South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1919-05-08

J.
able 70 establish an abb az a result OF
loss OF memory after a night OF gay
| lie In New York, spent In company
OF Parades. from Panama. and Marie. A
serted shack nelr the Cedars and goes
20 the house, where he meets bis cousin.
Katherine, and Graham, a friend. All
agree that mystery surrounds the death
/ blackburns 10 die In same manner.
I Strange signs invariably mark tie Occa-
sioE OF death In the room
"One minute, Mr.. Paredts' Rob-
inson broke in. why did you main
tain this extraordinary seer ecy? No
body would have hurt you if you had
put us on the right track and asked
for a little help. Why did you throw
sand in our eyes? why did you talk
all the time about ghosts ?''
Il had to go on tiptoe Paroles
smiled. Il suspected thcre was at
least one spy in the house. So 1
gave the Doctors ghost talk all the
impetus l could. / was like How
ellis. as I've told you. in telieving
/ the case couldn't be complete with
out the discovery of the secret en-
trance of the room of death. My be-
lief in the existence of such a thing
made me lean from the first to Silas
Blackburn rather than Robert. It's
a tradition in many families 10 hand
such things down TO the head Of
! each generation. Silas Blackburn
was the one most likely 10 know.
Such a secret door had never been
mentioned TO you. had it, Bobby
Bobby shook his head. Paroles
| turned and smiled at thu haggard
butler.
I'm right so far. am 1 not, Jen-
kins?"
Jenkins bobbed his head jcrkily.
Then" Paroles went on. you
might answer one or two questions.
When did the first letter that fright
ened your master come"
The day he went TO Smithtown
and talked TO the detective" the but
Ter Quavered.
You can understand his reflec-
tons" Paroles unused. "Moi ey was
his god. He distrusted and hated
his own flesh and ROOD because he
| thought they coveted il. He was
prepared to punish them by leaving
| it TO a public charity. Now arises
/ this apparition from the past with
no claim in a court OF law. with an
intention simply TO ask, and. in case
of a refusal, TO punish. The conclu-
sion reached by that selfish and
| merciless mind was inevitable. He
! probably knew nothing whatever
| about Marie. If all the world thought
/ his brother dead, his brothers muir
der now wouldn't alter anything.
I'll wager, Doctor, that at that time
he talked over wounds ar the base
/ of the brain with you"
! The doctor moved restlessly.
yes. But he was very sdpersti-
tious. We talked about II in con-
nection with his ancestors who had
died of such wounds in that room"
Everything was ready when he
made the rendezvous" Parades went
\ on. "He expected to have Bobby az
hand in case his plan failed and ne
had TO defend himself. But Maria
I had made sure that there should be
no help for him When The man
came did you take him upstairs.
/ Jenkins"'
NO. sir. I watched that Miss
Katherine didn't leave the library.
but l think she must have caught
Mr.. Silas in the upper hall after he
had pretended to give up and had
/ persuaded his brother 10 spend the
night"
Paroles smiled whimsically He
took two faded photographs from
( his pocket. They were of Young men.
after the fashion of Blackburns, re-
/ markedly alike even without the
gray, obliterating marks Of old age.
Il found these in the family al
bum" he said
we should have known the diff
ference just the same" The doctor
grumbled. Why didn't we know
the difference"
I've complained often enough, f"
Paroles smiled. of the necessity of
\ using more candles in This house
There was never more than one can
die i'm the old bedroom. Thare were
/ Only Two when we looked al the m QI-
dered man in his coffin And in
death there are no familiar facial
| expressions, no ecCentriCities of
| speech. So you can mag my
| feelings when I tried TO picture the
/ drama that had gone on IN thai
room. You can imagine poor Maria s.
Which one? And Maria didn't know
abOSt the panel, or the use OF Mis-.
Katherine's hat-pin or the hand
kerchief All OF those d etails indi-
Gated Blackburn"
How could my handkerchief in
dictate anything of the kind ." Bobby
| asked. How did it come there 80
What" Paroles said. is the COM
monest form of borrowing in the
world. particularly in climate
! where people have frequent colds? ]
found number Of your handker-
chiefs in your grandeather's bureau
The handkerchief furnished me with
an important clue. II explains
II think. jenkins will tell YOU
the moving of the body 1t was OBJ
viously the cause OF HowelIs death.
Yes. sir" Jenkins quavered. Mr..
Silas thought he had dropped his