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Make the most of your Tea . . W, SA1ADA ' SERIAL STORY MURDER IN FERRY COMMAND BY AW. O'BRIEN THE STORY: Clyde Dawson, Canadian . Intelligence Depart, tent, li on the trail of spies op- erating against the R. A. F. Bomb- er Ferry Command In Newfound- land. One of the spies has been hanged for murder. Pursuing dew, Dawson narrowly escapes murder aboard a train. Then, on a boat to Canada, he finds a box containing one of the hanged man's hands In his stateroom. A CLEVER TRAP CHAPTER IV It all seamed like a chapter out of "Dracula" or a cheap horror movie. But the awful thing lying ID the box was undeuiebly the right band chopped off Lemoy Sutler's body. The stump Indi- cated a clean hard blow, afi with aharp ax. Clyd Dawson shook off a sud- den wave of repulsion at the whole situation. A little fresh air would have helped but the port boles were sealed. Abruptly he vk) the box aside, probed Into his ault case until he found a flask, flipped of! the cap and drank deeply. A clgaret followed and Investigator djew &. deep "That's better!" he spoke aloud. "Now let's see what poor Lemoy's hand will tell." Using a towel, Dawsou picked Ike hand out of the box and turn- ed It around slowly. There was something odd In Ite shape that suggested . . . that's It ... the fingers had been straightened at' When Statin was hanged N ;..": had clenched during the terrible drop. Rigor mortis had almost cemented the man's hands In that ehape. Dawson recalled kow difficult It had been to un- clench them for the post-mortem examination. But here the fingers were straightened out. Carefully he put aside the hand, wrapped In the towel, and turned to the box and paper, taking pains to keep tils own fingers under the folds of an handkerchief there wan aways a chance that the ex- perts at Ottawa could pick ott a finger print or two unless they bn<! beiMi miidged when he open- ed the package. Just what purpose lay behind the ghoulish act? Why had the hand been hacked off Statler's body In I ho first place? It miiHt have been dono within the last 1C hours becauso Dawson, after ordering Statler'H body kept In refrigeration pending further in- i. '"'", had finally released It for Imrlal only two mornings ago. Had the unknown individual risked detection In daylight hours at the graveyard by' breaking into the vault jiiHt to gi-t the hand In an attempt to scare the Investi- gator? DawHon shook his head. No, that doesn't make HI-IIHC after all id' i- had boon the knifing episode on the tniln last night. Killers don't try to kill first and then t'.arc prospective victims on the second attempt It would be the other way around. "I seem to be getting nowhere fast," miiHod Dawson, 'but otu; thing U certain th ghoul is on tin.- -iii;. now. He certainly trav- elled on the train with me from fit. John's, because the hand could- n't li Hi' come, to I'm i ;ni\ li.i: i|in . ahead of him unless it wax flown ami that wasn't possible because tin i in no nlr *IM-V|CI>. There is one way . . ." DawHon hopped to his feet, pac.keil tin* hand carefully and hid It under a hunk, heaving the light turned on, ho ll|>peil quietly Into the paKHagi-wny and walked up to the ciipiiiin'H i|ii.nii-i- Tin' i. PLUM i.r pi mi his cre- dentials and DawMin explained w4iat he wauled, without men- tioning the hiind epi.-mlr. In two mil. i'ii. the pui'MT had brought the long slu els In on which are com|i)!til all data on (lie passen- gers. "An I understand it, sir," the purser '(I, "vein are seeking a man who ramo from St. John's on (ho same MIL There are many, of rour.-:c, hut you want, to try weeding them down to the mcvit likely pi-uspecls That should be fairly esy because there are only 1211 passengers nboard, and 42 arc C:iii.nliaii or American mili- tary, nnvul air! nlr fnreii men. Kach section has one officer In char-.e wlio i-;.n tell about his m-n . . ." - "<; o o d,' 1 exclaimed Dawson. "Let's start from there!" One by one the officers were asked to report and each vouched for hie men personally. That cut the number of prospects to 81. Bit by bit, they eliminated many others. Seven men were accom- panied by their wives and child- ren totaling 22 persons. Twelve more were either well-known busi- ness men or wives or daughters of pomlnent families known per- sonally to tin- purser, a veteran of three decades on the Cabot Strait run. The list was now down to 47. Another party of 14 men had boarded the train at Bishop's Falls. Their credentials showed they bad been employed on ore concentrates