Evening star., 1918-04-07
The Mortgage Money

hand that grasped her worn valise she
held also a newspaper on which the Ink
was not yet dry.
tossed the valise on the table. There's
a mystery"
Shagbark lazily drew the upper half
of his body erect. He ran his fingers
through his thick mat of hair and
slide to the floor
What is 1t. Allie?" he asked.
Alice was perhaps eighteen years old.
but she seemed younger. Her face was
ing face, freckled across the nose.
"It's a hummer, dadv she said. ex-
citedly. Orlando. sold all the Infal-
lible; stick some more in my valise. l
three or four miles out in the country
man murdered in his bed. I been
talking to the woman they arrested
Already" drawled Shagbark.
"Of course. I said I was her daugh-
ter. I had almost Ave minutes talk
with her before they chucked me out.
Here. read the paper
you tell me, Allie: I'm most too
tired to read"
Orlando was filling the valIse with
Infallible-short for Infallible grease
remover, made of, plain brown soap
cut in chunks and wrapped in paper
telling that it would remove any kind
of grease spots-and Black Pete bent
his head and entered the cabin. Shag-
bark Jones. working on a mystery. was
an unending source Of interest to the
cook and the crew. AS for Alice, she
was Sha agbark's eyes and feet. She was
mystery at hand. With her valise of
1nfallible. she passed from house to
house learning of aches and pains,
learning of pasts and hoped-for fu-
Shagbark Jones. now at the levee,
could cure and reveal. When a mys-
terry was at hand it was Alice who
went forth and brought back the de-
tails that were all Shagbark needed to
aid him in solving the puzzle. She told
what she knew now. hurrying her
words.
We'll. dad. there's man murdered
has an onion farm three miles below
town. on the bluff. Last night when
he was in bed somebody killed him
with a knife"
last night?" drawled Shagbark.
"A sharp kitchen knife. 1t was
about midnight, I guess" answered
Alice. The hired man found him dead
in bed this morning when he got
where had the hired man been?"
asked shagbark.
Fishing. with another fellow. down
river. This woman they arrested is
Teeny Schmidt. and she's been keeping
house for Mr.. Grutz for five or six
years. She thought he was goin' to
marry her-I guess he'd said SO, and
had never said anything different until
last night. Last night he told her
different. He told her he was going
to marry a Mrs. Cluter-a neighbor
lady. They had a big fuss-she says
SO herself. She says she lit into him
good and swore she'd get even with
him."
sort of jealous, maybe?" drawled
"Weli, she says she's glad he's dead.
even If she didn't kill him herself"
said Alice. That's how jealous she is.
dad"
AIice?" said shagbark. what proof
instance?"
that she kept in the kitchen drawer"
said Alice. And they got the clothes
she had on when she done IT. This
paper has picture Of them. It's her
See how blood-spIashed they are?"
$50 they be. Allie" Shagbark slowly
drawled. mo question about them be-
ing splashed. Apron and dress. amt
they"
n "A big white apron she used to wear,
they were part burned She put them
in the stove and set fire to them. but
they smoldered out. 1t would have
been all the same IL they had burnt
people would have wanted to know
where they We're"
II dare say" said shagbark care
lessly. who else was in the house
with her last night, Allie?"
why. nobody"
Shagbark was looking at the paper
he had taken from his daughter
Except the murderer. you mean.