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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 19, 1938)
PAGE SIX MTCDFORD MAIL TRTBUXE, MTCDFOim OREOON. MONDAY. DECEMBER 19, 1938. THE ARMY POST MURDERS By Virginia Hanson ' The Character Kitherlnt Cornlita, mytel, ! itinp luablh on a mid-ueittrn Army pott. Elizabeth. Colontl Wright daughter. Adam Drew, acting command ing officer. Veiterdayt 1 ditcover that tht note is written on a typewriter which I had given to Charlie. Chapter IT Oh, Fool, Fool! A DAM rpnri thft rt.n of nailer. A "'Eleven o'clock,"' he said reflectively. "Where did you una it?" "In one of those chain In the lounge," Mrs. Flower explained portentously. "It was tucked under the seat cushion, 'tleven ociock. Too bad it wasn't dated. Or signed Still it is a clue." "Yes, a clue. I'm very much In debted to vou. Mrs. Flower." Adam sounded harassed. It was not entirely Mrs. Flower, 1 sur mised, though she had that effect on people. He was getting nowhere ana tne nours were parsing, nuw far he was exceeding his authority he could know. They would be growing restive. But somewhere among tnem was a murderer, ana time might play into that one per. son's hands. Across the balcony there was motion. It brushed the fringe or my vision and vanished betore I could turn. What had it been a shadow? The reflection of a pass- ine car? Or someone? I strained eyes and ears to catch some identifying trace of pres ence. Whatever had moved was still. Yet I had the feeling that someone was lurking there across the gallery in the shadows or behind the closed door of one of the unoccuoied guest rooms. Almost without thinking I rose to my feet and stood listening, tense. 1 stole one quick glance at the door of the strange girl i room which had been within my range of vision all the time I was listen ing at the head of the stairs. Then I began edging around the well of the dance floor, Keeping well bacK from the balcony railing. The cen tral chandelier which hung high above me had not been relighted since the balloon dance; the stage lights and the lamps which dotted the lounge provided ample illumi nation downstairs, and the light, rising diffusely, cast the shadow of the balcony itself partway up the walls that surrounded it. In this shadow I was hidden from below. But to anyone on the same level with me, eyes accustomed to the lesser illumination, I would provide an easy target I thought about that for a mo ment, but I couldn't feel particu larly menaced. Perhaps foolhardy people are simply conceited the most vivid imagination balks at picturing its own extinction. Halfway around I did pause, however, remembering my prom ise to stay with the sick girl. I naa not Deen very rauntui to mat promise. Perhaps I should go back. 1 mignt be on a fool s errand. And then I heard a stifled moan so near me that my heart seemed to turn completely over. One step brought me to the closed door of the room from which that voice had come. Some instinct prompted me to stand clear of the dear as I swung it open. But nothing came hurtling at me, .10 bullet whined over my head. There was no sound, no movement, no indication of life within; and presently, feeling rather foolish, I unflattened my self from the wall and peered cautiously in at the wide-open door. So Trustingly THE room was like that other which I had left a few minutes before the same furniture, the same absence of ornament, the same bleak efficiency. And at first glance it was in perfect order. No one was there, nothing seemed out i of place or not quite. A second glance, as my eyes accustomed themselves to the deeper gloom, discerned a dark shadow Just be yond the foot of the bed a long, motionless shadow that bulked as big as a slight woman's body. I felt for the wall switch Inside the door, remembered that there was only a light bracket that turned on at the fixture. I could see It across one ccrr.sr of the room, well away from the bed and that motionless shadow. Two steps would