January 10. 1940
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I CHAPTER VI
He looked at Joe Dane in mild tri
a =tab in the dark, Mr. Dane!"
“What’s that about heel-plates?”
young Dane demanded.
“Well,” s aici Tope, “somebody
with heel-plates has walked through
the woods near Faraway; and a man
with heel pa e _ Holdtv ’s
at the quai*: . a, G . '' , _
chauffeur, had a pair ol snoes ■’■ ~i
heel-plates on them. They're in his
closet down at Holdom’s right now.”
“Then we want Kell!” Dane ex
claimed. “And Mrs. Ke:l: Was
she running around with Ledforge?
We've got to find her too!”
Tope nodded. "It would help a
lot,” he assented, "if we could talk
to her.” He took Mrs. Tope's arm.
“Let me know when you're ready to
salvage the car. Mat. I want to be
there. I’ll be at the Mill if New
York calls.”
And despite Dane’s efforts to de
tain them, he and Mrs. Tope went
down the stairs, and got into the
little roadster at the curb. When
they were under way, she said
thoughtfully:
“I don’t like that young man, but
he’s right about one thing: You’ve
got to find Mrs. Kell, make her tell
you—”
“I guess we’ll find her," he re
plied grimly. “But I don’t expect
her to tell us anything!”
She looked at him. “You know
where she is?”
“Well,” he confessed, “there were
two or three little things I didn't tell
them! That gray suit in Kell's «los
et, I looked at the name on the
tailor’s label. The name was Led
forge.”
She uttered a low ejaculation.
“But Mr. Ledforge might have giv
en it to Kell—when Kell worked for
him.”
“It wouldn’t fit Kell,” Tope told
her. “Kell’s a big man. His uni
forms were big. This suit was
small.”
She frowned in bewilderment.
“But even so,” she insisted, “what
has that to do with Mrs. Kell?
Where do you think she is?”
He said heavily: “I think she’s in
the coupe in the quarry.”
“Why?” she whispered, in a still
terror. “Why?”
"Adam and Bee found a man's
tracks leaving there,” said Tope.
"Shoes with heel-plates. But there
were no woman's tracks! And that
gray suit in Kell’s closet, there was
blood on the sleeve of it, and the
dead man hadn't any cut or wound
that would have bled at all!”
When Mrs. Tope and the Inspec
tor reached Dewain’s Mill, Tope
himself went indoors, but she stayed
outside. The camp seemed desert
ed, till Adam Bruce and Bee De
wain, hearing the car arrive, came
together from the direction of Far
away.
Tope heard their voices and came
to the door. He still wore his heavy
rubber boots. He called: “Hello,
Adam! “Come in here and play boot
jack for me, will you? My feet are
just about parboiled.”
Inside the cabin, the Inspector, a
little flushed, more than a little hot,
extended his foot; and Adam
dragged the boots off, and found
slippers. Tope said:
"Well, you located the car. That’s
good. ’ ’
Adam said: “Yes. And I don't
know when I’ve ever had to do any
thing that scared me more than div
ing down into that gray water; but
I felt the axle, and a wheel.” He
added: “And while I was doing that,
Bee found the man’s tracks. What
do they mean?”
“You’re as bad as Joe Dane, al
ways asking questions. Son,” he
countered; “how long are you going
to hold out on me?”
Adam protested: “Holdout?” But
his face was red.
"Why, yes—just that. Why, for in
stance, does Balser Vade dislike
you?”
"He’s just a harmless crank,”
Adam insisted.
ti Hie Inspector relaxed in his chair.
All right, son,” he said. “You do
as you like about Celling me.”
4l Adam hesitated in some distress.
Any idea yet who the dead man
may be?” he asked at last.
Tope answered mildly: “Yes, in a
a y. Mrs. Tope thinks he’s Led
t°rge, the Utilities—Why, what’s the
matter, Adam?”
ior at that name, young Adam
Bruce had come to his feet in quick
astonishment, stood now leaning
over Tope, and cried out:
"Ledforge?”
Mrs. Tope says so,” the old man
nsisted. “She saw Ledforge once
a - a stockholders’ meeting.”
Adam relaxed; he chuckled. “You
s artled me for a minute,” he con
fessed.
1 " es > I noticed that!” said Tope
' Matter of fact, I meant to!”
But Mrs. Tope is' wrong, Inspec
,° r ’ Adam declared. He hesitated,
v our people in New
. or *Hiis morning, from Ridgcomb,
Y a *, about Ledforge. He’s in New
1 r h“cked-cn thatP- -
,® s ’ so did we,” Tope assented.
e S*grge is in New York, all right.
