The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1939-09-29
CHAPTER xI-Continued


And Mrs. Tame added, in her
slow, precise fashion: eve have no
information to give you. My moth
er was in bed and asleep. was
with her. My son Asa was asleep
in the dining-roonn. My husband
was at home. My son Rab was in
Providence. Miss Leaford was-I
don't know where. / knew nothing
till the electric lights went out, and
] started to look at the fuse-box,
and saw the flames from the pantry
window"
Rab insisted: Gentlemen, you
can't annoy these ladies! They have
suffered"
But Mrs. Tame said quietly:
Nonsense, Rab. It is not ques-
ton of annoyance, or of endurance.
I do not choose to be questioned;
that is ALL" She repeated: "And !
. wish this dangerous gossip stopped,
now" She nodded toward the door
in. gesture of dismissal.
Tope said gently: II see you
burned your hand!'
Mrs. Tame eyed him steadily.
'Yes, when I lighted one of the
lamps" she said. .'The match
head"
But Rab cried bitterly: "Gentle-
men, won't permit this! You must
CO."
Tope looked to Inspector Heale
for guidance; and the other yielded.
So the two men came out together;
and out of doors, in the lee of the
house, sheltered from the rain,
Heale mopped his brow.
Chief Mason stopped, and turned;
and Tope with nod toward the ru-
ms of the burned houses asked:
''You think you can find anything
in there?"
''It will be a piece of luck if we
do" the Chief confessed. "Arson's
always hard to prove" He added:
sThere was gas-explosion, sure.
+ And by the way the fire ripped up
through that laundry-chute, should
think oil had been poured down the
chute, or gasoline. It's not likely
we'll find anything, but we might"
And he said grinly: "But I'll 60
through the ashes with a sitter. II
there's anything there, I mean to
get it. Old Denman Hurder was
gentleman. He always had q word
for any man on the street. ! liked
him."
Hes still alive" Tope pointed
out.
''IIe's full Of smoke, and gas too,"
Mason replied. "Must have had
enough gas to kill him."
t'No chance it was accident?"
Tope asked soberly.
''Might have been," the Chief
grudgingly assented. "There was
gas-leak somewhere. The cellar and
their room must have been full of
it. And crossed wires suffering
might have set it off. The place
was a firetrap. Mr.. Hurder had
had electric lights put in, with a de-
cent installation, but then the others
connected up to his line, and did the
work themselves. Poor job, prob
ably. It's a wonder they hadn't
had trouble before"
Tope nodded, and he asked: "Then
how do you know it wasn't just
crossed wires, and leaky union in
the cashier"
The Chief said honestly: 81 don't
know how I know. But when you've
been in this business as long as /
have, there are some fires that don't
smell right; that's all. You get
bunch they're wrong, without know
ing why"
The Inspector looked at him APP
provingly. He had observed some
thing of the sort himself, so many
times. He inquired:
"Chief, were you slow in answer
ing the alarm tonight"
"Don't think So" the Chief as
sured him. 81 wasn't there, but
nobody said anything about de-
lay"
sT'd like to know what time the
alarm came in,n Tope told him.
tsAnd what time the first apparatus
got here"
FERN get it for you," the Chief
promised. He turned back to the
dying fire.
: Tope and Inspector Heale went
on to the police car beside the road;
and Heale confessed in an irascible
tone: We've got almighty little to
60 on, Tope. No place to begin"
IT like to find out as much about
the time things happened as ! cam"
Tope suggested. Lets drive down
right now and check up on that
telephone-call. Nothing to do here
till daylight, anyway"
Hea1e agreed; SO they departed
on this mission. Heale phoned to
ask the Providence police to make
inquiries about Rab Tame; and they
got from Fire Headquarters rec
ord of the alarm. Then Providence
called back; Heale answered, and
reported to Tope, with q dry amuse-
ment:
Here's something Rab Tame was
there, all right: but he wasn't alone.
INF UN~~ :