?BANNER SERIAL FICTION
fm 1
She Painted Her Face
A tioty o( tout and uMguc ... DORNFORD YATES
CHAPTER IX ? Con tinned
? 1?
I can never describe the magic
that hung in her steady gaze. Be
fore it, the rabble melted, the mob
dispersed, and my plight- beearry;
an adventure, which I. was sharing
with her ? a very insignificant busi
ness, because that we were together
was so much more important than
anything else.
I tried my best to tell her that all
was well. And I think that she un
derstood. for the rarest smile stole
into her lovely eyes . . . And then
I came back to earth, like a giant
refreshed. , ?
She was gagged and bound, as I
was. But her ankles were tied to
gether, as well as her * delicate
wrists. Cord had been used ? to do
this sacrilege. She was clad in a
blue cloth dress that I did not know
? no doubt to bear out the sugges
tion of sudden flight. Her beautiful
hair was tumbled, but that was all.
Virgil was speaking again.
"You will have observed, Mr. Ex
on, perhaps with hope, that while
we have bound my' cousin's, we
have not bound your feet. I will tell
you why. Because she is light to
carry, but you are not. And so you
will walk? to the car. Now, lest
you should abuse this freedom, I'm
going to put you on a lead." He
held up his cord. "One end ? this
end will be fastened about your
waist: and the other about my cous
in's mos\ excellent neck. You see?
I have made a slip-knot . . . the
knot that they hang people with.
So that any irregular movement
which you may see fit to make will
put to inconvenience your, er,
heart's desire. In fact, if I were
you, I should emulate Mary's lamb.
Not that it matters ? if you like to
choke her yourself. But I've really
made other arrangements ? a shade
less exacting, I think. But I'll
leave it to you to judge."
With that, he stepped across me
and set the loop he had made about
Elizabeth's neck. Before my horri
fied eyes, he drew this tight ? not
tight enough to choke her, but so
tight that the loop could not lie,
as a necklace does, but stayed
where he had put it against her
throat. Then he and Elgar, be
tween them, got her on Elgar's
back. .??
Somehow I got to my knees and
so to my feet, and without a word
he fastened the end of the cord
about my waist.
I saw Elsa standing above, with
a dressing-case in her hand . . .
Then Elgar began to go down, and
I turned in behind him, weak-kneed
for fear of stumbling and coming
down and being unable to rise be
cause my hands were tied.
Not that it mattered, perhaps. But
I ? I did not want to choke my dar
ling myself.
As we went down to the terrace,
I reflected on the truth of what Vir
gil had said ? The way to win this
world is to go all lengths. The man
was right. It was manifestly sim
pler and swifter: direct action al
ways' is. But it was safer, too ? be
cause it was the way of a monster,
and we believe in monsters no more
than we do in giants.
Virgil was playing the monster:
and that, as calmly as though he
were but playing bridge. In other
words, he was doing the ipcredible
thing. If I had not seen and heard
what I saw and heard that night,
I would not have believed the truth
though one rose from the dead. And
so no one else would believe it ?
that Elizabeth Virgil and Exon had
been haled out of the castle and
put to death^ by a man who, six
hours later, was taking his early
tea with a cigarette.
"s I cannot clearly j-emember our
leaving the staircase - turret and
passing into the air, for the cord
was none too long and I could think
of nothing but keeping it slack, but
I know that the moon was not up,
that Virgil was moving behind me,
that Elgar turned to the right and
< > stepped out for the entrance-drive.
Perhaps ten minutes went by? it
may have been less, but I know we
had* passed the point from which
Herrick and I had surveyed the cas
tle at dawn, when I saw in the shad
ows ahead the shape of a car.
This was open and low ? it proved
to be Virgil's own car "now under
repair" ? and Elgar discharged his
burden directly over its side. It
will be understood that I did not
have to be told to enter myself, and
an instant later I was upon the back
seat, with Elizabeth Virgil beside
me, so far as I could hear, drawing
r regular breath. i
I suddenly realized that 1 was
streaming witlj sweat . .
The dressing-case was set at our
feet and Virgil and Elgar got in.
For a moment the self-starter
whirred Then all was silence
again, except for the purr of an en
gine in excellent trim. Virgil sat
back in his seat and let in his clutch.
