laid for aviators. This investigation is to be Puget sound cities, provisions can be
known as an aerological survey.
obtained at a comparatively small ad­
you. Trust me.”
Especially Is this problem vital as It vance on the prices in Seattle.
“Trust you to play the fool! Don’t
There are as yet but few laborers
you know every word you utter can be concerns the national preparedness
program. This fact is brought out by employed in agriculture In Alaska, It
overheard in those staterooms?”
Dr. Charles D. Walcott, secretary of
Instinctively the girl crouched in the the Smithsonian institution and chair­ is said. Few of the homesteaders have
money to hire labor, and, therefore,
shadow of her bedstead, In deadly ter­
ror lest she be detected at her involun­ man of the executive committee of the have to depend on their own efforts for
tary eavesdropping—so strong upon national advisory committee for aero­ the clearing of their land and the erec­
her sensitive perceptions the psycho­ nautics, who urges most strongly the tion of their buildings. Up to the pres­
establishment and maintenance of ent year it is said that the wages for
logical effect of this surreptitious pas­
aerological surveys over North Ameri­ common labor in Alaska have been
sage.
ca and the adjoining waters for the $7.50 a day for eight hours’ work. As
But her fears were quickly dissipat­ protection of the lives of our aviators,
ed. the interview terminating as ab­ the safety of aircraft and the further­ development progresses there will, of
course, be more and more demand for
ruptly as it had begun. ■
ance of their operation.
men to do the work. Officials who
“Good-night I” that well-remembered
made the study say, therefore, that any
voice continued incisively. "And for
Little Known of Air.
young, able-bodied man who Is willing
the last time I warn you: Don’t ap­ “At present,” states Doctor Walcott, to work at anything he can find to do
proach me again aboard this ship!”
“practically nothing Is known of the can find work somewhere In Alaska, so
“But—listen,” the other pleaded movements of the fluid In which short­ that he not only can make a living, but
and threatened in the one breath. ly thousands of aircraft representing if he is of a saving disposition he can
“We got to get a straight answer out millions of dollars In investment will lay something aside.
of you—”
be flouting and, what is far more im­
Alaska Is not a wheat country. The
“I've given it already—twice. For portant, they will be operated by thou­ experts found, however, that certain
the third time—no !” With this the sands of our finest specially trained varieties of spring wheat have been
last speaker strode briskly forward.
grown and can be matured In favorable
young men.”
Rising as silently as any shadow,
Aviation is recognised as one of the seasons in all of the interior valleys,
Miss Carteret again turned her face prime factors. If not the initial neces­ but wheat does not do Its best in these
to the port
sity, of preparedness. During the past far northern latitudes. The agricul­
The man who had hissed was still 12 months the national advisory com­ tural experiment stations are now en­
there, watching the other way.
mittee for aeronautics has been exer­ gaged In developing varieties of spring
She fancied something sullen and cising every means within Its power to wheat which will mature In a shorter
menacing in the lowering inclination advise and assist the aerial arms of period of time than those now grown
of his head, the stoop of his narrow the government, both for land and sea In the states or in Canada.
shoulders.
operation. This committee has been
Suddenly, with a mumbled word, able to assist in standardising air-
inarticulate with anger, he turned and plane construction to a certain extent,
Garrison Virgin Islands.
went swiftly aft.
has met with manufacturers of air­
planes and airplane motors in an effort
Two hundred and fifteen Unit­
to expedite the delivery of machines
Do you believe that Lucy Car-
ed States marines from Hayti
to the government and has been of
teret Ie telling the truth and
and Santo Domingo were landed
great assistance In the solution of many
that she Ie an honest high-claae
in the Virgin Islands, formerly
other problems.
girl; or do you think ehe Is one
the Danish West Indies, to form
of a band of shrewd crocket
Aerological Stations Planned.
the first United States garrison
The next Installment brings im­
In this newly acquired island
The committee believes that the time
portant developments.
possession.
has come when aerological stations
Having been stationed ashore
should be established and maintained,
guarding American legations
especially in conjunction with military
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
abroad and the naval stations in
training stations maintained now or In
our many island possessions for
the future for the Instruction of avia-
Few Individuals Honored.
years, the garrisoning of the Vir­
France delights In naming Its streets torn. The plans include, through the
gin islands is no new duty for
after some particular building, or some co-operation of the weather bureau, the
Uncle Sam's “soldiers of the
happening, or a great victory, and this establishment of additional aerological
Is also true to a certain extent is stations for observing, measuring and
Canada, where there Is only one capi- investigating atmospheric phenomena
tal city which commemorates an Indi- In the aid of aeronautics, not only at
Drift Ie Cityward.
vidual. Thia is Charlottetown, the the surface of the earth but at differ-
The drift of population In the Unit­
capital of Prince Edward Island. The ent elevations up to 10,000 feet or
Charlotta
remembered
the more, and the mapping of the same, ed States Is still strongly to the cities.
daughter and only child of George IV, The functions of this system would Census bureau reports show that 40.9
who died only a year after her mar serve aviation much as the hydrograph­ per cent of the country's inhabitants
riage In 1817.— Philadelphia North ic office of the coast and geodetic sur- live In placee of more than 8,000 resi-
American,
e r
--.i‘
1*.
