MARY
SYNOPSIS?Six people, Horace (
.Johnson (who tells the story), hs* ]
wife, old Mrs. Dane, Herbert Rob- ;
inson and his sister, Alice, and Dr. j
Sperry, friends and neighbors, ;
are in the habit of holding weekly |
meetings. At one of then-., Mrs.
Dane, who is hostess, varies the j
program by unexpectedly arrang- 1
ing a spiritualistic seance with j
Miss Jeremy, a friend of Dr. Sper
yy and net a professional, as the .
medium. 1
At the fivst sitting lhe medium
tells the deails of murder as it is ]
occurring. Later that night Sperry |
learns that a neighbor, Arthur \
Wells, has been shot mysteriously. i
With Johnson he goes to the Wells
residence and they find confirms- jl
tion of the medium's account. Mrs. j,
Wells tells them .her husband shot !.
himself in a fit of depression. |j
At a second seance Miss Jeremy {?
adds details about a rummer resort (,
where Charles Ellmgham was ji
known to have been at the same !_
time that Mrs. Wells was there, h
She also speaks of a pocket, book j
being lost which contained some ;j
important car tickets and letters.
?-= i _ e ?1 '
ivirs. L/ane, aioue ui *.? *- wuiucu>
seems thrilled by the investigation.
Now go on with the story
ji
SIXTH INSTALMENT j.
1 find that the solution of the Ar-j
thur Wells mystery?for we did solve
it--iakes three divisions in my mind.;
Each one is a sitting-, followed by an';
investigation made by Sperry and myself.
Hut for some reason, after Miss
Jeremy's second sitting. I found that
my reasoning mind was stronger j
thai: my credulity. And as Sporrv:
had at that time determined to have)
nothing to do with the business, II
made a resolution tc abandon my investigations.
Nor have I any reason
to believe that I would have altered
my attitude toward the case, had it
not been that cn the Thursday fol
lowing the second seance, that Elinor
Wells had closed her house, and
gone to Florida.
I confess I had an fwgrwhelming
desire to examine again the ceiling
of the dressing room and thus to
chock up one degree further the accuracy
of cur revelations. After some
reflection, I called up Sperry, but
he flatly refused to gc or. any further.
"Miss Jeremy has heen ill since
Monday," he said. "Mrs. Dane's rheumatism
is worse, her companion is
nervously upset, and you;* own wifej
called me up an hour ago and says:
you are sleeping with a light, ana
she thinks you ought to go away. The.',
whole club is shot to pieces."
Bur, althougr. I am .small And r.ot J
a courageous man, the desire t*> ex-j
amine the Wells house clung to mc j
tenaciously. Suppose thei'e wore car- j
tridges in his table drawer? Suppose j,
1 should find the -second bullet holejj
gHBp' in; the cbilihg? I no longer deceived j:
myself by any argument that my in
torei$-/was' purely scientific. There};
is a point at which curiosity becomes i
^unbeatable, when it becomes an obsession
like hunger. I had reached i
that point. 1
Nevertheless, I found it hard to :
plan the necessary deception to my
? -wife. My habits have always been 1
entirely orderly and regular. My j
wildest di-ssii?aii;>r. was the Neighbor- i
hood Club. T ccrajd not'recall an eve- \
ning away from home ir. years, ex- i
cept on business. Yet now .1 must t
have a free evening, possibly au en- 3
tire night.
In planning for this, I forgot my 1
nervousness for a time, I decided fi- t
nal'.y to tell my wife that an but-of- \
town client wished to talk business i
with me. and that day, at luncheon? t
I go home to luncheon?I mentioned ;
that such a client was In town, j
"it is possible," I said, as easily as it
I could, "that we may r.ot ge* thru \
this afternoon., If things should run js
oyer into the evening, I'll Telephone." \
She rook it calmly enough, but la- i
ten r n. as I . taking an electric 1
flash from the drawer of the Vail i
feSvfe' table :>hd putting it in my overcoat r
t; pocket she- came on me, and I thought a
she looked surprised. h
During the afternoon I was beset
with doubts and uneasiness. Suppose t:
she called TTIV of"f?rc* ; /i fiV.intl thof
the client 1 had named was not hi t
. town? It is undoubtedly true that, a'c
tangled web we weave when first we a
practice to deceive, for on my re- a
turn to the office I was at once quite v
certain that Mi's. Johnson would tc-1- t
ephcne and make the inquiry. h
After some debate I called my sec- ;v
retary and told her to say, if such a 1
message came in, that Mr. Forbes -F
was in town and that I had an ap-;t
pointment with him. As a matter of ir
fact, no such inquiry' came in, but as
Miss Joyce, my secretary, knew that I
Mr. Forbes was in Europe, I was con- js
scious afterwards that Miss Joyce's j*1
eyes occasionally rested on me in a t
speculative and suspicious manner.
