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som and her nephew 2 propria n AEG and have a con- the budtness Anastasia "p masterful pan was a pichaq, an Oriental knife, and it had fick Bought on the board- It is learned that one Croydon Sears is a fancier of curious bool He mits buying two knives but not the Anastasia en architect, to work on Pelton, the dead man's nephew, ar- rives and is intr by some-curious French dolls in Folsom's room. Eroydon Sears' initials are discov- ered in a notebook of Folsom's and Pelton thinks his uncle had been do- ing some blackmailing. Robin Sears, Croydon's son, is worried now that suspicion is resting on his father. Riggs tells him he has learned that Croydon Sears had purchased a third agger. The elder Sears sends for Fleming Stone, famous detective, who arrives soon after, = NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY Titus Ri an the Fors the danger of such, I shall think I PT ~ ye pme unnecessarily." CHAPTER XXXIX. # "Maybe unnecessarily for that ef- "I mean to question everybody con-|fort, but there is still the question of cerned, Mrs Barron," Stone told her. "I talk to you alone because I think it less distasteful to you than to be ask- ed questions before others." "You say everybody concerned. I am not concerned--in any definite way." "No; but you stood mext the man at the time of the--" "Not next to him, My husband was between us." "Oh, yes. And you both had been talking to him?" "Not I. He addressed Mr. Barron, who, of course, had to reply." "I see. And you, then, never spoke #o Garrett Folsom?" "Never." "You never saw him until that morning?" "I saw him the night before in the Jounge of the hotel. But I did not meet him." "Now just one more thing know Mrs. Valdon?" "Slightly," "You are not friends?" "Merely acquaintances. She is very beautiful, but she is not the type of woman I make friends with. I like her companion, Mrs, Barnaby, better." "You know nothing of Mrs, Valdon to her disadvan ? T'm sorry to be #0 plain spoken, but I know that we both have at heart only the cause of Croydon Sears, and any possible side- light I can get on this matter may help us." * "Then T will' answer frankly. 1 know nothing of Mrs, Valdon, to her definite detriment, except that she tries to bribe the servants to let her #0 into the rooms that were occupied by Mr. Folsom." "She did do that? DU you mean she continues to do so?" "Yes. My nurse knows her cham- bermaid, and I insisted on her telling me." "That is helpful and you have done right in letting me know. t assur- ed such information will only be used in furthering the cause of justice, and it is through some such chance knowl- edge that we often reach the facts." The whole party arrived back at the - hotel about the same time, and, though the gay scene in the lounge and danc- ing rooms was attractive, Stone de- clared his readiness to meet Miss Fol- You CORRUGATED IRON ASK "FOR * Wheeler & Bain "Council Standard" A thick, even, hedvy spread of galvanized over every inch of sur- face. Deep corrugations. Write us, stating size of barn you want to cover. WE PAY FREIGHT WHEELER & BAIN, LIMITED Dept. W, 108 e 8t., Torente 2 brought him d at: Fair were sent away to dance. = = Then Croydon Sears and the detec- invitation brought Pelton, 3 This suited Stone and they went] at once. "® am glad you are here, Mr. Stone," Anastasia said, in her straightforward way. "I wish I might have engaged you. I have one detective already," sho said, glancing at Riggs, "and I find no fault with him. But he has not your experience, whatever talent he may possess. Now, I hope you two will work together, for there is much to be done. I know, as well as you do, that Mr: Sears is coming into no- tice, and if ever there was a ridiculous suspect, he is it" "Why?" and Stone looked at her gravely, "I came down here, Miss Folsom, to save my friend, Croydon Sears, from a possible false accusa- tion, and if you eo lightly toss aside t dadl i Sg oh 38 the rooms had been Fol-|' were n b } who killed my brother, That has to "All right, Mr. Stone," was the re- ply, but the observant eye of the de- tective noted a disinclination to com- with the request. PY ele that will be our first step," Stone went on, determined to push the matter, since Pelton was so obvi- ously adverse to it. . Yet it was not a lengthy procedure. After the neat bundles of letters and papers were t from the desk and looked over, Miss Folsom directed | her nephew to produce the suitcase that he had brought from New York, with additional data in it. To this Pelton showed unmistakable "DON'T YOU DARE MEDDLE WITH IT!" CRIED MISS ANASTASIA. be answered, Mr, Stone, and if you will take it upon yourself to solve the mystery, I will gladly pay any bill you may present." "To my mind, Miss Folsom," Stone said, "the best and surest way to save Mr. Sears' mame from unmerited ac- ousation is to find the real murderer. In this I am quite sure you agree with me.' "Yes, indeed, was the emphatic re- sponse. "And the way it looks to me, we_ are just starting out on a new in- vestigation, or rather on a new phase of the investigation, but better equip- ped for en intelligent inquiry." Fleming Stone looked at the speak- er with evident admiration. "A wise judge could not put the matter more accurately," he said, "and I am glad to work with and for you and your colleagues." 