, , J
I
1
PLAN TO CHART LIVING COST VARIES
THE ATMOSPHERE
FOR PROTECTION OF FLIERS
“A missionary has to be a Jack-of-
all-trades,” remarked Rev. Yandel
Collins, who was home on a furlough
after twenty years In South Africa.
“There was an underground room,
about eight feet deep by eight square,
walled with brick and plastered with
tarred cement, beneath the children's
bedroom in our mission house at Mu-
pola ; it was for storing corn, or mealie,
as they call it in Natal. I didn’t like
to use it because it was so Camp, and
for a year I had been using galvanized
iron tanks that I riveted and soldered
myself. I had almost forgotten the
existence of the old corn cellar when,
toward the close of the next rainy sea­
son, we noticed a strange, sickening
odor pervading the house. When I
removed the square wooden lid over
one end of the old vault, the stench
was enough to knock you down. A
few quarts of molded menile had
been left on the cellar floor ; rats had
enlarged a crack in one corner In or­
der to get at this provender, and the
heavy rains had seeped through the
rat hole and left about six inches of
water, wherein some of the rats had
drowned themselves. You can im­
agine what the smell was like.
“I ordered Malusi and Mutyanl, two
gigantic Zulus, to clean out that
vault ; but they refused, unless I
would go down first. They firmly be­
lieved that a demon dwelt In that
black hole!
“So I got the two boys to stand over
the trapdoor while I prepared to de­
scend the short ladder that leaned
against the wall a foot from the open­
ing. I lowered a pall on the end of
a stout rope, which I made Malusi
take hold of, and then, with a lighted
candle in one hand and a shovel in
the other, I swung down on my elbows
until my feet found the ladder. I
tested It, found It apparently firm,
took another step downward ; and then
with one last, long breath I let go my
hold on the floor and trusted my whole
weight to the ladder.
“The ladder was as rotten as every­
thing else In that pit. I had not taken
more than one step when It gave way
with a soft, bending squash ; my can­
dle flickered out, and I sat down with
a mighty splash in six Inches of muck !
“I felt sick all over, and when I
tried to rise I could hardly stagger to
my knees. I touched the rope tied to
the pall, and grasped It firmly.
“ 'Pull on the rope !' I cried, and I
gave the cord an anxious Jerk. ‘Malusi,
Mutyanl, pull I’ The whole length of
rope slipped and splashed down beside
me. The two boys had run off in a
panic.
“ ‘Mary, get some help quick ! I am
being poisoned !' I cried to my wife ;
but I got no answer.
“My temples throbbed as if they
would burst, my ears roared, strange
lights danced before my eyes and a
powerful hand seemed to be constrict­
ing my throat and chest so that I
could not breathe. I was being poi­
soned by the noxious gases. With a
tremendous effort I dragged myself to
my feet; Just then I heard my wife’s
voice above me. ‘Can't you get out Y
she called.
“The absurdity of the question had
a stimulating effect upon me.
'“No, of course not!’ I roared an­
grily. The ladder Is broken.’ I felt
my knees giving away, and I ended
with a cry like that of a sick child,
'Help !’
“‘Don’t get mad,’ she soothed. T
have been after those boys. Here's
Malusi. Where’s the rope? She had
persuaded that big Zulu baby to re­
turn. He was as strong as an ox. but
I had dropped the rope when I had
struggled to my feet ‘It’s here at my
feet but I don’t dare to go after it
Sewer gas ;’ I called.
“ 'What !’ my wife gasped ; then she
called out cheerfully, ‘Well, never
mind ; keep up your courage ! I’ll
fetch another rope!’
“ ‘I—I’m afraid I can't last much
longer,’ I faltered.
“My wife answered promptly, •Here,
then. Malusi will reach down his hand.
Malusi, reach down your hand! Grab
hold!’
"As she spoke I felt the hand of the
nativa touch my hair. I clutched it
convulsively, and then I went limp all
over; but I felt him get his other
hand In the collar of my shirt When
I came to, I was lying outdoors on the
crass, end the world never seemed so
bright and fair as it did then. You
see, as soon as Malusi bad got his
enormous paws on me I was safe; but
It's a mystery to me how he ever
dragged me out of that hole, strong
as he Is. My wife ware she helped,
too, which, of c-urse, espíalas every-
thing !
"That afternoon. with a new ladder
and pl-ty of ropes, the Sulus cleaned
out the rat!, and the not day I went
dowa mysei a..d cemeit-d the rat-
hole, aad »piashed a bit of god. clean,
hot tar roan J, and the job was done."
— Youth’s Campai eon.
What He Wanted.
“Hello, uncle.” exclaimed the city
nephew, as he warmly grasped the old
mon’s band, “glad to see you looking
so well. How is dear aunt sod «.harm-
"Here, boy," interrupted the old man
as be polled out his pocketbook, “how
4