Other things also increased my un- s
easiness as the day wore on. There J
was, for instance, the matter of the t!
back door to the Wells house. Noth- |t
ir.g was more unlikely than that :h v
key would still be hanging there. 1 '
must, therefore, get a key. jh
Going through my desk I found at*
number of keys, mostly trunk key '
and one the kep to a dog- collar. But jc
|||p late in the afternoon I visited a cli- !P
I
sitJOnsi
ROBERTS RINEI
>'3H T /Q3/ y MAKY QOS*PTS Q'NEH.
Ent of mine \rho is in the hardware
business, ana secured quite a selection.
One of tliem was a skeleton
key. Ho persisted in regarding the
matter as a inkp n?o nn
.ween the shoulder-blades as I went
>ut.
' If you're arrested with all that
hardware on you," be said, "you'll
30 held as a first-class burglar. Yoa
ire equipped to open anything from
i can of tomatoes to the missionary
io:c in church."
But I felt that already, innocent as
! "was, I was leaving a trail of suspicion
behind me: Miss Joyce and
ihe office boy, the dealer and my
wife. And I had not started yet.
I dined in a small chop-house where
[ occasionally lunch, and took a large
:un of strong black coffee. When T
.y'eitt out into the night again I found
that a heavy fog had settled down
itul I began to feel again something
?f the strange and disturbing quality
of the dav which had ended in
rYrtbur Wells's death. Already a porential
housebreaker. ? avoided policemen^
and the very jingling of
he keys in my pocket sounded loud
\nd incriminating to my ears.
I do not like deserted houses. Even
in daylight they have a sinis.er effect
on me. They seem, iti cbeir empty
spacer, to have held ah reco <
all that has happened in the dusty
pai.t. The Wells house that night,
looming before me, silent and mysterious,
seemed the embodiment of
all the deserted houses 1 had known.
Its empty and unshuttered windows
were like blind eyes, gazing in, not
out.
Nevertheless; nov.r that thr* time
had come, a certain amount of courage
came with it. J am not ashamed
to confess that a certain part of it
came {rem the anticipation of the
Neighborhood Club's plaudits. For
Herbert to have made such' ar. investigation,
or even Sperry, with his
height and his iron muscles, would
not have surprised the club. But I
was aware that while they expected
intelligence and even humor, of a
sort, from me, they did not anticipate
any particular bravery.
The flash was working, but rather
feebly, 1 found the nail where the
door key had formerly hung, but the
hey. as I had expected, was gone. I
was less than five minutes, I fancy,
in finding a key from my collection
that would fit. The bolt slid back
with a click, and the door opened.
? Once inside the house, the door lo
the outside closed, and facing two
alternatives, to go on with it or to
cut and run, 1 found a sort of desperate
courage, clenched my teeth,
and felt for the nearest light switch.
The electrc light had been cut off !
I should have expected it, but I
had not. I remember standing in the
back h:*H and debating whether to go
or. or to get out. I was rot only in
a highly nervous stale. but I was
dsn badly handicapped. However, as
the moments wore on and I stood
there, with the quiet unbroken by no
mysterious sounds, I gained a certain
confidence. After a short period
of readjustment, therefore, I felt
mv way to the library door, and into
the room. Once there, I used the
flash to discover that the windows
were shuttered, {and proceeded to
Lake off my hat and coat, which I
placed on a chair near the door. 7i
.vas at this time that I discovered
mat the battery of my lamp was
,Tcvy weak, ami finding a candle in
. tall brass stick on the mantelpiece,
[ lighted it.
Then I- looked about. The house
had evidently been hastily closed.
:-ome of the furniture was covered
,vith sheets, while part of it stood
jiiproteeted. The rug had been folded
into the center of the room, and
covered with heavy brown papers, j
riid I was extremely startled to hear
he papers rustling. A mouse, howr.cr.
proved to be the soui-ce of the
onnd, and I pulled myself together
villi a jerk.
