SYNOPSIS.
, Lawrence Blakeley, goes to
with the forged notes In the
JBronson case to take the deposition of the
•chief witness for the prosecution, John
Ollmore. a millionaire. In the tatter's
house the lawyer Is attracted by the pic
ture of a girl whom Ollmore explains Is
his granddaughter, Alison West. He say;
hef father Is a rascal and a friend of
Jhs forger. Standing In line to buy a
jPullman ticket Blakeley Is requested by
to lady to buy her one. He gives her low
-4V eleven and retains lower ten. He nnds
a man In a drunken stupor In lower ton
«ad retires In lower nlns.
CHAPTER 111.
? Across the Aisle.
No solution offering itself, I went
back to my berth. The snorer across
had apparently strangled, or turned
over, and so after a time I, dropped
«aleep, to be awakened by tie moan
ing sunlight across my face. .
I felt for my watch, yawning pro
digiously. I reached under the pillow
and failed to find it, but something
scratched the back of my hand. I sat
up Irritably and nursed the wound,
tvhich was bleeding a little. Still
drowsy, I felt more cautiously for
what I supposed had been my scarf
ipin, but there was nothing there.
iWlde awake now, I reached for my
traveling bag, on the chance that I
ftiad put my watch In there. T had
ttrawn the satchel to me and had my
{hand on the lock before I realized
that it was not my own!
' Mine was of alligator hide, I had
killed the beast in Florida, after the
expenditure of enough money to have
bought a house and enough energy to
have built one. The bag I held in my
hand was a black one, sealskin, 1 i
think. The staggering thought of
-what the loss of my blfe meant to me
tput my finger on the bell and kept It
there'until the porter came.
"Did you ring, sir?" asked, pok
ing his bead through the curtains ob
sequiously. McKnight objects that
nobody can poke bis head throught
a curtain and be obsequious. But Pull
man porters can and do.
"No," I snapped. "It rang Itself.
What in thunder do you mean by ex
changing my valise for this oneT
You'll bars to find It If you waken the
entire ear to do It There are Impor
tant papers In that grip."
"Porter," called a feminine voice
from an upper berth near by. "Porter,
am I to dangle here all day?"
"Let her dangle," I said savagely.
"You find that bag of mine."
The porter frowned. Then he
looked at me with injured dignity. "I
brought In your overcoat, sir. .You
carried your own valise."
The fellow was right! In an excess
of caution I had refused to relinquish
imy alligator bag, and had turned over
my other traps to the porter. It was
clear enough then. I was simply a
▼lctlm of the usual sleeping car rob
bery. I was in a lather of perspira
tion by that time: The lady down the
car waa still dangling and talking
about It; still nearer a feminine voice
* was giving quick orders in French,
presumably to a jnaid. The porter
*was on bis knees, looking under the
berth.
"Not there, sir," he said, dusting his
knees. He was visibly more cheerful,
having been absolved of responsibili
ty. "Reckon it was taken while you
was wanderln' around the car last
night"
. *Tll give you |SO if you find it," I
■aid. "A hundred. Reach up my
ahoes and I'll—"
I stopped abruptly. My eyes were
fixed in stupefied amazement on a
coat that bung from a hook at the
toot of my berth. From the coat they
traveled, dased, to the soft-bosomed
ahirt beside It, and from there to the
collar and cravat In the net hammock
across the windows.
"A hundred!" the porter repeated,
showing his teeth. But I caught him
by the arm and pointed to the foot of
the berth.
"What—what color's that coat?" I
asked unsteadily.
"Gray, sir." His tone was one of
gentle reproof.
"And—the trousers?"
He reached over and held up one
creased leg. "Gray, too," he grinned.
"Gray!" I could not believe even bis
corroboration of my own eyes. "But
[my clothes were blue!" The porter
was amused; he dived under the cur
tains and brought up a pair of shoe*.