But Ada in, how clul you happen to
think it might be Ledforge?” He
looked at the young man shrewdly.
“I’m wondering,” he said, “if Bal
ser Vade—you said he was a letter
writing kind of a man—ever wrote
a letter to Ledforge.”
Adam surrendered. “All right,”
he yielded; and he grinned. “I give
in. Here it is. But I think Vade’s
harmless, Tape. Only, Ledforge
ruined him, ten years ago, in a wa
ter-power project. Since then Vade
has been a little cracked on the
subject of bro.-ks and streams. 1
told you about that. He blames Led
forge for spoiling the rivers. Led
| forge s office sent over to our peo-
J pic half a dozen letters, pretty wild
and extravagant, from this society
| for the protection of rivers, signed
; by Vade as secretary, and threat-
J ening Ledforge with—tire and brim
! stone! One of them said something
| about snatching him up in a fiery
: chariot, like Elijah or whoever it
was; and that suggested kidnaping,
so I came up here to see Vade.”
He added: “Vade admitted writ
ing the letters, and he dared me to
arrest him. He seemed to want to
be persecuted, seemed to want pub
licity, and a chance to tell the world
what sort of man Ledforge is. I
think he'd like to play the martyr,
but Ledforge didn’t want t<s prose
cute.” He added: “I suppose Led
forge was as anxious to avoid pub
licity as Vade was to get it.”
Tope nodded unjlerstandingly. “But
after that, naturally you thought of
Ledforge—”
“And I checked up,” Adam
agreed. “And Ledforge is in New
York.”
Tope beamed. “So this can’t be
he,” he assented. “And Mrs. Tope’s
mistaken." And he went on to re
cite to Adam the discoveries of the
day He told the tale of the stolen
car, and of Whitlock’s inquiries, and
of the visit to the Holdom place,
and of Miss Nettie Pineyard.
“And Mrs. Kell and Kell have dis
appeared,” he explained. “Holdom
was expected home Friday, but he
didn’t come. Kell came, in the lim
ousine, and drove away in it after
ward; and Mrs. Kell drove the coupe
away.”
Adam ran to quick conjecture.
“And Kell joined her later, came
“No, the dead man isn’t Mr. Led-
I forge.”
| with her here? Then they dumped
I the coupe in the quarry and headed
j for Canada?” s
I “Well, maybe,” Tope admitted.
“What was it? Jealousy? Is Mrs.
Kell—the flighty kind?”
The Inspector said reluctantly:
! "Well, it looks as if She spent last
l week-end —ten days ago—with Led
| forge somewhere. And if she’d go
I away with him, maybe she’d go with
others. Maybe this dead man—long
; as he’s not Ledforge—was one of
I them.” He slapped his knee in sud
| den recollection. "We ought to have
1 sent ■ tracer out after the limousine
I that Kell drove away in. Adam, do
that, will you?”
Adam nodded. "Yes. What else?”
“Why, it just might be that Led
forge is really missing, and they re
! covering it up in New York.
“I'll find out,” Adam promised.
“And one other thing, Adam: May
| not have any connection, but I d like
i to know. Holdom had a plane pi
lot named Bob Flint-and it crashed
1 in Long Island Sound on Saturday
i morning. Flint, he was killed. I d
| like to know what made that plane
crash. Maybe you can find out
through the Department of Com
merce.”
Adam said: "Sure.”
Then they heard voices outside;
and Mrs. Tope and Bee Dewain ap
peared in the open doorway. Bee
had sandwiches wrapped in a nap
kin* and a glass of milk.
I Tope chuckled, and looked at Mrs.
L Tope. “I declare,” he exclaimed,
“I forgot all about food!” He took
the sandwiches and began to eat
j them comfortably.
Adam said: “Bee, I’ve got to do
some telephoning; -don’t want the
j neighbors listening in. Want to run
! me to town?”
“Take our car," Tope suggested.
"No need to bother Miss Dewain. I
wai.t to tell her what’s been happen
ing.” He added with a chuckle:
“YouTl get back quicker if I keep
her here!”
So Adam drove away alone; and
: Tope told Bee what there was to
| tell. The girl listened silently till
' he finished. Then she said:
“No, the dead man isn’t Mr. Led
i forge. I had a letter from him this
morning. Or rather Mr. Eberly
did!” And she explained: “You see,
Mr. Eberly and Mr. Ledforge are
old friends. The bank had some
Utilities bonds, and that was one rea
son it had to close; but Mr. Eberly
never blamed Mr. Ledforge. Mr.