It is to be remembered that I had
eft my hat and overcoat on a chair
icar the door. There could be no
mistake, as the chair was a light one.
ml the weight of mj overcoat threw
: back aganst the wall.
Candle it: hand. I stepped out into
he hail, and was immediately met by
crash which reverberated through
he house. In my alarm my teeth
loscd on the end of my tongue, with
gonizing results, but the sound died
way, and I concluded that an upper
rindow had been left open, and that
he rising wind had slammed a door.
Jut my morale, as we say since the
?*ar, had been shaken, and I reckessly
lighted a second candle and
ilaced it on the table in the hall at
he foot of the staircase, to facilitate
ay exit in case I desired to make a
lurried one.
Then I climbed slowly. The fog had
ipparently made its way into the
touse, for when, halfway up, I
urned and looked down, the candleight
was hardly more than a spark,
urrounded by a luminous aura.
I do not know exactly when I bean
to feel that I was not alone in
he house. It was, I think, when I
as on a chair on top of a table in
Arthur's room, with my candle upi.eld
to the ceiling. It seemed to me
hat something Was moving stealthily
n the room overhead. 1 stood there
nndlc upheld, and every faculty I
ossessed seemed centered in niy ears
THE WATAUGA DEMOCRAT?E\
^fSl
HART
ft /?
lit was not a footstep. It was a soft
and Iraetrine'' mnvpmont HnH I r??f
j been near the ceiling I should not
Jbaye heard iv. Indeed, a moment lajter
I was net certain I had heard
it.
j My chair, on top of the table, was
none too securely balanced. I had
found what I was looking for, a part
of the plaster ornament broken away,
and replaced by a whitish substance,
not plaster. I got my penknife and
cut waay the foreign matter, showing
a small hole beneath, a bullethole,
if I knew anythng about bulletholes
Then I heard the dragging movement
above, and what with alarm and
my insecure position, I suddenly
overbalanced, chair and all. My head
must have struck on the corner of
: the- table, for I was dazed for a few
; momeuts. The candle had gone out,
of course. I felt for the chair. ri<*ht
jed it, and sat down. I was dizzy and
11 was frightened. I was afraid to
move, lest the dragging thing above
{come down and creep over me in the
jdarkness and smother me.
1 And sitting there, I remembered
[the very things I most wished to
if ergot?the black curtain behind Miss
j Jeremy the things flung by unseen
I'hands into the room, the way my"
'watch had slid oyer the table and
fallen to the floor.
Since that time I know there is a
madness of courage, born of terror.
Nothing could be more intolerable
than to sit there and wait. It is the
same insanity that drove men out of
the trenches to the charge and almost
certain death, rather than to sit
and wait for what might come,
j In a way. 1 daresay, I charged the
upper floor of the house. Whatever
drove me, I know that, candle in
hand, and hardly sane, I van up the
staircase and into the room overhead.
It was empty.
As suddenly as my sanity had gone,
jit returned to me. The sight of two
small beds, side by side, a tiny dresjsing
table, a row of toys on the manitelpiece,
was calming. Here was the
children's night nursery, a white and
placid room which could house nothing
hideous.
I Was humiliated and ashamed. I,
Horace Johnson, a man of dignity
and reputation, even in a small way,
a successful after-dinner speaker,
numbering fifty-odd years of logical
living to my credit, had been running
i half-maddened toward a mythical
danger from, which I had been afraid
to run away. fg:
1 sat dov/n anil mopped my face
with my pocket handkerchief.
After a time I got up, and going
to a window locked down at the quiet
world below. The fog was lifting.
Automobiles were making cautious
progress laong the slippery street.
A woman with a basket had stopped
under the street light and was rearranging
her parcels. The clock of
the city hall, visible over the opposite
roofs, marked onlv twentv min
lutes to nine. It was still early eveIning?not
even mignight, the ritag:c
hour of the night,
Somehow that fact reassured me,
and I was able to iake stock of "my
surroundings. I realizee.d, for instance,
that I stood in the room oyer
Arthurs dressing room, and that it
was into the ceiling under me that
the sceond?or probably the first-?
bullet had penetrated.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Church Announcements
ADVENT CHRISTIAN
REV. J. T. GREENE, Pastor
Hi; n d;r School each Sunday at.
