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1 The BY S. S. VAN DINE. « : SYNOPSIS. Philo Vance, interested in solvin, mys- es, becomes interested in the reene sister, Ada. reene"s widow, to- gother with ren, live in the old Greene mansion. Police investigations result in a blank wall and the world is again horrified when Chester Green is murdered. Again footsteps are found to and from the entpance of the mansion. CHAPTER XI.--(Cont'd.) Markham studied Sibella for several moments, ' "You were awake last night, read- ing in bed, I understand, when the shot was fired in your brother's room." "Zola's 'Nana,' to be explicit. Mother told me I shouldn't read it; so I wt got it at once. It was frightfully. dis appointing, though." "And just what did you do after you heard the report?" continuad Markham, striving to control his an- noyance at the girls flippancy. "I put my book down, got up, donnad a kimono, and listened for several min. utes at the door. Not hearing any- thing further I peeked out. The hall was dark, and the silence felt a bit spooky. I knew I ought to go to Chet's room and inquire, in a sisterly fashion, about the explosion; but, to tell you the truth, Mr, Markham, I was rather cowardly, So I went--oh, well, let the truth prevail: I ran up the serv- ants' stairs and routed out our Admir- able Crichton; and together we inves- tigated. Chet's door was unlocked, and the fearless Sproot opened it. There sat Chet, looking as if he'd seen a ghost; and somehow I knew he was dead. Sproot went in and touched him, while I waited; and then we werd down to the dining room. Sproot did some phoning and afterward made me some atrocious coffee. A half-hour or so later this gentleman"--she inclin ad her head toward Heath--"arrived, looking distressingly glum, and very sensibly refused a cup of Sproot's coffee." YAnd you heard no sound of any kind before the shot?" "Not a thing. Everybody had gone to bed early. Tle last sound 1 heard in this house was mother's gentle and affectionate voice telling the nurse she was as: neglectful as the rest of us, and to bring her morning tea at nine sharp, and not to slam the door the way she always did. Then peace and quiet reigned until half pas! eleven, when I heard the shot in Chet's room." "How long was this interregnum of quietude?" asked Vance. "Well, mother generally ends hec daily criticism of the family around ten-thirty; so I'd say the quietude lasted about an hour." "And during that time you do not recall hearing a slight shuffling sound in the hall? Or a door closing softly ®" The girl shook her head indifferent. Jy, and took another cigarette from a small amber case she carried in her sweater-pocket. "Sorry, but I didn't. That doesn't mean, though, that people couldn't have been shuffling and shutting doors all over the place. My room's at the rear, and the noiges on the river and in 52nd Street drown out almost anything that's going on in the front of the house." Vance had gone to her and held a match to her cigarette. Finer flavor Dressing Dressing has a piquant, freshly- blended flavor that adds new pleasure to every salad dish. © "Jt offers delightfully rich smooth- "wees . . . yet has no oily taste, . , Best of all, it eells for an amaz- - ingly low price... Get some to-day. © Made in Canada : Kraft Old-Fashioned Salad . ani "I say, worried." £Oh, why wo gesture of 'Tes you don't seem in the least f ion, © ever Ido. But I don't anticipate an immediate donee, . Nacione has the slightest reason for killing me--un- less, of course, i*'s some of my former bridge partners. But they're all harmless persors whoswouldn't be apt to take extreme measures." "Still""--Vance kept his tone incor- sequential--"no one apparently. had any reason for harming your two sis- ters or your brother." ¥ "On that point I couldn't be alto- in one another. = There's a beastly spirit of distrust in this ancestral do- mein, We all lie to each other on general principles, And as for sec- rets! Each member of the family is a kind of Masonic Order in himse!f. Surely there's dome reason for all these shootings. I simply can't im- agine any one indulging himself in this fashion for the mere purpose of pistol practice." She smoked a moment pensively, and went on? . "Yes, thére myst bé a motive back of it all--though for the life of me I can't ;suggest one. Of course Julia was a vinegary, unpleasant person, but she went out very little, and work- ed off her various complexes on the family. And yet, she may have been leading a double life for "all I know. When these sour old maids break loose from their inhibitions I understand they do the most utterly utter things. But I just can't bring my 'mind to picture Julia with a bevy of jealous Romeos." She made a comical grim- ace at the thought, "Ada, on the other hand, is what we used to call in al- gebra an unknown quantity. No one but dad knew where she came from, and he would never tell. To be sure, she doesn't get much time to run around--mother keeps her. too busy. But she's young and good-looking in a common sort of way"--there was a tinge of venom in this remark--'and