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PAGE SIX = OSHAWA, ONTARIO, SATURDAY, MAY 13, 1922 -- pressien. I did not mention it before Adele Rossignol; she is so severe in her 'criticism is she not? But At the "Villa Rose" BY A. E. W. MASON since we are alone, I will presume to point it out to mademoiselle that those diamond eardrops which I see peeping out under the scarf are a little ostentatious in her present pre- dicament. They are a provocation me to remove them?" | to thieves. Will mademoiselle permit ---- CHAPTER XIX. Helene Explains And what she heard made her blood run cold, Mme. Ddauvray spoke in a hushed, awestruck voice. : "There is a presence in the room." It was horrible to Celia that the poor woman was speaking the jar gon which she herself 'had taught to her. "I will speak to it," said Mme. Dauvray, and, raising her voice a little, she asked: "Who are you that comet o us from the spirit-world?" ~ No answer came, but all the while Celia know that Wethermill was stealing noiselessly across the floor towards that voice which spoke this, professional patter with so simple a solemnity, "Answer!" she said. And the next moment she uttered a little shrill cry--a cry of enthusiash. 'Fingers touch my forehead--now they touch my cheek--now they touch my throat!" And upen that the voice ceased. But a dry, choking sound was heard, 'and a horrible scuffling and tapping of feet upon the polished floor, a sound most dreadful. They were murdering her--mur- dering an old, kind woman silently and methodically in the darkness. The girl strained and twisted against the pillar furiously, like an animal in a trap. But the coils, of rope held her; the scarf suffocated her. The suffling became a spasmodic sound, with intervals between, and then ceased altogether. A voice spoke -- a man's voice -- Wather- mill's. But Celia would never have recognized it--it had so shrill and fearful an intonation. 'That's horrible," he said, and his voice suddenly rose to a scream, "Hush!" Helene Vauquier whis- pered sharply. 'What's the mat- ter!" "She fell against me>=-her whole weight, Oh!" "You are afriad of her!" "Yes, yes!" And in the darkness Wethermill's voice came querulous- ly between long breaths. "Yes, now I am afraid of her!" Helene Vauquier replied again contemptuously. She spoke aloud and quite indifferently. Nothing of any importance whatever, one would have gathered, had oceurred. "I will turn on the light," she said. And through the chinks in the cur- tain the bright light shone. Celia heard a loud rattle upon the table, and then faimter soudns of the same kind. And as a kind of horrible ac- companiment there ran the labored breathing of the man, which broke now and them with a sobbing sound. They were strippmmg Mme Dauvray of her pearl necklace, her bracelets, and her rings. Celia had a sudden importunate vision of the old wom- an's fat, podgy hands loaded with brilliants. A jingle of keys follow- ed. "That's all," Helene Vauquie said. She might have just turne out the pocket of an old dress. There was the sound of somethin: heavy and inert falling with a du! crash upon the floor, A woman laugh- ed and again it was Helene Vauquie: "Which is the key of the safe?' asked, Adele. "That ome." uier replied: . Celia nd some one drop heavily into a chair. It was Wethermill and he buried his face in his hands Helene went over to him and laid he: hand upon his shoulder and shook you go and get her jewels "out of the safe,'she said and she spoke with a rough friendliness. "You promised you would blind- fold the girl," he cried hoarsely. Helene Vauquier laughed. "pid 1?" she said. "Well, does it matter?" "There would | to And his voice shudderiugly. = ; ' e? gd me? She knows cer- tainly that we are here. Come, Ze and get the jewels. The key of ihe dor's on the mantle-shelf. ae you are away we two will arrang thepretty baby in there. She pointed 19 ral wiht co . " Yolce Falls red across the yop Nike 2 drunkard, and picked up te hey trembling fingers. Celia he in the , serait had gone upstairs. Celia leaned back, her cant Sajal ing within hef. Arrange: i was her turn ROW. She was to be 2 in ed. She had no doubt what 8 meaning that innocent word conceal And Helene Vau- what have been no need broke off And what of us A « x pack, and the two wome t of ner--the ; 3 pris? with her red hair and ue coarse good 1o0ks and Bee sapp dress, and the hard featw lock. and the door bang | heart faint- | tall Adele Ros | She caught her by the neck and lifted her up. She pushed the lace scarf up at the side of Celia's head. Celia began ito struggle furiously, convulsively. , She kicked and writh- ed, and a little tearing sound was heard. One of her shoe-buckles had caught in the thin silk cover- ing of the cushion and slit it. Helene Vauquier let her fall, She felt composedly in her pocket, and drew from it an aluminum flask --+the same flask which Lemerre was afterward to snatch up in the bed- room'in Geneva. Celia stared at her in dread. She saw the flask flashing in the light. She shrank from it. She wondered what new horror was to grip her. Helene unscrewed the top and laughed pleasantly. "Mlle. Celie is under control," she sald, "We shall have to teach her that it is not polite for poung ladies to kick." She pressed Celie down with a hand upon her back, and her voice changed. 