Newspapers / The Warren Record (Warrenton, … / Nov. 1, 1929, edition 1 / Page 8
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j I THE DESE CHAPTER VII A Confession The sheriff, the coroner, the undertaker, a newspaper reporter, and another man that the coroner had brought along for a juryman, drove up to the ranch at 5 o'clock that ffam and the sheriff had luui imi^. N/V?.. H?? been friends for 30 years. Sam's money had paid for the coroner's medical education. They, and the others, were mighty sorry to have to bother us at all, and their sole aim was to make as little trouble as possible. They interviewed each one of us, alone, but pleasantly and informally, in the dining room; each one, that is, but Danny?the coroner, visiting her as a doctor, said it would never do to pester her, in the state she was in?and Martha, who was still alsleep, and whom they said it was no use to wake. They kept each of us about ten minutes. They brought in the verdict of died by his own hand, for Chad; and, murdered by person or persons unknown for Gaby. They left, on tiptoe, holding their hats in their hands clear to the end of the ririvewav. I The sheriff left, I am all but cer-l tain, with the strong conviction that I had committeed the murder, and with the resolution that he would not do Sam an ill turn by depriving him of a good cook. The coroner, and the others, except the reporter, were sure, I think, that one of us was guilty; but were thankful to goodness that they had not found out which one. The undertaker did not leave with the others. He was preparing the bodies to take them to Telko; there to wait the instructions that we could not give until after we had gotten in touch, if possible, with Chad's people, and had come to a decision about Gaby's burial place. All the Nevada newspaper accounts made much of the fact that J the fiend, who had commuted tne terrible murder on the Desert Moon ranch, had made a complete escape, without leaving any clews of any sort. No clews! Lands alive! The place was positively cluttered with clews; and most of them about as useful, in the end, as clutter genIerally is. I asked Sam about the contents of Gaby's beaded bag. "It is all on the table in her room," he said, "where I put it for the coroner's jury. You can go and see. But, first, read this. It was tucked inside her dress. The undertaker found it, and gave it to me. I dread giving it to Danny." He handed me a folded sheet of paper. I opened it, and read: "Danny dear: If you ever read this, I shall be dead?murdered. Dnn't. have me hnried here in this Godforsaken country. Take me to San Francisco and have my body cremated. I love a flame. I hate the cold earth. "You have had much trouble on my account, old dear. Don't blame me for having kept the fear and the dread of this thing, which I felt certain was going to happen, from you. You, nor no living person, but one, could have saved me. "Remember, Dan, that in spite of all the distress I have caused you, and may still be causing you, I have always, in my own way, loved you. Gaby." "Sam," I said, "I knew she was afraid, yesterday. Oh, why didn't she tell us? Of course you men could have saved her. Why didD ... jDoys ai Bring your shoes ner and have t Driguard It does not w< ILook in your clos< Winter Dresses a] have them made: Harris & Warrenl g k " 1 .- -?jrT.. " ;^ : ' . , ' f- . ' t Warren toi RT MOON she go out alone to meet tha flend?" Sam's only answer was a slov shaking of his bowed head, and i deep sigh. j "Mary," he said, then, "will yoi give this note to Danny, and exj plain to her how it is?" "How what is?" "I mean? Well, she can't leave I the Desert Moon, now, to take the body to 'Frisco. Until we find ou' j who murdered that girl, not a manjjack of us is going to leave thii I place, for any reason. Danny maj 1 ? * ?? nUrt fonmp f ho I D6 ?IS lnilUUCUU ttd Diicr ocuiiM w/ wo .and?she may not. She, nor anyone else, can leave this place unti we have gotten to the very bottom of this thing. That goes. Thii note, in Gaby's handwriting, clears Danny of the crime, if all the other evidence didn't, which it does We know that she did not kill hei sister. But, of all the people in this house, she is in the best posi. tion to know who did do it. Oi