9:45. Morning service at 11 o'clock,
i Evening service at 8 o'clock.
FIRST BAPTIST
REV. P. A. HICKS, Pastor
Sunday School 9:45 a. m., J. T. C.
Wright, superintendent- Preaching
at 13 a. m. and 7:30 p. jr:.; B. V. P.
G.. 0:30 p. m.; Brotherhood, 6:30 p.
m.: mid-week prayer service on Wednesdays
nt 7:S0 p. m.
nuir practice on weancpdays at!
8:15 p. nr..
METHODIST CHURCH
DR. O. J. CHANDLER, Pastor
Sunday School. 9:45 a. m., J. D.
Rankin, Superintendent.
Preaching at 11 a. m. and 7 p. m.
by Dr. Chandler.
Epworth League, fi:15 p. m.
Prayer meeting on Wednesday at
7 p. m.
Choir practice on Friday, 7 p. m.
Calendar of Services at
THE LUTHERAN CHURCH
St. Miu-k'i Blowing Rock
Service with sermon the first Sunday
of each month at 11 a. m. SundaySchool
every Sunday at 9:45 a. m.
Luther League every Sunday at 2:30
p. m. Light Brigade Saturday before
the first Sunday at 2 p. m.
Grace-?Boone
Service the second and fourth
Sundays of each month at 11 a. m.
and on the first and third Sundays
of each month at 7 p. m. through the
fall and winter months. Please note
the change of time: Vespers at 7 p.
m. instead of 8 p. m. Sunday School!
every Sunday at 9:45 a. m. Lutherj
I Sfiiii * !:>
'ERY THURSDAY?BOONE, N. C.
AN ULTIMATE
. >
This baby in a drought stricken sei
ultimate consumers of the foodstuffs gi
past year. More than 2,750,000 persons
League every Sunday at 6 p. nt.
Ladies' Missionary Society meets on
Monday after the second Sunday of
eacli month at 2 p. nt. Light Brigade
meets on Wednesday after the second
Sunday of each month at 4 p. m.
Koly Communion Clark's Creek
Service every third Sunday of each
month at 11 a. m. Sunday School at
J: 15 a. m. Luther League meets every
Sunday at 2 p. m. Light Brigade
at. 2 p. nt. Saturday before the ,'ird
Sunday of. each month.
Banner Elk
Services on the fourth Sunday of
each month at 3 p. m.
We do most heartily welcome the
public to any or all of these services.
,f. A. Yount, Pastor
Cora Jeffooat, Parish Worker
Amy L. Fisher, Parish Nurse.
WATAUGA CHARGE
REV. H. M. WELMAN, Pastor
Hanson's Chapel?Second and
Fourth Sundays, 11 a. m. Sunday
School at 9:46, J. B. Horton, superintendent
F.pwcrth League, 6 p. nt.
Valle Cruris?Preaching every
First and Third Sunday at 11 a. in
Sunday School 10 a. m., J. M. Shull,
superintendent. Epworth League ever*
Wednesday night.
Mabel---Preaching every Second
and Fourth Sunday at 3 p. m. Sunday
School 10 a. m., Robert Castle,
superintendent.
Salem?Preaching every first Sunday
at 3 p. m.
Vatic Crude Auuciated Missions of
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Leicester F. Kent, Rector
Holy Cross Church, Valle Cruris
Every Sunday morning, 9 o'clock;
TT..1-- A 5 - * _i
j ccirui Av>uii mtiy ouiitniuntoiif isi(
! 2nd, '1th and 5th Sundays, 9 a. in.;
| Church School, 10 a. m.
j St.. Anthony'* MU*:on, -Dutch Creek ;
1 Church School every Sunday, 3 p. in.
| St. Matthew'], Church, Todd
Church School every Sunday, 10 a.
m.; service every Sunday 11 a. in.
St. iMIary'* Church, Braver Creak
Services 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th Sundays,
2:15 p. m.; Holy Communion
1st Sunday, 3:15 p. ni.
Holy Trinity Church, Glcndsle Spring
Services (Holy Communion) each
1th Sunday, 3 p. rn.
Avery County Missiont
All Saints Church, LinYillc; Banners
Elk, Carey's Flat, Newland, Roseboro.
