PAGE ETC ITT
urEDFOTtp matl TRfBrrsrE, mepfok n, Oregon. Tuesday, September 6, 1938.
X SALTMARSH
The Characters
But o Sum, handtomt author,
living on the French Riviera.
Archie Lamsden, myttlt, Hu
go'! friend.
Rent Geiss, singularly un
pleasant cartoonist.
reeterdsyi the American de
tective, O'Oonnell, it found mur
dered outside the casino
Chapter Six
The Street Of the Dragon
TPHE black Hispano swung out
on the sea-front The lights of
Cannes were blacked out; only
round the curve of the Crolsette
an occasional window glowed.
There's one thing I want to do
before wc turn 'n. Arohiel" Hugo
swung round on me and 1 reached
out hurriedly to steady the steer
ing-wheel. "Just now you were all
worked up about that poor little
devil's death, ana 1 told you, in
effect, not to worry about things
that didn't concern you, but now
a friend of mine has been bumped
off and I'm seeing carmine. I'm so
angry I'm sfraid of myself of
what I may do or say, and yet,
come what may, I've got to see
Geiss tonight"
"Geiss?" I echoed, startled and
slightly disturbed.
"Geiss." said he. "You can tell
me I'm mad and I'll agree with
ou, but III swear to It that ueiss
mows .lore 01 tnat dins aeam
than the local Dolice will ever dis
cover. She was scared of him; he
was keeping a watchful eye on
her, and it's ten to one that she
had something on him something
he didn t want to come out.
"I'm with you so far," 1 said.
-cut now aoes u uonnen come in
to it?"
He was silent for a moment "In
this way," he said at last ' He was
a private detective, and tnat was
why I was guarded in my remarks
about him to our fat friend. He
mav have been here on a lob. and
who am I to spoil his game? That
girl was an American, too, or I'll
cat my hat and poor Pat if our
eyes don't deceive us, was shot
down in pursuit of her murderer.
I've a feeling it was to see her that
Ae went to Palm Beach tonight.
"You mean," I answered slowly,
"that she had been up to some
thing in the States something
cad enougn to put ner outside in
ternational law?"
"I mean," he retorted, "that a
snrl like that has the devil of
lot of opportunities. Who were
those men she was running wimr
What's .heir 1ob? We've eot to find
out As like as not I'm talking
moonshine, he finished wearily,
"but there 11 be no rest for me to-
niRht until I've toK Mr. Geiss the
news and observed his reactions."
"Personally," said I, "I'd as
soon expect a reaction from a boa
constrictor when you offered it a
taupoie. dui mere s no narm in
trying."
"Here we are." Hugo pulled to
the euro Deslde a tall, iron-studded
(ate. "The rue du Dragon. 57."
He climbed from the driving
teat and pulled at an ancient h-ll-pull
hanging beside the gate.
There was no answering tinkle, so
that I judged the bell must rl- g
well inside the house, but a mo
ment later a small peep-hole in
the gate slid back; what looked
like a human eye surveyed us
through it and next instant the
door opened, revealing a dark,
sleek-looking manservant eyeing
us inquisitively.
"Monsieur Geiss?" said Hugo.
Tell him Monsieur Stern wishes
to speak to him."
"I will tell him," said the man
with a bow, and disappeared up a
long tiled path, roofed with glass.
A Most Distinguished Goat
THERE was an interval of per
haps five minutes, and then
down the pathway came Geiss
himself, with a yellow-haired girl
hanging on his arm. He was an
even more exotic figure than he
had been in the morning, for a
Malay sarong, in a gorgeous gold
and violet brocade, was wrapped
about his thin middle, falling to
his ankles, while above It he wore
a soft silk shirt Byronically open
at the throat, and a purple velvet
smoking-Jacket And yet, in spite
of it all he contrived to look dis
tinguished. He might be like a
goat but it was, one felt a goat
of the most distinguished lineage.
"My dear friends," he said,
"how 1 depore that I cannot ask
you into my poor abode, but I am,
as I told you, entertaining a few
friends."
"Geiss," Hugo said, and 1 was
startled to hear how harsh his
voice sounded, "I called to tell you
something that may perhaps"
he hesitated on the word "In
terest you. We went to Palm
Beach tonight"
He paused for a moment, and in
that pause I could have sworn
that I heard the other catch his
breath. "You were there after
all?" he said. "Our young friend
here was eager to see his Eve
and I am very sure she was happy
to see him?"