It was as he did this, and we
moved, that my fingers encountered
something which did not belong to
the seat. In an instant, they had
M fast: and the moment I knew what
it was, the hope which VirgQ had
murdered came back to life.
It was a small screwdriver . . .
which Elgar or some mechanic had
left in the back of the car . . .
some eight inches long, over all . . .
with a fine enough blade. For all
I know, it may have been there for
weeks, for, the seat being tilted up,
it had lodged between the seat and
the padding on the back of the car;
and I should never have found it
or known it was there, if my wrists
had not been fastened behind my
back.
Now, as I have said, my wrists
were strapped together ? not bound
with cord. And every strap has a
buckle, and every buckle a prong.
When a man or a beast is re
strained by a leather strap, it is
upon the prong of the buckle that
such restraint must depend. Dis
there were tree* on the right, there
were Done on the left. Whereso
ever we might be bound for, I
judged we were nearly there, and I
held myself all ready to strike the
instant we stopped.
I have said that the night was
dark, and since we were sunk in
some valley which ran north and
south, we were denied the glow
which heralds the rising moon. Still,
I could see some six feet ? and that
was more than I needed to do what
had to be done.
And there, as though in reply, the
car passed over some rise and then
swept into surroundings at which I
shall always think as the mouth of
Hell.
In a flash the world was trans
figured.
The air, which had been sweet,
became the breath of corniption ?
be white ? and it has three atatuei
about it . . . statues of men in arm
or, leaning upon their twords. How's
that for a sepulchre? I wish you
could see it, Mr. Exon. I'm stand:
tag beside it now. Elgar, you see,
has gone to borrow some stones . . .
to go into the dressing-case. As an
chors go, it wasn't quite heavy
enough ..."
By now my door was open, and I
was hall out of the car, with Eliza
beth in my arms.
"You see, we shall lower that
first: and that will be attached to
my cousin's feet. And then we shall
lower her: and as she's already at
tached, that will bring us directly to
you."
I was on the cobbles now and was
stealing the way we had come. I
never found it so hard to turn my
I Was on the Cobbles Now and Was Stealing the Way We Had Come.
engage the prong from its hole, and
the stoutest strap will be loosed
and all restraint be at an end.
My fingers were free. II I could
contrive to thread the blade of the
screw driver over the frame of the
buckle and under the prong . . .
It was a difficult business. I was
working blind and my fingers had
not fair play, and though I soon
found, the buckle, I could not reach
this with my fingers and so could
not guide the blade, while the move
ment of the car was distracting the
aim which I tried to make.
Again and again I was on the
edge of success, and then the car
would lurch and I would lose prong
and buckle and sometimes my bal
ance, too. And once the blade was
in place, but, before I could drive it
home, a wheel dropped into a pot
hole and shook it out. I could have
screamed with the rage of a thwart
ed child . . .
And then, at last, the blade slid
under the prong . . .
What happened I do not know, for
I never examined the strap, but
know I was trying to lever the prong
from its place and the buckle was
turning with it and spoiling my
game, when, all of a sudden, the
strap went slack on my wrists and
I knew I was free.
Now my impulse was to do mur
der, and do it at .once: Break El
gar's neck and then choke Virgil to
death: and but for Elizabeth's pres
ence, I think that I should have
done that ? and asNlike as not lost
my own life, when the car, which
was traveling fast, crashed into a
tree. But Elizabeth hstl to be saved.
And so I did nothing at all but
shake the strap from my wrists and
keep my hands behind me and use
my brain.
At once I saw that the first thing
for me to do was to free myself
from the cord which put Aiy lady in
peril whenever I moved.
With my eyes upon Virgi] and El
gar, I felt for the knot at my waist.
This I found and untied. Then I
made a bow-knot in its stead, which
I could undo in a flash whenever
I pleased.
Then I saw that, for better or
worse, I must not launch my at
tack until the car was at rest, for
if, in the struggle, the car were to
leave the road, Elizabeth, bound
hand and foot, might fare very ill.
And then I remembered that Per
cy Virgil was armed.
This showed me that, come what
might, I must deal with him first:
else, whilst I was dealing with El
gar, he might very well put me out.
