Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-03-26
YELLOW LETTER
A Fascinating Mystery Story
ByWlLLIAM JOHNSTON

XIV. (Continued.)

CHAPTER XIV. (Continued)
There is perhaps scientific rea-
son why yellow appeals to the Grim
inal and the insane" said Davis
thoughtfully, but the higher signlfi-
canoe of color has not yet been salts
factorily explained. A crazy woman
often delights to deck herself in yell
low The color appeals, too, to the
lower orders of the human race, an
illiterate negro, for instance. 1t is the
color of gold, over which thousands
and thousands have gone mad. 1t Is
the color of the moon, which the
ancients believed to have a peculiar
influence on mad persons. Some day,
hope, some scientist will be able to
tabulate the psychic effect OF the
spectrum on the human race. 1t would
be we'll worth doing. Everybody
realizes, even now, in a general way,
that colors do directly affect the
senses. What a jar discordant COM
binations give us!"
But you are sure Young wrote all
the yellow letters?"
Certainly" said the inspector, get
ting up from the bench and entering
the cottage.
When he returned few minutes
later he had in his hand bundle OF
yellow paper and envelopes. AS ex-
amined them / saw that they were of
exactly the color and texture of all
the fragments of yellow letters that |
had seen.
Where did you find them?' l
asked.
'In a cupboard over there by the
fireplace. l don't know whether you
noticed it or not, but over there, too,
is the typewriter on which Young
wrote the letters that he gave Ronser
to mail for him."
What makes you think Rouser
mailed them?"
There are six different things that
prove Rouser's connection with
Young's fiendish plots. The stamps
were put on by left-handed man, and
Rouser was left-handed The answers
were recci--H1 in the Ardway post
office, wi: Rouser was postmaster.
Lock Box II, to which they were
addressed, was not entered in the. list
of box-holders. You yourself found a
large sum of money in the postoffice
cash drawer that had no business be-
| ing there. Rouser himself mysteriously
disappeared when he found that some
one was on the trail of the yellow let
tiers. And lastly, Rouser and Young
| for weeks have been together most
of the time" ssa
"How did you learn that? - ~
young. it seems" the inspector
continued, "is we'll known in Ardway,
his boyhood having been spent in the
town. His father was well-to-do law
YER who became addicted to drugs.
His mother died in the state asylum
for the insane. The constable, Dodds,
has known him for many years. He
went to Harvard and there was a
c]assmate for while of Hugh Gran
dali. He has been going from bad to
worse, each time he returned to Ard
way on his periodic visits seeming to
be more and more addicted to NOR
phine. His inheritance was spent long
ago and it has been a mystery to every
one where he got considerable sums
that he has had at times. With all his
faults, he has much magnetism and
plausible tongue and makes friends
readily. So far as | can discover, after
he had concocted his plot against
General Parrish he had some difficulty
in obtaining satisfaction and tried to
enlist the aid of Crandall. Crandall
went at once to General Parrish and
was ordered out. of the house. Gran
dali, despite his treatment by the gen
eral. was determined to solve the mys
tery. and for months kept track OF
Young, trying to worm out the secret
and render him powerless. At times
he gave Young small sums and for a
while. as l have said, had him in his
rooms. One day Young disappeared
taking with him some jewelry Of Gran
dall's and it was only a few days ago
that Crandall succeeded in finding him
here in Ardway. Young, having failed
to blackmail General Parrish, tried
| to cpen negotiations for the sale Of his
documents through Crandall. Gran
dali, of course, could not communicate
with General Parrish, so he called
Katharine on the telephone and made
an appointment with her. Evidently he
explained the whole affair to her, and
when the negotiations failed 1t was
more than she could bear"
"That all seems logical said, "but
7 fail to see yet what connection there
is between General Parrish and ole
! Andrew Elser. Nor do see the con
nection between the suicide of the old
woman in the hotel at Ardway and the
suicide of the young woman in the
park lake, yet in each of these cases
there were yellow letters"
81 do not see it myself, yet,' sale
Davis frankly. and yet I know it exists
II know the hellish idea that drove
them all to death was planned by that
distorted brain inside the cottage
there"
He was silent for several minutes
as he gazed at the rising sun, seem
ingly absorbed in the glorious
spectacle.
cru find out" he said explosively
"I'll make him tell
What are you going to do?"
/ asked. "How will you make him."
For answer he took from the pocket
of his coat two sets of thin steel cuffs
n