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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 1938)
PAGE TEN Mmrrmp matl trtbttnt!, Tiiwrcmn, oTrEfloy. thttrrday. REPTTreER 15, 1935. TrrJ 9.xJ xjaltmarsh rj? The Character! Huro Stern, handtomt author, living on (h French Riviera. ArchU Lanuden, myself, Hu ' qo'$ friend. Kent Gelu, a tlngularlu tin pleasant cartoonist. . Testerdin A 6ig American named Dunning tries .0 pry in formation out of us. Chapter 14 Shattering Experience PARLY the next morning I was L awakened by a tapping on the pane. I rolled out ol oed and. as I turned to the window, saw a face taring at me through the green wreathed opening. "Jean-Francoii!" I said, startled, md then, with rising irritation: "And what the devil do you mean by spoiling the best night's aleep I've had in weeks?" Jean-Frangois slipped noiseless ly into the room. He was a sorry light, wan and disheveled. By the look of him, he hadn't seen a bed that night, "Monsieur," he said, '1 am deso lated to disarrange you, but I have had a nerve-shattering ex perience." "Go on," 1 said encouragingly. He shuddered slightly, as at a painful memory, and began his story. He had tried, he said, throughout the day to get a line on Geiss's household and way of life, but beyond the fact that his staff consisted of a man and wife, a sur ly couple who kept themselves to themselves, he had found out noth ing. And then suddenly chance fa vored him. ' "1 stood," he said, "on the cor ner of the rue de Dragon, waiting for an inspiration, when suddenly the gate of the villa opened and a man and woman came out. I fol lowed!" He had followed the couple to a small cafe in the fisher quarter, entering it on their heels. Jean Francois found a strategic table half-way between them and the door and sat down to study them behind the cover of a newspaper. It was then that he received a shock, for he knew their faces. There had been, he said, a pe culiarly scandalous police-court case in Marseilles ten years before, Ir. which a man and his wife had been accused of baby-farming on a large scale. Jean-Francois, de spite his tender years, had fol lowed the case, in all its ghoulish details, with intense eagerness. The baby -farming had been proved, the neglect of the infants, resulting In many deaths: but the murder of a certain number, though- suspected, could not be substantiated, and the couple re ceived sentences of Ave years apiece. It was not unnatural that Jean Francois, finding himself opposite them in the cafe, should experi ence excitement, not unmixed with a shuddering apprehension. "For, you will understand, mon sieur," he explained naively, "that they were not nice people. "I can quite imagine it," I an swered gravely. He made an expressive grimace. "Ah," said he, "but I was not dis mayed. I waited my chance to scrape acquaintance!" It came in a minute, with the loan of a newspaper and the oflcr of a drink. Polite exchange of com pliments showed that the couple, though willing enough to be treat ed as long as their new acquaint ance's cash held out, were chary of letting Information slip; but the cognac, though it did not loosen their tongues, appreciably mel lowed their tempers, and when Jean-Francois suggested the pur chase of a couple of bottles and the adjournment of the sitting to their abode, they agreed readily enough, admitting that 'heir pa tron was away for the night and they were free agents. The sitting lasted until the small hours of the morning, and by that time his hosts were com fortably slumbering In their chairs. Jem-Francois took credit to himself that, by dint of spinning out his drinks, he was still in very fair condition, but he was filled at the same lime with an immense disgust, for, beyond the news that there was a certain room into which they were never permitted to enter under pain of instant dis missal, he had learned nothing. It appeared to Jean-Francois that two good bottles of cognac had gone completely and irrevocably down the drain. A