The Calumet Chieftain. (Calumet, Okla.), Vol. 5, No. 35, Ed. 1 Friday, March 13, 1914 Page: 3 of 8
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CALUMET, O K C/A. CHIEFTAIN
UkRed Button
B"Y"
author
Will
or THE CITY THAT WAS, ETC.
SYNOPSIS.
Mla0m\5™^0rf.h' r?1turn'iK to lila room In
diseov^™ti,® £°5rdln/ l,OUSt' at 2:30 a. m..
noih, , ,. ' body °f Capt. John Hanska,
hi, >,P r."onier' wlth a knife wound on
Klvine nf Suspicion rests upon a man
had hppn 1 \e "e lawrence Wade, who
Durl.il ?h ,.<,uarrellns wlth Hanska.
who i l'xcltement a strange woman
rSswrz
Es[rina,Ma°n0r|n-
her trade grange, who- wl',le plying
PoMre Tnsn f tr??ce mealu"1' had aided
<i™i Inspector Martin McGee several
&ftat 0fflSS to tell what she
ron^tance wt r,'me- ,Whl|e she Is there,
«d m« J? widow of the murder-
1 nn5,n whose existence had been un-
hSd left"Ti"?- , "anska, says she
fact h i w husband and discloses the
J ted represented her and vls-
,„ik* on the night of the murder
admits S ° se."'f <he,r affairs. She
Is held hVtheWaa '.ovf wlth ller- wade
isneid by the coroner's jury for the death
Agency th'vTs°I,a^ ' "^th^veXlng
McOeo ' o ; ^Grange, with Inspector
ska was k?iTh"63 a . house where Han-
5 an<1 finds on the Are es-
button" wM ?an?ka's window a red shoe
rsbi ^hich she conceals. Mrs T.e-
h^frdKeer fp.oretly examines the shoes of her
win m is sean'h "f one the red button
h Li , rJr,,i>r„e. nds to go lnto a trance
with .niH?. d room and communes
;v 11 f' Spirits. Rosalie secures from Tn-
specter McGee the services of an Italian
oil i w'ork under her direction
fHn • n,',s evidence to show that Es-
trilla s real name Is Perez and that thev
formerly lived In Port of Spain. Rosalie
5?«s 'nt0 another trance In Miss Estrllla's
•flde?e<fn TRaIng the y°urlS woman's con-
tl.'H li,' i>SUn1eel"ng seances Rosalie
Miss Kstrllla to believe she Is talk-
'"^.wlth the spirit of John Hanska. and
gets Information that leads her to pre-
pare ror a supreme test.
'LLUST *"E„° nT "fry Rririssinger
RIGH r ,9,S SOBBS-MERRII I ro &
CHAPTER XVI—Continued.
Reassured, Inspector McGee smiled
on her. Usually that emile, directed
on Rosalie Le Grange, brought a re-
sponsive flash of coquettish dimples
and sparkling teeth. But it seemed
like trying to fire dead ashes now. Her
7ace was serious and drawn. Sud
"denly it entered his mind that she
looked her age. Unacquainted with
that defiance of time by which a
charming woman may be fifty in one
minute and twenty in the next, he pon-
dered on this with all his heavy men-
tal processes. And suddenly it came
■to Inspector McGee with a kind of
shock that he regarded her all the
more tenderly therefore. It was „
pity that such as Rosalie Le Grange
•should lose her young looks.
"Of course you're goln' to leave It
to me! Now come on!" said Rosalie
Le Grange, breaking into his medita-
tions.
The two city detectives and the one
police matron were waiting silently in
'Rosalie Le Grange's room. McGee
flocked the door behind him. Rosalie
, closed the transom.
^ "Ib this place safe for talk, now?"
"Perfect," said Rosalie. "I've tried
it. But talk low, to be sure."
The inspector opened the bag.
"There's your felt shoes," he said
"Now listen, boys—and you, Mrs
The Two City Detectives and One Po-
lice Matron Were Waiting Silently
In Rosalie Le Grange's Room.
Leary. This here lady Is running this
thing, until I tell you different. Got
your notes and pencils, Kennedy? All
right. Mrs. Le Grange, you tell 'em
Just what you want."
When Rosalie had rehearsed her
drama, with careful provision for un-
foreseen emergencies, when her forces
had scattered—Hunter to the base-
ment, Kennedy to Mies Harding's
room, Mrs. Leary, impersonating the
maid, to the front door—Rosalie stood
alone with Inspector McGee.
"Well, everything's ready," said the
Inspector "and time's precious."
^es; I'm goin' in a minute," she
responded; but her voice was dead.
I feel—like I was going to be oper-
ated on. That's how I feel."
"Aw, brace up!" said Martin McGee.