you can't tell what connections she may have formed outside the sacred portals of the Greene mansion. As for Chet, no one seemed to love him passionately. I never heard anybody say a good word for him but the golf pro at the club, and that was only becauge Chet tipped him like a par- venu. He had a genius for antagoniz- ing people, Several motives for the shooting might be found in his past." "I note that you've changed your ideas considerably in regard to the culpability of Miss Ada." Vance spoke incuriously. Sibella looked a little shamefaced. "I did get a bit excited, didn't I?" Then a defiance came into her voice. "But just the same, she doesn't belong here. And she's a sneaky little cat. She'd dearly love to see us all nicely murdered. The only person that seems to like her is cook; but then, Ger- trude's a sentimental ' German who likes everybody. She feeds half the stray cats and dogs in the neighbor- hood. Our rear yard is a regular pound in summer." Vance was silent for a while, fdenly he looked up. "I gather from your remarks, Miss Greene, that you now regard the shootings as the acts of some one from the outside." "Does any one think anything else?" she asked, with startled anxiety. "I understand there were footprints in the snow both times we were visited. Surely théy would "indicate an out- sider." A "Quite true," Vance assured her, a bit overemphatically, obviously striv- ing to allay whatever, fears his quer- ies may have aroused in her. "Those footprints undeniably indicate that the intruder entered each time by the frent dover." t, "And you are not to have any un- ensiness about the future, Miss Greene," added Markham. "I shall give orders today to have a strict guard placed gver the house, front and rear, until there is no longer the slightest danger of a recurrence of what has taken place here)" + Heath nodded his unqualified apprec- Sud- tion, Nip > "I'll arrange for that, sir. There'll be two men guarding this place day and night for row on." "How positively thrilling!" exclaim: eG Sibella; but I noticed a strange re- "We won't detain you any longer, Miss Greene," said Markham, rising. "But I'd greatly appreciate it jf yon would Femain ir your room uhtil our inquiries here are over. You may, of couse, visit your mother." "Thanks awfully, but 1 think Ili indulge in a little lost beauty glee] And she left us with a friendly ways of the hand, 3 1 _ "Who do you wan ¥ see next, was on his feet " She 'made al of | anything | is to happen to. me, hans Suything : id gether lucid. We Greenes don't confide | ¢ 5 Prince Gustaf Adolf, eldest son of 'Sweden's crown prince, Who was formally betrothed to Princess Sybille of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, re- 'cently,' ; ae We CHAPTER VIL The old butler appeared at once, calm 'and 'subservient, and waited 'We teel somehow the i hig est; But 'tis not So--his best is yet i a ned. am "me ies part is gone, on he high Joon of tlre > 18 Here; uaF BE. HY "There 5 a beauty in the on deep day dawn; A" Ang what is thers for tired man to fear * © : When night comes in with star and dreams and sleep? ~--Alexander. Louis Fraser, EE A Good Fly. Repellent Spra; 4 quarts coal tar dip, ss 4 quarts fish oil, 3 quarts coal oil, 3 quarts whale oil, 8 pints oil of tar, i 3 pounds laundry soap. - with a vacuously expectant exp "Really, y'now," . said Vange, "there's not the slightest need for you to hover dolicitously amid .the. draperies of the hallway while we're busy in here, Most considerate and Joyal of you; but if we want you for anything we'll ring." "As you desire, sir." Sproot started to go, but Vance halted him. "Now that you're here yousmight answer one or two questions." " "Very good, sir." "First, I want you to think back very carefully, and tell me if you ou- served anything unusual when you locked up the house last night." "Nothing, sir," the man answered promptly. "If T had, I would haye mentioned it 'to the police this morn ing." <"And did you hear any noise or movement of any kind after you had gone to your room? A door closing, for instance?" "No, sir. uiet." "And what time did you actualy go to sleep?" "I couldn't say exactly, sir. Perhaps about twenty iwiinutes past eleven, if I may venture to, make a guess." "And were you greatly surpiised when Miss Sibella woke you up and told you a shot had beén fired in Mr. Chester's room?" "Well, sir," Sproot admitted, "I was somewhat "astonished, though I en- deavored to conceal my emotions." "And doubtless succeeded admir- ably," said Varce dryly. "But what I meant was this: did you not antici- pate something of the kind happening again ih this house, after the other shootings?" He watched the old butler sharply, but the man's lineaments were as arid as a desert and as indecipherable as an expanse of sea. e (To be continued.) Lverything was very To prepare, dissolve the soap in warm water, add the other materials and mix thoroughly, add enough water to make up to 30° gallons. Spray the cows twice a day, once in the morning after milking and milk has been removed from the barn, and once in the early evening. The above