Services as announced by Captain
William A. Smith.
BARBER WHO OWNS COW
SWAPS SHAVES FOR HAY
Tuscumhia, Ala.?T. F. Bennett,
barber of the Dddsville community,
'n *
- ? -- ?.V .11. ux xuacufflj^ji, nas <i
cow, bu: no hay. L. L. Odorn. a r.t'iyhhor
farmer, has no cow, hat plenty
of whiskers, and also hay.
The situation has been worrying
both Odom and Bennett. They they
heard of each other's plight and got
together to talk it over.
"You have a cow but no V>- '
Odom said. "I have a recurring crop
of whiskers but no razor. Members
of my family need haircuts occasion-!
ally. I have plenty of hay that I can
not sell, but no cow. You can give
my family haircuts and I will supply
your cow with hay."
"That looks good to me," Bennett
replied. "Bring on the hay and the
whiskers."
Good times have come again for
both the Bennett and Odom families v
Bennett's cow now has plenty of hay
and is giving twice as touch milk as
formerly. The Odorn'r have not quite
at much hay, but they all have haircuts
and Odom is minus his whiskers.
: CONSUMER
I
> w
A
ctlon of West Virginia was one of the ^
ven by the American Red Cross in the e
were fed by the organization. j
JOHN E. BROWN
ATTORNEY AT LAW
BOONE, N. C.
Offices Postal fice Building
Phone 63
666
LIQUID OR TABLETS
Relieves & Headache or Neuralgia in
30 minutes, checks a Cold the first
day, and checks Malaria in three days.
666 SALVE FOR BABY'S COLD
Legal Advertisements
Advertisements appearing under
this heading are payable strictly ^
in advance. This rule applies to
all. Please do not ask the publish- ?
| it'l to deviate. J <
: I
EXECUTOR'S NOTICE 1
Having qualified as executor of the
will of M. T. Harman, deceased, ;
this is to notify all persons having ;
claims against estate of said deceased [
to exhibit them to the undersigned
within twelve months front date, otherwise
this notice will be pleaded in
bar of their recovery. All persons indebted
to the estate will please come
forward and make settlement.
This September 29tli, 1930.
MRS. MAMIE HARBIN,
Executor of the Will of M. T.
10-1-6t Harman, Deceased.
Work \fea
NERVE}
Do they make you Restless, Cm
Tired, Sleepless, Dyspeptic, Headachy?
Do they spoil your
pleasure and interfere with
your work?
Tens of thousands /
have found a way to A
get relief from over- }J
worked nerves?a way
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n^iervescem iNervine Tablets soo
"I was very nervous from over
appetite was poor, and I felt weai
"Used Dr. Miles' Nervine and i
and I am working ike same as I d
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as 1 had tried everything I could
Dr. Miles' Nervine put me back o
When you are nervous, trythi
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NOVEMBER 5, 1931
HI-LAND I
DRY CLEANING CO.
Dry Cleaning, Pressing and Hat
Blocking
Phone 60, Boone, N. C.
laAiN
Comes
T THAT many people call inrageslir n
VX very often means excess acid " \
le stomach. The stomach nerves have
een over-stimulated, and food sou'he
corrective i3 an alkali, which quick y
iulralizcs acids. And the best r.ik:- ;
aown to medical science is Phiiii: ;
rilk of Magnesia.
One spoonful of this harmless. ta?i'ss
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ic symptoms disappear at once. Ya *
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ou learn the efficiency of this. Go i
small bottle to try. '
Gel the genuine Phillips Milk cf
.lagnesia, tne kind physicians have
rescribed for 50 years in correcting
xcess 'acids. 25c and 50c a bottle?any
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ANY BABY
WE can never be sure just what
makes an Infant restless, but
be remedy can always be the same,
jooti old Castoria I There's comfort in
:vcry drop of this pure vegetable prcptralion.
and not the slightest harm in iLs
sequent use. As often as Baby has a
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sleep, let Castoria soothe and quiet him.
Sometimes it's a touch of colic. Sometimes
constipation. Or diarrhea ? a
condition that should always be checked
without delay. Just keep Castoria handy
and give it promptly. Belief will follow
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u>w feel fifteen years vounoer
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is wonderful medicine sooner
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atch it bubble up like sparkX
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mh for Mothinar overwrought am*
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