"Your shoes, sir," he said with a
flourish "Reckon you've been dream
ing, sir."
Now, there are two things I always
avoid to my dress—possibly an ldlo
eyncracy of my bachelor existence.
These tabooed articles are red neck
ties and tan shoes. And not only wsre
the shoes the porter lifted from the
floor of a gorgeous shade of yellow,
but the scarf which was run through
the turned over collar was a gaudy
red. It took a full minute for the real
Import a I things to penetrate my
da—l intelligence. Then I gars a
vindictive kick at the offending ec>-
esmble.
"They're not mine; any of them," I
snarled. "They are some other' fel
bWs. HI sit here until I take root
Man I put then on"
s^-MAN
LOWER TEN
MAPpf ROBERTA RINEH^f
ConrßwiT ijy OORftS 1 - r-IERiR.I LL COMPANY
"They're nice lookin' clothes." the
porter put In, eying the red tie with
appreciation. "Ain't everybody would
have left you anything."
"Call the conductor," I said short
ly. Then a possible explanation oc
curred to me. "Oh, porter—what's
the number of this berth?"
"Seven, sir. If you caln't wear
those shoes—"
"Seven!" In my relief I almost
shouted it. "Why, then, It's simple
enough. I'm In the wrong berth,
that's all. My berth is nine. Only—
where the deuce is the man who be
longs here?"
"Likely in nine, sir." The darky
was enjoying himself. "You and the
other gentleman Just got mixed In the
night. Thafi all. sir." it was clear
that he thought 1 had been drinking.
I drew a long breath. Of course,
that was the explanation. This was
number seven's berth, that was hlB
soft hat, this his umbrella, his coat,
his bag. My rage turned to irritation
at myself.
The porter went to the next berth
and I could hear his softly insinuat
ing voice. "Time to get up, sir. Are
you awake? Time to get up."
» There was no response from num
ber nine. I guessed that he had
opened the curtains and was looking
In. Then he came back. ■
"Number nine's empty," he said.
"Empty! Do you mean my clothes
aren't there?" I demanded. "My va
lise? Why don't you answer me?"
"You doan' give mo time," he retort
ed. "There ain't nothln' there. But
It's been slept in."
The disappointment was the greater
for my few moments of hope. I sat
up In a white fury and put on the
clothes that had been left me. Then,
still raging, I sat on the edge of the
berth and put on the obnoxious tan
shoes. The porter, called to his du
ties, made little excursions back to
me, to offer assistance and to chuckle
at my discomfiture. He stood by, out
wardly decorous, but with little irri
tating grins of amusement around his
mouth, when I finally emerged with
the red tie In my hand.
"Bet the owner of those clothes did
not become them any more than you
do," he said, as he plied the übiquitous
whisk broom.
"When I get the owner of these
clothes," I retorted grimly, "be will
need a 'shroud. Where's the con
ductor?"
The conductor was coming, he as
sured me; also that there waß no bag
answering the description of mine on
the car. I slammed my way to the
dressing room, washed, choked my
fifteen and a half neck into a fifteen
collar, and was back again in less
than five minutes. The car, as well as
its occupants, was gradually taking
on a daylight appearance. I hobbled
in, for one of the shoes was abomin
ably tight, and found myself facing a
young woman In blue with an unfor
getable face. ("Three women already."
McKnight says: "That's going some,
even if you don't count the Ollmore
nurse") She stood, balf-turned to
ward me, one hand Idly drooping, the
other steadying her as she gazed out
at the flying landscape. I had an in
stant impression that I had met her
somewhere, under different circum
stances, more cheerful ones, I thought,
for the girl's dejection now was evi
dent. Beside her, sitting down, a small
dark woman, considerably older, was
talking In a rapid undertone. The
girl nodded Indifferently now and then.
"Th« Han's Bon Murdcrwll"
' ■ . • ..
