Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1920-07-15
synopsis

ereAt-uncle. Rufus Castor. On his way
20 me house he meets. under peculiar cir
trouble. To- whom he has an Opportunity
70 Dc OF slight service. She lives in the
same apartment building as Rufus Gas
Son. and ne accompanies her to the house.
Tor q trip and want to leave Nelson In
charge OF the apartment he accepta
CASTOR and his wife tell their great
nephew Of mysterious noises-"whispers"
-""en they have heard In the house.
CHAPTER lion his way to the Gas
ton apartment next Sunday Nelson agrdn
meets his accidental aeQuaintance Of .
urges him not to allow the fact Of their
being acquainted to Be known. At the
apartment Nelson meets the s~uperintend-
'snt. Wick. and instinctively dislikes him.
In . wall safe he fnds q necklace of
mssnincent pearls. worth . small fortune.
Meeting Barbara In the hallway she
passes him without recognition. Dining
IN . restaurant he 10 conscious Of the I'M
man whom he had seen before.
CHAPTER M.-Next day Nelson nnds
the pearls have disappeared from the
police il not acted upon because Of pc
culiar circumstances. He has been dis
charged from his position without ade-
9uats explanation or reason, and feels
AhAAcCi Wv III tUELCttlluk Ok y Ihyc-
terry. He decides to conduct an invesu-
cation himself. That night Barbara sig
nails from the window Of her apartment.
which Is opposite his. and they arrangs
he finds = note In his room. asking him
Why he had not informed the police of
the loss of the 3swelA
CHAPTER fy.-Barbara tells Nelson
her sister Claire had some years before
made q unaway marriage with an ad.
venturer. from whom she was soon parted
and che marriage annulled. Claire is en-
Ing Of her escapade has stolen documents
concerning the affair from the Bradford
apartment and demands a large sum OF
money for their return. threatening to
forward them to Claire's Nance II the de-
mands are not met Neither Barbara nor
her sister have the money to satisfy the
demands. She tells Nelson she has also
heard mysterious sounds in the nat They
agree to meet frequently.
CHAPTER v.-The CASTOR laundrees.
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 tells
him she also has heard the footsteps, In
the morning he discovers his pockets
have been searched during the night, In
contestable evidence of the presence OF
someone In the apartment during the
night
CHAPTER vI-Nelson invites Mis-.
Nellie Kelly, telephone operator in the
building. TO dinner, hoping through her to
md out something that will help him.
During her temporary absence from the
table Nelson Is informed by the house
detective that she Is a known associate
q criminals. and the wife OF Lefty
M00Is" senXiet in Sing Sing. He tells
James Gorman-and makes an appoint
ment for the next day. Returning home,
he finds Claire Bradford in his apartment.
source Of the whispers. which had also
disturbed her.
CHAPTER vII-Gorman agrees to take
the case in a professional capacity. That
evening Nelson discovers a concealed pas.
sagevay In the wall Of his apartment.
While he IL investigating Barbara joins
him, making her way across a ledge con-
her the entrance 10 the passageway, and
while they are talking they hear q
scream, followed by a shot. from the
apartment beneath them. Barbara has
scene Of the disturbance. He meets Wick
at the door Of the fat below.
CHAPTER vIII.-Entering, they nnd
the occupant of the apartment. Daisy Lu.
tan, an actress. dead. Wick's opposition
TO calling the police arouses Nelson's sus-
piefons, and 10 insists on their being In
s si:niss. 1 ani"s s=ppsr. INT ot .ries to throw fqes,
suspicion on Nelson. Returning to his
apartment. he sees Claire just leaving.
Detectives ind a revolver concealed in a
weapon with which the crime was COM
mitted, and arrest him as the murderer.
CHAPTER Ix.-Circumstantial evidence
apparently II overwhelming against Nell
ann and after a preliminary Investigation
he 10 remanded without bail. Claire Brad.
ford nakeas him a visit.
why should II ] replied careless
ly, REFRESHING my desire to leap at
ono to Z arbara's defense and explain
how pure and honorable her conduct
had been and how lofty the motive
that had governed her actions.
Tempted though / was to defend her,
! realized that this might be an CD
portunity to learn something OF Claire
Bradford's associates, and l deter
mined to make the most Of It. How
else could she know Of all my meet
ings with Barbara unless she was In
league with the persons who had been
having me shadOwed? How the
knowledge that Barbara had been In
my apartment could have come to her
was a mystery beyond me. / would
have sworn that that wa q secret sa-
cred to our two selves.
'Listen to me-" she commanded,
speaking In low tones. Barbara Is
my baby sister, innocent Of the ways
Of the world. / must save her from
herself, and her heedlessness. Never,
never, II ] can help II, shall she suffer
the agony and shame and disgrace
that I have known. Years ago |, just
10 she IL now. became infatuated with
q man far below me IN the social
scale. He. too. was a criminal"
/ smiled Indignantly at the he,
too" but she paid no attention.
II ran away from school and mar.
ried him and learned too late that he
had a wife and child already. All my
life, ever since, that terrible thing has
followed me. It's like q specter ever
rising 10 confront me. Even II | have
to kill you, ] um going to save my lit
tie sister from following In my steps"
where is CASTOR Maurice nowT" !
asked. Have you seen him recentlyr
She gssped and s%huddered. looking
at me incredulousIy.
"You," she breathed excitedly. "who
are your How do you know his
nAme1"
"Never mind how ! know It," I re-
piled. "Wbat l want to know is
where 10 he now1 When did you see
him lastT'
mot for years-not since long be-
fore my fathers ~death--not since the
marriage was annulled."