'Lie still," she com- manded savagely. "Do you hear? Do you know what this is, Mlle. Celie?" And she held the flask to- ward the girl's face. "This is vitriol, my pretty one, Move, and I'll spoil those pretty white shoulders for you. How would you like that?" Celia shuddered from head to foot, and, burying her face in the cush- ion, Tay trembling. She would have begged for death upon her knees rather than suffer this horror. She felt Vauquier's fingers linger- ing with a dreadful caressing touch upon her shoulders and about her pretty room was within her view. but in thq embrsure of a window seme- thing lay dreadfully still and quiet. Celia held her head averted, But it 'was there, and, though it was there, all the while the women joked and laughed, Adele Rossignol fever- ishly, Helene Vauquier with a real glee most horrible to see. "I beg mademoiselle not to listen to what Adele is saying," exclaimed Helene. And she began to ape in a mincing 'extravagant fashion the manner of & saleswoman in a shop. "Mademoiselle has never looked so ravishing. 'This style is the last word of fashion. It is what there is of most chic. Of coudse mademoi- selle understands that the costume is not intended for playing the piano. Nor indeed for the ball-room, : "It leaps to one's eyes that danc- ing would be difficult. Nor is it in- tnded for much conversation. It is a costume for a mood of quiet reflec- tion, But I assure mademoiselle that for pretty young ladies who are the favorites of rich old women it is the style most recommended by the criminal classes." All the woman's bitter rancor against Celia, hidden for months be- neath a mask of humility, burst out and ran riot now. She went to Adele Fossignol's help, and they flung the girl face downward upon the sofa, Her face struck the cushion at ose end, and her feet struck the cushion at the other. The breath was struck ow of her Seay, She lay with her | throat, She was within an ace of : | thewtorture, the disfigurement, and Helene Vauquier watched her for he knew it. She could not pray a moment with a grin, paying her-|jor mercy. She could only lie quite self now for her respectful speeches|cijl), as she was bidden. trying to and attendance, {control the shuddering of her limbs "Yes, lie quietiNand reflect, little { and body. fool!" she said savagely. "Were you "It would be a good lesson for wise to come here and interfere with Mlle. Celie," Helene continued slow- Helene Vauquier? Hadn't you better |ly. "I think that if Mlle. Celle will have stayed and danced in your rags | forgive the liberty I ought to in- at Montmartre? Are the smart] flict it. One little tiit of the flask frocks and the pretty hats and the and the satin of these pretty shoul- good dinners worth the price? Ask ders--"' yourself these questions my dainty She broke off suddenly little friend!" | tened. She drew up a chair to Celia's side | h8d given Celia a respite, perhaps and sat down upon it comfortably. [more than respite. Helene set the "I will tell you what we are going | ask down upon the table. Her av- to do with you, Mlle.Celia. - Adele | arice had got the better of her hat- Rossignol and that kind gentleman, |red. She roughly plucked the ear- M. Wethermill, are going to take rings out of the girl's ears. She hid you away with them. You will be them quickly in the hosom of her glad to go won't you dearie? For |dress with her eye upon the door you love M. Wethermill, don't you? She did not see a drop of blood gzth- Oh, they won't keep vou long enough | er on the lobe of Celia's ear and fall for you to get tired of them. Do not!into the cushion on which her face fear! But you will not come back, Was pressed. She had hardly hid- Mlle. Celia. No: you have seen too den them away before the door open much to-night. And everyone will | ed and Adele Rossignol burst into think that Mlle. Celia helped to mur- | the moon. oN J der and rob her benefactress. They "Whatl is the matter?" asked Vau- are certain to suspect some one, so quier. why not you, pretty one?" | "The safe's Celia made no movement, She | Searched the room lay trying to believe that no crime ROthing" she cried. Le had been committed, that that life- Everything Is in the safe, ess body did not lie against the wall, | lene insisted. And then she heard in the room| No. and lis- have found empty. We We have Some sound heard outside |Z He- | The two women ran out of the!head in the guiMotine for nothing. room and up the stairs. Celia, lying | He ran to the writing table, tore off on the settee, heard all the quiet of the house change to noise and con- fusion. It was-as though a tornado raged in the room overhead. Fur- niture was tossed about and over the room, feet stamped and ran, locks were smashed in with heavy blows. For many minutes the storm raged. Then it ceased, and she, heard the accomplices clattering down the stairs without a thought of the noise they made. They burst into the room. Wethermill was laughing hysteri- cally, like a man off his head. He had been wearing a long dark over- coat when' he entered the house; now he carried the coat over his arm, He was in a dinner jacket, and his black clothes were dusty and dis- ordered. : Harry "It's all for nothing!" he screamed rather' than cried. "Nothing but the one necklace and a handful of rings!" In' a frenzy he actually stooped over the dead woman and question- ed her. "Tell us--where them?' he cried, "The girl will know," said Helene, Wethermill rose up and