The Supply Republican (Supply, Okla.), Vol. 24, No. 36, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 17, 1925 Page: 2 of 8
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THE REPUBLICAN. SUPPLY. OKLAHOMA
The Vanishing Men
-■Y- ,
Richard Washburn Child
(Ceprrichl by E P Dutton * On.)
(W. M. U. a»r»lo*>
CHAPTER XIII—Continued
—11—
A thin film of dust covered every-
thing. It »n evidence of the care-
taker's belief that no one would quirk-
ly return to note bla delinquencies
Otherwise the house ^flight huve beeo
untouched from the inoiueut when. In
a spirit of pursued Bight, llrena had
shut the doora for the lust time. A
novel had been pul upon a table In
the upper ball. Us pages spread down-
ward where a reader bad left It; In
Brenu'a own chamber the tray upon
the dressing table still contained scat-
tered pins and a rullroad conductor's
receipt for a cash fare. In the bath-
room a towel hung over the edge of
the tub as If a bather bad Just come
from the morning plunge and only the
stripped beds spoke of the vacancy of
the hollow-soundlug jooiua To I’eter.
the whole house except for that part
which she hud occupied, seemed to be
filled with unpleasant ghosta of the
personalities that hud lived In It. He
opened no door without the feeling
that one of these Invisible beings had
Juat stepped out of the chamber from
another exit The stairs up which he
bad climbed were complaining gently,
al If feet were following hla; some-
where there sounded the fluttering of
soft wings—a startling noise, but ex-
plained by the dead chimney swallow
that lay below the sill of one of the
darkened windows—a tiny Inert sym-
bol of tragic Imprisonment and death.
Peter hud fouud uothlng In bis sur-
rey of the bouse that could contribute
to hla purpose; he bad looked without
more reason for looking than a desire
to see where Brena had lived and to
confirm his belief that except In the
library that had been used by Parma-
lee nothing could be found of any sig-
nificance. It was not probablE. he
thought, that be would open some door
fo find the cotton broker's withering
corpse stretched out with the handle
of a murderer's knife still sticking np
from the collapsed ribs. He was about
to return to the lower floor when be
sow In front of him upon the bare
dusty varnished boards s distinct print
of a human foot. It was a small. weU-
fortucd foot that had made this print—
and the next beyond and the next—
until they stopped where the stair car-
pet began.
There sprang Into hla mind the gth-
bertng reference of Parmalee to foot-
prints, followed Immediately by the
thought that these might be the record
of Rrenn'a own steps and then as
quickly by the thought that Brena bed
left long before this layer of dust bed
accumulated. He found himself listen-
ing now, the victim for the moment of
fear, ns If suddenly the contagion had
reached him. At last be laughed. The
prints'were not those of a man: they
might be those of a woman but the
chances were overwhelmingly In favor
of their being mnde by the caretaker’s
young barefoot boy. Peter smiled again
and went down the stairs.
At the bottom of this flight above
the hall stand was an old carved Chi-
nese frame holding a dusty mirror.
Peter glHnced at this mirror, saw him
self, stopped. The expression on bis
own face alarmed him. He Imagined
that he was less ruddy, more gray of
skin, that he had caught himself In
the unconscious pose of a man who In
voluntarily tins begun to walk softly
and look about alertly, that upon the
face reflected In the glass was the
first faint expression of terror written
not na It Is written upon the face of
a man who Is a coward before known
dangers, for Peter whatever he might
be could never wear that look, hut the
dim suggestion of fear of unknown
dangers and of subtle Influences, that
may some day be engraved without re-
gard to the courage or will of the In-
dividual upon any sensitive human
countenance.
Peter lind an nnpleasant Idea;
was that his subconscious self was en-
deavoring to transmit to his conscious
self some message of warning. For
the first time he felt the need to sum
men to his Hid Ids clearest thought, hla
most alert stute of mind, hla keeoest
observations.
Fortunately, perhaps, this moment of
renllr.ntlon came to him as he opener
the door of I’urtuulee's study. It com
munded him to squeeze out of his firs:
visit to that square chamber, lined with
books to the celling in the style of old
fushhmed libraries, the most that or
derly Investigation could disclose.
That many things had been dis-
turbed since the moment when Parma-
lee hud walked out Into oblivion was
evident. The correspondence on the
large desk In the center of the room
had been gathered Into a neat pile and
tied with string: the patters once hell
by a WMSte basket, now empty, had
been poured Into the open fireplace
and most of them burned The chairs
bad been covered with newspapers by
some one without a sense of values
sufficient to suggest covering also rure
books, their tinges exposed now to In
setts and some of their splendid hind
ings to mildew and dry rot. The study
had the air of having been cleaned and
straightened.
peter tried the drawers of the desk.
