The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1910-07-14
THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE
Continued from Page Six

There is some one locked in the
laundry | replied. MIR. Jameson
wants YOU to help him break the lock.
Warner, whose bag is this?"
He was in the doorway by this time,
and he pretended lot to hear.
Warner" | called, come back
here. Whose bag is this9"
He stopped then. but he did not turn
around
"lt's-it belongs to Thomas" he
said, and fed up the drive.
To Thomas, A London bag with
mirrors and cosmetic jars of which
Thomas could not even have guessed
the use, However. l put the bag In
the back of my mind, which was fast
becoming stored with anomalous and
apparently irr~econcilable facts. and
followed Warner to the house.
Liddy had come back to the kitch-
en-; the door to the basement stairs
was double barred, and had a table
pushed against it and beside her on
the table was most of the kitchen par
aphernalia.
Did you see if there was any one
missing in the house?" | asked, ignor-
ing the array of sauce pans, rolling
pins and the poker of the range.
Rosie is missing" Liddy said with
JUNCTION, She had objected to Rosie,
the parlor maid, from the start. Mrs.
Watson yer into her room. and found
she had gone without her hat. People
that trust themselves a dozen miles
from the city, in strange houses. with
servants they don't know, needn't be
surprised if they wake UP some morn
ing and find their threats cut"
After which carefully yelled sar.
casm Liddy relapsed into gloom. War
ner came in then with a handful Of
small tools, and Mr.. Jameson went
with him to the basement. Oddly
enough, | was not alarmed. With all
my heart ! wished for Halsey, but
was not frightened. At the door he
was to force Warner put down his
tools and looked at it. Then he
turned the handle. Without the slight.
est difficulty the door opened, reveal
ing the |blacknoss Of the drying room
beyond
MI Jameson gave an exclamation
OF disgust Gone" he said. Con
found such careless work, might
have known
1t was true enough. We got the
lights or finally and looked all
through the three rooms that con
stituted this wing of the basement.
Everything was quiet and empty. An
explanation Of how the fugitive had
escaped injury was found in a heaped-
up basket of clothes under the chute.
The basket had been overturned, but
that wasall. Mr.. Jameson eXaminedthe
windows; one was unlocked, and of.
fered an easy escape. The window or
the door? Which way had the fugi-
tive escaped The door seemed mes.
probable, and I hoped it had been so.
I could not have borne, just then, to
think that ii was my poor Gertrude
we had been bounding through the
darkness, and yeti had met Ger
trude not far from that very window,
| went upstairs at last, tired and
depressed. Mrs. Watson and Liddy
were making tea in the kitchen. In
certain walks of life the tea pot is the
refuge in times of stress, trouble or
sickness; they give tea to the dying
and they put it in the baby's nursing
bottle. Mrs. Watson was fixing a tray
to be sent in to me and when | asked
her about Rosie she confirmed her
absence.
shes not here" she said; but |
would not think much of that, Miss In.
mes. Rosie is a pretty young girl,
and perhaps she has a sweetheart. 1t
will be a good thing if she has. The
maids stay much better when they
have something like that to hold them
here"
Gertrude had gone back to her
room, and while | was drinking my
cup of hot tea, Mr.. Jameson came in.
I'VE might take up the conversation
where we left off an hour and a half
ago" he said. But before we go on.
! want to say this: The person who
escaped from the laundry was a wom-
an with a foot of moderate size and
well arched. She wore nothing but
a stocking on her right foot, and, in
spite of the unlocked door, she es-
capped by the window"