course, if she is involved in this she is involved innocently. If she pul the key in your pocket, while we were out in the car, she did it with no idea of what she was doing Just the same, I want her right here on the Desert Moon, for a while. Mary, you take the note tc her, and explain, in your nice way?" "I'll give her the note, Sam," I said. "But you'll have to do the explaining yourself. I'll tell you why. It isn't right for you to try to protect anyone, not even Mar?i : j.? .1 [ tna, io me extent m i-ei using tu allow one sister to carry out the dying request of another sister." Sam dropped his pipe. As I saw the tobacco and the ashes scatter, I was more certain than ever that I was acting as a decent woman should. The door opened, and Danny came in. She was so pale that her cheeks had sort of a greenish tinge to them. Great dark circles spread far down under her eyes that were red and swollen from crying. I hurried to her, and put my arms around her. Sam turned away, as if he could not bear to look at us. I took her into the living room, and sat down in a big chair and held her in my lap. "If only," she kept saying, "if only she could have left us in her beauty. She was so beautiful, * r MAnt M mary. auu iiuw? Remembering what I had seen the night before, I knew that I must get her mind into other channels if her reason was to be saved I thanked my stars when I remembered the note. After she had read it, she cried harder than ever; but I knew that it was crying of a saner sort. "Will you go with me, Mary?' she questioned, when she had quieted some. "To San Francisco?" "We'll have to talk to Sam about that, dear," I said. "I am afraid that Sam wants us all to stay here, for a while. Sam thinks that the duty of each one of us, right now is to stay here and help him to nnc the guilty person." ' "Does Uncle Sam think we will find him here?" she questioned. "There isnt anywhere else to trj to find him," I said. "Did you know about the key in my pocket?' | She nodded. "I knew about that," she said. I "What else did you know about?" I asked. "Nothing," she said, hurriedly. "Nothing. But, Mary, doesn't it seem possible to you that someone, id Girls to Harris & Gard;hem fixed with I Leather ?ar out or leak. /J <-v n 1 X- v T 1 11/? cu cuiu uul yuui nd Coats, and let's , new again. Gardner :on, N. C. i \ i, North Carolina 'J MYSiYl t. clear from the outside, did it? And I gave the key to Chad, and asked r him to put it in your pocket? And i that, for some reason we probably never shall discover, Chad could j not, dared not, tell on the person who gave it to him? And that is why he shot himself?" "And we hadn't thought of that!" , I gasped. "I do believe it. It is as 1 clear as day." j! Her sudden, definite silence talked as plainly as any words she , could have spoken. r "Danny." I questioned, "you thought of that, but in your heart you don't believe it. Do you?" I "I?I want to believe it," she { evaded. . "But you don't?" I persisted. , She was silent. ' "Danny," I pleaded, "tell me about it. Just tell me, dear. I'll !, never breathe it to a soul, if you L say for me not to. What is it you know, or think that you know?" - She waited so long before answ( cring me that I thought surely she . was finding the words with which , to take me into her confidence. I j was so disappointed I could have cried with her, when she hid her . face on my shoulder, again, and moaned, "Mary?I can't. I dare , not tell. I tell you?I dare not." , She jumped up out of my lap, and ran upstairs as if wicked, dangerous things were running after , her. John came into the room. "The , outfit is back, or most of it," he said. "Darn their souls! Curiosity, nothing else. But for this, they wouldn't have shown up for two days yet. I think the women went . into the kitchen iust now. Marv." There they were, Belle, Sadie and | Goldie, all huddled up together like a bunch of something, near the bask door. As I came into the room, they jumped and screeched. , The only thing that makes me , madder than being scared myself is to scarce somebody else. I spoke , to them right sharply. I told them that I expected them . to go about their work, and to act like sensible girls while so doing. Sadie, the sauciest of the lot, spoke