'' . :.' v. -v—- •
I fancied, although I was not sure,
that my appearance brought a startled
look into the young woman's face. I
sat down, and, hands thrust deep into
the other man's pockets, stared rue
fully at the other man's shoes.
The stage was set. In a moment
the curtain was going up on the first
act of the play. And for a while we
would all say our little speeches and
sing our little songs, and I, the vil
lain, would hold center stage while the
gallery hissed.
The porter was standing beside low
er ten. He had reached in and was
knocking valiantly. But his efforts
met with no response. He winked at
me over his shoulder; then he unfast
ened the curtains and bent forward.
Behind him, I saw him stiffen, heard
his muttered exclamation, saw the
bluish pallor that spread over his ,
face snd neck. As he retreated a
step the interior of lower ten lay open
to the day.
The man In It was on his back, the
early morning sun striking fuli on
his upturned face. But the light did
not disturb him. A small stain of red
dyed the front of his night clothes
and trailed across the sheet: hia half
open eyes were fixed, without seeing,
on the shining wood above.
I grasped the porter's shaking shoul
ders and stared down to where the
train imparted to the body a grisly
suggestion of motion. "Good Lord," I
gasped, "the man's been murdered!"
CHAPTER IV.
Numbers Seven and Mint.
Afterward, when I tried to recall our
discovery of the body in lower ten, I
found that my most vivid impression
was not that made by the revelation
of the opened curtain. I had an in
stantaneous picture of a slender blue
gowned girl who seemed to sense my
words rather than hear them, of two
smalfhands that clutched desperately
at the seat beside them. The girl in 1
the aisle stood, bent toward us, per
plexity and alarm fighting In her face.
With twitching hands the porter at
tempted to draw the curtains togeth
er. Then in a paralysis of shock, he
collapsed on the edge of my berth and
sat there swaying. In my excitement
I shook him.
"For heaven's sake, keep your
■erve, man," I said bruskly. "Tou'll
have every woman in the car in hys
terics. And if you do, you'll wish
you could change places with the man
in there." He rolled his eyes.
A man near, who had been read
ing last night's paper, dropped it
quickly and tiptoed toward us. He
peered between the partly open cur
tains, closed them quietly and went
back, ostentatiously solemn, to his
seat. The very crackle with which he
opened his paper added to the burst
ing curoslty of tho car. For the pas
sengers knew that something was
amiss: I was conscious of a sudden
tension.
With the curtains closed the por
ter was more himself; he wiped his
lips with a handkerchief and stood
erect.
"it's my last trip in this car," he re
marked heavily. "There's something
wrong with that berth. Last trip the
woman in it took an overdose of some
sleeping stuff, and we found her, jes'
like that, dead! And it ain't more'n
three months now since there was
twins born In that very spot. No sir,
it ain't natural."
At that moment a thin man with
prominent eyes and a spare grayish
goatee creaked up the aisle and
paused beside me. -
- "Porter sickT" he Inquired, taking in
with a professional eye the porter's
horror-struck face, my own excite
ment and the slightly gaping curtains
of lower ten. He reached for the
darky's pulse and pulled out an old
fashioned gold watch.
"Hrn! Only fifty! What's the mat
ter? Had a shock?" he asked
shrewdly.
"Yes," I answered for-'the porter.
"We've both had one. If you are a
I wish you would look at tiy
man In the berth across, lower ten.
I'm afraid it's too late, but I'm not ex
perienced in such matters."
Together we opened the curtains,
and the doctor, bending down, gave a
comprehensive gUnce that took in the
rolling head, the relaxed Jaw, the ugly
stain on the sheet. The examination
needed only a moment. Death wa3
written in the clear white of the nos
trils, the colorloss Hps, tho smooth
ing away of the sinister lines of the
night before. its new dignity
the face was not unhandsome; the
gray hair was still plentiful, the feat
ures strong and well cut.
