The Freedom Call. (Freedom, Okla.), Vol. 6, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 1, 1928 Page: 4 of 10
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-1
STORY FROM THE START
1 Defying all efforts to capture
him after a long series of mur-
ders and robberies a super-
crook known only as "The Bat"
has brought about a veritable
reign of terror The chief of po-
lice assigns his best operative
Anderson to get on the trail of
The Bat With her niece Dale
Ogden Miss Cornelia Van Gorder
is living in the country home of
the late Courtleigh Fleming who
until his recent death had been
president of the Union bank
wrecked because of the theft of
a large sum of currency Miss
Van Gorder receives a note
warning her to vacate the place
at once on pain of death Dale
returns from the city where she
' had been to hire a gardener
The gardener arrives giving his
name as Brooks Ile admits be is
not a gardener but needs work
Miss Cornelia tells Doctor Wells
of the threatening note They
are interrupted by the smashing
of a window in the house They
find another warning note The
detective Anderson arrives is
told of the situation and an-
nounces he will stay on watch
that night Miss Van Gorder
tells Anderson she has an idea
Courtleigh Fleming robbed his
own bank and concealed the
money in the house but the de-
tective believes the bank'' cash-
ier Bailey who is missing is
the guilty one Brooks (who is
really Bailey the sought-for
cashier and Dale's fiance) tells
the girl he knom s there is a hid-
den room in the house Dale tells
Richard Fleming Courtleigh's
nephew of her knowledge of the
hidden room Tie gets rid of her
while he seeks and finds blue-
prints of the house Dale re-
turning finds he has the secret
in a scrap of blueprint but he
refuses to give it to her declar-
ing he means to have the money
if it is there Knowing the find-
ing of the money means every-
thing to Bailey Dale seizes part
of the scrap of paper and during
the struggle Fleming is shot and
killed
I
3
CHAPTER VI—Continued
—10
He stopped His right hand moved
Idly over the edge of the table—halted
beside an ash tray—closed upon some-
thing Miss Cornelia arose
"Is that true Dale?" she said sor-
rowfully Dale nodded "Yes" She could not
trust herself to explain at greater
length
Then Miss Cornelia made one of the
roost magnificent gestures of her life
"Well even if it is—what has that
got to do with It?" she said turning
upon Anderson fiercely all her pro-
tective Instinct for those whom she
loved aroused
Anderson seemed somewhat im-
impressed by the fierceness of her
Query When he went on it was with
less harshness in his manner
"I'm not accusing this he said
more gently "But behind every crime
there is a motive When we've found
the motive for this crime well have
found the criminal:"
Unobserved Dale's hand instinctive-
ly went to her bosom There it lay—
the motive—the precious fragment of
blue-print which she had torn from
Fleming's grasp but an instant before
he was shot down Once Anderson
found It in her possession—the case
was closed—the evidence against her
overwhelming She could not destroy
it—it was the only clew to the hidden
room and the truth that might clear
Jack Bailey But somehow she must
hide it—get It out of her hands—
before Anderson's third-degree meth-
ods broke her down or he insisted on
a search of her person Her eyes roved
wildly about the room looking for a
biding place
The rain of Anderson's questions be-
gan anew
"What papers did Fleming burn in
that grate?" he asked abruptly turn-
ing back to Dale
"Papers!" she faltered
'Tapers! The ashes are still there"
Miss Cornelia Made an unavailing
Interruption
"Miss Ogden has said he didn't come
Into this room"
The detective smiled
"I hold In my band proof that he
was In this room for some thne" he
said coldly displaying the half-burnt
cigarette he had taken from the ash-
tray a moment before
- "His cigarette—with his monogram
on It" He put the fragment of to-
bacco and paper carefully away in an
envelope and marched over to the fire-
place There he rummaged among
the ashes for a moment like a dog un-
covering a bone He returned to the
tenter of the room with a fragment
rt
of blackened blue paper fluttering be-
tween his fingers
"A fragment of what is technically
known as a blue-print" he announced-
"What were you and Richard Fleming
doing with a blue-print?" His eyes
bored into Dale's
Dide hesitated—shut her lips
"Now think it over!" he warned
"The truth will come out sooner or
later! Better be frank now!"
"If he only knew how I wanted to
-be—he wouldn't be so cruel" thought
Dale- wearily "But I can't—I can't !"
Then her heart gave a throb of relief
Jack had come back Into the room—
Jack and Billy—Jack would protect
her! But even as she thought of this
her heart sang again Protect her in-
deed! Poor Jack I Ile would find It
hard enough to protect himself if once
this terrible man with the cold smile
and steely eyes started questioning
him '
Bailey inade his report breathlessly
"Nothing in the house sir"
Billy's Impassive lips confirmed him
"We go all over house—nobody!"