Eberly left Saturday morning to go
fishing in New Brunswick, and—l
used to ba his secretary—he ar
ranged to have his mail delivered
to me so I could take care of it.
He’s not married, so he often does
that when he goes away.”
Tope listened without questions,
and she went on:
“This letter came this morning
from Mr. Ledforge. He wants Mr.
Eberly to come over and fish with
him in the trout-pond above his sum
mer place, tomorrow afternoon. Mr.
Ledforge wrote the letter himself.”
“You sure?”
“Yes, of course. I’ve never seen
him, but I know his handwriting.
I’ll show you the letter.”
Tope said mildly: “Why, I’d like
to see it.” And he asked: “Any
way you can get in touch with Mr.
Eberly, Miss Dewain?”
“Telephone,” she said. “Or tele
graph.”
“I wish you’d call him up, tell him
about this invitation.” And he add
ed disarmingly: “If he doesn’t want
to come back to fish with Mr. Led
forge, ask him to fix it so I can go
in his place. I like to fish.”
“All right,” she assented, amused;
and Tope asked:
“Mr. Eberly seen Ledforge late
ly, has he?”
She shook her head. “No. Mr.
Ledforge called him up about ten
days ago—Saturday, I think it was.
Wanted to see him; but Mr. Eberly
was in Boston over that week-end.
The operator knows I handle some
things for Mr. Eberly so she shifted
the call to me.”
“Where did Ledforge call from?”
Tope wondered.
“Up here, I think,” Bee replied.
“He said something about ‘dropping
in.’ Something casual. Not as if
he were in New York.”
Tope nodded, and then they heard
, a car turn in and stop by the Mill,
and Bee looked out and said: “It’s
j Mr. Cumberland, and Joe Dane.”
“Call them up hei-e,” Tope direct
ed sharply. “Before the whole world
j knows they’re here!” \
He came to the door as Bee made
! haste down the drive; but she was
1 too late to avert the danger Tope
j foresaw. Joe Dane was inflated by
; the prospect of handling what prom
| ised to become a celebrated case. So
i when they turned in off the road and
stopped beside the Mill, where Earl
Priddy was working, Joe called in
important tones:
“Hi, Earl! Where’s Inspector
Tope?”
Priddy straightened up and
scratched his head and stared. “In
spector?” he echoed, his eyes wide.
“Inspector of what? What’s he In
spector of, Joe?”
Bee, arriving just then on the spot,
hushed him sharply. “Never mind,
Earl! It’s none of your business.
Go on with your work.” She sum
moned Joe away; the car moved |
on to Cascade, where Tope waited, |
1 and the two men alighted there.
Tope looked at Dane in mild dis- j
approval. “Young man,” he said, ;
“you advertise too much!”
“It’s all right,” Bee said reassur- |
ingly. “I told Earl it was none of '
his business!”
Tope chuckled. “Why, that’s fine, I
miss,” he assented. “After that, i
i Earl Priddy won’t give it another j
| thought, I know! You certainly fixed
| that.” And he added gently: “You
go along now and telephone Mr.
Eberly. And let me see that letter.”
And as the girl turned away, he said:
| "Come in, Mat. Come in, Dane. I
| guess Earl doesn’t matter. We
couldn’t keep this thing dark much
| longer.”
So they came in, Dane defen
f sively defiant. "I don’t believe in
1 secret procedures, .anyway,” he pro
tested. “The way to solve a puzzle
j like this is to cut right through it, j
: get at the heart of it.”
“That been your experience?”
Tope asked in a dry tone; and
Dane’s cheek flamed. Tope looked
at Cumberland. “I judge you heard
from New York, Mat?” he re
marked.
Cumberland nodded. “Why, yes,
Tope/Mie said. “We did!”
And he added slowly: “They’ve
located Holdom. He’s in a private
hospital down near Hartford with a
broken head, a concussion, maybe
TITE BLACK MOUNTAIN NEWS
• 1 Top** took car/3 to betray no ex- j
Cumberland nodded, and he ex- !
“New York says Ledforge and i
Holdom started up here last Friday, !
in Iloldom’s limousine, with Kell j
driving. They left New York early,
about nine olclock. Holdom went •
around to pick Ledforge up at his
apartment;- and the officer on the 1
beat saw Ledforge come out and
get in.
“They don’t know when Ledforge
! came back, but he was in his office
Monday morning, and he was at the
bank and in his office this morn
ing.”