The doctor straightened himself and
turned to me. "Dead for some time,"
he said, running a professional finger
over tho stains. "These are dry and
darkened, you see, and rigor mortis
is well established. A friend of
yours?"
"I don't know him at all," I replied.
"Never saw him but once before."
"Then you don't know if ho is trav
eling alone?"
"No, he wns not —that is, I don't
know anything about him," I correct
ed myself. It was my first blunder;
the doctor glanced up at me quickly
and then turned his attention agnln to
the body. Like a flash there had come
to me the vision of the woman with
the bronze hair and the tragic face,
whom 1 had surprised in the vesti
bule between the cars, somewhere in
the small hours of the morning. I had
acted on my first impulse—the mascu
line one of shielding a woman.
The doctor had unfastened the coat
of the striped pajamas and exposed
tho dead chest. On the left
side was a small punctured wound of
Insignificant size.
"Very neatly done," the doctor said
with appreciation. "Couldn't have
done It better myself. Right through
the Intercostal space; no time even
to grunt."
"Isn't the heart around there some
where?" I asked. The medical man
turned toward me and smiled au
sterely.
"That's where it belongs. Just under
that puncture, when It Isn't gadding
around In a man's throat or his boots."
I had a new respect for the doctor,
for any one indeed who could crack
even a feeble Joke under such circum
stances, or who could run an imper
sonal finger over that wound and
those stains. Odd how a healthy, nor
mal man holds the medical profession
In half contemptuous regard until he
gets sick, or an emergency like this
arises, and then turns meekly to the
man who knows the ins and outs of
his mortal tenement, takes his pills
or his patronage, ties to him like ■
rudderless ship in a gale.
"Suicide, is It, doctor?" I asked.
He stood erect, after drawing the
bed-clothing over the face, and, ta
king off his glasses, he wiped them
slowly.
"No, It is not suicide," he announced
decisively. "It is murder."
Of courpe, I had expected that, but
the word itself brought a Hhiver. I
was Just a bit dizzy. Curious faces
through the car were turned toward
us, and I could hear the porter behind
me breathing audibly. A stout wom
an in negligee came down the aisle
and querulously confronted the por
ter. She wore a pink dressing-Jacket
and carried portions of her clothing.
"Porter," she began, in the voice of
the lady who had "dangled," "is there
a rule of this company that will al
low a woman to occupy the dressing
room for one hour and curl her hair
with an alcohol lamp while respect
able people haven't a place where
they can hook their—"
She stopped suddenly and stared in
to lower ten. Her shining pink cheeks
grew pasty, her JAw fell. I remember
trying to think of something to say,
and of saying' nothing at all. Then
—she had buried her eyes in the non
descript garments that hung from her
arm and tottered back the way she
had come. Slowly a little knot of men
gathered around us, silent for the most
part. The doctor was making a
search of the berth when the conduct*
or elbowed his way through, followed
by the Inquisitive man, who had evi
dently summoned him. I had lost
sight, for a time, of the girl in blue.
"Do it himself?" the conductor
queried after a business-like glance al
the body. *,
"No, he didn't," the doctor assert
ed. "There's no weapon here, and the
window is closed. He couldn't have
thrown It out, and he didn't swallow
It. What on earth are you looking
for, man?"
(TO BE CONTINUED J
RALEIGH ANDJHE STATE.
PRIZES WON ON CORN. ,
This State Made Good Showing a
V Corn Exposition at Columbia.
First zone classes —pest > whlt«
corn, ten ears—First prize, one Kim
weeder, given King Weeder Com
pany, Richmond, Va., won by R. P
Hayes, AshqyUle; second prize, on
steel befih walking plow, given bj
Chattanooga Pawn Company, Chatta
nooga, Tenn., won by Mary Breese
Brevard; third prize, one cultivator
given by Barton Agricultural Works
Tuscumba, Ala., won by Wm. Breese
Brevard.