quantities will be enough for a herd of 40 'cows for ong month. rt eet Beginnings 0 small beginnings, ye are great and strong, Based on a faithful heart, weariless brain! Ye build the future fair, ye conquer Wrong, Ye earn the crown and wear it not in vain. --Lowell. and "You been fishin' here every day, ain't you, William?" "Yep." "Hver ketch anything?" . "Nope, but Grand'pa sez he kin remember when a man did ketch a fish right in this spot!" ---------- meen * To a Jew who was refreshing him- self in a bar there came another Jew. "L congratulate you with all my heart 1 hear that you 'made twenty thousand pounds out of your fire last Thursday!" "Hush, my dear! Hush! Not a word! °° It's next Thursday!" servation of appreliension in her eyes.' t A _: Tall Tales by a Tall Man 8 best One has not Telt at any hour since | /| their warships. But the most inter- 'of the English race, 4 Fingered the pane? Tic Toronto or excellent recip) Wood-carving in Norway is one of the most ancient of the industrial arts, and it shows 5 well Jonnected development from the days of the Vikings, who: :arvad in bold design the figure-heads which or ted iety and beauty. sion of the peasantry they are treas- ured as heirlooms, along with home- woven tapestries, old silver orna- esting and important period of this art is seen in the massive and richly carved doorways to the wooden ' stay" churches, The earliest of these show distinct .videuce of Irish influence, the orna- ment being usaally composed of rib- 'bon festoon, with. grotesque fizures of 2rimals and snakes. The most char- ecteristic of these carvings date from the 'eleventh and twell un centaries. Following on this interesting per-{ fod we fing the influence of the Anglo- Saxon and Norman, in which twining festcons of vines and various other plants are associated with dragons and other winged monstecs in bold spiral design up the massive door portals, Figure sabjects inspired by the sagas appear to have in great demand, and we find quaint de- signs of -this kind taken from the Nifluig and Volsing sagas, A num- ber of these richly-carved portals are preserved in the Bergen Museum, From the thirteenth to the six- teenth century the doorways of the peasants' houses were simiarly orna- mented, and this decorative art was followed up by the similar treatment of furniture and articles of domestic LBe. Early in the sevenicenth century a fresh impetus was given to the peas- ant carving by the introduction from tte North German States of the Fri- sian patterns. These are in low re- lief and consist chiefly of circles and wedge-shaped designs of great var- ments, and antique embroideries. Tapestry-weaving as a domestic fudustry has progressed hand-in-hand with wood-carving, and this ancient art is still a favorite occupation of the Norwegian houséwife, who finds beth pleasure and profit from its pur- suit. The. earliest sagas tell us of woven pictures, thus pointing to the fact that even in thuse very remote times ths Norwegians showed an inborn artistic sense. Of textile fabrics from the Viking age fragments only have been found, and these in most cases were discol- ored from contact with metailic .ob- jects and by the moisturé from turfy soil. Woolen stuffs, as well as linen were used, even in the Bronze Age, . «d the woven pattecus were always of geometric design, and were work- ¢ in one or more colors, a gold wire, gracefully twisted, being used for aecoration on the garments. . . . In 1898 the Norwegian painter, ( rhard Munthe, introduced a new 1] original style into the eloth:weac- i ~ 'ndustry which has had excellent, and far-reaching results. Hig de- signs are based on the old Norw gina fairy tales and folk-lore, They are grotesquely fancifu. and highly * 1a3- i. tive, bold and harmonious in color, and extremely decorative in effect. The movement is rapidly extending and a new life for this beautiful in- dustrial art 's in cobirse of deyelop- ment.--From "The Norwegian Fjords," by A, Heaton Cooper. Music of the English Soil Shakespeare seems to Rave risen out of nothing--a strange, scattered music, mysteriously brought togeth- er in the English sky of the Renals- sance, like those strains floating in the resonant azure of the magic isle. .'. This music seems to soar from the whole of the English soll. We hear it in the legendary murmur of the past, the flutter of Celtic fairies and will-o'-the-wisps, the undylog voices of moor and woodland, that emdure through the days and nights of cen- turies, like the timeless ripple of streams in the hollows--sounds which a Hardy has heard and made us hear - under the clangours of modern England, ever the same, as if nothing in the world hag' changed since the beginnings of 'that land, Thus, in Shakespeare, the Eng. lish recognize more or less clearly, behind the creatures of his fancy, the ancient spirit of the English soil, He hag made them one for ever with the calm landscapes of the past--broad acres, cottages thatched and flower-wreathed, patriarchal oaks, green meadows where spring ig freshér and more splendid than elsewhere--landscapes that have sur- vived here and