Nobody—nobody In the house! And
yet—the mysterious ringing of the
phone—the groans Miss Cornelia had
heard! Were old wives' tales and
witches' fables true after all? Did a
power—merciless—evil—exist outside
the barriers of the flesh—blasting that
trembling flesh with a cold breath from
beyond the portals of the grave?
There seemed to be no other explana-
tion "You men stay here!" said the de-
tective "1 want to ask you some
questions" He doggedly returned to
his third-degreeing of Dale
"Now what about this blue-print?"
he queried sharply
Dale stiffened in her chair Her
lies had failed Now she would tell
a portion of the truth—as much of it
as she could without menacing Jack
"I'll tell you just what happened"
she began "I sent for Richard Bern-
ing—and when he came I asked him if
he knew where there were any blue
prints of the house"
The detective pounced eagerly upon
her admission
"Why did you want blue-prints?" he
thundered
"Because" Dale took a long breath
"I believe old Mr Fleming took the
money himself from the Union bank
and hid it here"
"Where did you get that Idea?"
"Because I'd heard there was a bid-
den room In this house"
The detective leaned rorward in-
tently "Did you locate that room?"
Dale hesitated
"Then why did you burn the blue-
prints?" Dale's nerve was crumbling—break-
ing—under the repeated monotonous
Impact of his questions
burned them!" she cried wild-
ly ''l don't know why-I"
The detective paused an instant
then returned to a previous query
"Then you didn't locate this hidden
room?"
Dale's lips formed a pate "No"
"Did he?" went on Anderson In-'
exorably
Dale stared at him dully 42--the break-
ing point bad come Another question
—another—and she would no longer
be able to control herself She would
sob out the truth hysterically—that
Brooks the gardener was Jack Bailey
the missing casbier—that the scrap of
blue-print hidden In the bosom of her
dress might unravel the secret of the
hidden room—that—
But Just as she felt herself sucked
of strength beginning to slide toward
a black tingling pit of merciful ob-
livion Miss Cornelia provided a diver-
sion "What's that?" she said in a
startled voice staring toward the
French windows
Al! eyes followed the direction of
her stare There was an instant of
silence
Then suddenly traveling swiftly
from right to left across 'the shades
of the French windows there appeared
a glowing circle of brilliant white
light Inside the circle was a black
distorted shadow—a shadow like the
shadow of a gigantic black bat! It
was there—then a second later it was
gone 1
"Oh my God!" wailed Lizzie from
her corner "Ifs the Bat—that's his
sign!"
Jack Bailey made a dash for the
terrace door But Miss Cornelia halted
him peremptorily
"Wait Brooks!" She turned to the
detective "Mr Anderson you are fa
4
THE FREEDOM CALL FREEDOM OKLAHOMA
1811111M
millar with the sign of the Bat Did
that look like it?"
The detective seemed both puzzled
and disturbed
"Well—it looked like the shadow of
a bat—I'll say that for it" he said
finally
On the heels of his words the front
door bell began to ring All turned in
the direction of the hall
"I'll answer that I" said Jack Bailey
eagerly
Miss Cornelia gave him the key of
the front door
"Don't admit anyone till you know
who it is" she said Bailey nodded
and disappeared into the hall
There was the click of an opening
door—the noise of a little scuffle—then
men's 'voices raised in an angry dis-
pute "What do I know about a flash-
light?" cried an irritated voice "I
haven't got a pocket-flash—take your
hands off me!" Bailey's voice an-
swered the other voice grim threaten-
ing The scuffle resumed
Then Doctor Wells burst suddenly
into the room closely followed by
Bailey The doctor's tie was askew—
he looked ruffled and enraged Bailey
followed him vigilantly not quite sure
whether to allow him to enter or not
"My dear Miss Van Corder" began
the doctor in tones of high dudgeon
"Won't you instruct your servants that
even if I do make a late call I am
not to be received with violence?"