Best single, ear, any variety—On
steel beam walking plow, given bj
Chattanooga Ploy Company, Chatta
nooga, Tenn., won by R. P. Hayes
Asheville.
Second zone classes: Best whit«
corn, ten ears—First prize, one tor
fertiliser, given by Royster Ouanc
Company, Norfolk, Va., won by J. C
Lewis, North Wilkesboro; second
prize 1,000 pounds ot fertilizer, given
by Pokoma Guano Company, Norfolk,
Va., won by Shirley Schoolfleld
Greensboro; third prize, 600 poundi
of fertilizer, given by Pocomoka
Guano Company, Norfolk, Va., won
by J. B. Batts, Garner.
Best yellow corn, -ten ears—First
prize, 40 rods of "49" woven wire,
given by American Steel Wire Com
pany, N. Y., won by J. H. Sharpe,
Greensboro.
Bset single ear, any variety—One
farm level, given by Bostrum &
Brady Manufacturing Company, At
lanta, Ga., won by Exum Goodwin,
Apex.
Third Zone classes: Best white
corn, any variety—First prize, one
ton of fertilizer, given By Royster
Guano Company, Norfolk, Va., won
by Allison Farmer, Bailey; second
prize, one steel beam walking plow,
given by John Deere Plow Company,
Baltimore, Md., won by R. A. Thomp
son, Aurora; third prize, one pail of
International stock food, given by
International Stock Food Company,
-Minneapolis, Minn., won by B. H.
Thompson, Aurora.
Best single ear, any variety —One
«teel beam plow, given by Lynchburg
Foundry Company, Lynchburg, Va.,
won by Allison Farmer, Bailey.
Sweepstakes clusses for North Caro
lina only: Best white corn, ten ears
—One farm level? given by Bostrum,
Brady Manufacturing Company, At
lanta., Ga., and one ton of fertilizer,
given by Royster Guano Company,
Norfolk, Va., won by J. C. Lewis,
North Wilkesboro.
Single ear, any variety—One ton ol
fertilizer, given by Virginia-Carolina
Chemical Company, Richmond, Va.,
won by Exum Goodwin, Apex.
Best 60 ears, any variety—One feed
grinder, given by Duplex Mill Manu
facturing Company, North Wilkes
boro, won by J. W. Lewis, North
Wilkesboro.
325 MILLS IN THIS STATE.
Aggregate Capital $53,097,454 —3,348,-
022 Spindles.
That there are 326 cotton, woolen,
and silk mills In North Carolina with
300 of them showing aggregate capi
tal $63,097,454 and running 3,348,022
spindles, 56,516 looms, 550 braiders,
?,762 cards and employing 136,356
horsepower is the showing msde in
the annual report of commissioner of
Labor and Printing M. L. Shlpman.
Number of employes 62,440, sup
porting 138,810 people dependent, on
them. One per cent, of the reports
from mills Indicate that State labor
laws are not being complied with.
Wages paid range from $2.54 high
average to 56 cents low average. The
average day for work Is 10 hours and
45 minutes. Eighty of the mills are
equipped with electric power.
As to knitting mills 77 are report
ed with the aggregate capital of 57
of them amounting to $3,619,100;
spindles operated 109,680;
7?
Summary.
During the month of November
604 prescriptions for intoxicating li
quors were issued and filed in Gull
ford county, 20 of the nmber being
for beer. The total amount prescribed
was about 75 gallons.
Congressman H. L. Godwin has
taken up with Logan Walter Page, di
rector of good roads in the Depart
ment of Agriculture, the matter of
sending an expert road fnan to North
Carolina in the near future to investi
gate the highway project from Wil
mlngton to Charlotte.
Rev. Solomon Helzabeck, aged 89,
died near Rural Hall. He was the old
est member of the Western North
Carolina Conference, Methodist Epis
copal church, South, and was actively
engaged in the ministry for more
than half a century.
