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SYNOPSIS: A mysterious shot
kills attractive Jude fillnshop on
a wild, stormy niaht at farrington
Bluff, home of Michael's aunts. .
Everyone marooned on (his
island is suspect; Mifct, who
talked with J tide alone that
night; the Skipper, his tail and
- tweedy younger aunt; Aunt Mar'
tha, stout and prudish; Gay
Palmar, Mike's red-headed sweet
heart; Hlogins, the elderly butter;
William, the chauffeur; Cook;
, Annie, the maid even I who am
Mike's closest friend. Then ue
discover traces of an outeider,
perhaps a maniac, who mutt be
loose in the house. Tired, nervous
and tearful, we finally eat.
Chapter 31
We Dare Not Sleep!
"TTK3GINS," said M. rirriniton,
11 "you may tell Cook that we
ahall all remain downstairs until she
has finished cleaning up. Then I think
ws may as well retire. You may let
ua know as soon as you are ready,"
"Very good, madam," said HlKlns
and departed.
"Oh, Lord!" said Gay sleepily.
"What time la It?"
Michael (lanced at fall watch.
"Twenty minutes of three." Abruptly
a startling thought aroused me. None
of us happened to be a murderer, but
one of our number had been killed
hardly more than 24 houra ago, and
we had every reason to believe that
a crafty and homicidal maniac lurked
somewhere In the house even yet.
"Look here," I said sharply, "we
can't fall asleepl It's dangerous!'
They blinked at me. He had had
very little sleep the night before and
the past 24 hours had been cruelly
exhausting. Nothing but action and
considerable will power would keep
us going for the few hours until day
light. "Jlmmle's right," aald the Skipper;
but her voice was very thick and her
eyes were bleary, I poured more
coffee.
Tell you what," 1 said. 'The back
stairs are well blocked off. All the
servants are probably In the kitchen.
We are aura of this room and the
library. He can't get anywhere up
stairs except in the halls. Well, half
of us can cover the lower hall while
the other half goes through the living
room, game room and conservatory.
Then, it he Isn't In any of those, we
can all go up the front stairs. The
servants can go up the back stairs,
and we'll have him."
They were still blinking at me. I
eould see that I was talking to empty
apace. My own voice alternately re
ceded from me and bounced back
In waves. I dashed my hand on the
table.
"We can't sleep! Don't you realize
that Jude Is dead that we'll all be
dead If we sleep?"
Michael ataggered to his feet
"You're right, I auppose," he mum
bled, "but can't eeem to feel much."
I played my last trump. Dousing
my napkin in icewater, I alapped him
of the back of his neck. It worked.
His eyes flew open In a flash. With
the aid of more Icewater and olentv
of coffee, our party roused Itself, but
It was not a pleasant wakening. An
aimospnera oi tortured nerves shriek
ing for rest pervaded the room. I
don't think I ever felt leu like mov
ing. My brain was singing. "Jude
killer can't sleepl" but It attached
little or no significance to the words.
'On To The Kill'
WE left Mike and Gay at the end
of the hall, where they com
manded a clear view of the main
hall and of the email one leading to
the library. The library windows and
the hall door and windows were all
securely locked. Except for the usual
paraphernalia the hall closet was
empty. The Skipper, M. Farrington
and I explored the living room care
fully. The windows were still fas
tened. Nothing but the scent of roses
from the adjacent conservatory.
"Can't aleep can't sleepl" went the
refrain in my head.
We stepped Into the game room.
The billiard cuea still ley where Jude
and Michael had left them. The fire
had been dead for hours. Mechani
cally examining doors and windows,
1 was seeing Jude good Heavensl
only last night here In this room.
I could feel the pressure of her hand
on my arm see I let the bolt on
the door back Into place with a thud.
"On to the kill," aald the Skipper,
and winced, following the associa
tion of her own haphazard words.
Gay and Michael still waited in the
hall, half asleep. 1 stepped quickly
Into the servants' dining room through
the swinging door.
They were all alttlng around the
kitchen table and they turned rather
guiltily at the sound of my voice.
Unwashed dishes were scattered over
the room, and both rooms were fully
lighted, with the window shades
drawn.
What the devil had they been talk
ing about? I eould not have been eyed
more strangely it I had walked in
that door for my own funeral.
"We've searched all the other
rooms downstalra again," 1 said. "Our
visitor must have gone up through
the front hall. All the doors up there
are locked. You people go up the back
staira while we go up the front, and
we'll have him. Are ytu a good shot,
Hlgglns?"
The old man's face twitched. "I
don't know, sir. I've never fired the
revolver, sir."
"William?"
.He hesitated for a second. "Yes."