And there, without any warning,
our lights were "dipped" and Vir
gil reduced his speed
Till now I had been too much en
gaged to observe our way, and now
I could see next to nothing from
where I sat: but the road was
rough and winding, and though
reeked of decay: the sudden chill
of a morgue displaced the pleasant
cool of the summer night: the steady
purr of the engine changed to a
snarl: and the darkness btecame so
thick that I could not have seen my
-hind in front of my face. Then I
knew that we were on cobbles, and,
when I lifted my head, I saw the
lines of three ridge-poles against the
sky. We were in the great court of
some mansion, long uninhabited.
Now what possessed Elgar to do
it, I do not know; but, as the car
came to rest and I rose, to niy feet,
the man slewed round in his seat
and dropped down a hand for Eliz
abeth's dressing-case. As he heaved
this up, it struck me under the
knees and, because I was rising
and was neither up nor down, the
blow made me lose my balance and
sent me backwards into the seat I
had left. ' Since this was low and
tilted, I as good as fell on to my back
and before I could rise again, Per
cy Virgil was out of the car, On the
opposite side.
Not that I saw him ? the darkness
was far too dense. And so, at least,
I knew that I had not been seen.
But I knew where he was, for I
heard him using my name.
"The, er, cemetery, Mr. Exon
. . . it's better known as Palfrey.
Nobody ever comes here, because it
is said to be cursed. But, blessed or
cursed, it has a magnificent well
. . . Ninety feet deep, Mr. Exon
And 52 feet of water? I measured it
yesterday . . . And its parapet is
of white marble ? at least, it used to
back on a man: but Elizabeth had
to be saved before anything else.
"And so, you see, Mr. Exon . .
And there I saw Elgar approach
ing, against the dusk prevailing
without the court.
For a second I hesitated. Then I
laid Elizabeth down and twitched
the cord from my waist.
And then I went to meet Elgar,
who could not see me ... And,
as I went, I ripped the gag frorft
my mouth.
He must have found the case
heavy, for when I was almost upon
him, he laid it down for a moment,
to rest his arm. " ^
As he straightened hi* back, I
took the man by the throat . . .
It was a curious business and
seemed to belong to the stage or the
cinema's screen, for whilst we two
stood silent, Virgil, a little way off,
was addressing the empty car. I
could not hear all he said, but his
tone was as careless as ever and
once he laughed. But Eigar could
not laugh. He never struck me.
From first to last his hands were
tearing at mine. They might as
well have torn at the cobbles be
neath our feet. So for, perhaps, a
full minute . . ? Then his knees
sagged, and his arms fell down by
his sides.
Still gripping his throat, I lowered
his weight to the ground. Then I
cracked his skull on the cobbles and
let him go.
The sound was slight enough, but
Percy Virgil heard it ? and found it
strange.
(TO BE CONTINUED )
Society Is Formed to Protect Snakes;
Authority Asserts Many Are Valuable
"If more peoplfc knew that most
snakes are valuable to mankind,
thay would not be so eager to de
stroy every snake they see," says
Hai ry C. Gardiner, who is a resident
of Detroit, Michigan, and honor
ary president of the Michigan her
petological society. The society has
for its aims the study and protec*
tion of snakes in Michigan.
Gardiner says that the fear of
snakes is deep-laid, and arises
mainly from the belief that most
snakes are poisonous or harmful in
some way. He refutes this belief
by saying that in Michigan there
are i7 different kinds of snakes of
which only one is poisonous^-the
massasauga or swamp rattler. This
snake is rarely more than 30 inches
long. "During my 25 years of resi
dence in Michigen, I have never
heard of a death resulting from the
bite of any Michigan snake," says
Gardiner.
The largest Michigan snakes are
the blacksnake and the blue racer,
he says. These two species are
often confused. They both repro
duce by laying eggs, but their feed
ing habits are different. Black
snakes, also called pilot makes,
feed rrlostly upon small, warm
blooded animals, such as field mice,
rats, gophers and occasionally on
birds. Blue racers prey upon cold
blooded creatures, such as frogs,
salamanders and small lizards, in
addition to the menu of the black
snake.
Commonest of all Michigan
snakes is the garter snake, which,
except that it may sometimes eat
fish, is generally considered benefi
cial. This snake seems very fond
of earthworms. The smallest snake
in the state is a secretive little fel
low called the red-bellied snake,
which grows to about 10 inches.