take me to it. Something keener than my mind was warning me. I left the deor wide open, riveting my eyes on that shape on the floor. At the first fnlnt movement I could be gone. Then I took those two careful steps. The thing on the floor did not move. But the air in the room stirred faintly for a moment and the dim light grew dimmer. My hand was on the switch of the wall fixture. I turned It frantically back and forth, but nothing happened. I could still see, dimly, that the prone shape was motionless. An Instant too late I realised SEVEN COMPLETE BOITTHFRN ORKOON STATS NOIl MAI. SCHOOL. Ashland, Dec !. (flpllrvrn students completed re quirements tor graduation from the Southern Orepon State Normol school on December Ifl. helng ihe laat to aecure diplomat with aeven quarter of work. Mrs. tune Martin of Mrdfurd, Mr. Helen Kaaer ot flrants Paaa. Mrs. Ixils Pretwell ot Mrdford. Mra Julia William of O'Brien. Mr Huby 1. Wise of Klamath FHlls. Mra. Mne Harm of Ashland and Mlsa Mar garet Petersen of Cottage Grove are the gradtiatlng( aenldra. Advance registration for the win ter quarter Indicates a continuation fit the Incased ert llment of Lhf faJI quailer. BtflfUU tutciutg t)j that 1 had been tricked. But betore I could whirl or cry out something black and voluminous engulfed me something abominably soft and clinging that wound Itself tightly around my throat, around my arms, trussing me as securely as a colt for the branding, muf fling me as completely as a gag. I felt the knot Jerked tight between my shoulders. Then along my ankles, where my fetters left off, I felt again that brief current of air and, faintly through the muf fling folds, heard the key turn in the lock. The realization of my criminal foolishness gave me a strength I had not known I possessed. I fought savagely at the cocoonlike wrappings. Oh, fool! fooll I had deserted my post, walked so trust ingly into the '.rap. Behind the door that was where the danger had been hiding: and I had turned my buck on it A woman's life would probably pay for this. Half sobbing, I twisted and tore, bit and squir.ned, and inch by inch the bonds worked upward from my forearms until I could use my hands. Velvet the stuff was velvet Someone's evening" wrap. The thought passed briefly through my mind. Then I tore the thing from my head and threw it across the room, staggering to my feet, gasping air into ty starved lungs. There was a thin streak of light above the door the wooden tran som, open a crack. Could I get out that way? Or should I scream for Adam? It was too late for secrecy. I needed help at once. In that brief instant of hesitation the crack of light vanished, and from the dance floor rose the shrieks of women and the con fused babble of voices. The lights were out! Too Late' I POUNDED and kicked at the ' door and added my voice to the clamor outside. But what chance had I of being heard? The room I was in was roughly above the stage too far from Adam for him to distinguish my voice in the gen eral commotion. I gave it up and leaned hope lessly against the door. What good could I do now, anyway? With the crazy monotony of a cracked pho nograph record words were re peating themselves In my mind. "Too late. Too late. Too late." Suddenly I froze into listen ing sileice. Someone had come noiselessly along the gallery, had paused on the other side of the door and was drawing furtive, panting breaths Irke a runner forced to rest, yet wary of pur suers. Instinct warned me not to speak or move, not to seek rescue here. Th n something clinked lightly on the floor at my feet; and there was silence on the other . side of the door. The key it must have been the key. I did not take time to wonder why it had been returned to me. I screamed again with all the voice I could muster and dropped to my knees, groping in the dark. I found it almost at once and my Angers closed on it convulsive ly. Nightmare clumsy, 1 yet man aged to find the keyhole. I had the door open and was in the hall when the finger of light searched me out from the encircling dark ness. "Kayl Thank God!" said Adam's voice, and the circle of light swooped to the floor between us. "You're all right? 