there in the south and southwest of the Island, in the Stratford country itself, and have become the cherished image of the jand since the changes that have made England more and more in- dustrial and urban. If, severed from this atmosphere and this back. ground, the figures created by his genius were. isolated, as are Michel- angelo's superhuman marbles in the dim silence of San Lorenzo, the poet's work would not he national. To the Englishman of teday, Shake- spear is not only the greatest genius In him the whole genius of England is ex- pressed, --From "Three Studies in English Literature," by Andre Chev- rillon, translated by 'Florence Sim. monds. td 1 : re Af me ~ After Midnight Who tapped at the door In the dark ang the rain, While frozen™ winds, -whimpering, M i peer from the portal .: 0 The night--mothing more! - - "Does your wife believe all you tell her?" = j "No, but we have an amicable working basis. She accepts about sixty per cent, of it at par." DERE RC LER Ree IF YOU CAN'T NURSE BABY YOURSELF... TRY EAGLE BRAND! 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It is a scientific blena| = of high grade animal, mineral an . | properties not possessed: by: ordinary t F A in 'clitha also 'of what the worid may } 1 future, have been discov £ a strange journey into Lot Ain "Examples of this period are far frém rare, and in the proud posses-| In vegetable oils and contains 'unique teams and protects as well as| during the past" by Dr. Ralph W, Chaney, r. Erling Dorf, of Princeton. r ndings were described by Dr, | toon a the scientists found = sort of "lost world," where plant and: animal life closely past still survives. Dr. Chaney, "lie many iof the. of the past--many of the explanations for conditions on jhe sarth Joday-- 8] tions even of what may X= period in the years that lie ahead." * Two-thirds of the :rees that lived int western North America millions of years' ugo, known today by the fossil imprints of their leaves in ancient rucks, have cloge relatives living in {he forests of Venez1e'a, the scientists found. 5 sey Src cv of These forests and those in Central America, said Dr. Chaney, "give a pic- ture of the past which kas endured down to the present in Costa Rica'and Guatemala, 'a picture of * California and Oregon as they may be once more if warm ocean currents and winds re- turn to make more hospitable the northern borders of .he Pacific." RECONSTRUCTING HISTORY. "Reconstructing the history of the earth on the basis of the fossil flora of western America and théir living, couivalents in the mountain forests of Venezuela and Central America, a tend may be observed during past ages from a moist warm climate 'to ' {lie relatively dry and cool 'conditions: of our day," he went.ony © 1 0 "Just what were the causes, of this : gradual change is a difficult question to answer. Variations in the amount of heat given off by the sun or in the insulating power of the atmosphere, shifting in position of continental masses with a resultant alteration of currents of water and 'air--all these and many more factors may have con- tributed. "The fact of this climatic change is fully demonstrated by the migration southward of the forests, and the ani-, mals which lived in them, to the omy gart of he world where suitable con- ditions of temperature and moisture still exist." : r Humans also may have shared in this southward migration, Dz. Chaney ssid. He finds evidence of it in the similarity of appearance and mode of living between* the Maya Indians ef Central America and the Mongol 'tribes of Asia, Tt But Old Houses Go The old house was 'ovely: at. all times, but especially so in, spring, when the daffodils flamed up in the grass yellow and.untended . , And it was loveliest of all in the summer ausk. Opposite stretched a gFeat pas- ture, curving down into the great western sky, and this sky blazed at 'dusk with orangs or scarlet, dwindling lemon, or vagre mauve; The air was full Jf pricking .alf-noises, and above. them, like the cut of a knife, the, ghrill of peacocks across in the Ma:donald Farm. We children sat out on the .{fron' steps in the soft light, clinging closely together; behind us gleamed 'the one window in the attic, colvred "with the west; and before us, the fur, i t 1 ngs'of vast rich sky, thrus rough with that separste 'and koife-like sound. We were sad; we, felt our- selves alone in a wide, bare world. But houses go. The town pushes wut, ard clutches the "fair meadow- lands, , and 'the 'uneven lanes' are straightened into uniform streets, and single shop to a sprawiing dogan. Ard. this was: the way. of the old house, "hey 'built a new onc on the opposite side of the orchard, and transplanted the white lilac bushes, to a space along- side another weatLer-beaten fence. It Aleved my childish heart to see 'the ian Village," hia 2 & " iN ukin to that of the .arth's ancieut down as the minutes went, into thin |. e SECRETS OF PAST FOUND, | "In the depths of this forest" said' secrets Hp | the 'few roofs give way. to 'hundreds, ; each after the same fashion, andithb "_nchanted place go.--From "A Vietor- by Lisette Woodwarth