"I asked you if you had a pocket-
flash about you I" answered Bailey in-
dignantly "If you call a question like
that violence—" Ile seemed about to
restrain the doctor by physical force
Miss Cornelia quelled the teacup-
tempest "It's all right Brooks" she said
taking the front-door key from his
hand and putting it back on the table
She turned to Doctor Wells
"You see Doctor Wells" she ex-
plained "just a moment before you
rang the door-bell a circle mf white
light was thrown on those window
shades"
The doctor laughed with a certain
relief
"Why that was-probably the search-
light from my car!" he said "I no-
ticed as I drove up that it fell directly
on that window"
Miss Cornelia was not entirely at
ease
"In the center of this ring of light"
she proceeded her eyes on the doc-
tor's calm countenance "was an al-
most perfect silhouette of a bat"
"A bat I" The doctor seemed at
sea "Ah I see—the symbol of the
criminal of that name" He)laughed
again -
"I think I can explain what you
saw Quite often my lamps collect in-
sects at night—and a large moth
Spread on the glass would give pre-
cisely the effect you speak of Just
to satisfy you I'll go out and take a
look"
Ile turned to do so Then he caught
sight of the raincoat-covered huddle
on the floor
"Why " he said in a voice
that mingled astonishment with hor-
ror He paused His glance slowly
traversed the circle of silent faces
CHAPTER VII
Mft
Billy Practices Jiu-Jitsu
"We have bad a very sad occurrence
here Doctor" said Miss Cornelia
gently
The doctor braced himself
"Who?"
"Richard Fleming"
"Richard Fleming?" gasped the doc-
tor in tones of Incredulous horror
"Shot and killed from that stair-
case" said Mfss Cornelia tonelessly
The doctor knelt beside the huddle
on the floor He removed the fold of
the raincoat that covered the face of
the corpse and stared at the dead
blank mask Till a moment ago even
at the height of his irritailon with
Bailey he had been blithe and off-
band—a man who seemed comparative
ly young for his years Now age
seemed to fall upon him suddenly
Like a gray clinging dust—he looked
stricken and fecble under the impact
of this unexpected shock
"Shot and killed from that stair-
way" he repeated dully He rose
from his knees and glanced at the fa
tal stairs Then:
"What was Richard Fleming doing
In this house at this hour?" be said
He spoke to Miss Cornelia but An-
derson answered the question
"That's what For trying to find
out" be said with a saturnine smile
The doctor gave him a look of as
tontshed jnquiry Miss Cornelia re-
membered her manners
'"Doctor—this is Mr Anderson"
"Headquarters" said Anderson
tersely shaking hand
Miss Cornelia addressed Doctor
Wells
"I didn't tell you doctor—I sent for
a detective this afternoon" Then
with 'mounting suspicion "You hap-
pened in very opportunely!"
The doctor pulled himself together
"After I left the Johnsons' I felt
very uneasy" he explained "1 de
termined to make one more effort to
get you away from this house As
this shows—my fears were justified l"
He shook his head sadly Miss Cor-
nelia sat down His last words had
given her food for thought She
wanted to mull them over for a mo-
ment -
The doctor took out his handker-
chief and began to mop his face as If
to wipe away some strain of mental
excitement under which he was la-
boring His breath came quickly—the
muscles of his jaw stood out
"Died instantly I suppose?" he said
looking over at the body "Didn't have
time to say anything??
"Ask the young lady" said Ander-
son with a jerk of his head "She
was here when it happened"
The doctor gave Dale a feverish
glance of Inquiry
"He just fell over" said the latter
pitifully Her answer seemed to re-
lieve the doctor of some unseen
weight on his mind He drew a long
breath and turned back toward Flem—
ing's body with comparative calm
"Mr Anderson" he said with dig-
nified pleading "I ask you to use your
Pulled Aside a Blind and Looked Out
influence to see that these two ladies
find some safer spot than this for the
night"
Lizzie bounced up from her chair
Instanter
"Two?" she wailed "If you know
any safe spot lead me to it!"
The doctor overlooked her sudden
eruption Into the scene Lie wandered
back again toward the huddle under
the raincoat as if still unable to be-
lieve that it was—or rather had been
—Richard Fleming
Miss Cornelia spoke suddenly In a
low voice without moving a muscle of
her body
"I have a strange feeling that I'm
being watched by unfriendly eyes"
she said
Lizzie clutched at her across the
table
"I wish the lights would go out
again!" she pattered "No I don't
either!" as Miss Cornelia gave the
clutching hand a nervous little slap
During the little interlude of corn-
edy Billy the Japanese unwatched
by the others had stolen to the
French windows pulled aside a blind
looked out When he turned back to
the room his face had lost a portion
of its oriental calm—there was sus-
picion in his eyes Softly under
cover of pretending to arrange the
tray of food that lay untouched on
the table he possessed himself of the
key of the front door unperceived by
the rest and slipped out of the room
like agliost
Meanwhile the detective confronted
Doctor Wells
"You say doctor that you came
back to take these women away from
the house Why?"
The doctor gave him a dignified
stare
"MIA Van Gorder has already ex-
plained" Miss Cornelia elucidated "Mr An-
derson has already found a theory of
the crithe" she said with a trace of
sarcasm in her tones
The detective turned on her quick-
ly "I haven't said that" He started
It had come again—tinkling—per--
sistent—the 'phone-call from nowhere
—the ringing of the bell of the house
telephone!