1 heard you , screaming. . . . His voice wavered a little and the light danced at my feet "The murderer," I gasped hys terically. "He it was here an instant ago. He locked me in that room, then the lights went out and he threw the key over the transom he can't have got farl" "A man?" Adam asked quickly. "I I don't know. It It was somebody." And then I saw how hopeless it was. There were people on each side of us they had come like moths to the light. 1 saw Mrs. Flower peering excitedly around Adam's arm. Behind her the Shaws. looking almost comically surprised. Mrs. Orpington had come up behind me and was Just standing there, her eyes gleaming and a funny half smile on her lips. iNooody passed ,nc, she said brightly. ''1 was richt at the foot of the dressing-room stairs and I stood still and yelled until I saw light up here. . . . You re sure the door was locked?" There was no mistaking the skepticism In her voice. I stepped closer to Adam. Adam said, "Shaw, get out to the cars and find some flashlights, then get busy and And the fuse box I think It's tackstnge." "It Is," said Shaw. "Barney's back there with Elizabeth, mak ing cofTcc. It it's in t'.ie box he'll have it fixed I heard him stum bling around and swearing i min ute before I came up." "Adam," I whispered urgently, "that girl . . ." His eyes met mine, and there was apprehension in them to. rcopyrieal. lt)i. Virginia Baiuon) Tomorrow: Murdei Dumber two. the winter quarter of IPSO may grad uate In eight quarter by attending mimmer arastons. APPLEGATE TEACHERS TO STUDY PROBLEMS BIO APPI.PO ATE. rvr 19. iSpl) Mra. Nettl Armprleat of Twrnt Crwh no hool ws r lv tM c h a t r m a n of the Ap.rf(t trnchfrs' nUirty (Troup, which held thr Mrt rf their wintrr mtv-iinn t Huch lust wrck. Othfr teacher a nruntxi on the com mit t re with Mm. Armprleat werr Mrs. In Purer!. Huch-Su'llnR prtmnry room. And Mr Wanda Smith. Thompson creek. ItrmrdlM read t nit problems ftnrt tehnvtor problems mill be utttrilert t tin next meetlntr. Jan uary IS. Pupila t f Mr MnrerUd Re of the upper mom it Much. BteTltnt Aermti. presented n hort proKcttui muuutU4 -ivu.u ruu tio- STRANGE AS IT SEEMS By JOHN HIX For farther proof address the thor, lndoamf a (tamped envelope for reply. Re. V. .8. Pat OS. rare South African cactus, ObODHVa m ONW r-IN-ONE tHe NEW ItoUSftND ISL-fcNDS l.ndLto .? I a I J" K itss. ailnaalt USES if DlFFgRMTtPES OFSPMSl Of IHE only American woman HR, ftND riftS YET 4HE NEVER SAVJMOW UHTlL IN HER TEENS Ho mil n nf the North Until she was & girl In hrr teens, Miss Louise A. Boyd, a California.!, had never seen so much as a snow flake. But now she has seen plenty of snow probably mare than any other woman In the United States. Miss Boyd today Is America's only woman Arctic explorer and holds the distinction of having a part of Green land named after her. Only, she says, she didn't know about It until she happened to see her name on a map one day! Altogether she hns mode six ex hem la n Christmas carols, and Mrs. Una B. Inch, county school super visor, was present. Mrs. Bertha Haskins of Applegate school will be one of the seven dele gates from the county to attend the Oregon State Teachers' convention In Portland the last week In Decem ber. Co. Treasurer I He GOLD BEACH, Dec. 19. (AP) Fred Moore, county treasurer, died here Saturday night. The IB-year old public official la survived by three daughters and a sister. TAILSPIN TOMMY The Mysterious Isle! HT BIQHT THOUSAMD FEET, TOMMY BURSTS THROUGH THE THICK fog and reaches a clear ceiling, '. . . . Apprehensively, hb looks abound, but the black pirate 13 NOWHERa IN SK3HT. . i ITH A SlH HB POINTS HIS PLANE SOUTHWEST, BUT A STdONO HUNCH TELLS HIM THAT The AEttlAL ?