Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1912-12-25
q $3.50 +it I..1yi54,. W i,sTS4
CHAPTER, xvii. 4
Two Disappea:lranc

~ s5t "o EOlSdPPCdTdnCSo. 49,
3B I looked at my watch and saw that
twas nearly noon. ! remembered that
p had not yet called up Louise as I
/ had intended to do the very first thing
that morning. What laggard lover
she must think me! How heartless 1t
must seem to her for me to leave her
alone SO long in the mansion where
4 here, father and sister lay dying, per-
!: haps dead, with the black shadoWy
mystery still. hanging over her and
them! What must she think Of me?
Filled with self-reproach sprang up
without a word Of apology or explana-
ton to the others and hastened to the
telephone booth had observed in the
hall.
Give me O141 Madison" l demand
ed Of central. IA
W & Whats the matter?" she repeated,
with surprise in her tone, which struck
me peculiarly until considered that
i long distance calls from Ardway must
be such a rarity as to surprise even
the operator. {,s !.
II want long.distance-New York"
! explained, enunciating distinctly.
"O141 Madison" "a 3. Il
. t5 again central replied. flippantly,
It appeared to me-
at ! repeated the number, more than
annoyed by her response. "Oh, I've
got your number all right by this
time 4
e It was a good thing for her that she
tried no more POPULARITY with me. or
the rules Of the company against. pro
family would have been shattered.
There was a wait of several minutes,
filled with the usual false alarms Of
long-distance telephoning, during
which stood and fumed. At last /
heard my dear Louise's voice and has
tened eagerly to ask after her vel
fare. Her voice seemed strong and
cheerful, though she admitted that she
had slept little the night before.
Rpologized for not having called UP be-
fore. She told me that while her IA
theirs condition was UNI changed, the
doctor thought he was in no immedi-
ate danger, and that Katharine was
much improved. The doctor believed
now that she could live. She was con-
scious, but very weak, and Louise had
been forbidden to speak to her and
was allowed in the room only for
minute at a time. hastily sketched
y for her the events of the morning.
oh, Mr.. Kent" said Louise's voice
how wished she would call me by
my first name ""who do you suppose
called up?"
who" 5s5a .55,5z
Hugh Crandall." :[@l.s u
Whats that?" I exclaimed, hardly
believing my ears.
Hugh Crandall," she repeated lit
tie louder and more distinctly. Gle
asked for Katharine, and the maid
called me to the telephone. l told him
my sister was i'll and could not come
to the telephone. He seemed greatly
agitated and insisted on knowing what
the matter was. He was so agitated
and persistent l finally told him she
had met with an accident. He was
silent, for SO long thought he had
\ left the telephone, but all of a sudden
he asked, Did she shoot herself?' and
before thought answered Yes
Then he cried out, oh, my God!' or
something like that and asked if she
was fatally injured. I told him that
she was alive but unconscious, and
then, Harding, he asked if had seen
anything of a yellow letter. thought
/ had better tell him nothing about
that, so I answered No. and then he
rang off. .s
THAT was right" I said. Where
did he call up from?"
II have no idea" e..
when was it? How long ago?"
"Not very long-within the hour"
Hastily / explained to Louise that
man that I believed was Crandall was
here in the hotel with me and that
would find him at once and make him
explain the mystery. Before left the
booth got the Ardway central again
and from her learned what had be-
gun to suspect-that "O14., Madison"
had been called from the very booth
In which stood, not over an hour be-
fore. There was no longer any doubt
about it in my mind-Cook was Gran
DALI He evidently had gone straight
to the telephone booth after slipping