The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1919-03-13
CHAPTER xIIl-(Continued)


a man cased of a great burden.
His wkOle story bore the stamp of
truth, and his manner Of telling
was straightforward and earnest.
Nor was there reason for doubt.
Though a startling tale, it entirely
explained many Of the strange
conditions that had seemed so be-
wildering. 1t would never have
occurred to Bates nor to any one
to make up such a yarn, and what
else could have deferred him from
the contemplated robbery but the
superstition that makes even the
most hardened criminals refuse to
steal from a dead personH There
fore, the narrative was accepted
as probably true, and Bates was
taken to the Tombs to await fur
Their proceedings against him.
".You're a wonder! r. said Gray
Haviland, as, that same after
noon, he discussed the matter with
Fleming Stone. "Would you mind
telling me how you went straight
to the criminal and walked him
off to jailY"
'1t'That was practically a bit of
luck" and Stone smiled. cit was
the blackjack that gave me the
clue. If the fellow hadn't dropped
that in his fright, we might never
have traced him. Though we
would perhaps have found him
eventually, through the maid, Es-
telle. She is not good at keeping
things secret. However, he did
drop the weapon, and it led
straight to him."
"But-how2" =
"Well, the thing smelled strong
ly of ~creosote. Now, it was made
from a bit Of old cloth that looked
like a piece of some discarded gar
ment-a mans coat, say. If the
odor had been camphor or moth
balls, / should have assumed a
garment laid away in storage, but
creosote is not used forIthat pur-
pose. So. I deduced a house re-
Gently remodeled by use Of. a GER
tain kind of shingles. / know that
the odor of those shingles clings
to everything in the house for
months. 1t is almost ineradicable.
So / looked about for a house
lately reshingled."
"Why not a new housef" asked
Hardy, who was present.
"a point we'll TAKEN" said
Stone, nodding approval, "but in
q new house the odor often is dis
PEELED before the people move in.
In a remodeled house the furnish
ings stay there during the work
and so are deeply impregnated
with that unmistakable smell of
creosote. At any rate, / worked
on that, and, when / found that
a newly shingled old house was a
boarding house of the type Bates
would be likely to live in, I went
there to see, and found him."
eyes, but how did you know
there was such a person as Bates
Where did you get his name9'
"From your cook" returned
Stone, simply. 81 concluded there
was, no doubt that Estelle had let
the man in and relocked the win
dow afterward. So l deduced a
friend Of the girls so dear to her
that she would do this for him.
l asked the cook, Mrs. Haskins, as
to Estelle's admirers and learned
that there were two-Bates and
Higgins. Mrs. Haskins couldn't
say which one Estelle more ia
vored, so l decided to try both.
Bates, the cook told me, lived in a
boarding house near here, and
Higgins over in New York. So
when I asked Estelle a few lead
ing questions 1, pretended to
greater knowledge than l really
had. / spoke of a name beginning
with either B, H, or S. She fell
into the trap and said quickly that
she knew no one initiated S. Then
l said but beginning with
and waited. She said no name,
but involuntarily her lips formed
a silent B. and I knew she had
Bates in mind. The rest was easy,
Bates, the boarding house and the
shingles formed a combination too
indicative to be merely coinci.
dence. And so we found him. And
/, for one, believe his story. / know
the strong superstition that i'm,
bues those people concerning a
corpse, and the unexpected dis.
coyery that he had attacked one
was enough to make that man be.
side himself. Indeed, it's a won.
der that he didn't make an outcry
in his terror and fright"