up. "We haven't decided yet that we want'a go workin' in a house where a murderer, and maybe moren' one, is livin'." "Very well," I said. "If you are going, go now. If not, put on your aprons and get to work." I. | Report of the C 11 Bank of | Warrenton, N To The Corporation Commissior The 4th Day o RESOU Loans and Discounts United States Bonds County and Municipal Bonds... Banking House Furniture and Fixtures. r If Cash in Vault and Amounts Du i H Approved Depository Bank | Checks for Clearing and Transit j| Cash Items (Items Held Over 24 1 1! Other Real Estate ? i LIABIL |j Capital Stock Paid In ? ? Surplus Fund. | Undivided Profits (Net Amount) p| Demand Deposits Due Banks H Other Deposits Subject to Checl ? Denosits Due State of North Car I Official Thereof: Secured, Cashiers Checks outstandingCertified Checks Outstanding? Dividend Checks OutstandingTime Certificates of Deposit (Due Saving Deposits (Due on or After Bills Payable State of North Carolina County of Warren n -R cmmnRV Cashier: W. IC. KINSEY, Director of the Ba: appeared before me this day, ai himself, says that the foregoing knowledge and belief. Sworn to and subscribed before me this the 9th day of October, 1929. I (Seal) J. E. BANZET JR., Notary Public, fg My commission expires Oct. i 15, 1930. HE WARREN REC< I could scarcely believe my eyes The three of them skedaddled oul through the door. I felt sort oi sick, watching them go. Not because I'd have to teach new girls the work and my ways, but because their leaving gave me my first realization that the Desert Moon ranch was darkened by the shadow of sin When I telephoned to Sam, down in his office in the outfit's quarters I tried to keep the truth from him; saying, only that the girls and 1 had had a spat, and asking him tc find some new giris for me. He came up, in about half an hour, with an Indian girl, not more than fifteen years old, trailing along behind him. Answering his 1 T t- ?IJ.I. fV,Q lin. 11UU, 1 went WltXl IU111 I11VU vuv ing room. "She is the only one I could get," he said. "We'll have to send tc Reno or Salt Lake. None of the outfit want their women folks working here. I don't blame them. The Desert Moon ranch is disgraced?" He stopped short, looking at a piece of paper on the writing desk just in front of him. It had been propped up against a vase; but it had slithered down into a curve. He reached for it; read it, and handed it to me. "I killed her. Chadwick Caufield. P. S. Sorry to put you to the trouble of disposing of me. Make it cheap and snappy. I haven't a relative in the world. P. G." "A lie," Sam said. "I tell you, she had been dead two or three hours, anyway?probably longer? when we found her. Listen, Mary. Between 4 and 5 o'clock?we all saw her alive at 4?Chad sat right there at that piano, and he never left it once. Did he?" "No, he didn't. I kept thinking | he would, to join Gaby. But he [didn't." "Between 5 and 6 o'clock," Sam went on, "he was with me, every minute of the time, down in the barn, and coming up to the house. Never out of my sight. Between 6 tnd 7 he was with us all at supper. I If he'd been gone all afternoon, I'd know that note was a lie; know it just as well as I know it now?" "But this note! A confession! Why should he die in disgrace, when we know he was innocent?" "God knows. To shield someone else, I reckon." "Who?" Sam dropped his pipe. I heard him stamping the sparks out. I did not look down. I did not want to look down. "He wrote it," I said. "The writing is his. So is the wording You know it." I guess I was too sentimental. But I couldn't bear to see Sam's good old face all aching with worry. ondition of The Warren J orth Carolina i At The Close of Business On ] f October, 1929 RCES AMOUNT j $393,446.71 | 15,000.00 I 22,000.00 | 25,053.28 I 13,145.48 $ e from s 49,063.79 j Items. 777.92 w Hours) 672.47 I 12,627.52 I Total. .'..$531,787.17 I [TIES | $ 50,000.00 | 25,000.00 I 8,741.27 ? - 4U0.ia L..4 131,402.31 I olina and Any g $27,899.72 27,899.72 I 1,996.48 I 30.00 1 99.00 | on or After 30 Days)? 