Where Giant Tortoise Lives
The giant tortoise still roams un
tamed in only two places in the
world ? Ecuador's Galapagos islands
in the Pacific and the Aldabra is
lands in the Indian ocean. The M
dabras, a dependency of Britain's
crown colony of Seychelles, lie 500
miles southwest of tbe Seychelles.
and are nearer Kc.ja.
-
t--.
IMPROVED
UHIFORM INTERNATIONAL I
SUNDAY I
CHOOL L
? W utm Newivapw Uate.
Lesson for December 25
esson
*KS?isiS,8g8,&&5
on aubjMta
and copyr
. and krtpturt toxta m
? _ copyrighted by International
Council of HtflitoiB Education; uaed by |
GOD'S GREAT LOVE
LESSON TEXT? Matthew 1:1- IT
GOLDEN TEXT? God to loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son. that
whosoever belleveth In Mm shauld not perish
but have everlasting life.? John 3:18.
Christmas Day on Sunday ? what
an appropriate combination! Today
we commemorate the birth of our
Lord, the coming of our Redeemer
to dwell among men on the day of
the week which is a perpetual re
membrance of His resurrection
from the dead? the Lord's Day. He
came as the babe of Bethlehem's
manger in order that He might in
His death and resurrection from the
grave prove His victory over sin
and death. For those who know
and love the true spirit of Christ
mas, this should be a great day of
rejoicing in Christ. f
We have an unusual opportunity
to study the birth of Jesus from a
text not commonly used for Christ
mas, namely, the coming of the
Wise Men from the East to find and
to worship Him. It is suggested
that their experiences may be con
sidered as showing the way to
Jesus, who is the perfect revelation
of God's great love. We should
I. Look for His Sign (w. 1-3).
While most of their fellow men I
saw nothing but an unusually bright |
star (if they even noted that much,
in their hurried devotion to the in- |
terests of everyday life), the men
of the East showed that they were
wise by recognizing that here was '
the promised sign of Numbers 24:17.
Be sure to read that great prophecy.
When they told Herod, he, fearing
lest his own power and prominence
should be challenged, became
troubled in his heart.
i ne paranei to our aay is siruung.
Everywhere in our lives, personal
and national, are the unmistakable
signs of the presence and power of
Jesus. Most people heed" them not
in their mad pursuit of gold and
pleasure. Others hate His name,
and would destroy His influence on
earth. Let us be among the wise
men who come today to seek and
worship Him.
U. Listen to God's Word (w. 4-?).
The Wise Men knew that He was
to come, but they needed further
light. They knew where to And it ?
In God's own Word. How different
would be the history that is in the
making in our day if instead of turn
ing to the philosophies of men, or
trusting in the might of armaments,
we would turn to God's Word and
let it lead us all to Christ, the
Saviour of the world, the Prince of
Peace.
III. Seek the Saviour (w. 7-9).
Different motives moved in the
hearts of those who consulted the
Scriptures on that far-off day in
Jerusalem. Herod, while hypocrit
ically professing to want to worship,
really was looking into it so that he
might kill Jesus. There are hypo
crites who study God's Word in our
day for the same purpose while os
tensibly worshiping. The people .of
Jerusalem had the curious bystand
er's interest in an unusual event.
They have their counterpart in our
.churches and communities on this
Christmas Day of 1938. Then there
^ere the chief priests and scribes,
wbo had a purely professional in
terest in finding what the Scriptures
taught concerning this promised
One. There are plenty of that kind
of religious leaders and workers to
day.
None of these actually sought the
Saviour except the Wise Men. Thank
God for the thousands of men, wom
en, and children who will today seek
the Christ who is the very reason
for the observance of Christmas,
but who has been all but lost in the
nonsense and commercialism that
have practically ruined Christmas
as a sacred "holy day."
IV. Worship Him (w. 10-12).
These faithful seekers found Him,
and in Him they found joy (v. 10),
worship (v. 11), opportunity for sac
rifice of self and gifts (?. 11), and
fellowship with God in the great
work of redemption (v. 12). God
?poke to them, gave them a person
al and secret commission which
thwarted the wicked plans of Herod.
