Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1920-04-23
CHAPTER v.

I was determined to let the disap-
pearance of the jewels alone until
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. If could discov-
er how the notes had been put there
and who put them there, would be
on the trail of the miscreants.
The placing of the notes indicated
the necessity of a confederate in the
apartment house. Could it be that
one Of the employees was in league
with the plotters? Was one of the
Bradford servants betraying them?
Was my aged great-uncle in hiding
somewhere, playing malevolent pranks
on us? 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. I determined to re-
turn to the apartment and lie in wait
for her until she came in to do I'D
my room. In the week that I had
lived there I had not even laid eyes on
her, although each evening when I
came in I found my bed neatly made.
While awaited her arrival I busted
myself with studying anew the differ
ent rooms in the apartment, hoping
ever to find some new Glue to the
methods by which the anonymous
notes had been delivered. I 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 the flooring. Any agile person
might easily have crept along it If
they dared risk falling six stories to
the ground, but there was no means of
access to it 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.
Gould the converse be true? Was
there some unbalanced person in the
Bradford family who was doing it?
Could it be one of the servants, or
possibly Claire Bradford? She always
had been f1ighty, 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 us?
sat down at my uncles desk. The
pigeonholes crammed full of papers
| a;r
cumstances would have hesitated to
examine them, but now I felt nc
scruples. Old Rufus had warned me
that there was some mystery about
the place. The pearls had strangely
disappeared. / faced the accusation
of having stolen diem. Surely I was
entitled to examine anything and ev.
: erything in my. efforts at solving the
mystery.
Pigeonhole after pigeonhole exam
ined without result until at last I came
to a little leather-covered diary.
read it with interest, noting that il
was for the present year and that the
. last entry had been made only the day
4 before he had departed for Maine
About six weeks previous to the pres
ent date found this amazing entry
t "Heard whispers last night"
3 A week later there was another en-
try, whispers again." There coult
: be no question as to what he meant
The ghostly noises that had been hearG
: by both Miss Bradford and myself hat
a been heard by him, too. No wonder
the old man had been so terrified
e Other entries in the book recorded
t hearing the whispers at intervals O.
|. | ohOut ono week