4,904.00 fl 30 Days) 151,306.24 9 130,000.00 I 4531 787.17 I v~~-> ? H. DAMERON, Director, and L. I nk of Warren, each personally | id, being duly sworn, each for I report is true to the best of his 8 G. B. GREGORY, Cashier. W. H. DAMERON, Director, L. C. KINSEY, Director. smams maum ymsmMmsma 3RD Warren ton ,| "Sam," I wheedled, "have sense t We've a confession here that will ' satisfy the world. He killed her; and, when the body was found, he i shot himself. Nothing could be j more reasonable. No one would . doubt it. We can send this to the t papers?he has no relatives to be . disgraced, or to sorrow over it? L and the Desert Moon will be cleared of crime. One of your favorite sayings, Sam, is to let well enough alone." , Sam drew himself up to the top of his six feet and five inches and looked down, from there, at me; away down?as far, say, as if I had Infn a fUrfv nlfi SUUUCiUjr VXA u*w %M VJ ?? cistern. "There Is no question ol 1 well enough," he shouted, so that 1 could hear him in my depths, "un, til the Desert Moon is cleaned, clean, Mary Magin. Cleaned and fumigated, or destroyed. It is not going to be white-washed. There is someone on this ranch who is as guilty as h?1; who knows who committed the murder; who aided and abetted it. We are going to find that person. Then we will find the murderer. They'll be hung together. After that, we can leave well enough alone." "Suppose," I suggested, "that moo fV>o oprnmnlipA" viiwu nwu wi*v "Somebody suggested, already today, that it was Chad who put the key in your picket. When did he get the key to put it there? Well, say that he got it between 7 and 8 o'clock, when he was out scouting by himself. Did he meet some entire stranger, then, who asked him to dispose of the key? Did he agree to do it as a favor to said stranger? Did he, later, shoot himself and leave a lying confession to shield the stranger? The stranger, that is, who had killed the girl Chad loved? Chad did carry some secret to the grave with him, Mary. I am sure of that. But not a secret that we can't discover. We are going discover it." To doubt Sam, standing there Kzvfrvra mo follrmty an oamAcf.1v fn MV/iWi *_? WW mil iq wv w>? uuvv>^ me, to doubt his honesty of purpose and his goodness, was more than a question of doubting my eyes, my ears, my senses. "Sam," I began, resolved to tell him, then and there, about those pipe ashes of his on the beaded bag. I had waited too long. Mrs. Ricker was coming down the stairs. "I think," she said, "that Martha should not sleep so late. I fear that she Is sleeping too heavily." "It is a blessing that she can - h A Ride tells a L Wonderful Story! sc Mote WARRENTON, N. C. A SIX IN THI , c? ^daxnqvemp^ ^ 1 . Sleep." Sam said. "She is all right. I Those sleeping powders are as pow. before l hour their* erful as all get-out. I'm going up, been out hunt ?ther* of J*i though, 111 have a look at her. Sam insisted G% V ! "By the way," he added, from been dead two or of* ^ J 1 the stairway, "I want you two we found her But hours *1 ! ladies to be here in this room, at of that? How did h*** he ! promptly 3 o'clock this afternoon." be be mistaken? u know' "Upon my soul!" I said, when ?aby, as on] ' Rll*er |S [ Sam was out of sight. "What do woman can hate. a No* ! you suppose that means?" (To be continue 1 Mrs. Ricker shook her head, and walked to the window and turned . ionize the adv^.-^ | her back on me. { I looked at the straight, gaunt J back, and at her long arms hang- | J James D, ing at her sides. She seemed frail. ( 1 Motion Picture p^0'^ 1 ; And yet she could hold Martha still, ' ! I : when Martha was in one of her;; | News Red ' tantrums, and that was more than > aDl1 Cot&nurcm I I, a much stouter woman, could do. I! 1 e ephone ltto I She, with no one but Martha who ' ^ Warren PUt^ ^ ^ did not count, had been alone in Valuable Farm Lands l I For Sale We offer 700 acres, known as the R. E. Davis lands in Fork township I Warren county, ' 1 for sale either as one tract or we will mak divisions to suit purchasers. The lands are 9 1 miles from Warrenton, 14 miles from Littleton I and 18 miles from Louisburg. The State high I way and county road goes through the lands I The soils are adapted to the cultivation of I cotton and tobacco. 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The Warren Record (Warrenton, N.C.)
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Nov. 1, 1929, edition 1
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