Rosalie did not answer at once. Her
eyes, sweeping the room to avoid
irect gaze lighted on the dresser,
where stood a photograph of Con-
stance Hanska—a solicited gift. She
fixed her gaze on that; and the fallen
lines of her face lifted with determina-
tion.
Y es, she said, "I'm goin' to brace
up."
^he started upstairs to that room
on the third floor back, the center of
the sinister web which Bhe had made
of this, her dwelling-place, so strangely
acquired, so strangely used.
In that web struggled a half-blind,
half-distracted fly, toward which she,
the spider, was now creeping. Some
such comparison may have struck Ros-
alie, for she shuddered twice in her
slow progress. And these were not
the assumed shudders which an-
nounced her false "control."
Rosalie knocked at Miss Estrllla's
door.
"Come in!" cried the invalid, more
eagerly than her wont. And as Rosa-
lie entered, "Oh, I was expecting you!
Can you—will you—today?"
"I've been puttin' all the power I
have into this thing," said Rosalie Le
Grange; "you've no idea how I've
tried. I was awake half the night, just
gettin' into touch. This is my last sit-
tin' with you for ever so long, Miss
Estrilla. I can feel it goln*. When
I'm playin' for all my power, as I've
got to now, conditions must be right.
You wouldn't mind, would you, if I
darkened this room complete? An
let's have a little more air."
There was a window, which opened
upon the fire escape, at the foot of
Miss Estrilla's bed. This window Ro-
salie darkened last of all; but first she
raised the sash a foot.
"That curtain will blow an' disturb
me," she said. "I'm goin' to pin it
down."
Had Miss Estrilla's soul held any
emotions, in that moment, but grief
and eagerness—had she been capable
just then of suspicion—she might have
noted a tiny but significant sound. The
fire escape had creaked a little, as
though a weight had been imposed at
the bottom. It creaked again at inter
vals for the next five minutes, but aft
erward, usually, when the roar of a
passing elevated train drowned all
slighter sounds.,
"Now I'm ready to try," said Rosa
lie, settling down at the foot of the
couch. "Dear, you do look anxious!
Don't try to crowd the spirits—that's
always the best way—but remember
again this is about the last control
that s in me for a month. Be quiet,
dearie." Her eyes sought the dis-
tances, her body shook. Then came
the change which Miss Estrilla had
watched so often, and with such a fas-
cinated eagerness. Rosalie's body re-
laxed and fell backward in the Morris
chair. Her lids gradually closed. She
breathed as though asleep.
"Oh, sad lady again!" babbled
Laughing-Eyes, quite suddenly. She
could hear Miss Estrilla shift eagerly
on her couch. "I can't stay long. John
speaks. He says he wants you quick.
John is big and strong. Good-by sad
lady."
Rosalie's breath came hard; her
body wrenched; a masculine voice fol-
lowed—the voice which Rosalie always
assumed when she impersonated Cap-
tain John H. Hanska.
"I am here again, Margaret; I love
you. I am ready to forgive."
"Oh, John, thank you—thank God—
you will when you know. For, John,
you have so little to forgive, beside
what I have already forgiven." As
usual Miss Estrilla made reply,
"I know. And I suffer. But I un-
derstand. First I have told you how
little I saw that night. My flesh still
clung to me—"
Rosalie stopped here and seemed to
gather her body together, as though
the thing which controlled her was
struggling to assert more power
"So I do not know what happened
even before I passed out—It came so
suddenly—say to me again that you
loved me."
"So much, John dear, that I cannot
tell you all—"
And I put aside such a love as that
for jewels!"
"Yes, John. And when I searched
your room—the night 1 found you there
I would have given them all to you
if you had waked and spoken kindly
to me. But you were married—and
you would have died soon at the best.
Oh, why not before this happened to
Juan—"
"Was it Juan? I have told you that
I could not see clearly at that time—it
is all confused."
Yes, dearest. You could not under-
stand because of the clothes—but
dearest, it was Juan who held the
knife which went into your body. Oh,
forgive him more than me. He is my
brother—he did it for me—John, 1
can t forget his remorse when he came
to me—were you watching? Did you
see?"
"No—I was not awake in spirit yet—
quick"—the voice was growing weak.
He himself did not understand
then, how you died. He thought the
knife killed you. He worked it all out
afterward—when I told him about your
condition. But then, he said to me:
'My God, I have run a knife into Cap-
tain Hanska!' What is it—what is it!"
1' or Rosalie had leaped from her
chair, run up the window shade at the
foot of the bed, thrown the sash wide
open. Into the room leaped two men.
They ranged themselves beside the
couch.
"What is It!" screamed Miss Estril-
la again.
"These are police detectives," jsaid
Rosalie in her natural voice. "They
have been listening behind that win-
dow. They've come to find what you
know about the death of Captain John
•H. Hanska."
Miss Estrilla gave a little scream
which died in a rattle of her throat.