work at Botwood. A fast checkup with the head man of the party revealed all 14 had been at Botwood since autumn. Two other men were a newspaper team from Montreal. Four men were American engineers from the U.S. naval base at Argentina. Twelve more passengers were either wives returning from visiting their husbands on service in St. John's, children or elderly men. "That brings us down to 16," calculated Dawson. "Now I have reason to suspect that the party I seek would, like Garbo, want to be alone because of certain items of baggage and odd jobs he may want to do aboard. How many of the 1C have separate cabins?" The purser checked over the list carefully. "Only four and here they are, sir." For half an hour Daweon stud- ied the four listings carefully, jot- ting own all given patlculars on each, together with cabin num- bers. "That's swell," he said at length. "Now we'll have to exer- cise caution In thfc morning be- cause false arrest Is still a seri- ous offense In Canada. Mr. Pur- ser, you will do the Intelligence Department a great favor if you ask one trusted room steward to Inapect all four cabins with ut- most care in the morning as soon as their occupants leave to pass Immigration at North Sydney, and report anything they sen or find, no matter how slight, to me. For Instance, I am particularly inter- ested In any pieces of hrown wrapping paper or cord. Moan- while I'll have the Immigration officials hold up the men under some, pretext. And you realize, of course, the no-ed for utmost ce- crecy?" Both captain and purser nod- ded. It was almost 5 a.m. before DawRon returned to his cabin. Hut he didn't sleep. Switching off the llghtn and slipping his revol- ver Into a bathrobe- pocket, ho cllmbod Into nn upper bunk where ho could keep an eye on the door. An ho puffed at his pipe, ho went over IWPJ-.V dolnll of the plan he had decided upon for (lie morn- ing. It looked good to him a slight gullible, |. .!i. i.'. hut the quickest way. Da WHOM must have dozed be- I'.in i- some ii'M-i' awake-nod him, followed by the cnblu lights being turned on. Automatically his hand closed on tho revolver, but he laughed outright as his room stew- ard entered with a cup of steam- Ing coffee, InnkiiiK in frank amazement at the unoccupied low- fir bunks and the cabin's lono oc- cupant lying <l reused in nn upper one. "Don't get the wrong Idea, steward," he said, climbing down to tho floor. "I didn't have one two in. in. last night and I'm not nccentrlr ... I just find it health- ier to sleep in uppers at times." "As long as you were comfort- .iiiili lr . . . Here IB some roffeo for you. Hreiikfasl will be romly In 20 minutes. The ship Is two hours late on account of (he ICP. I'll bring you some hot water for shaving." DUWKOII w.is In the captain's cabin when the Canadian immi- gration mull came aboard at tho Capo Breton Island port In Nova Scotia, lie knew both and gave them llii' names of the. four men he wuntt'il delayed under "any pretext." Tiny agreed. Not wishing to nrou.se thn want- ed man's suspicions, Dawsou avoid- ed talking to tlin Immigration men or ship's officer In front of other piisseiiKerH. lie remained In (In* caiitnln'8 qmirUTs whlln HIK Queue formed In the main lounge to file by the two decks at which the Immigration men sat He didn't have long to wait. The pursuer entered with a steward who was carrying several towels badly smeared with what looked like black Ink. "Here's the only curious item we have found, Mr. Dawson in Cabin 14 on A Deck the passenger seemed to have had an unusual amount of trouble with bis foun- tain pen. Either that or he spilled a full bottle of vea-y thick ink. His name Is Paul Dexel with ail- dress . . ." The Investigator hit the table with his fist: "Never mind, I know all that. , . you've solved a riddle for me." Tossing a bill on the table he hurried down to hie cabin and reopened the parcel containing Lemoy Sutler's hand. Turning it palm up he studiously Inspected the fingertips under the glare of a small searchlight. "That's it!" he muttered in sat- isfied manner. "Every fingertip lias minute traces of ink. The hand was taken off to eecure Statler's fingerprints for some Identification purpose. The man who entered the cemetery vault found that the bands were too rigidly clenched to get good prints. So rather than risk detec- tion he simply chopped off one hand and took it with him to straighten out the fingers at bis leisure, but . . ." Daweon frowned. ". . . but why cart along the ungodly thing just to throw it in my cabin?'' For a