'Then you take the revolver. Shoot
Quickly and shoot low and for God'a
sake don't miss!" William took the
revolver reluctantly. I'll call when
we're ready," 1 said.
All of my party were waiting for
me at the foot of the stairs, Gay and
Michal awake at last, their eyes
bright with excitement. The Skipper
was talking to M. Farrington In a low
voice.
"All right," I said. "Now we'll end
this damned foolishness for good and
all. William haa the gun. Mike, you
and I will go flrit. The rest of you
stay well behind us, and don't leave
the stairs until It's over. Everybody
all right?"
The assents were a little hoarse.
"Here we go, William!" I bellowed,
and pelted up those steps as fast as
1 could go. Ridiculous how inter
minable that short climb seemedl M.
Farrington was pufAng behind me
and Mike was at my aide.
He panted, "Should have kept the
gun yourself!"
Can t shoot and neither can your
1 hissed Just aa the first view of the
hall came into sight. At the head of
the stairs we drew up with a Jerk.
Nothing! The hall was empty. Seven
closed doors stared us In the face,
and the key to each one of them lay
in my own pocket. We stood straining
our ears for sounds of a struggle In
the other corridor. Then the door of
the servants' quarters began to swing
siowiy towara us.
Locked Every Door
I HAVE never seen a door move so
slowly. Through it tintoed William.
revolver in hand, and behind him
came Hlgglns. Someone on the stairs
gssped and then there was silence. I
moved.
The doors." 1 said. 'Try them."
People were rushing ud from the
stairs, in from tha corridor. Fran
tically we were tugging on locked
doors, expecting them to open. None
of them did. I tried them all myself,
from one end of the hall to the other
and even out Into the smaller corri
dor. Locked, every one of them.
it was William who had one last
gleam of hope. "Your keys, sir." he
Jerked. "Have you got 'em ail?"
i arew the keys out and counted
them. Ten. I counted the bedrooms.
Six and four more In the servants'
nan. one by one I unlocked those
rooms and searched them. The light
still burned beside Jude Bllnshop's
bed, but aside from the still figure
unoer tne sneet mere was nothing
there. I relocked that door last and
went back Into the hall.
Its Impossible!" I said. "Someone
certainly struck me. It might have
oeen William, but I couldn't have
struck William, and and aomeone
did."
'The cellar." Gay said suddenly,
"Then mtit hj a iAlla"
There was, but It was inconceivable
that Jude's murderer waa down there
not unless he was a magician and
then some. Nevertheless, I rushed
down the narrow stairs again. At the
foot of them, a sudden Idea pulled me
up short. The cellar door at the Bluff
Is outside the house In the little en
tryway ott the kitchen where 1 picked
up Michael's handkerchief. I myself
had locked the door leading from that
entry into the kitchen, in one bound
I was at that door. It was locked and
the key was where 1 had left It on
the inside of the door. Turning the
key, I threw the door open on an
empty entryway. The cellar door was
bolted. 1 whirled back into the kitch
en, relocking the door.
"Skipper," I said, "think carefully.
Is there any other entrance from the
cellar Into the house?"
Her answer was prompt. "No. The
only other entrance to the cellar Ii
the outer one at the side of the house."
Michael spoke from behind Gay.
'Then our man Is still loose some
where In the house."
I nodded. No one else had anything
to offer. Over and over In the back
of my head I was mulling the chances
of William's having thrown himself
down the stairs as a blind to start us
hunting for a nonexistent marauder.
Possible, of course. Probable? From
the direction of the main hall, we
could hear muffled sounds of the serv
ants on the front stairs.
In the living room I sank uncom
fortably Into a deep chair and studied
a section of the rug pattern.
"The only trouble, Jim," ssld the
Skipper quietly, "Is that our friend Is
not In the cellar. The cat was all right
when Martha and I came downstairs.
He couldn t have been touched much
before Cook screamed. And no one
had time to mutilate that cat and make
his exit down the back stairs before
we got to the kitchen. No one went
out the front door unless he bolted
It after him on the itijlde.1"
"But skipper" I began, when a
warning look from her stopped me.
(Crrmtil. It'. lilKn Ttltt)
Oeiperata to keep awake, we try
to play bridge, tomorrow.
ON FARM PRICES
WASHINGTON, May 39. AP
Secretary Wallace and Chairman
Jonea (D.. Tex) clashed at a house
agriculture commute hearing today
en how much a farm price nabiitr.
tion pronram would coat.
The Trxan. questioning the ability
of X'.w trwiaury to Ilnence the pro
gram which Wallace urged. tMd the
ferret ary he eitlmated t03V000 000 to
1,250,000 000 would be needeo an
nually for "parity and eoil conser
vation pay menu if all farmer a com
piled. "I think, Mr. Chairman, that your
methematlra must be In error. Wal
lace replied.