-sw 1 BUCCANEER DM TO BE RECKONED WITH AGAIN BEFORE LONG BEN WEBSTER'S CAREER WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOUR. COWS, THE NEBBS Puis? HELLjO.SVLLV, VOU LOOK MEARLV f BUT VOU DOMT E-miss GRUMTLCV IKTmERES OMET" STE MESBJpLO ME NOO f MICE THIS MORMIKJ' .TVAAT MEW Rl- TO SPEKlO WO MORE Yj WORDS ARE 1 D0M'r N IKIV,TE0 HIM TO VdUR HOUSE AT TME PEAUTV SWOPPIE CERTAIMLyT'J MOMEV PRlMPINJ' 'CAUSE vVATTDwFM fJF 1 TUlMK, EVER GETS FOR OlKIMER HE SAID IF YOUR V. PAlMTED VOU UP LIKE A. rV 1 r THE DlAMOMO J TUIWKSOFTUF LCWlS f ITO THE MlMD OF FCHX TASTED LIKE VOU UDOK. -brTT OvV900 MODEL J r MAS GOME eACki A Sm1-7 ASlMPLEPESOKj(wECOUL.DGlTiviWDlSESTldKJj HI rNIMMl ONCE A YEAR ',.1 BRIP6B Hom antic explore; BEEN. peditions Into the frozen north, her first trip In 1926. For surveying much of the eastern coast of Greenland that had never before been properly charted, the Danish government named the region "Miss Boyd Land" after her. On her second expedition north ward. Ml&s Boyd was engaged In a search for Amundsen, the great ex plorer, who had vanished during an airplane search for the missing Ital ian aviator, Nob He. For this service. Miss Boyd won the coveted Order of St. Olaf, first NAVY YARD BLAZE NEW YORK. Dec, 19. (AP Rear Admiral Clark H. Woodward, com mandant of the Brooklyn navy yard, ordered a thorough Inquiry today Into a fire that destroyed a two-story Of" RELIEF. WILL HAVE The Two "Doctors"! DURNED if I KNOW, BEN- MR. CASE? THAT'S WHAT'S ITCHIN' MEJ Zil&i" IZ" 1933 M'bi Syndic- to . V 'y. THE TIME BEING V i WELL LOOK OVER lm fm VI r SOME OF THESE. JW W 'L'i i: " Lj. fl&Wm umitw mtt cnLv.' sinp law. K , I k . .,- I ,,r- ' in n nHNUtNCKcnitp v MP PRS h U6HTED C16&RET AGfMN'ST IT WiTHouT Burning THE HMPKERCHIEFI class, from Norway. Also, the French government made her a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. Four-in-one Bridge Strange as It seems, the new Thousand Islands International bridge, connecting the United States and Canada, Incorporates four dif ferent and distinct types of bridges two suspension spans, one double ferrls truss, one rigid formed arch, and one stone arch. ( Tomorrow: hands? Can Ice burn your brick paint and oil storehouse In the yard. f, The flames broke out at 8 last night and spread a black pall over the district. Hundreds of sailors Joined city firemen in a two-hour battle to subdue the blaze. AH entrances and exits to the yard were barred. Marines with fixed bayonets kept spectators at a distance and refused to permit taking of photographs. It was reported 370,000 gallons of alcohol were destroyed. LOOKS LIKE I'VE K WHILE CM STALLING 1 1 Cf QUIET, PLEASE! V I I GOTTA OVERHEAD y . t Sfr HITS DOWrl FOR A aOIEf AFfEftMOOW'S RES AND WW) SIAMOS It AS 10r)6 AS HE CAN AWD CAILIN6 1b HIM To STOP WElt THE 6IVE5 UPlRViNs-foREAD AS JUNIOR, STtfiKS AT -fAPPlN& 55, AND JUNIOR CLATTERS UPArJP DESK, KEEPS UP A STEADVlAPPIrtfi WiTH HIS FOOT POWtf STAIRS "THREE TiMES . SILENCE. WAITS FOR THE NEXT SOUND -T (Copyright, 1838, ty Th Ball J MATTER POt Kofi THE OFF CkANCE inM, ion i nnu SKELETOIt KEY. ,.,W I KNUYY, KU9IT. THE SUNSHINE PELLETS! HAVE YOU GOT SOME Y' THINK I BEEN TOTIN THIS BUNDLE FOR PLEASURE, BEN? Cvou Weep a rC IjLJA, f "Nv ' " A-E look-! ) , 6V -p -r MOW ) Rf 1 r iLLTELu) 63 K. y xaj, CAmv-Ham-dJ.j vMat I'm O m Copyright, lM8" by The Bell Byndlcite, Inc , 16 Or! TOlNf OF SOUND CEASK OUTBREAK OF SOES ON WAlTiN6, 6ETT1N6 RESTLESS. REALIZES HIS NERVES AREN'T USED TO SUCH COMPLETE dUlEf. UP AND TAKES A WALK. Syndicate, Inc.) There could be. NO LIFE ON THIS LONELY ISLE . . .BUT WAIT! . . . IOMMY SUD0CN-! LY NOTES A FLOCK OF FLAMINGOES, STIRRED INTO SUDOEN FLIOHTl Jomethin. . BELOW. . HAS FRIGHT EN B.O THOSE BIRDS! SHOW US YOUR WORST COW, MR. CASEY YOU'RE TALKIN1 TO ORS. WEBSTER AND MeSURK... SPECIALISTS IN COW TROUBLES.1 By GLUYAS WILLIAMS ljuifinu BECOMES AWARE Of JUNIOR'S B0UWCIN6 A BAU ON-fHE F100R OF HIS BOOM OVERHEAD 4(JD IS RttLOWED BY A RUFIBJJN6 SOUND AS JUN IOR MoES HIS DESK WOUND Bv 0 M PA YNF By HAL FORREP" By EDWIN ALOE" By 801 HES UNH'j J M lll"r dhin m or