Tour Of Inspection AND then a bright Idea struck him. As his hosts were out of action for a considerable period, it was, he thought, i Heaven-sent opportunity to have a look at the rest of the house, and forthwith he set off on a tour of inspection. It was a largish place, richly furnished, with two great salons, a dining-room, and Big. ore stu dio. But there was another door at the end of a short passage whose lock defied his amateur fforts at cracksmanshlp. and he felt, sud denly and unshakably. that here was the hidden room into which the servants might not enter, and that inside it lay the secret of the house. A prospecting tour round the outside showed him a one-storied oblong, wlndowlesa but roofed with t glass dome, that he knew must be the locked room, and a tour round the upper story dis JAPAN READY 10 TOKYO, flfpt. 15. -(AP) Japan reudlncAa "to light, in every way, with rm tf necMMry" hn:nH com munism waa rvAlp(1 today In a statement by the foreign office apokeaman. The announcement held romnnm lat activities rsponlhlr for th Cwchotlovnk -German crista and aald closed . ..nail closet through whose window an agile man might climb and drop onto the lead para pet. It needed only an instant for him to put the thought Into execu tion. There was a skylight in the dome, partly open, and he squeez ed through it, dropping, bruised but triumphant, on the floor be neath. He found himself, he said, In the strangest room he had ever seen. The outside was an oblong, but the chamber within was hexagonal. There was a black pile carpet on the floor, and the walls ware hung with black velvet curtains. In the center of the room was something like a prie-dieu, also in black, with a small, sable-covered table before it, and opposite the door, behind a longer, narrow table also draped in black, was a dais, with the statue of a goat in white marble. He had searched the room, ne continued, and found nothing else of Interest no papers, no indica tion of the purpose for which it was used and on that conclusion he began to think of making a re treat. It was then that he realized that there were certain difficulties to be overcome, for it was one thing to drop from the dome and quite another to climb up to it again. He sat down to think matteri out. There was nothing to be done, it seemed, but to wait until such time as Geiss or his unpleasant re tainers should open the door of the room, and the thought of what would happen after that caused a gentle sweat to break out on his body. He sat there perhaps for one hour, perhaps two; he had no watch, and the minutes dragged by on leaden feet when suddenly there came an Interruption. He heard a faint scratching at the door of the room and realized that someone was inserting a key in the lock. He had barely time to dart behind a curtain when the door opened and someone entered the room. He heard footsteps mov ing to and fro, a muffled thumping, and on that, plucking up his cour age, he drew the curtain aside and peered round it. Escape A DIM figure stood before the prie-dieu, engaged in shaking out and replacing the cushions that covered it, and as his eyes focused themselves, he saw that it was a woman. She wore a sort of overall, and her head was tied up in a checked duster, but her face, he could not see. It was evident, however, from her actions, that she had come to clean the room. Finally he saw her turn and pass out through the door, which, to his unspeakable relief, she left ajar. In a flash he was across the room, peering down the corridor, but though he could hear her foot steps crossing the hall, there was no other sound of life. Holding his breath, for he knew he had no time to lose, he crept along the passage and found himself in the empty hall. The front door was opposite him, and with a dart he was beside it, had turned the well-oiled handle, and was sprinting down the glass roofed path. In another Instant he found himself in the golden light of sunrise, standing alone in the deserted road. He was