"No," said Hugo quietly. "She
had no time to be glad or sorry
I don't think she had even time to
Sea us. She was shot dead during
the fashion show."
The cartoonist drew in hit
breath with a shocked sound.
"Is It possible?" he cried. "That
poor child what tragedy! What a
despicable crimel I trust they have
caught the miscreant who did It?"
"As to that" Hugo answered
slowly, "1 can't say. A man's body
was discovered in the shrubbery
outside, just as we were leaving,
but the police don't know yt'. if his
death was connected with the first
crime."
The other looked at him, raising
his eyebrows. "The police!" said
he with a delicate irony. "What a
hopel What do they ever discover
but the clues that the criminal
leaves for them to find! I fear very
much that the death of our poor
little Eve will be added to the long
list of unsolved tragedies What
a subject for the pencil of a genius
poor victim of an unknown
slayer!"
At that my gorge rose. There
was something so repulsive in his
gloating interest that I could keep
silence no longer.
"He won't remain unknown If
1 can help it. I'll find you a better
subject than a dying girl, Mon
sieur Geiss: a murderer, waiting
for the knife to drop!"
He turned slowly towards me,
and for the second time that day.
I had the impression that I had
sharply aroused his interest
"So?" he said gently, "you feel
It so deeply, then? But 1 forgot
you were already acquainted with
the little Eve." For an instant he
stared at me, with his pebble-like,
expressionless eyes; then he laid a
hand on my arm. "Believe me, my
young friend, it is best to forget
her. There are other women In the
world."
"If saw a dumb beast mal
treated, I'd go gunning for the
man who did it and that's the way
I feel about this business," I told
him.
"A noble sentiment" said he
softly, "but one that may lead you
into strange paths, my young
friend."
"Ttie stranger the better," I re
torted, but at this point Hugo
broke in.
"There's another thing, Geiss,"
he said quietly, "that struc, me as
curious in view of your remarks
this morning. Did you know that
Eve was not a blonde? Her hair
was dyed."
The Dark Girl Death'
AS FAR as 1 could see, the car
toonist never moved a muscle:
but suddenly the yellow haired
girl, who had been leaning, half
asleep, against his shoulder, leaped
away, clutching at her arm.
I looked at her in amazement
and saw that on the white skin
above the elbow showed four an
gry red fingerprints.
I'm sorry if I startled you," said
Hugo mildly, but his eye was hard.
The other gave his shrill, mirth
less cackle. You think, because
I give Fin a little pinch, that you
have frightened me? On thn con
trary. You must not imagine, be
cause I said some foolish things
this morning, that I am supersti
tious. I talked -nly to amuse you.
Dark girls or fair what differ
ence. And besides," he added
thoughtfully, "the girl is dead."
"I wouldn't bank on that," I an
swered gravely. The dead can
stretch out a devilish long arm."
He frowned. "I think, , he re
torted acidly, "that you try to
frighten me, and I do not And 11
funny." But at that Hugo spoke.
"My friend wasn't joking,
Geiss," he said, and added, softly
and under his breath, "we must
nil keep the old tryst with the Dark
Girl, Death."
The cartoonist turned on him
like a tiger unchained. A moment
k fltap-J. than ii.itV. a ,,ifl oln
id Kiaicu, inch, niui a aw.,, a.c
backward, he had slammed the
gate in our faces.
We were both of us fairly silent
for the rest of the drive home. The
general feeling was, I think, that
we had hardly shone as private
detectives, for, as Hugo remarked,
all we had succeeded in discover
ing was that Geiss actually had
been, as he said, throwing a party
at his house, and had, therefore,
presumably, an unimpeachable
alibi for that evening.
Ada was waitinff uo. and as we
disposed of a last night-cap, Hugo
told her briefly and grimly what
had happened.
She listened to him in silence.
her plump, happy face growing
paler, the corners of her mouth
drooping, and when he had fin
ished, she turned scared eyes from
one to the other of us.
"That poor lovely little thing!"
she said. "And the man, Hugo
your friend! Oh, what's at the
back of it all? I feel as if we were
at the beginning of something ter
rible; I feel as if the dreadful
things that have happened were
nothing to wha, are yet to come!"
"Ada," said Hugo solemnly, "the
cocktails that we have been drink
ing have undoubtedly gone to your
head."