Some of them had swollen with the
dump, but none were locked; they ware
filled with catalogues, pamphlets and
with clippings In envelopes arranged
In alphabetical order. A deep drawer
at the bottom contained several ac
count books, many packages of can
celed bunk checks bound with elastic
bands now dried and crumbling under
ihe touch. On the whole I'eler, who
had llrcim's permission to examine
anything he found, saw at first no In
teresl In these private papers, unless
when time elapsed so that Parmalee
after another three years could he de
dared legally deud. an executor might
find value In them as a record of the
financial affairs of the vanished man.
No doubt hla lawyer bad seen many
of them already.
For the correspondence, however.
Peter had a greuter Interest. He
drew It toward him. untied the string,
and having stopped to survey the room
again from the chair that once had
known for bo many restless hours of
panic and suffering, the warmth of
I'armalee's living body, begnn to go
hustlly over the letters there.
They were not Illuminating. There
were a few letters from stock brokers
da to Investment changes, and a few
hills.
One of these bills was the only piece
of matter that gave Peter the slightest
Interest. It was from the famous old
John Henry Wycoff of Baltimore of
whose death Peter had read by
chance, a man remembered only
among those who are book collectors.
dealer whose black coat was al-
ways covered with dandruff and who
left a third of a million dollars. This
hill waa for two thousand eight hun-
dred of these dollar#—an account that
had probably been settled by Parm-
lee’a attorney, Lanfrew. It waa
something of a bill for one book
book described as Kolb's privately re-
printed version of the Jesuit MSS. en
titled “Explorations of Father Carlos
In Mescalero Desert," shipped vis
registered post on 18th Inst Below
this statement of account were the
words, "Plena# see letter." There
were two pin holes at the corner of
the paper as If Wycoff had attached
hla letter to the bill.
Peter thought It would be Interest-
ing to see a book, so obscure, that was
worth nearly three thousand dollars.
He even wondered what plausible ex-
planation the old dealer bad given.
Hla letter, however, waa now missing
Peter spoke aloud; he aald: “Perm-
alee wanted that book badly." He
looked at the date of the bill "I won
der If this waa the teal of a collector
who has a passion for perfect copies.
The words defined a thought for
Peter. It would be Interesting to tee
whether "The Explorations of Father
Carlos In Mescalero Deaert" had dis-
appeared with Parmalee when be had
answered hla strange Impulse to go to
some unnamed destination. Peter
turned toward the library shelves and
then with the thought that s search
among these volumes would be saved
if he found a catalogue be went again
to the desk. The copy of the book was
there—under two or three other books
—a handsomely bound volume of large
pages whose thick paper rather than
the length of the text gave It bulk.
The book had been printed In Eng-
lish In 1830 from copies of manuscripts
of Jesuits that with other records bad
been lost In the destruction of the mis-
sion church In Los Banos In 1812.
The work waa a beautiful piece of
hookmaking In perfect preservation
and Peter, though Interested In quaint
descriptions of this old missionary
who had braved the terrors of thirst
and heat to penetrate the country
along the eastern border of New Mex
Ico, was admiring also the rare skill
and beauty of the pages when he sud-
denly came upon a hiatus In Its con-
tinuity. Page thirty-two began s de-
scription of the Lost Pueblo, where
according to legend a city whose age
was of centuries had been ended as
punishment for falling to worship the
god of water. A scourge of thirst had
been visited upon the degenerate
Indian dwellers who bad been ao long
protected by the terrors that the
waterless desert must have had for
more warlike tribes who would other-
wise have attacked them. The well
around whlrh the puehlo had been
built—the very life of the people—bed
been dried up In one night by
miracle.
"Many and curious are the carvings
upon the walls of this Lost Pueblo.
To copy them and their heathenish
devices I was sorely templed and
would have done ao had time been
glved me.” said Father Carlue.
“Especially I noted a figure of greet
size upon the wall that faces the set
itng eun. for this was a serpent with
feathers like a bird, a figure such as
is seen never hut in the lands to the
south and beyond the Great river
While waiting for day I drew the lines
of the Journey we had made which I
here set faown again for the guidance
of others. On the coming of mors we
went toward the purple vapors of
Uie—"
Peter turned to the next page. It
begun: "These accounts of treasure
are hut the poor speculations of the
ignorant Long after the sandstorms
have covered the pretentious dwelling
places of man such perversity will en-
dure that worldly avurlce will conjure
Into belief the tradition of fool a”
This was not page thirty-three but
page thlrZy-seven. The pages be-
tween were gone.
For a moment De Wolfe was puzzled
This waa not a perfect copy. After a
moment's reflection he felt the humil-
iation of stupidity. Of course the
copy he was examining waa the Im-
perfect volume that Pannalee had
owned originally; the one sent by Wy-
coff probubly would be found In Its
place on the shelves where Brena'I
husband hnd put It—one of the last
acts he ever did In that bouse. Peter,
arising, wulked along the rows of
books looking at the titles; In less
than three minutes he had found the
other copy,of the quaint old book and
taken It down.