few seconds he remained deep in thought. "That's easy the lad also was watching me and when I left St. John's In a hurry he didn't have time to do his work. So he brought the hand along. There was no place to work on the train, BO he waited until he got aboard the Caribou. He could have chucked the hand into the water but some ghoulish strain prompted him to try scaring me . . ," A steward entered with a note from one of the Immigration men: "Dawson You had better get go- Ing on whatever you plan. One of the four you asked to be delayed ia raising hell aud I can't lie much longer. His name is Paul Dexel." * * Dawson found his man in the lounge loudly berating the immi- gration official. Dexel was about 5 feet 11 inches, athletic in build mi. I blond. He appeared to be in his mid-thirties. "Pardon me, Sir. Dexel," Daw- son interrupted, "I'm a Dominion Government Intelligence officer and tho delay Is my fault. A slight irregularity has been noted in your passport and I must bring you up to our local bureau for questioning." Dexel, obviously taken aback, continued to protest: "This is sheer nonsense aud I intend in- forming the authorities. . ." "Just come along with me- now,'* Dawson smiled easily. "It will probably take only a few minutes." Dexel was already wearing his hat and coat. The two walked down the gangplank, through the bed and out to tho street. "There's a shortcut through a back street, Mr. Dexel, if you don't mind . . . taxi service is doubtful here at present ... It will save time and 1 know you are. a busy man . . ." Dawson turned Into a narrow path through the snow. He could hear Dexel's steps behind him as they turned around the back of a building which was obscured from the struct by a billboard. Suddenly, Dawson's straining ears noted a change In the rhythm of the steps behind. Wheeling away like a flash, he pivoted on his right foot and grabbed Dexel's right wrist In his own right hand u knlfo glistened in the sun. Swinging around, weight balanc- ed on right, Dawaon took advan- tage, of the attacker's forward lurch and (hrew him by bringing down his own left arm on Dexel'8 right shoulder. Switching quickly he slashed with his right fist, <imirely on the other's down- turned jaw. Dexel rolled over on one- side Into the snow as Dawson's hand- cuffs clicked. "That's elementary Jiu-jitsu, friend," panted Dawson. "Now, If you don't mind, Mr. Ghoul Dexel, I'll toss you in clink and have you Investigated by another agent while, I buzz off to Chicago. Some- how, I've got a hunch you don't want me to go there!" (Continued Next Week) Britain's Prayer The words of the Archbishop of Canterbury's special prayer, uttered by the British people on the occasion of the Third Anni- versary of the war In token of the people's dedication to a war for justice and right, are as fol- lows: I MI d bless our country and all who servo it; uphold our courage through all that comes; make us worthy of victory and establish peace and good will; through. Jesus Christ our Lord. ISSUE 40 '42 CANADIAN STYLE These surviving members of a German U-boat crew were picked up by sailors from the Canadian destroyer Assinibpine after their warship had rammed and sunk the sub during; a running battle in the Atlantic. Captive Germans are shown boarding the Assiniboine. MADAGASCAR: Besides Its Military Value Vast Island Also Has Varied Resources Seized By French in 1883. Madagascar, by its strategic position in the Indian Ocean op- posite Portuguese Mozambique, stands as a eentlnel on vital Al- lied supply lines to the Middle and Far East. Since the fall of Singapore Ma- dagascar's importance has doub- led. Had Axis forces landed there first the Germans or Japanese mlt'ht have been able to cut both the United Nations' communica- tions lines and the strategic 250- mile wide Mozambique Channel off the African East Coast. Moreover, Axis control would have consti- tuted a serious threat to the Afri- can mainland and would have pro- Tided strategic bases for sea and air raiders. Madagascar is just 300 miles off the Eastern African coast. It Is bout 1,000 miles long and its greatest width Is 360 miles. It la nearly as large as the State of Texas, having an area of 240,000 square miles. From its excellent harbor at Diego-Suarez on its northern tip Madagascar is only 800 miles from Mombaea, the main port of the Rrltish Crown Colony of Kenya. The Gulf of Aden, at the most astern tip of Africa, is at a dis- tance of 1.300 miles. The British Orown Colony Mauritius is 474 miles east of the island! The naval base