"I don't care," she Insisted ob
stinately. "Geiss Is at the back of
it all, and one of these days he'll
be hanged."
After that there seemed nothing
more to be said, and I was glad
enough to follow Hugo's advice
and turn in.
For the first couple of hours I
tossed restlessly, and when at
length 1 dropped off, 1 fel. right
away into a sea of unquie. dreams,
through which a voice as Insistent
as a midge's hum kept whispering.
They were names that It breathed:
Eve the mannequinn, O'Oonnell
the detective, Geiss the cartoonist
Venner the banker, Vladlmii Ra
kovsky, Baron Stahl. Names,
names, rising and falling In an
uneasy cadence names that I had
never heard of twelve hours back,
but that I knew were linked bv a
devilish chain that I must some
how untanr'e.
Copyright JSJJ, if a Baltmarth)
Monday: 1 arqnlre an assistant
Sprague Sees Turn
Against New Deal
PORTLAND, Sept, 6. (API Disap
pointment over firm prtwa and ap
position to the administration's ag
ricultural program has turned mant
eastern Oregon Democrats ".gainst the
new deal. Cberlee A. fipragne RepuD
llcaa nominee for governor, laid upon
hie return from a state tour.
New Torn etatee aour cherry Top
Is estimated at li per cent lr than
last year'e crop. The apple crop,
compared with 1037, I expected to
be it per cent leee.
Weather
Northern California: Pair tonight
and Wednesday, slightly warmer In
Interior Vdnlay; moderate to
fresh northerly wind off the roast
Oregon: Flair tonight and Wednes
day, but cloudy northwest peril ut.
somewhat warmer In east and Inter
ior of southwest portion Wednesday,
gentle changeable wind off the coast
becoming northwesterly.
A special phonograph record, which
It la claimed will enable student of
foreign languages to tudy simultan
eously by eye and ear, baa been In
rented in Japan.
STRANGE AS IT SEEMS By JOHN HIX
Tot farther proof address the author, Inclosing a stamped envelope for reply. Reg. TJ. 8. Pat Off.
American astronomer.
UeF-T h FUND IN HIS WILU
f? MAINTAIN A MATCH
OVER 29 MINOR PLANETS
HE HAD DISCOVERED
THAT7HEY MIGHT NEVER BE
LOST AGAIN. 3?0
op b HiarivJWV AT VIRGINIA 3EACH, Wr&nit.
Wfe BROUGHT f RofA PETERS BURG.
tOO MILES INLANP
-Trie pooDttBUG--.
pt6S ft PlT&Y USING (fc
ASPOMEN MbSHOVEt
AND ToSSlNGTrtf OIRT
OUT WlTrt IT'S HEbP
In t-
e5i3 Ik"" SyndlrtU.
Leg Rowing.
Nowhere else In tho world will be
found the odd custom of lag rowing
at practiced by Burrreae natives of
Lakelnle. Standing rect, they pro
pel their long, narrow craft along the
lake with powerful kicks of the ltg.
On special occasions, huge teak
wood dugouts, resembling exagger
ated racing shells, are raced a gains',
each other with crewa numbering as
high as 46 men.
The trick of mastering this style
of rowing seems to belong solely to
the Lake Inle boatsmen, who take-
IEQ Rowers ofzijrma
RoWTHElR BOATS standing up
using THEIR LlGS.FoR
PROPULSION
advantage of the fact that the leg
musclea are among the strongest of
the body.
Planet Watch.
One of the strongest wills ever filed
was that of James Cra!g Watson, Am
j erlcan astronomer, who left a fund
of money to maintain a close watch
over 29 minor planet he had dlscov
I ered so that they mlht never again
be lost.
Formerly a University of Michlnan
' professor, Watson received the Lan-
dale medal for the discovery of six
'asteroids In a single year 1870.
Doodlebug; Digger.
Doodlebugs also known as ant
lions dig a pit about two Inches
deep and three Inches wide to tiap
unwary Insects. For a shovel it uses
i Its abdomen; It tosses the dirt from
i the pit with Its head.
The doolebug lies In wait at the
i bottom and when another Insect slips
lover the rim, It digs fast and furl
j ously so that the sides of the pit
! fall In, carrying the victim with it.