"The house telephone—again I"
breathed Dale Miss Cornelia made
movement to answer the tinkling in
- explicable bell' But Anderson was be- 1
fore her
' "I'll answer that!" he barked e
sprang to the phone
If
"Ilello—hello—"
r All eyes were bent on him nervous-
ii—the doctor's face in parries
seemed a veryo study in fen 'and
amazement - He clutched tbeetick of
a chair to support himself—his band
was the trembling hand of a sick old
man -
I ''Hello—hello—" Anderson swore
impatiently 'lie hung up the phone
o "There's nobody there!" --
o Again a chill breath from another
world than ours seemed to brush
across the faces of the little group In
I the living room
o A light came into Anderson's eyes
"Where's that Jap?" he almost
shouted '
"He just 'went out" said Ails§ Cor-
p mile The cold fear—the fear of the
1 unearthly—subsided from eround
Dale's heart—leaving her shaken but
more at peace
The detective turned swiftly to the
doctor as if to put his sase before
the eyes of an unprejudiced Witness
"That Jos) rang the phone" he said
decisively "Miss Van Corder believes
that this murder is' the culmination
of the series of mysterious happen-
ings that caused her to send for me I
do not" '
"Then what is the significance of
the anonymous letters?" broke in Miss
Cornelia heatedly "Of the man Liz-
zie saw going up the stairs of the at-
tempt to break Into this house—of
' the ringing of that telephone bell?"
Anderson replied with one delib-
erate word
"Terrorization" he said
The doctor moistened his dry lips
In an effort to speak
"By Whom?" he asked
Anderson's voice was an icicle
"I imagine by Miss Van Corder's
own servants By that woman there"
he pointed at Lizzie who rose tuft-
nontly to deny the charge But he
gave her no time for denial lie
rushed on "who probably writes the
letters" he continued 'By the gar-
dener" his pointing finger found
Bailey "who may have been the man
Lizzie saw slipping up the stairs By
the Jar) who goes out end rings
the telephone" he concluded tri-
umphantly Miss Cornelia seemed unimpressed
by his fervor
"With what object?" she queried
smoothly
"That's what I'm going to find out!"
There was determination in Antler
son's reply
Miss Cornelia sniffed "Absurd! The
butler was In his room when the tele-
phone rang for the first time"
The thrust pierced Anderson's
armor For once he seemed at a loss
Mere was something he had omitted
from his calculations But he did
rot give up He was about to retort
when—crash! thud!—the noise of a
violent struggle in the hall outside
drew all eyes to the ball door
An instant later the door slammed
open and a disheveled young man in
evening clothes was catapulted into
the living ror as if slung there by a
glant's arm He tripped and fell to
the floor in the center of the room
Billy stood in the doorway behind
him Inscrutable arms folded on his
face an expression of mild satisfae-
Lien as if he were demurely pleased
with a neat piece of housework neat-
ly carried out
The young man picked himself up
brushed off his clothes sought for his
hat which had rolled under the table
Then heturned on Billy furiously
"D—n you—what do you mean by
this?"
"Jiu-jitsu" said Billy his yellow
face quite untroubled "Pretty good
stuff Found on terrace with search-
light" he added
"With searchlight?" barked Ander-
son The young di o wamefi cigarette t al finished hedate turned de rAayn osneaecudddhe ama:t nssoteodrt reinfenaol admiring e opened
minhhegyidess oar
Dew enemy
"Well why shouldn't I be on the
terrace with a searghlight?" he : de-
mended I
The detective moved toward im
menacingly
"Who are you?"
"Who are you?" sold the yonng
man with cool impertinence gi Ing
him stare for stare
Anderson did not deign to sepi in
so many words Instead he displityed
the police badge which glittered- tm
the inside of the right lapel of his
coat
The young man examined it coolly
"Irm" he said "Very pretty— 1
both kseemingly notcyatetotuab design—very g g entirely unimpressed bY
detective chafed
badge" he said with heavy sarcasm
I'd i "If you've ub o
down on the terrace"
The young man hesitated—shot an
odd swift glance at Dale who ever
since his abrupt entrance into the
room had been sitting rigid in her
chair with her hands clenched tightly
together ' '
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Common sense Ls none too e'ongnorl
THE A Novel
from the Play
By MARY ROBERTS RINEHART and AVERY HOPWOOD
"The Bat" copyright 1920 by Mary Roberts WN13 Service
Rinehart and Avery Hopwood
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Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Hinton, Ruth. The Freedom Call. (Freedom, Okla.), Vol. 6, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 1, 1928, newspaper, March 1, 1928; Freedom, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc2107544/m1/4/?q=%22%22~1: accessed August 15, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.