A abort while later. Prealdent
Roosevelt expreaned nope at hta preaa
conference that Wallace ever nor
mal granuy plan, t pert of the price
atablllratlon program, would be ap
proved at thla aewlon of congrca.
The prealdent aald he did not Know
whether he would send a apectal
meaaage on the subject to the leg la
latora. Estimate offered by American Farm
Bureau federation offlclala who pro
poaed the trgtalntton to con preaa last
week, were a87,0OO.0OO to 700.000,
000 annually,
Wallace aald that If the program
would coat "any auch figure, aa you
suggeit, of courae. we would have to
chat lire our goal.
'But I think It would be well."' he
added, "to let the farmers know that
congreaa feela that parity la a hope
Iraa thing.'
"I don't think you should place
It on congreaa doorahtep alone If
the money la nM available.' Jonea re
tort d.
Tne object of the legukinion la to
aaure producers of baak farm com
modities prtcea that would give them
the aame purchasing power thay nad
during the 1910--34 period.
When market prices fell before
predetermined "parity" prices, the
treaaury would make payment bring
ing the farmers' total income up to
the parity total
Wallace told the comnuit e be ne
Iteved that If tlir parity ir ie
could not be reach intvugn the
STRANGE AS IT SEEMS By JOHN MX
Tot further proof address the author, Iscloelnc stamped envelope for reply. Re. U. 8. Pat Oft.
INDOOR. RIDING
By GLUYAS WILLIAMS
INSPIRE tH rtowesiCKMe
t WiSM TriM IN ONE INSTANT
couumi.Ytf of my
tRiufiL. &uT we fcRE
3,000 Mii.es WbtfrW
rTner ufwrf taut? LflNA Wf:f:KS
V HCPlK rR0K tPlCH
were WOKl?
mitten 1b his mower
TeLtSPhPH INVENTOR.
H rs lo-WR'OW fcoy IN LONWH
IM-
ICg often fotMsTrticKCR fw
fivSlte.? IN ZERO WtfVfrtER
bol
of 9imv&a rz,
CMOS Of 0Nf4U(riN
I
1 1 y n
met tWRtf
VIINN6R Op
0IWIC CHAMPIONSHIPS,
Wt C0tA?tftV IN b OWMPiC GhMte--
M0l)rtf5 VeiOClPEPE fOSO
1b friE KlfCHEN fO ASK
NO-fHER WHE-THER HE MAY
RIDE If IN -friE HOUSE
HAS-fRoUBtE 6E-ftltf6 OVER
UVIN6 ROOM "faRESHOtfJ.
BACKS UP lM ORDER fO 6EY
fUlL SPEED ON
Hrfs "Threshold ok hi6H,
effltS rilO UVIH6 room
BlK HOfJU&l AS INErJDED
MO0N"(S ASftlH AND CON
fltfUES ON HIS WAV, ONFOR
tONMELY SKIDDING ON A
rug m-ro -The bookshelves
S-Vt
SEEMS AtLASf 15 HAVE A
CLEAR TRACK fOR-THE KrfcHEH
Bltf HEAR5 MOTHER C0MIN6 VH
pah-Crv, wtfH dishes rwiIws
AteWS O-fASfRoPHE BY SWERV
ING INTO DOOR. IS IKCUKED
10 A6REE, WrfH MOTHER HA
HE HADBEffERNO-fRlDElN
-The house
S 'MATTER POP
By 0. M. PAYNE
Ituy Kwry
Id moat caaea a track man of 39 la
1 ready conaldered an old man In the
game. At 37. Ray Ewry was Juat get
ting under way! Aa a email boy. Ewry
T?aa far from showing any promlae as
a future Olympic great. An Invalid,
his life was several tlmea given up
by attending physicians but the same
heart that waa destined to drive him
to world championships later In life,
fought off the onslaught of death.
With his health Improving. Ewry
took up various forms of exerclae, be
coming a Jumper at Purdue univer
sity. At 37 he made the U. s. Olympic
team, went to Paris in 1000 and won
tne standing high Jump, the standing
broad Jump and tha hop. step and
MrNiatM EtrndauU. In.
Jump rnce. in the Olympics of 1904
he took first In the same events, in
1906 won the standing high Jump
and the standing broad Jump, and In
U08 repeated !n the latter two. He
wa 33 when he won his last Olympic
victory.