SHOE REMOVER
By GlUYAS WILLIAMS
'
SEtffodHAK6JHISWE'f
SHOES, JUNIOR REP0R1S
THAT HE CAtff
6Ef YrtEM OFF
RrfHER MOVERS NONSENSE, HE'U.
6E1 1MEM OFF FAST ErJ0U6H , ArJP
DISAOVER6 TriEV AHE 1iEt 1M
HARD KHCrft
frfARfS lb WORK OrJ XH013 ,
BEIW6 A lliHE HAMPERED
OUMIOR'S SfROKlHe H 15 HEAD
A5K1N6 WHftf MAKES KSO
SMOOtrt ?
WORK COMES To STANDSTILL
AS JUNIOR BE&IHSI'O fWlSY
AND WRlfefelE IVj CriAIR,"TRV
IH6 Yo SEE OUf OF WINDOW
61VE6 UP ON KN01S AMD "fRjR
YO PULl SHOES OFF, SUCCEEDING
OWLV Iri DRA661N6 JUNIOR OFF
OiPJR
t CopyrigM, 1938, by The Bell Syndicate, Inc.)
YEILS JUNIOR YO 60 SEY HIS
MoYriER YO YAKE HIS SHOES
OFF, AND BUSIES HIMSELF iM
WIPING rtUD OrT HIS SUIT
9-3
S MATTER POF
Bv C M PAYNE
Tomorrow Econnm)
Du m.
of Boulder
Opium Ship Sails.
PORTLAND. Ore., Sept. B. (AP)
Leaving a bond of $53,000 posted with
customs agents, the Philippine
freighter Don Jose called yesterday
for Seattle. Customs agents seized
$73,496 worth of smoking opium from
the vessel and arrested three Filipino
crew members last week.
Cardinal Dies.
ROME. Sept. 6.- (API Camlllo
Cardinal Laurentl, prefect of the sac
red congregation of rites, died today
of a heart attack. He was 76.
Clam DlRger .Missing.
TILLAMOOK, Sept, 6. (AP) Bar
view coast guardsmen searched today
for Charles Fryar, 52. of SUverton.
who has been unreported since early
Sunday when he left for a Tillamook
bay clam digging trip.
Second Crop.
SHAM OK I N ON, Pa.. Sept. 6 (AP)
John H. Rhoada Is reaping a double
harvest from an apple tree In his or
chard. The treo olo&somed a second
time, he said, Just as a first crop was
ripening. He expect to gather the
second crop by late fall.
Average Income 1
PORTLAND, Sept. 6. (AP) A re
port by the national resources com
mittee established the average In
come of Oregon families at $1775 ;
compared with the national average )
of $1663 for the 1035-36 period. i
eW-D-P.ice.'lIp-" ifK , -SS
( -v-'N, I or T? U E.1. S I & j& C Aw-Vhlow, y
r - V. TUT3IN6 J I J
f ' 1 liLMTrloU6rlT l
n ml. fjRs9m,j
TAILSPIN TOMMY The Evasive Stranger I
By HAL FORREST
Cwsp,"!) 'f'LVS whlu know, kid! N
V 5.,w; JW TYks,,... L&tfW&h he!ll know!' just
CtII vWf f :f ftp
BEN WEBSTER'S CAREER Eggs Firstl
By EDWIN ALGJ!
I .t3-! ' . '.I E66S.BEN? JBUr- I .-.I FIGURE WE'D BtTTER BUI10 fff CARRYING THEM THEN THEVU KNOW ABOUT CHICKENS, IATK-WEU POT ONW MmM&&
TV rriWrpntWMr i 4l&J9 up A DEMANP to get them regularly- too? y U, the eggs first V
d, 6sax GUV.l IM SITTIKJG.V OOJT 1 LouttTovP-vA" "fe. EGOS A l TmimS IT TAE.S TO SE A moS
UlF VOU'RE-TRVHOGr, TO r MP5CSS AVJVSCV 1 SlT cV KEtS PC X SuCeSSUU BUSINESS lST
TO IMPRESS HE , COUU THE REST II J?JkSWILV .-W 'MAM.iVE GOT A C'5Xf
M NOUVE DOKJE urE ' -C? frfl5jFiKJE. SCOT TOR. MCM MORE EDu-
GOOD OOft ACES AT rcr T ' K-f? TVOU IKj MY fT,0v4 MUSr I SUPPER
i''' . j ' L
THE NEBBS Winning Him Over?
By 80L HESS