The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1920-11-19

Lie uuy ! was utSCadFSSu, / went
on, Il had drawn out from the savings
bank all my money with the purpose
OF sending it to my mother to whom |
was In debt. / still had 1t with me
when l arrived home at the apartment
and l decided to put it in the wall
safe, to which. you recall, you had
given me the combination. Out Of
mere curiOsity"--I made this confess
sion with a blush Of shame-"I had in
spected the contents Of the safe the
day Of my arrival and had examined
the two caskets. The minute I opened
the safe this second time I saw that it
had been looted"
what" exclaimed my great-uncle,
starting from his seat, mot the
pearls !"
l nodded.
Everything. The casket with the
pearls was gone. The other with the
trinkets was u~ndisturbed."
"Good heavens!" he exclaimed. "GIy
wife's pearls stolen! Why, boy. I paid
a hundred and fifty thousand dollars
for that string. Tell me everything
about it-everything. at once"
/ could only repeat what l had told
him already. When l had opened the
safe on Sunday the pearls were there.
When l had opened 1t again on the fol
lowing Saturday the pearls were gone.
"Of course you told the police at
once"
l explained to him why l had not
done so. and my reason seemed to
satisfy him.
go on with your story" he calmly
directed. He seemed to have himself
well in hand again. After the first
shock at hearing of the loss Of the
pearls he showed no sign of emotion
or displeasure.
He listened intently as l told him of
my second meeting with Barbara
Bradford when l had learned that the
Bradford wall safe had been looted,
too. and the papers distracted con
corning the annullment Of Claire's
first marriage. He nodded his head
slightly when l told him of the anony-
nous notes found on the floor in
both apartments.
did you hear the whispers, too:"
he questioned.
"Yes," l answered, II heard them
several times. Barbara has heard
them, and the laundress. too"
A look of unspeakable relief came
over his face.
I'm glad to know that others have
heard them besides myself. When a
man gets old his nerves sometimes
play him strange pranks. The whis-
pers seemed so unreal and incredible
that l feared that / was suffering from
the hallucinations Of old age. Now
that l know that the whispers are real,
there Is nothing to fear"
"And." observed, 81 believe. l am
almost positive. | a explain the
origin OF the whispers"
TELL me-" he cried. his manner now
entirely changed. He seemed elated
at discovering that his brain was still
dependable. 1t was as II a burden had
suddenly been lifted from him.
Here was my opportunity. German
had utterly refused to credit my story
Of a secret passage and had ridiculed
it. There had been no way that l
could prove 1t, o va 1t possible for
German to have investigated the walls
Of the G~randdeck, even IL he had
placed any credence in my story. With
my great-uncle 1t was different. As
the occupant Of the apartment he
would have every right and oppor-
tunity to explore and verify my state
ments. I told him how. while specu-
lating as to the origin Of the whispers.
| had observed the discrepancy in the
measurements Of the apartment and
had verified my deduction that there
was space enough for q passageway
big enough for a nan to traverse In
the wall between the room l had oc-
cupied and the long hall. He listened
intently as I described the plan Of the
rooms In detail and nodded his ap-
prevail.
"And what Is more" l added trf-
umphantly, Barbara Bradford and I
had just discovered an opening into 1t
by pushing the wall panel In my room
back and then sliding It along. We
were inspecting it when we heard the
shot In the apartment below. | closed
the panel and raj downstairs and have
had no opportunity since to investi-
gate. but / am sure the passage Is
there. am convinced that 1t was the
sound Of voices there that made the
whispers. | suspect It vas used by
whoever left the anonymous notes in
the room. and that the person or per-
SONS who looted the safes entered and
escaped by that means. l would n0t
he surprised II It was not BY means Of
this passageway that the murderer Of
Miss Lutan escaped. after he had left
his revolver In the drawer Of my
dresser"
Ny great-uncle shook his head per-
plexedly.
ut sounds improba-e-too much