Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1920-08-19
SYNOPSIS

hneisan Ioises sotns rtanSe' W
calves an invitation TO dinner from his
great-uncle, Rufus CASTOR. On his way
to the house he meets. under peculiar cir
sumsianees. z young strl. apparently 10
TO be Of slight service. She lives in the
same apartment building as Rufus Cas-
ton, M he accompanies her 10 the mouse.
Castor and his wife are going 70 Maine
for q trip and want to leave Nelson IN
charge OF the apartment He accepts,
0Aston and his wife tell their great.
nephew OF mysterious noises" Whispers
which they v heard In the house
CHAPTER lion his way to the Gas
ton apartment next Sunday Nelson again
meets his accidental acquaintance OK
few days before. Barbara Bradford, She
urges him not to Allow me ias' o. 'i ths
apartment Nelson meets the superihtend-
snt, Wick, n tnstinetively disikes MIN:
In Q wall safe he hnds . necklace OF
m%aenihcsnt pearls. worth . small fortune.
passes him without recognition. DINING
In q restaurant he 10 conscious OF the uh-
pleasant scrutiny OF q stranger. but .
man whom he had seen before.
CHAPTER III.-Nex, day Nelson ands
the pearls have disappeared from the
wall safe. His hrst idea Of informing the
police 10 not acted upon because OF Pc
euliar eirsumstanees, He has been s as.
quats explanation or reason, and feels
himself involved in something OF a mys-
teYy. He decides TO conduct an invesa-
satson himself. That night Barbara sig
which is opposite his. and they arrange
Q meeting for next day. In the morning
he fnds . note in his room. asking MN
Why he had not Informed the police OF
the loss Of the Jewels.
CHAPTER iv.-Barbara tells Nelson
Ter sister Claire had some years oetoIe
made q runaway marriage with an az,
ventursr. from whom she was soon parted
and the marriage annulled. Claire is en-
gagged to be married and someone know
ing OF her escapade has stolen documents
concerning the affair from the Bradford
apartme nt and demands a large sum OF
money for their return, threatening 10
forward them 10 Clsire's hsnce II the de.
msnds are not met Neither Barbara nor
her sister have the money TO satisfy me
demands. She tells Nelson she has AIS
heard mysterious sounds IN the dat They
agree TO meet frequently.
CHAPTER v.-The Castor laundress,
the only person In the apartment besides
Nelson, tells him she has heard whispers
and footsteps. apparently in the wall. he
begins TO suspect his great-uncle OF some
knowledge OF the affair; barbara teIis
him she also has heard the footsteps, In
Ia lAlI4 mn "S
have been searched during the night. In.
contestabIe evidence Of the presence OF
someone In the apartment during the
night
CHAPTER W-Nelson invites Miss
Nellie Kelly. telephone operator In the
building, to dinner, hoping through her to
Ind out something that will help him.
table Nelson is informed by the house
detective that she IL a known associate
e criminals, and the wife OF Lefty
Moore" a convict in Cling Sing, He tells
James Gorman-snd makes an appoint
ment for the next day. Returning home.
che finds Claire Bradford In his apartment
she tells him she was trying 10 trace the
source Of the whispers. which had also
disturbed her.
CHAPTER vII-Gornan agrees TO take
the case in a professional capacity, That
ssgevay IN the wall OF his apartment
While re Ia investigating Barbara Joins
him. making her way across a ledge con
meeting the two apartments. He SHOVE
while they are talking they hear a
scream, followed by a shot, from the
apartment beneath them. Barbara has
tens back and Nelson hurries TO the
scene O. the disturbance: He meets Wick
st the door OF the fiat below.
CHAPTER vIII.-Entering, they nnd
tho occupant OF the apartment, Daisy Lu'
tan. 81 actress. dead. wick's opposition
p,oons. and he insists on thsi. being in
formed. Answering n detectives ques-
tionins. Wick apparently tries 10 throw
suspicion on Nelson. Returning to his
Detectives fnd a revolver concealed In a
bureau drawer In Nelson's room. the
weapon with which the crime was com
mitted. and arrest him as the murderer.
CHAPTER Ix.-Circumstantial evidence
apparently IL overwhelming against Nell
son. and after a preliminary investigation
he 10 renanded without bail. Claire Brad
ford makes him q visit.
CHAPTER x.-Nelson and Claire agree
that Barbara's connection with the case
must be kept secret: In a consultation
German expresses his conviction that
Wick IN q "crook." The detective is OF
opinion that a band Of criminals is op-
Grating, D Nelson again becomes sus'
picious Of his great-uncle Gornan re.
fuses to believe In the existence OF the
secret passageWay.
The trouble was that We were abso-
lutely without witnesses. Old Rufus
Gaston's whereabouts still remained
d mystery. II we could discover him
In time, we could at least explain sat
isfactOrily my presence In the Grand
deck and could establish that ! was
not the homeless. penniless vagrant
they would try to prove me. The
longer old Rufus remained In hiding,
the stronger became my suspicion
that be might be In some way involved
In the plot. His action In keeping his
address q secret from me seemed to
have been with deliberate intent.
After some discussion German and
] had agreed not to mention either OF
the Bradford girls.
IF one word about either Of them
slips out In court" said German
they'll be In for II. The papers will
lump to IT and print their pictures
and all that. We'd better leave then
out Of It,"
With this ] heartily concurred.
wal determined that Barbara Brad
ford must be In no way involved
come what may. ] knew that she her
self would be apt to be restrained
from attempting to communicate will
me by the fact that her sisters mar
rage was set for the day after to
morrow. Her loyalty to her fsmil,
was such that she would not risk scan
0al by trying to aid me, at least moi
until her sister was married and the
future for Cluire and her mother az
Sured.
Two small rays Of sunshine light
ened the gloom OF my cell-the fact
that the newspaper mention OF the
tragedy seemed thus far to have es'
capped my mothers notice u the
fact that Barbara still believed In my
innocence and trusted me absolutely
A day or two after my arrest German