Christmas may mean all of that
to each one of us if we let the Lord
Jesus come into our lives in all the
beauty of His redeeming love and
holiness. To you who read these i
lines just now, the writer makes
this plea in the name of Christ? let
Him have your life and transform it
by His grace and for His glory.
Only thus can you have a joyful and
blessed Christmas.
Hie Parent Mind
The souls of the sons of God are
greater than their business; and
they are thrown out into life, not to
do a certain work, but to be a cer
tain thing; to have some sacred
lineaments, to show tome divine tint
of the Parent Mind from which they
came.? Martineau.
The Nation's Progress
National progress is the sum of
individual industry, energy, and up
rightness, as natioual decay is of
individual idleness, selfishness and
rice.
Star Dost
? So Back Came Olivier
? A Chance for Stardom
? Air and Screen Lure
>7 Vlrglala Vale
I AURENCE OLIVIER startled
Hollywood the ether day by
telling a bit of unflattering truth
about himself. Recently im
ported to play opposite Merle
Oberon in "Wuthering Heights"
for Samuel Goldwyn, he an
nounced that he was fired the
last . time he was in Hollywood,
and went home ' determined
never to go there again. After
all, he'd made a' 'success on the
stage, both in London and New
York ? why should he bother with
pictures? Especially if pictures
wouldn't bother with him!
You see, he was asked to go to
Hollywood Are years aro. to work
with Greta Garbo is 'Queen Chris
tina." "Bat Garbo didn't like m,"
announced Mr. Olirier. "And I was
fired? kicked out."
LAURENCE OLIVIER
Resentfully he departed. But he
couldn't resist Mr. Goldwyn s per
suasions. backed by a handsome
pay check. _ I
Incidentally, "Wuthermg Heights
will give us something comparative- ,
ly rare on the screen nowadays? a ,
villain who isn't an American, but
is Mr. Olivier, who's British as can
be Foreign censorship has played
hob with pictures in which the vil
lains represented foreign countries;
the country concerned was practi
cally certain to make a fuss, saying
that people would judge all of its
population by that one bad example.
So all villains have had to be Amer
icans. Apparently Olivier can pr?.
sent the kind of villain the British
won't object to.
One number in Fred Astaire s ;
"The Castles" may b? a star-maker.
It s "The Girl on the Magazine Cov
er." and for it Hermes Pan, the pic
ture's danee director, is interview
ing 1,000 girls, in order to select
the eight prettiest girls ta H?Uy
wood. With a start like that, at
least one of them ought to have her
name above theaters in lights be
fore another year passes.
? * ?
To return for a monjent to "Wuth- j
ering HeighU," when you see the
picture you'll also see great masses
of what appears to
shire heather. Give credit for that
I to Nick Stadler, who can trick Moth
i er Nature herself. That heather is
made from about 10.000 plain Amer
ican tumble weeds. The bushes far
thest from the camera were sprayed
with purple sawdust.
Lanny Ross made two guest ap
pearances on the CBS Hit Parade
and was promptly signed up for a
full year. It's his first regular radio
assignment since he broadcast
from Hollywood several months ago.
? * ?
Patricia Crosby, Bing's fourteen
year-old niece from Seattle, was a
visitor at one of her unc e s broad
casts recently, but she refused to sit
in the audience. She and her father
and moth* listened from a booth
off-stage^ because PatofMa thought
their presence Uncle
Bing nervous." ^
John Griggs, who plays the vil
lain "Zero Smith." in the "Howie
Wing" radio serial, ean have ? res
pite frfjm playing villains U he
wants to. Sinclair Lewis has offered
him a part in the stage play that he
and Fay Wray J?ve written. Gri*r?
think, he'll take the part if Mrs.
Griggs ean have one too.
Movie folk have something new to
worry about these day*. Many of ,
them have been appearing on radio
broadcasts that original* on the
Coast, and liking both the Wh
ence and the pay checks.
it's getting so that a movie actor is
likely to feel that he can't really
be popular unless he s a success on
the air as well as on the screen.
I So? every little while up bob ru
mors that most of the big radio
programs now aired from the Coast
have decided to return to New York.