looked wildly at Celia, did you hide "Yes, yes," he said, He had no scrupie, fonger for the girl. gain from the erime spoke, He could have no pity any There was no unless -she placed his TT + Dorenwend's will visit the ELITE HAIRDRESSING PARLOR BRADLEY BLOCK Monday & Tuesday, May 22nd & 23rd With a sample display of Switches, Transformations, Bob Side-pieces, Toupees, Wigs, ete, They are of the finest quality and workmanship. Due to im- proved facilities, Dorenwend's are now able to offer their pro- duets at much lower prices. As in the past, the satisfaction of our customers is our first cen- sideration. Should you be un- able to visit, we shall be pleased to serve you by mail. DORENWEND'S New Show Rooms Yonge St. Toronto its place. { The two women heard it too, and] looked at one another. | "He should look in the safe," Vauquier. doing." And Adele Rossignol ran from the room. As soon as she was gone Vauquier followed to the door, listened, closed t gently and came back. She stooped down. i "Mlle. Celia she murmured in a| smooth silky' voice, which terrified he girl more than her harsh tones, "there is just one little thing wrong n your appearance, one tiny little siece of 'bad taste, if mademoiselle vill pardon a poor servant the ex- ibove a bed wheeled roughly from | Double acti action-- Goes said | "Go and see what he is} . half a sheet of paper, and brought it over with a pencil to the sofa. He gave them to Vauquier to held and, drawing out the sofa from the wall, slipped in behind. He lifted up Celia with Rossignol's help and made her sit in the middle of the sofa, with her feet upon the ground. He un- bound her wrists and fingers, and Vauquier placed the writing-pad and the paper on the girl's knees. Her arms were still pinioned above the elbows; she could not snatch the I scart from her lips. But with the pad held up to her she could write. "Where did she keep her jowels. Quick! Take the pencil and write," said Wethermill, holding her left wrist, Vauquier thrust the pencil into her right hand, and awkwardly and slow- ly her gloved fingers moved across the page. "1 do not know," she wrote; and, with an oath, Wethermill snatched the paper up, tore it into pieces and threw it down. "You have got to know," his face purple with passion, and he flung out his arm as though he would dash his fist into her face. But as he stood with his arm poised there came a singular change upon his face. he said, | \ "Did pou hear anything?" he | asked in a whisper. All listened, and all heard in the quiet of the night a faint clicky and after an interval they heard 14 in, and after another but shorter Inter- val yet once more. "That's the gate," said Wether- mill in whisper of fear, and a pulse of hope stirred within Celia. (To be continued) A FOUNDATION "The future of a nation depends upon the character of its Mothers." --~Cincinnatti Times Star. | - | T for on 7 4 {i oH ff +4 (LL -- There not Cowan's Not MapLe Buos HERE are many cheap imita- tions of Maple Buds on the market. People who buy them, not realizing that they are imita- tions, naturally think that Maple Buds have deteriorated in quality and flavour. This is not the case. The standard set by the real Maple Buds over fifteen years ago, has always been maintained. Ask for Maple Buds. Look the name "COWAN?". every Maple Bud. V_- tessne Hi {5 It is Thepre not COWAN'S Not MapLe Buos farther--Try it and you'll be delighted with the results, EGG-O Baking Powder ORDER FROM YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD GROC P Buy Satisfaction --Not Worry emamelic Electric Range OU buy your Electric Range because it is easy to operate, it is clean, it is economical. If it has open elements with exposed coils, you buy also worry and care that lasts as long as the range--which ought to be a lifetime. But if you buy a McClary's Electric Range with Flements, you buy lifelong satisfaction --no worry--you buy a range which cooks--boils, broils, fries, bakes, roasts -- every kind of food better than any other method of cooking yet invent. ed. The seamless, round cornered porcelain enameled oven is a fireless cooker in operation. 9 London, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Vancouver, | St. John, N.B.,, Hamilton, Calgary, Saskatoon | : and Edmonton | 9 Here Are Two Values on Sale Monday 8.30 Pay $1.00 per pair for. 8.30 for 25c. TOWEL On sale at kind you at 8.30 Sce these in the window 12 only large Check and Scotch Check Gingham Dresses and Frocks. are regular $9.00. These On sale Monday $3.95 TUESDAY AT 8.30 A. 5 dozen Ladies' Summer Vests, no sleeves. Regular price 35¢c. On sale TUESDAY AT 8.30 15c¢. 5 dozen Pink or White -- Bloomers. Large sizes are among them. TUESDAY AT 8.30 15c¢. 7 / SEE THE WINDOWS EVERY NIGHT Enter The Prize Contest Special Offer To The one making the greatest amount in purchases during our great Anniversary Sale, we will give free Congoleum Rug. a2x3 Special Offer To The one making the largest pur- chase on the first day of our 15th Anniversary Sale, we will give absolutely free to the one making the greatest Axminster Rug, size 36 x 72. ase a beautiful 4 Save your bills, and if you have a greater amount than thgamount mentioned below, please report same to us not later than May 17th. : Mrs. R. Barrow, Brooklyn, reports her purchases to be $3765 as the first day's buying. If you can beat Simcoe St. N. this, let us know. ENGEL'S | Oshawa