In the federal court at Greensboro,
two men, Quaster and Napier, charg
ed with violating tho wlilte slave
law, were found not guilty by direc
tion of Judge Boyd on the grounds
that the law was unconstitutional, in
that It interferred with the principles
of State rights.
The rabbit Industry in Chatham is
a prosperous one this year. Over 3,450
rabbits and 890 birds were shipped
from Slier City In one week. The
record from that place Is 20,000 in
one season.
Hunter Sharp has been appointed
to be ctftwul at Belfast, Ireland. His
first appointment was as marshal ht
Osaka and Hiogo Hi 1886.
The census of school children in
Forsyth county between 6 and "21
years of age shows that there are 9,-
369, exclusive of those in Winston-
Salem and Kernersville.
GIVE HER ANOTHER.
Fondpar—You say baby swallowed ■
■poon? Did It hurt her?
Mrs. Fondpar—l'm afraid BO; SHE
hasn't been able to stir since 1
SAVED OLD LADY'S HAIR
"My mother used to have a very bad
humor on her head which the doctors
called an eczema, and for it I had two
different doctors. Her head was ▼•l7
■ore and her hair nearly all fell out
In spite of what they both did. On*
flay her niece came In and they were
■peaking of how her hair was falling
out and the doctors did it no good.
She says, 'Aunt, why don't you try
Cuticura Soap and Cuticura Oint
ment?' Mother did and they helped
her. In six months' time the itching,
burning and scalding of her head was
aver and her hair began growing. To
day she feels much ih debt to Cuti
cura Soap and Ointment for the line
head of hair she has for an old lady
of seventy-four.
"My own case was an eczema in my
tent. As soon as the cold weather
came my feet would itch and burn and
then they would crack open and bleed.
Then I thought I would flee to my
mother's friends, Cuticura Soap and
Cuticura Ointment. I did for four or
Dve winters, and now my feet are as
imooth as any one's. Ellsworth Dun*
ham, Hiram, Me., Sept. 30, 1909."
Does Your Cat Cough?
Poor pussy! AH if the Immemorial
charges against her of keeping us
awake o' nights and of eating canary
birds whenever she gets the chaacs
were not enough, the doctors havs
lust discoveredthat .for years she has
been responsible for the spread of
Jlphthetria. Dr. O. J. Awburn of
Manchester, England, having traced
an epidemic of thlß disease Ln a sub
urb of that city to a pet cat belonging
to one of his patients, has found, after
much clever Investigation, that all
sats are peculiarly susceptible to
Jlphtheritlc affections of the throat.
He has therefore recently been warn
ing all families who own cats to
watch them carefully, and, if they ds
relop coughs, to forbid their being
bugged and petted. Dr. Awburn fur
ther recommends that if the cough
perlslsts and the cat begins to grow
thin to have the animal destroyed at
once. The only really safe way, h*
tayp, is to let the first wheeze bs
pussy's death warrant.
What World Lost?
"It was the worst calamity that evar
happened to me," sighed the pale. In
tellectual high-browed young woman.
"I had written a modern society nov
el, complete to the last chapter, and
a careless servant girl gathered ths
sheets of the manuscript from ths
floor, where the wind had blown them,
and used them to start a Are ln the
grate."
"What a burning shame that wasl"
commented Miss Tartan.
Asking Too Much.
"The count has promised that he will
never beat or kick me if I will marry
him," said the beautiful heiress.
"But has he promised to work for
jou?" her father asked.
"Oh, papa, don't be unreasonable."
There is no playing fast and loose
with truth, in any game, without
growing the worse for It. —Dickens.
It's a pity that more sermons are
not as deep ns they are long.
>
Gives Breakfast
Zest and
Relish
Post
Toasties
A sweet, crisp, whole
some food made of Indian
Corn, ready to serve right
from the box with cream
and sugar.
Flavoury
Delicious
Economical
"The Memory Lingers*
I >