Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-08-16
THE PARADISE MYSTERY
rv,s STARTS THE STORY
BY J. S. Fletcher
COPYRIGHT. 1850, by Alfred A. Kropt. t,o

the sceme es,oeyy. ni,seteen years old, aud
M byofher Dick, seventeen, are yards
~ ~ Doetor Ronstord. A strange man
a. ASKS jor Doctor Ranstord and a lsw
misn,ss's wv, ,s saint int wrytSa,s stair. Warner.
Loy, y,onemosop, says ne sao the man
g aoH The theory. Is that the man
XII ,,nnped and feil This is affected TO as
warner insisted Mae ns nag seen
nhn,s fopers for the dead mans
ennSs enaSroi A banker IN Bdrthorpe offers
y re,cord for Information regarding
nc dead man Bryce fnds an entry
,usurch W @ al Braden Medieorth, whcro
SWork Rdnstord had acted as best man
at he marriage OF John Brube aud
MARY Bepery. He tnqnires of fhe old
rsctor--,oho ,eos IN ne sror Marry segery Ws
Sspcry ,ods our gope,ness and mar.
,ycd Bydke, a bank nandosr. later con-
picted for defdicdtion and sentenced to
rem uears' imprisonment" he says.
fnrg Killed Brdden Brake had turned
yp He aud Ransford bod met--most
TE,ly ~ the cathedral Ransford, toho
Encw the old place, Induced Brake TO
wdlk up into the gallery Nth him,
fhro,Cn Brake through H. Al the
taofs pointed to that conclusion--it
pas a theory tohich, so far as Bryce
could see, tOds perfect. it ought TO be
snough--proved-to put Rdnstord IN
q CRIMINAL docE.
AND HERE 1T CONTINUES
DRYCE resolved 1t in his own mind
- over and over again as he sped home
10 Wrychester--he pictured the police lis
tening greedily to all that he could tell
them II he liked. There was only one
-. 80 kA aH ait
which seemed against him--the adver-
tisement In the Times II Brake desired
10 And Ransford in order to be revenged
on him, why did he insert that adVer-
tIsement, as If he were longing to meet
n cherished friend again? But Bryce
paily surmounted that obstacle-full Of
shifts and subtleties himself. he was
ever ready to credit others with trading
IN them, and he put the advertisement
down as a clever ruse to attract, not
Ransford, but some person who could
give information about Ransford. What
ever its exact meaning might have been,
ia existence made no difference to
Bryce's Arm opinion that 1t was Mark
Ransford who flung John Brake down
St Wrytha's Stair and killed him. He
was as sure of that as he was certain
that Braden was Brake. And he was
his discoveries--he was not going
10 tell anybody. The one thing
that concerned him was-how best
TO make use Of his knowledge with IL
view to bringing about marriage be.
tween himself and Mark Ransfords
ward He had set his mind on that for
twelve months past, and he was not -
man TO be baked of his purpose. BY
fair means. or foul-he himseif ignored
the last word and would have substi-
tuted the term skillful for itxPemberton
Bryce meant to have Mary >Bewery.
Mary Bewery herself had no thought
Of Bryce IN her head when, the morning
after that worthy's return to Wryches-
Ter, she set out. alone. for the Wryches-
ter Golf Club. 1t was her habit to go
there almost every day, and Bryce was
well acquainted with her movements and
knew precisely where to waylay her:
And empty of Bryce though her mind
was; she was not surprised w9em, omaon az
Bryce turned the corner of q spinney and
met her face to face.
Mary would have passed on with no
more than a silent recognition-she nau
made up her mind to have no fuTther
speech with her guardians dismissed as
sistant. But she had to pass through
a wicket gate at that point, ana Bryce
barred the way, with unmistakaple pur-
pose 1t was plain to the girl that ne
had lain In walt for her She was not
dn wsoS, It, temper out Of on hef the e oender S'
DO you call this manly conduct. Doc
Tor Bryce?" she demanded, turning an
indignant and flushed face on him. 70
waylay me here. when you know that
don't want to have anything more 10
do with you. Let me through please-
and 20 away" - nat,
But Bryce kept hand on the little
gate. and when he spoke there was tnat
in his voice which made the girl listen
in spite OF herself. .,,n ,o
said quickly. II give you my WORD 1
won't say a thing that need offend you.
It's true l waited here for you-ts tns
only place ir which thought ! could
meet YOU, alone. ! want to no,p SPEAK Your sq
you. IT'S thtsmdo II you know your
Bryce had the gift Of plausibility-1he
could convince people. against their IN
stincts. even against their Wills, that ne
was telling the truth. And Mary, atter
swift glance, believed him: .Ard &,
he IS, and il You know he is-why don't
you go direct to him.? ,,
The most fatal thing in the world
to do exclaimed Bryce. you Know
him--he can be nasty. That wouid
bring matters to crisis. Ana tnat, u,
his interest, Is just what nus''
happen" ,
Il don't understand you" said Mary.
Bryce leaned nearer to her-across
the gate.
YOU know what happened .:.rn last ., week nSs
he said In a low voice. The strange
death Of that man-Braden.'
'Well?" she asked, with sudden look
Of uneasiness. What of it?"
It's being rumored-whispered--in
the town that Doctor Ransford had
something to do with that affair"
answered Bryce. "Unpleasant-unfor-
wnate-but it's fact"
Impossible :" exclaimed Mary with
heIghtenIng color. What could he
have to do with It? What could give
rise to such foolish-wicked-
You know as well as | do how people
tak how they will talk" said Bryce
You can't stop them, in a place like
WINCHESTER, where everybody knows
everybody. There's mystery around
SSradens death-its no use denying It,.
Nobody knows who he was. where he
came from, why he came. And it's being
nlnted-lm only telling you what I've
sathered-that Doctor Ransford knows
T more than he's ever told. There are,
m AFRAID, grounds"
w., What grounds?" demanded Mary.
n. mnIle Bryce had been speaking. in his
Usual slow, careful fashion, she had
zen zen renecting-and remembering Rams
ttSSlus evident agitation at the time Of
NE ne raradise affair--and his relief when
me inquest was overland his sending
1 WIN nowers to the dead mans grave
NJ ana she began to experience a sense
%, uneasiness and even OF fear. "wha,
6bounds can there be-" she added. "Dr,
nmSnstord didn't know that man-han
never seen him.
~, mats not certain" replied Bryce.
tbrns ssaia-remember, I'm only repeating
HnBs-its said that iuat hasora ,hn
% S0ay was discovered, Doctor Ransrord
wss, seen-seen, mind you leaving the
iI' porch OF the cathedral looking as
Tne Nc mad Just been very much upset