ODDS AND ENDS-G*uimi?
dificuli - ? w* ?? >lj~
TJ in n? York; y?. ,ri, pU~
"Chats About Do?tS mirrd om NBC *v*rj
WHO'S
NEWS
THIS
WEEK
N1
1 By LEMUEL F. PARTON '
EW YORK. ? Prevailing fashions
in iron men make us proud of
our own model. We cite big, smil
ing, durable Gabby Hartnett, bat
r ,, , ting 296 over ?
Cabby l? Oar perKxl of 1?
Own Model of years, with ?
An Iron Man ?' -3M.
dropping only
three pop flies in all that time and
still pegging the ball to second with
no letdown in machine-gun speed
and precision. Phil Wrigley, owner
of the Chicago Cube, ups him $5,000
in a $27,500 player-manager cos
tract, for his eighteenth season with
the Cubs.
He's growing gray ever the
ears, bat this department is
ready to lay a bet that he'll still
be to his catcher's armvr after
the overseas ires men have btea
sent to the showers, evea if they
are battteg l.M* at this mtmrw*.
He's a marvetoas baadlrr tt
pitchers, with a bagh that eases
tension aad keys down serves.
At Woon socket. L. L, where be
grew up, he was Charles Leo, a
name long since lost. It was in
1922 that he signed for what looks
like a lifetime stretch, as a rookie
catcher for the Cubs.
r>R. OLIVER CROMWELL CAR
MICHAEL lives up to his name.
At the conference of southern busi
ness leaders at Atlanta, the chanceK,
_ _ lor of V anderbflt
Dr. Carnucnael university cries
Cries Down Yen down the yen
For Security {oT security as
"the goal at
stagnation and defeat."_/With grim
Cromwellian tenacity, be has been
shoving this home for years. Dr.
Carmichael says ?'security** is fun
damentally at war with sound eco
nomics.
He is a native of Goodwater, Ala.,
a Rhodes scholar from the Univer
sity of Alabama.
?
A HARD-BOILED, bantam-weight
^ British newspaper man was as
signed to a colonel's staff in the
World war. The coiooel was coo
WamM England
Clean Sweeping comer a hand
It Vital Need book on Syria.
"Take that," te
said, "and study it. You might be
able to digest it in six months."
"Perhaps I can," said the scrivener.
"It took me only three months to
write it."
Hut was gamey little Lnp?M
S. Amery, one-time aee reporter
for the London Times, later a
cabinet member, now potting
his steel spurs to Mr. Chamber
lain's "appeasement," the re
ciprocal trade treaty and al
deals with the dictators. Be
says, "Ton might as wefl try
to please a tortoise by stroking
its back."
In parliament, he- has been for
many years the leader of the die
hard conservatives. He is against
any social fixings or trimmings
whatsoever, and. having been, like
Kipling, a reporter in India, is
for the old empire formula without
any modifications.
The son of a PO?r civil serv ant in
India, he scrambled through Oxford
by snagging every scholarship in
sight. He went to parliament and
in 1922 became secretary of the ad
miralty. Later, as colonial secre
tary, he swarmed all over the em
pire, making fluent orations in Syri
an, Arabic, Turkish, French, Ital
ian and German. In Cambridge he
had confounded his elders by his
gift of tongues.
Be is a bitter-ender who says
Der Fuehrer's big horses aren't
going to ran over him. Be has
been a prophet ot doom and has
warned F.ngland against meet
ing a crisis by sweeping the dost
under the rag.
OEVERAL months ago, the Nazis
" expelled George Grosz from the
realm. He had beaten them to it
by about six years^ Just now, he
, , gets American
Beats Hitler a citizenship. He
Order of Exile was a savage
By Six Year* and ironic cari
caturist who had
.raised many blisters on sundry Nazi
hides before he made his getaway.
While he is a certified Aryan, he
was an outstanding candidate for a
concentration camp and was shrewd
enough to see what was coming.
When he landed here hi 1931,
to teach at the Art Stedents'
league, there was a raw in the
league, bat President John Sloan
defended him as "erne at the
greatest at modern artists,"
and here he it, painting happily,
and everything is gemeuUich.
He has given up caricature and
lets the world go by. His paint
ings are hung in many good galler
ies, and he has a nice home in
Queens, where, with his wife and
two children, he says he enjoys his
exile tremendously.
? Consolidated News Psalm.
WNII r ?