tired, he was hungry, and his nerve was not a little shaken, but insatiable curiosity had him in its grip. If, he reasoned, it was true that the malodorous couple were the only servants in ,the house, then this woman, who ever she was, would leave the house, once her strange task was done, and he wanted to see where she went. It must have been a quarter of an hour that he waited, but finally there came the click of the gate and he saw her emerge. The print overall had gone, and she wore in its place a faded cotton dress, topped with a short, blue flannel coat. She might, he thought, have been anything between thirty five and fifty. But what startled him most was the realization and this he was emphatic about that she was an Englishwoman. She made off down the street, and he followed, using all the pre caution he could; but he need not have bothered, for she never turned her head. He stuck to the trail nobly, until he saw her insert a gigantic key into the lock of an imposing gate way, cross a gravel sweep, and vanish round the angle of a large house. "And the building what was it?" I demanded. He spread out his hands apolo getically. "Monsieur, what an anticlimax! It was only a private hotel the Chateau la Vague. I re gret much." he added, looking like a small boy whose sum has come out wrong, "that I could do no better." It took me a full minute to as similate this surprising informa tion. "Son," I said at last, patting him on the shoulder, "you've done better than you know. Here are your marching orders. Go back to your grandmother and have a good day's sleep. When you've rested, see what you can discover about an American gentleman by the name of Dunning, who says he's a corre spondent for the Chicago Express, rind out where he's staving, what he's doing, and whom he's meeting. You can report to me to night." (CopvrtpM. 1H. Ha SkiltmankJ . Dunning helps us out of a Jam, to morrow. Japan waa pirparrd to Join Germany and Italy, her alilca under an antl comrminlpt pact, In "fighting agnlnM red operations." The apokraman said, however. It was "premature to answer" the quca tlon whether Japn would declare war If Great Britain and France MtouM become Involved In conflict with Germany over the Cwchoalovalt situation. "If the actuation makes It nrcea wiry," he added, "Japan la ivtidy to fight in every way, with arm, li necraaary. WINDOW GLASS-We sell window tlai an1 will replace roui nroken window nftionaDly r.uwbrtdt CaD lnet Work STRANGE AS IT SEEMS By JOHN HIX For further proof address the author, Inclosing stamped envelope for reply. Re. V. .8. Pat OS. FBll Rofl&m UNION - KlPffr PnPMPD iM &NCl6Nt 0YPT--oTrW mf-TUiPip; foiiLOfLL PROPERTY ORIfilNM. OWNERS portrait of Death Originator of the dread revolution ary tribunal which ordered the guil lotining of hundreds of victims of the Reign of Terror In France was Jean Paul Marat, president of the Jacobin club. So fanatical did Marat become that he at one time publicly asked for the heads of 370,000 Frenchmen. De livered over the revolutionary tri bunal, he was acquitted and received In triumph. One woman looked on Marat In the 1 light of a bloody tryant; she was Charlotte Cordny D Armani), whose lover had been assassinated by Estabrook Denies Bomb Complicity HILLSBORO, Ore., Sept. 15. (AP) Jack Estabrook denied today that he had anything to do with dis turbances In Portland In connection with the picketing In 1933 of the Marlnoff brewery or the bombing on Memorial day of that year of the William Fuegy store at Rlckton. Estabrook Is being tried for com TAILSPIN TOMMY Calling BEN WEBSTER'S CAREER I v3a o v . FS? rlJa W.y i'm okay, fellows! well, tailspim. . '. 11 -. .) YOU CAM THIS QUE8R3 MY VsOMETHINS , PiU . I PERFORM AN CHANCES IM GO WRONG, h-rj 7-f- I "M AUTOPSY ON THAT V THE BENDIX! A DOC? ")HL i -N '''"'- WvV BUS of mime if J iftn. iF ; yZl?