Her eyes caught at Rosalie. "Traitor!"
she managed to gasp before she gave
another scream—and fainted, as Rosa-
lie Le Grange expected that she would.
Rosalie rushed for water and re-
storatives.
Get right at her as she comes out,"
she whispered to Inspector McGee in
passing. • That's the time."
"Ain't you going to stay?" inquired
McGee.
' No. She'll be too busy hatin' me
ever to talk. An' there's two things
I never want to watch. One's a hang-
in', an' the other's the third degree."
And by the time that Miss Estrilla
was conscious again of the sights and
sounds of this, her terrible world, Ros-
alie was gone from the room, and De-
tective Kennedy, police stenographer,
who had been listening at the open
telltale register of the room below,
was with the group of Inquisitors
about her bed.
CHAPTER XVII.
The Third Degree.
And now we will take your state-
ment," said Martin McGee.
The first brutal processes of the
third degree were finished—the third
degree, that modern system of torture
more terrible than the medieval by
just so much as the mind is more
sensitive than the body. We- do well,
as Rosalie Le Grange has said, not to
witness it. Miss Estrilla lies back on
the couch, bruised and broken soul
ready now to tell all the truth be-
cause there is in her no more strength
to lie. The door has half-opened in
the midst of the preliminary proceed-
ings, and into the shadow outside
creeps Rosalie Le Grange, to listen
with all her ears. The victim on the
couch is no mere pale and drawn than
Rosalie as she stands there, one hand
on the lintel.
lour name and all about yourself
first," says Inspector McGee, urging
gently now.
Let me omit, as the expert police
stenographer did, certain expletives,
repetitions, divagations, which always
mar testimony. Let me Just give the
document, as it was filed away In the
archives of the New York police de-
partment.
"My name is Margarita Perez. I am
thirty-five years old, and unmarried. ,
was born in the Island of Trinidad
where I lived all my life. Juan Perez
is my half-brother, ten years younger
than I. Our father was the same, but
my mother was an Englishwoman my
brother's mother was Spanish. My fa-
ther was a cacao grower. He was very
rich once, but he lost much of his
money. When he died, four years ago
he left my brother the plantations, and
me a very small income and the family
jewels—they were worth twenty thou-
sand dollars of your money. My
brother came Into his property when
he was twenty-one. He managed poor-
ly; and then he had bad luck. By last
summer, he was so near-failure that
there seemed to be only one way out—
or me to sell my Jewels and give him
the money. I wanted to do that, but
he wouldn't let me make the sacrifice.
\v 000 m°re chance ^ save us
We had rich relatives in Caracas, on
the Venezuelan mainland. He went
there to see if they would help. He
was gone three or four weeks. He sent
me only one letter; and it was so dis-
couraging that I felt sure there was no
hope.
Just before that letter arrived, and
after Juan left for Caracas, Captain
John H. Hanska came to Port of Spain
from Antwerp. Though my father was
opanish, we lived in the English fash-
ion ; I was free to meet men. 1 met
Captain Hanska and fell in love with
him.
(Here the police stenographer cut
corners. In this last phrase he con-
densed many divagations and evasions
on the part of the witness; indeed, In-
spector Martin McGee; expert inquisi-
tor that he was, spent five minutes
in bringing out that simple declaration
—and the next.) "
He said that he loved me. I be-
lieved him. It was all very quick.
\V lthin a week we were secretly en-
gaged. I supposed that he was an
American army officer on special duty.
And after we were betrothed, I told
him about our troubles and my wish to
help Juan. My mind was made up by
that time—I would sell my jewels be-
fore my brother returned to prevent
me. I told this to Captain Hanska. He
offered ta help. He said that he must
go to England the next week, and in
England he could sell them to much
better advantage than in Port of Spain.
I agreed I trusted him absolutely, you
see. Then he told me that he could
dispose of them more easily, and for
more money, if he appeared to be the
owner. So I made out and signed a
bill of sale, describing in detail every
piece to the last ring and pin, and
transferring them absolutely to him.
Now I know what a foolish thing I did.
For that made the Jewels his property
in law, as surely as though he had
bought them from me.
the steamer on which he planned
to sail for England—he told me—was
due to leave Port of Spain on Wednes-
day morning. On Monday night ho
visited me and took away the jewels.
He said that he wanted to register
them in advance with the purser. He
promised to come again on Tuesday
night. He did not appear. I learned
the next morning that he had left on
Tuesday for New York. I started for
the pier from which the Southampton
steamer sails, in order to see if there
was any mistake. On the way, I met a
friend of the family who had been
waiting to warn me. He had found out
about Captain Hanska's career in Cara
cas. He proved to me that the captain
was an adventurer and almost a pro-
fessional gambler. Then I understood.
