The Jasper news. [volume] (Jasper, Missouri) 1898-1924, 1920-08-12
CHAPTER v.

was determined to let the disap-
pearance of the jewels alone until I
had found some way Of getting the
Bradfords out Of their troubles. The
key to the mystery surely lay In the
notes that had been found on the floor
in both apartments. II could discov-
or how the notes had been put there
and who put them there. I would be
on the trail OF the miscreants.
The placing Of the notes indicated
the necessity of confederate In the
apartment house. Could It be that
one Of the employees was in league
with the plotters1 Was one of the
Bradford servants betraying themi
Was my aged great-uncie in hiding
somewhere, playing malevoient prankS
on usi How had that note gotten In
to my own apartment Nobody had
access to the place but myself-yes,
and Mrs. Burke, my great-aunt's trust
ed old laundress. determined to re-
turn to the apartment and lie in wait
for her until she came in to do up
my room. In the week that I had
lived there had not even laid eyes on
her, although each evening when I
came in found my bed neatly made.
While / awaited her arrival busted
myself with studying anew the differ
ent rooms in the apartment, hoping
ever to ind some new clue to the
methods by which the anonymous
notes had been delivered went to
the back of the house and looked out
Of the rear windows. An ornamental
ledge Of stone, perhaps eighteen inches
wide ran along apparently on the level
Of tie flooring. Any agile person
might easily have crept along II II
they dared risk falling six stories to
the ground, but there was no means Of
access to II save from either my bed
room or the sitting room or from the
corresponding rooms In the Bradford
apartment. Certainly no one from my
apartment had been Tipping mysteri-
GUS notes into the other apartment
Could the converse be truee Was
there some unbalanced person In the
Bradford family who was doing I'll
Could 1t be one Of the servants. OF
possibly Claire Bradfordf She always
had been fiighty, according to her sis
ter's description. Had her troubles
unbalanced her to such an extent that
she was playing mysterious hysterical
pranks on all Of usf
/ sat down at my uncle's desk. The
pigeonholes crammed full Of paper
caught my eye. Under ordinary cir
cumstances would have hesitated ts
examine them, but now felt M
scruples. Old Rufus had warned me
that there was some mystery abou
the place. The pearls had strangel,
disappeared l faced the accusation
Of having stolen them, Surely wal
entitled to examine anything and ev
erything In my efforts at solving thu
mystery.
Pigeonhole after pigeonhole I exam
med without result until at last cam,
to a little leather-covered diary.
read II with interest. noting that 1
was for the present year and that tn
last entry had been made only the da!
before he had departed for Maine
About six weeks previous to the pres
ent date / found this amazing entry
"Heard whispers last night"
A week later there was another en-
try, whispers again." There couI'
be no question as to what he meant
The ghostly noises that had been hear
by both Miss Bradford and myself ha,
been heard by him, too. No wonde
the old man had been 50 terrified
Other entries in the book recorde
hearing the whispers at intervals Q
about one week.