1 "And for heaven's sake get some- where," said Pelton, who, while say- ing little, had been listening to Stone and his aunt: "I'm no detective my- self, but I think if I were I'd work tiarder and faster than most." "He's me," Tite Riggs said, with no ay of annoyance. 'But we know, t we, Mr. Stone, that the great intellects of the true de- tectives work slowly. That the Judgments and n- of _ The classing of himself with the 'amous Stone was humored smile. forgivable because!' of Riggs' whimsical tone and good-|yy unwillingness. He said he had mis- laid the key to the suitcase, but his aunt brought him up with a round turn. "Nonsense!" she exclaimed. "You haven't done anything of the sort, and if you have, it doesn't matter. We can break it open. You bring, out that suitcase, Dan." Pelton went to the closet to get it, and before he returned he could be heard opening the catch. "Bring tt just as it is, please," said Fleming Stone calmly wondering if Dan Pelton was, after all, concerned in the affair. "Don't you dare meddle with it," cried Miss Anastasia, jumping up and going to her nephew. you, Dan? = What monkey tricks are you up to now?" * "Nothing of the sort," he réturned. "I had put some of my own letters in here, too--that's all." As he talked he had set the small case on a table and, flinging it open, was ldoking dly at its tent: Apparently something surprised him, but in a moment he gave a sigh of relief, and said: Eh "There you are, Mr. Stone. I didn't put mine in there after all. I thought "Whatever ails... of Roads Facing Problem of "Fly or Walk," Large Proportion "of Travelers Choose to Take the First Many New Prob lems Seen Manager of Airways Co. Ex- plains How Devices Over- Come Various Handicaps The engineering problems of avia- tion, experience is showing, differ] from country to comntry, and ltkewise the progress of the idea of flight with the man in the street appears to be i na large part governed by these na. tionalistic differences. Canada is typical. A. H. Oaks, general manager of the Western Canada Airways, Ltd, who went to New York recently to place a $100,000 order for Fokker planes to he used on his line, in an interview discussed the manner in which the entire question of aviation in Canada differs from that of the United States. | The Western Canada Alrways has undertakgn to serve the mining dis- trict of Central western Canada. The headqugarters of the line is in Winni. dis] ar air line on which the four™H planes and the two which Mr. Oaks pure used. Bernt Balchen, th ing pilot" of trans-Atlag The case of |, under forced to land at its an entirely different condition. element of equipment enters here, "There is the simple matter of skis for planes for landing on ice. We tried more than --& domen types... We tm- ported skis from Norway. And then we énded by building our own." Trans Shipping 'Mail One of the most. interesting and unique problems which has confront- ed aviation in Canada was brought recently by the Canadiagn govern- ment to the American aircraft indus- try for solution. The Canadian gov- ernment had {inaugurated a ship-to shore air mail service in an effort to expedite trans-Atlantic malls going from Europe to 'points in the interior of Canada. x . Trans-Atlantic liners were met as they entered the mouth of the St. Lawrence River by seaplanes which received the mail sacks for fast de- mer the seaplanes were this service on regu- : but with the approach of winter, the formation of ice at the/ regular points of delivery presented a unique-problem. 8 The service could not be transfer. red to the standard land plane equip- ped ' with skis for the reason that while a land plane equipped with skis was wholly adequate at the points of delivery only a seaplane could be of sorvice in meeting the liners at theh river, mouth, been engaged tof siderably better tim States. But the x rade \ 'The reason for the large amount of bust is attributabl to an external condition, to thé fact that Canada is only served in one way by railways. All of our railroads run east and west. ° This leaves a tre mendous territory to the nerth of these lines in which there is no train service. We have gone into this ter- "THE NEW RAGE Ao Making any resolutions lor the aw Year?" "Why yes, | think 1'll limit my. ®t to five companionate marriages in 1928." A NEW ROCK FOR' AFT OR EVENING WEAR Unusually attractie frock of youthful piece flared skirt 4 dation, and the bodice is $® the lower ed; BEN pa I RNOON is this rm. Lhe and is also sleeves, Th 'Jomitted and a ribbon evening wes 18 ahd 20 yey bust) regui terial, or and 4 y2 neh Ng size 18 (36 hd require, 39-inch maigérial; 5 yards bon; 6 yards® 83-inch the pattern. HOW. TO ORDER P Write your name ly, gi No, 0. 