I told no one about the jewels until
Juan came back; but I wrote a letter
to Captain Hanska In care of the
steamship company. Somehow, it
reached him. He answered it with a
cold letter, claiming the jewels abso-
lutely and stating that he bought them
from me.
"That arrived just after Juan came
back from Caracas. Juan had not
succeeded In raising money. The plan-
tation went into bankruptcy. That is
the matter with my eyes. They had
always been troublesome. But now 1
gave them a real disease by weeping
(Here, as Miss Estrilla made her
statement, she spoke broken phrases
about another loss. The police ques-
tioned her minutely to discover what
she meant. Upon finding that she re-
ferred merely to the loss of a whole
heart's love, they dismissed this part
of her statement as immaterial, and
did not enter it upon the record.)
"I told Juan, of course. He was very
kind to me. He did not reproach me.
But we could do nothing, he found.
Captain Hanska had landed in New
York—the passenger lists showed that
It was certain that he had smuggled
the jewels Into the United States with-
out paying duty; and we confirmed
that afterward. We decided to go to
the United States and see if we could
get them back —If not the Jewels at
least the bill of sale—because if the
diamonds were in our possession with
the bill of sale destroyed, we could
prove by half the people in Port of
Spain that they were ours. We were
safe in stealing them from him—per-
fectly safe. For he would not dare
complain to the New York police,
since if he claimed them publicly, we
could have him arrested for smug-
gling.
"Juan thought that all out. We took
what little money we had left and
started for New York, telling our
friends that we were going to settle in
New Orleans. Juan wrote to our
uncles in Caracas and secured the New
York agency for a small asphalt com-
pany of theirs. That was done to con-
ceal our real reason for being here.
On the voyage, my eyes grew worse,
I cried so much. I was very ill with
them when I landed.
"Juan and I took rooms apart. We
had learned enough about Captain
Hanska to know where we might look
for him. Juan traced him to Mrs.
Moore's boarding house. It seenn-d
certain that Captain Hanska had not
sol, the jewels yet, else ho would not
be living so cheaply. The first thing
was to find where they were. Finally
Juan and I formed a plan and acted
upon it.
"Juan had discovered that the back
room on tho top floor of Mrs. Moore's
boarding house was vacant. Captain
Hanska ilvd below, there was no
good rea, ,,i for him ever to come up
on hat floor. I took the vacant room,
calling myself Miss Estrilla. m vou
know. Juan bad been watching Cap-
tain Hanska like a detective. Ho
moved me in one day when the cap-
tain had gone to Staten island. My
presence in the house was safer than
it may seem to you. I did not leave
my room even for meals, since my
eyes were really in very bad condition.
hen, I wore dark glasses, an eye-
shade and a heavy scarf about my
head 1 do not believe my own mother
would have known me. Captain Han-
ska had never seen Juan or his picture
—it just happened that there were no
Photographs of him in our house at
Port of Spain.
Juan lived in an apartment hotel.
We were in communication all the
time by telephone. He was caroful to
avoid the captain when he visited me.
It was all dangerous, for at any time
we might be discovered. But we had
our plan—I was to enter Captain Han-
ska's room with a pass-key and search
for the jewels or tho bill of sale
Whenever I mado this search, Juan
was to be following Captain Hanska
If the captain showed signs of re
turning, Juan was to call me up on the
telephone—the ringing of the bell iD
my room, which informed me from
downstairs that I was wanted on the
extension telephone by my door, wa9
to be my warning signal. 1 could heal
that bell from Captain Hanska's room.
There could be no mistake, because
Juan was the only person in New York
who would be telephoning to me.
But when I tried Captain Hanska's
door with my pass-key, I found that he
had Installed a new patent spring lock
The next time Juan called, he looked
over the house. He found that you
could enter Captain HanBka's roon
from the fire escape—and that you
could get on to the fire escape from
the window of the lumber room across
the hall from mine. That room wa
"My Name Is Margaret Perez.1
never locked. It was only a question
of prying open the catch on Captain
Kanakas window. One night about a
week before Captain Hanska died. I
began the search. I went down the
fire escape, carrying a pocket electric
torch which Juan had bought for mu
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
Girl's Swimming Feat.
Miss Nora Cochrane, an East Cowes
young lady, eighteen years of age,
has succeeded in swimming across
the Solent from Lepe, on the Hamp-
shire coast, to Egypt Point, at Cowes
which is Just under four miles, in one
hour twenty-eight minutes.
She had no refreshment on the
way, and was not exhausted by her
effort. The young lady, who is on
the teaching staff of the Council
schools at East Cowes, holds the cer-
tificate of the Royal Life-Saving so-
ciety.—London Mail.
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Clayton, J. C. The Calumet Chieftain. (Calumet, Okla.), Vol. 5, No. 35, Ed. 1 Friday, March 13, 1914, newspaper, March 13, 1914; Calumet, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc167781/m1/3/: accessed June 25, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.