Evening star., 1922-09-07


would foreshadow the-er-disappelr
ance?" asked, Kennedy.
only as I say, that for two or
three days she seemed to be Istless.
to be sinking by slow and easy .stsses
into sort Of vacant, moody state Of
liu-health." d.
she had doctor?' I SUPPOSE
asked.
Yes. DR.. Jermyn. Tracy's own per-
i sonal physician. came down from the
city several days ago"
What did he say?'
He simply said that IT was con-
gestton of the lungs. AS far as he
could see there was no apparent cause
for 1t. ] don't think he was very en-
thusiastic about the mountain air
idea. The fact is, he was like a good
many doctors under the circum-
under observation, and all that sort OF
thing"
whats your opinion" ] pressed
1 Craig. DO you think she has run
iaway."
Naturally. ia rather not attempt
to say yet" Craig replied cautiously.
But there are several possibilities. .
fes she might have left the house .
boat in some other boat. of course,
Then there LIZ the possibility of acci-
dent. II was a hot night. She
might have been leaning from the
window and have lost her balance.
have even thought of drugs, that
she might have taken something in
overheard while under the influence
of it. Then. of course, there are the
two deductions that every ONE has
made already-efther suicide or
murder"
| Waldon had evidently been turn
| ing something over in his mind
There was q wireless outfit aboard
the houseboat." he ventured at
length.
what of that2" ] asked, wonder
ling why he was changing the sub
ject so abruptly.
why. only this" he replied 81
I have been reading about wireless a
good deal lately. and il the theories
wireless gate is not without it's dan
gers as well as its wonders. / recall
reading not long ago of a German
professor who says there is no es-
sental difference between wireless
| waves and the X-rays. and we know
the terrible physical effects of *
rays. / believe he estimated that
] only one-hundred- -milhonth part OF
the electrical energy generated by =
sending a message from one station
TO another nearby is actually used
up In transmitting the message.
The rest is dispersed in the atnos-
phere. There mus: be a good deal
OF such stray electrical energy about
SCO irH pOsSlbte tnAt
might somewhere hit some one who
was susceptible?"
Kennedy said nothing. waIdon.s
was at Least q novel idea, whether
II was plausible or not. The only
way to test 1t out. as far as couI.,
determine, was to see whether IL fitted
with the facts after a careful in
vestfgation of the case itself
II was still early in the day and
the trains were not as crowded rs
he lof
our journey was comfortable enough
ana We found ourselves at last ts
the little vine-covered station a
Seavlle
One could almost feel that the gay
summer colony was in state Of
subdued excitement. As we left the
quaint station and walked down the
main street to the town wharf
where we expected some one would
be waiting for US, il seemed as if
the mysterious disappearance of the
beautiful Mrs. Edwards had put a
damper on the life of the place In
1.-THE hotels there were knots of people
evidently discussing the AFFAIR. for
as We passed we could tell by their
faces that they recognized us. one
or Two bowed and would have Joined
us. IL Waidon had given any en-
conragement But he did not stop.
quickly.
I myself began to feel the spe,,
OF mystery about the case as 1 had
not felt it among the distractions Of
there even seemed to be something
strange about the houseboat which
we could descry at anchor far down
tne oay as we approached the wharf
we were met, as Waldop had ar
ranged. by a high powered runabout,
the tender to his own yacht . slim
little craft of mahogany and brass.
driven like an automobile and ca
pable of perhaps twenty-five or thirty !,
miles an hour. We jumped in and
were soon skimming over the waters
OF the bay like a skipping stone.
1t was evident that Walden was
much relieved at having been able to
bring eSsts.ance, In which he had as
muoh confidence as he reposed in
KennsAy. At any rate. it was some
thing 70 be nearing the scene of ac-
The Lueie was perhaps seventy feet
long and most attractive craft. with
q hull yachty in appearance and OF
typs which could safely make long
runs along the coast. stanch. sea-
speed of the regularly designed
yacht. but more than making up in
comfort for those on board what was
lost in that way. Walden pointed out
with obvious pride his own trim yacht
swinging gracefully at anchor hair
mile or so away.
As we approached the houseboat 1
looked her over carefully. One of the
first things I noticed was that there
rose from the roof the primitive in
verted v aerial of q wireless tele-
graph. l thought Immediately of the
unfinished letter and its contents, and
shaded my eyes as ] took a good luck ,
at the powerful transatlantic station =
on the spit Of sand perhaps three or b.
four miles distant. with it's tall steel :
masts OF the latest inverted l. type
and the cluster of little houses below.
in which the operators and the plant
were.
Waldon noticed what I was looking
at and remarked. ITS a wonderful
station, and we'll worth a visit, IL
you have the time-one OF the most
powerful on the coast. 1 understand"
"How did the Lucie come to be
equipped with wireiess?" asked Craig
quickly. It's little unsual for a
private boat.
'Mr. Edwards had 1t done when she
was built" explained waldon. His
idea was to use II to keep in touch :
with the stock market on trips?'
And it has proved effective?" asked
Craig.
"Oh. yes-that Is, 1t was all right
last winter when he went on q short
cruise down in Florida This sum-
mer he hasn't been on the boat long
enough to use 1t much"
WHO operates tt?"
He used to hire . licensed oper-
ator. although I believe the engi-
neer, Peterson, understands the thing
pretty well, and could use II II
necessary.
"Do you thing it was Pederson who
used ii for Mrs Edwards?" asked