of Port Dauphin on the south- ern tip of Madagascar is 1,000 miles from Durban in South Afri- ca. At a distance of 2,460 miles to the northeast is Ceylon and at twice this distance Singapore and Perth, Australia, can be reached. Its Varied History Madagascar has hud a varied history since its discovery by the Portuguese, Diego Diaz, iu 1500, W'ho christened it St. Laurence. Ae in South Africa, the Dutch suc- ceeded the Portuguese, but in the 18th century the French had mili- tary bases on the East ('oast. Dur- ing the reign of Charles 1, the time when English colonization began in other parts of the world, notably America, a small settle- ment wan formed on the South- west coast, but It was not until 1811, during the Napoleonic Wars, that British troops occupied Tama- lave. The Treaty of Paris in 1814 formally ceded Madagascar to Great Britain, but the age of Im- perialism was not yet, and the British Government merely or- ganized the Hova tribe to manage the Island, of which it was the most important element. A Brit- ish Resident presided at the Hova King's court, British officials ad- vised the native Government. Under Queen Ranavalona II who came to the throne in 1868 and aoon afterwards was baptised, the prohibition of Christian mission- aries was removed, British offic- ers organized the Army, and the United States appointed a Consul to the. independent state of Mada- gascar, the fourth largest Island in the world if Australia is ex- cluded. French Take Control But there were Frenchmen who wished to restore the former au- thority of France over the Mala- gasy. The disputed property of a Frenchman furnished the occasion, or excuse, for war in 1883. when the French bombarded Tamatave and landed troops. The treaty of 1885 placed the foreign relations of the island undor French con- trol and established a French rep- resentative at the capital, Antan- anarivo. A further bombardment followed the rejection of further French demands in 1895; a French force occupied Antananarivo and a French Protectorate, which still endures, was proclaimed. Such is the stormy history of this long island, which has today a population of 4.000,000. mostly natives. The Malagasy, however, have uo representative in the F*rench Chamber of Deputies, and were not even admitted to French citizenship until five years ago. Madagascar's chief commercial port is Tamatave on the east coast, but the city is built close to marshes and has a hot. humid climate. Fort Dauphin, In the arid southern part of the island, lias little to recommend it save a good highway to Tamatave. Foreigners, of whom there are some 35,000, have found the is- land's high central plateau a pleas- ant region. Modern Capital Antananarivo, capital city of 100,000, stands on the plateau near the approximate center of the is- land. It is modern in appearance with boulevards and parks, church- es, schools, hospitals and an im- posing railway station. The chief exports are raw :ii(!>-s. preserved meat, tapioca, rice, dried vege- tables, coffee, graphite and pre- cious stones. At one time the island yielded some rubber. The forests have been virtually denuded. The tableland is brown and barren. Cattle raising is .in important industry, and It has been said that there are more cattle per capita raised on the island than in any other country in the world. The natives will not kill them for food. A man's social position is gauged by the number of cattle he pos- sesses, and he would let his family go hungry rather than butcher one of the beasts. The natives, called Malagasy, are of a brown rather than a black race, and belong to the Malayo- Polynesian family. There are Sem- itic, Mongol and negroid strains In their blood. Members of the rul- ing families are defended from Arabs. PANELLED HOUSEFROCK By Anne Adams Daily duties are a pleasure in Pattern 4206 by Anne Adums. Front and back panels give slim lines; low slanting scams smooth your hips. Gayly accent the sleeve-tabs, the square neckline anil the novel buttoning with ric- rac. Kasy to sew! Pattern 4206 is available in women's sizes 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46 and 48. Size 36 takes 3?; yards 35-inch fabric. Send twenty cents (20c) in coins (stamps cannot be accepted) for this Anne Adams pattern to Room 421, 73 Adelaide St. West, Toronto. Write plainly size, name, address and style number; UNCLE SAM'S HUGE TRANSPORT PLANES Hujje transport planes load up with Uncle Sam's aerial shock troops at Fort Bragg, N. C. anti-tank g;ms being loaded on foreground plane. I V