Bridge Odds
Don't worry too much about the
chances of your partner bidding a
grand slam In no trump when he's
dealt 13 cards of one suit. There a
rather slim chance of his ever getting
a hand with which to pull that pro
verbial "boner." for the odda against
It are 158.7A3.38fi.900 to one. according
o Dr. Aaron Bakat, noted statistician
of Columbia university.
The odds in favor of being dealt 13
cards of the same suit are a mere
3i3.123.0S7 to one. In spite of the
lrnsth of the Isst figure, it's only one
507th of the former.
Ice Formation
Ice forma fastest when Its upper
surface la coldest. In zero weather
there 1 usually sufficient wind to
blow away snow and fog which would
otherwise Insulate the top water of a
lake and thereby slow down its freez
ing. In subzero weather the steaming
of deep water remains unevaporated
and often forma an insulating blanket
of powdered snow or "foat anvke"
which would tend to Insulate the
surf-ace water from freezing quickly
or thlrkly.
bill, he thought farmers would went
re-establlshment of the old AAA with
its processing taxes.
Jonea suggested that the present
soil conservation program be retained
and the WallAce plan for an 'ever
normal" granary, with a system of
commodity loena, be eatabllahed In
stead of the parity program.
Use Mall Tribune want ads.
Official's Kin Hurt
BAKER. May 39. (AP) Graham
Balrd, son of County Judge and Mrs.
Charles E. Balrd, suffered a skull
fracture Thursday afternoon when an
elevator dropped from the third floor
to the basement of the Rand build
ing, which workmen are remodeling
for the ralk company.
Use Mall Tribune want ads.
Cafes Boost pay
PORTLAND. May 39. (APIThe
Restaurant Owners' association adopt
ed a proposal for a 10 percent wage
increa&e today effective on June 1. j
The resolution called for arbitration ,
on December 1 of an additional A
percent boost.
i
Closing time for Too Late to Claa -aily
Ada is 1 :30 p. m. I
S mice, im J
y I I ( ANMtf )TD r najIat t4a" jl
TAILSPIN TOMMY A Startling Resemblance
By HAL FORREST
Jar of-r- in
AM e-ASTE-RM
CITY, SrcRt-T
SE-RVlCf- AGCTTTS
HAVE" JUST SHOT
A MAM WHO
ATTC-MPTC-0 TO
tSCAPC- Mi OM
THC-M. LITTLC-DOE-S
TOM MY
KMOW, AS HE
LrAVtS 3-POINT,
THAT THE- DTH
Of-THIS MAM IS
TO SHAPE- HIS
IMMfDIATC- CAREER.
V
MCm-MMS F-XrfDT
PAPfBS OM 1 HIS PILOT'S
seJ
F . . Bl , -ss . MJiCT r
r SAY THAT BIRD'S P-ACt- 1E13 Y AMTHDnv -r- g j-
L LOOKS P-AMI LI AB L L A CErY , ,. Q r-Ja I
THIS f-LYE-B WAS A
DtAD-CIMGE-R f-OR A
PILOT F-RIE-MD OP- MIMF-.
AMD IT GlVtS Mt- A SWH.L
BEN WEBSTER'S CAREER Cup of Joy!
7?
By EDWIN ALOES
YJUV.VNWV. NWV. I CAWH 6ET
OVEB. n-Nlt hO A JOft AUD
I tHOUftWT THAT I VJA5 THROU&H-
twAt uoeoov
j j o v tti aw .i w i rn
MRi. meeius, m Qom to let
XOU ftREAK UUCLfc WAT WT0 TM&
VJOP-K-NC 60T60M6 OROEBS
pMAT &ARUEC., Mf PEEL TMEUTVlj
DECLARE. VOU LOOK. yy0UU6EP., METTV,
TtU Him V0UU6ER ! I AUO I'LL TELU VOU
VWHM HaPPEUED ? Ijii
C0UL.B OAUCt A J16, I'M 60 "
HAVPV, Htm.' COME OU.' JOIU Mt .
There's room iu the worlo for.
U5. OLD
THE NEBBS What Now?
By SOL HES8
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COm.E ikj HERE. TME DOC'S. 1
SVUINJ6S BOTH WAVS-MV
ADVICE TO SOU IS TO
PUT VOUR PROP1T3 INJ
1 AOMrr 1.
AnjV CiCH Un:E
VOU I SIVE
PEOPLE SOVIETHI.SJ
cop tmfiq rst icu
7 HAVE &JS PAPS TO TVE
HELLO MOkJEV FACe? 1 CAkrr T&nr vm i
OUT "rfJ5MI(54T V A -A I I ra.
MILUW&TDNO FROM THE BIG ESS HATCH ERyl
I HEY WAMTTO
COMSOLT WITH ME DOWT BE MAD
AT r-iE-,AMGEL f
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