Tope nodded, and Cumberland
went on:
“Well, today, when they had made
sure about Ledforge, they sent a
man to Holdom’s office, a»d the
staff there was all excited, because ;
they had just had a telephone mes- ]
sage from Holdom. He’s in this pri- j
vate hospital in a litle town just I
this side of the Connecticut line.
“He’s been there since Saturday
morning. He was picked up beside
the road unconscious, with a lump
on his head, and his scalp was cu£
and had bled some. There was rain
down there just before daylight., but
his clothes were dry. He was laid
out on a grassy bank where the driv
er of the first car that came along
after daylight was bound to see him.
This doctor had been out on a con
finement case, and found him.
“Holdom was unconscious until to
day. He had conscious intervals yes
terday, but not enough to know who
he was; but today he told the doctor
to call his office.”
i
SUNDAY SCHOOL
r LESSON
O
1 Courtesy Rev. R. E. McClure,
Asheville, N. C.
; o
Theme for Quarter:
i "A NATION IN THE MAKING”
Less<fn for January 13, 1945
“A People Delivered”
o
Basic Scripture—Exodus, Chap
ters 6-18.
Devotional Reading—lsaiah
41:8-13.
o
: Comments to guide further study
by Rev. R. E. McClure, Executive
Secretary of Asheville Presby
tery, Presbyterian Church, U. S.,
based on the Uniform Series of
■ International Lessons, Cycle of
1945-1950.
Lesson treatments from Out
lines copyrighted by the Interna
tional Council of Religious Educa
tion. Outlines used by permis
sion.
o
Last week the lesson studied
was “A People Oppressed.” To
day, the basic Scripture, Exodus
6-18, tells the story of events from
which Jews count time as a na
tion and race- Here is manifest
ed the power of God for deliver-
I ance. Here is also a lesson for
| any man, reliance upon God as
| the first step to service and suc
cess.
This week Primaries will want
to travel “On A Long Journey”
with these people. Juniors are a
little older and can better under
! stand “God’s Help At All Times,”
j even hard times, as He provides
| all things needful. Intermediates
and Seniors would be “Seeing
God’s Hand in History,” for cer
tainly God’s hand is here, in a
fundamental experience. Young
People and Adults will need to
follow more closely the great fact
of “God’s Deliverance of the Op
pressed.”
Any other method of salvation
from the slavery of Egypt mightl
| have caused the people to feel that
j they had gotten themselves the
victory.
It was essential that they know
l of a certainty that the victory be-
I longeth unto God. Every individ
: v.al needs to be taught this lesson,
that he may say truly, “I will
| trust, and not he afraid: for the
| Lord, even the Lord, is my
strength.” :(Isaiah 12:2). Those
words comprise the memory verse
for the older departments.
Contrast the waning power of
the Egyptians and the ascending
power of the God of the Israel- j
ites. The plagues, in the main, 1
were directed at the so-called gods 1
of the Egyptians. The Israelites’ j
God was supreme. This power j
found its highest manifestation in
| a power over life and death. The
death of the first born of Egypt
and the salvation of the first born
of Israel in turn became a type of
the salvation from sin through the
Christ of the New Testament.
God ruled the sea, and the
Israelites went over on dry
ground. God provided manna in
the wilderness and water from
the rock. And these again trans
cended their immediate useful-
| Moses was led to effect a tom- j
)tal organization with the eld-:
I dto lv more closely related as :
■i nation of people. They were
free in the wilderness from slav
er'- of Egypt, but slaves of a dif
ferent sort. They needed law and :'
order and government. In obedi- j
°n-e to law they could learn true
freedom.
When they were conscious of j
God’s providence, then God was I
ready to reveal more fully His |
laws. These constitute the lesson !
j for next week, as we are to study
| “Tit Laws of a People.”
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o
First Lt. Alfred C. Rice of
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Moore General Hospital and has
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Colonel Wilson revealed on New
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Lt. Rice is no stranger to
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. Ala.
He took both his bachelor of
science and doctor of medicine in
the University of Illinois and in
terned in St. Louis City Hospital
. from 1930 to 1932. He then en
, gaged in general practice in Tip
. ton, la., until 1937 when he went
to Detroit, Mich, for a 14-month
i course in chest work in Maybury
• Sanitorium, Northville, Mich.
From 1938 to 1941, Lt. Rice was
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to Chandler where he was in gen
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Moore General’s new tuberculo
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hospital’s medical service under
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! More than 80 per cent of the hos
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i and ailments other than tubercu
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The Saxons were mentioned for
the first time by Ptolemy about
the middle of the second century.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, while at
tending Bowdom, was fined 50
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“Let’s Have a Community
Chorus.”
’’ i
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Page Seven
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