18 laide "St., Toronto. Patterns return mail. ae, erro epg ritory realizing this fact. There are only two ways which jt can be tra- versed to-day, either by planes or afoot. . You want.to go.into the t ritory. © You can either walk or fly, and the average Canadian appears to prefer to fly, when the alternative | walking. . y "But maintaining a flying seyfie: into this desolate country, where the temperatures sometimes range from zero to 50 and 60 below, has not been 'a simple task. We have encountered all kinds of problems, peculiar to the locale, and we have had to learn from experience as we went. "First of all there was the matter of intermediate depots and emergency | landing fields. = These appear to be impossible, either to establish or main- tain, 'The Tesult is that we had to reduce our flying to a non-stop opera- tion basis, or long distance cross-fly- ing. Alighting on the way can be done only in extreme emergency, and then only with the idea that that particular flight is ended. Crews Hard To Get | "Dader the conditions as they exist, | service to the mining * has not which has taken place 1s sound. the real problem with us in our air| districts of the], | Royal Ban The annual 'General Meet] g of areholders of The Royal Bank of LE Canada marked the cloge of the most | iceosslul yedr in the history of the Sir Herbert Holt, President, in his address; dealt more particularly with general conditions ~ (hroughout the country, but touched on many devel- . opments of great importance, more especially from 'the - standpoint .of trade and industry, = - : C. E. Neill, General Manager, re- viewed the growth of the Bank to the foremost 'position 'it now occupies and gave to the shareholders an in- teresting Insight into the the bank is playing in all centres in which it is now doing business, TY Outlook Eavagable, : ' Sir Herbert referred to the year's potslopments in ast 2, dade and Ce as genera satisfactory, The foundation for. the development Herbert declared: that as yet Th are mo Indications 'of industrial commercial ation. d and brokerage firms are 3 Was never more favorable for pro- longed prosperity in Canada.' Necessity For Curbing Unwise Speculation, In commenting on the 1 statement, Mr, Neill A ope) length to the importance of ocald. loans, which represent loans against stock exchange collateral, not only Hie pointes Bank, but of all banks; Ointed out that this was i - tre of three things: % hai 3 "1. Increase in'the num = gusts available to Ps " = "2. Increase in th y £3 of securities. S uaTReY: Yala "3. Increase in speculation, "In a growing couniry the = opment ot its resources rr -- new securities... Prosperous' : sult in the enhanc ates bic 'Securities and for these reasons it clear that the two first opel : causes for the inerease-in-Call Loans are at least to'some exten As to the. third, it is Speculation has reached "al rial and ; _ Production is not expanding to a point unwai erating on a gid conser | phonse 'd'Esto 'by ed there on a visi ful duchess, w : d: id with 'her suite to her bridegroom» ome in Fer- rari. Shes Discovery Meant Death. It was when Bembo left and was visiting the Strozzl family at Villa Ostellato that the love missives were exchanged by means of trusty messen- gers who 'knew "that the discovery meant death, as Alphonse d'Este was Jealous. "Cardinal Borromeo, when he col lected 8,000 manuscripts, including the letters between Lucrezia and Bem- bo and the lock of hair, founded the Ambrostian Library. For years. this lock of hair had been almost t- ten. Then one day the poet on -| visited the library and was ghown the eilock. He wrote a poem abont | called | nthe the it and it "the softest and lightest hair world," JFrem that day until present time visitors journeyed to filan just for the privilege of touch- Ing the hair ,and gradually its color and 'quantity dwingled until the direct- or of the library thought that Mttle of ar this relic of a famous beautiful woman would remain, 3 ; Bought By Gardinal. 3; When Lugrezia hed to send to her dover a remaRgiance. she cut this logk from laced. it in ' v {, toge with remained bought. it, 6 hair] je same . with Membo's poetic he missive Lucrezia no longer mafe to and that in future al P. F. will bear fetter is from har. ssed ince Lucrezia had 'errara as the bride of the the powerful D'Este family, 3 . Lucrezin was go proud of her hair tWat during the Journey northward from Rome she stopped five times for the purpose of washing her golden locks, according to the Venetian fash- fon, with a hair wash compounded sc: cording to a recipe of Catherine Stor- za. . , It i8 said that her twd handmaidens spent much of 'their=time brushing it and sometimes: gathering it into a golden net, as light as a, cobweb, or else arranging it vi shoulders, where it seemed as if golored with the rays of the sun. Now this lock is an ashy blond, for time has bereft it of its golden tints. f on A] Leniency. Shown Slayers Stirs French to Protest Paris-- The Crimes of Juries," as one critic describes the acquittals of hushands, wives and lovers who soot to kill, are stirring many to protest against conditions, "Many jury reforms have been debat- ed In Parliament, but nothing has been done. There remains, however, / | muck 'agitation for the jury's partich pation in fixing ffenaltles, now the pre: rogative of the jifidge. It is argued that st. juries often return licts rather than take