- '111 ( LOOK, BEN, THERE ) r -GTrra - li M HE WAS SO 1 I'll HE IS! OH BOY, ?FlfL- ' 3 MAO HE DIONT 1 1 AN IS HE , pI-s Tar- ' 3 EVEN SEE US.', LOOK, BEN, THERE HE IS ! OH BOY, AN' IS Ht , -? BURNED UP! I I -7 BUKNEUUP! F U a ' ? hz I I ""A , V 1 tremww. iu i i i jSj, THE NEBBS-Poor Buttcrny uF-u.o,STevE:,vJWAT'C3 COME OVER. NOU . VOUR& MOT TME. MPPV-lpvPpv , GO-LUCKV STEVE VAJWO pAMMV 1VF LOST came: to us i q g-j 1 L em j of BrSCKlb fe AT h PROFIT henchmen of Marat aa a traitor to the republic. Traveling Into Parts alone, she sought an Interview with Marat with the expressed purpose of Informing him against certain activities at Caen. During the Interview, Charlotte Corday drew a knife and stabbed Marat fatally. She was tried before Marat's tribunal and was condemned to the guillotine the same day July 17. 1793. Strange as It seems. Charlotte Cor day asked for a painter Instead of a priest aa her last request. No less than three hours before her execu tion an artist, Jean-Jacques Hauer. plicity in the bombing, which was alleged to have followed the store's refusal to stop selling Marlnoff beer. DENIES SHE PROVOKED RUFUS HOLMAN ATTACK PORTLAND, Sept. lfl. ( AP) Mrs. Jewell Bruce Fearing of Portland de nied yesterday she had provoked the alleged attack at the state fair which Is the basis for the warrant the obtained against Rufus C. Holnwn. All Kace Pilots 1 Fresh Supply! 7 f i dowt TUisuk I'LL pjfB fP rr h),mRO& GETS SEPt-SICK ON I JocKSY Louisville, Ki., M 17 Winkers ih IMS fiflSfS MONTHS OF HIS CPiREgR (Juli)-Ocil93o) tfiT of DEATH PRISON C6l,l.ToE' EXECUTED ON THE GWLLoTlNE, CHftRUJfflB CORPfVA fRENCH REVOLUTIONARY HEROINE, SRTfoR TH& PORTRAIT, &Y jeftN-t)ftCQUgHfcU -17??- was summoned. In two hours he fin ished her portrait reproduced above and Charlotte calmly paid htm with a lock of her hair and went to hr death on the guillotine. Robber L'nlon Citizens of ancient Egypt, when robbed, had merely to turn to a Chief Robber to recover lost goods; he In turn consulted his roll of mem bers of a flourishing robber union, procured the goods, and sold them back to the original owner at a pro fit. Tomorrow: What country once had two queens in one day? charging him with assault and bat tery. Holman, Republican senatorial candidate. Issued a statement prev iously that Mrs. Fearing had precipi tated the Incident. She charged that Holman wrested from her a placard of his political bpponent, tore It up and twisted ner arm. The chief products of Siam Is Other exports are tin and tin ore rubber. rice. and MY HEART'S JUST BUSTIN" FOR THE POOR LITTLE FELLOWJ AMD ITS ALL MV MV UMGOVERsj ARLE. TEMPER.. I .SCOLDED jakjie roR eeiMa OSCOURTEOUS TO WES. MOTWE.C. r HEADGEAR UJiUlfirtS WATCHES MOTHER POTY1N6 6EttM6 READY To-fAXE HIM -MINKS MOTHER'S SEW1N6-BASNET ON" CHAIR MI6HT BE MORE SlVUSH . EMPTIES If .while mother is picking up her sew- lNE-THIN6&,-fR)E5 THE WftSTE PAPER BASKET, FORTUNATELV EMPTV S MATTER POI jCopyrljTht, MM, by Tie B.n BynJlcMe, r.) ggj ' ' nope! poppa always TOLD ME TO FUL! I WAS OUST CLOWMIMG COR THE GRANDSTAND IN. THAT'S SEE THOSE HAWKS ! r1 KIIP fll riPIIUFQ MV 4 C0U3 MNU DtHI II Dr.K I LEFT CAL FADER WATCHIN6 THINGS AT THE FARM ) IP SOU ASK. ME . V TUltsJK. SHE 15 THE CWAMPlQNJ BRAT OF THE WORLD A.KJD VOO'RE LUOCV YOU DiDisIT GET A CHAMCFJ OTMAT- 1 ON HER HAf, 0Uf (Copyright, 1938, by The Bell Syndicate, Inc.) BE TRUTH AS I CAMP WHY I DlDNT CURTISS I've tdlO MvsELr THAT A TMOUSASJD TIMES BUT 1 CCkNJ'T MAKE MYSELP BELIEVE IT.. NJELLIE IS SO BEAUTIFUL AMD SWEET AMD I T kawE LOVES ME OKAY. I Mf JEST A MINUTE. LADIES PAL. I'LL r-& 1 HERE'S A FRESH SUPPLY ffrH BE a I C4 0- THEM JUMBO E6GS JSTHZ ! Cum By GLUYAS WILLIAMS WoUDERS HOW HIS PICTURE BOOK WOULD 6E AS A rlftf. rlOT UEP.V COMfOR-fABVE ) HVES If TREW WEU, ECEPf FORM'S Tendency o keep slidin6 off DECIDES, ON BEING DRESSED, THAT HE LIKES HIS OWN HPrf BEST AFTER AH. By C M PAYNF By HAL FORREST lJ , 1 ALL RACE PILOTS ON u. a. L m vthe lime! j rr i Sy EDWIN ALISK' Bv 801 HES8 WELL. KEEP OJ THiKJK.KJe IT AMD STOP MOPIVJQ - RlGMT SJOW you're a. picture op MORE GRiEC TWAM I'VE EVER sSECM AJOD 1VE BEESJ TO A MUWO'SEDy t-i v if r r i e - r i 4