He blew the dust off the once gilded
top of its pages and as be did so be
noticed that at one place the pages
did not quite press close together.
The voiume fell open there—at page
thirty-seven. The two preceding
leaves of the book hnd been torn out I
He went back to the desk chair, sat
down, thrust hla feet out straight be-
fore him and whistled.
After a few moments he opened the
first copy of "Fattier Carlos'* again
and read over the paragraphs on page
thirty-two.
"Serpent with feathers like a bird."
he said as one who desires to hear the
words so that their meaning shall be
more clear. He waa thinking of the
scrap of paper In hla pocket—that
scrap of paper that Jim Hennepin bad
left Inadvertently with Brena when
she saw him for the last time, that
scrap of paper with the crudely drawn
figure of the feathered serpent—the
god. Kuk-ul-can—and the two scrawled
words, "This Sign."
He took out this scrap and walking
to a window, with Its barred grating
through which the gray east wind waa
hurling more rain agRlnst the spat-
tered panee, he examined the hand-
writing. With the manner of a guilty
man engaged In some nefarious and
Pster Triad the Drawers of the Desk.
shameful performance, he drew forth
Brena’s letter of' Introduction ad-
dressed to Lanfrew, the attorney, op-
ened It, and holding the two pieces of
writing side by side glanced from one
to the other. The capital S In the
word "Sign” was not like hern. And
yet—
He paced again, thinking; then
uttering an exclamation, he pulled
open the lower drawer of the desk and
took out a handful of Parmalee'a can-
celed checks Shifting one behind the
other, be went on hurriedly glancing
at the dates until be had found one
for eighty dollars ' made payable to
•'Brena Selcoss Parmalee."
Almost viciously he slapped this one
over onto Ita face and stared down at
the endorsement on the back. "Pay
to Bearer, Brena Selcoss Parmalee."
"That will do," be said and thrust
It In bla pocket.
He returned to the lower drawer
ngaln, threw out upon the desk top
the many little hooka that his casual
observation had determined were
Compton Parmalee'a private books of
account.
"Let’s see—seven yeara," said
Peter. “This one may do. Nineteen
twelve. And this one. Nineteen
eleven."
Opening the first, he began a search
of Its entrlea. For more than litres
hours he went over the Items In the
rough accounting system of Pannalee.
Ar the end of hla amateur audit he
thrust .(he books under hla arm.
looked at hla watch, left the library,
look hla wet hat and overcoat, .and be-
fore he went out of the house, be
stopped for a moment to listen to the
hush within Its four evil walls and to
the whine of the wind outside.
There waa time to tee Lanfrew If be
could catch a train tor New Torfc
without too much delay, and If good
fortune would hold the lawyer In hla
office. Peter wanted to get from the
laat man who talked with Parmalee
eue fact that bad perplexed him. So
much did be want to put an end to
double which bad grown that when ha
had reached the city and gone down
town on a subway express and had
stood at Ihe mahogany rail In the office
until he bad beard that Lanfrew was
there, he walked through and over the
protests of a young law clerk, directly
into the room of the bead ot the firm.
DeWolfe. with hla only character-
istic vividness ot expreaslori. bad once
aald. "There are three kinds of law-
yers—silky pomeranlans, lean foxea
and bulldogs.” Lanfrew waa distinct-
ly a hull dog.
Lanfrew spoke no sentence that he
did not begin with a low growl; be
gave the Impression to his clients, per-
haps by Intention, that he wac the per-
sonification of wrath and of reckon-
ings, and the tierce Instrument of s
terrible and brutal Justice. This waa
worih many thousands a year to him.
When he had read Brena's letter, be
tossed it on the desk and, glowering at
Peter, he said. "Well?"
"I came to ask—" DeWotfe began.
"Year the other Interrupted with •
growl.
Peter pointed at the letter.
"I know," snarled Lanfrew. Ts
at your service."
"You were the last man who ever
saw Compton Parmalee," Peter began.
"He came to draw an Instrument Is
my office."
"A wutr
"Yes."
“Which leaves to hla widow—r
"The man Isn't legally dead yet.”
Lanfrew said severely.
"He haa been—eay gone—fo* several
years."
Apparently wiped out Tee. And
there Is nothing more to be done. We
exhausted every means except that of
a nasty publicity. It's futile It U
folly for you to waste your time.
Where did you meet Mrs. Parmaleo—
old friend?"
"1 met her In London.**
The old lawyer arose, thrust hla Jaw
out aa If making It flexible and ready
to bite, and stared for a long time at
Peter.
“Are you the son of DeWolfe of the
Equity."
bYes."
"Let It alone."
"What alone?"
"This affair. Let sleeping dogs *Ia
You are a young man of—well—I know
who you are. Deed to know yonr
father. I can talk to you confides
ttally. Ill say this—Parmalee was e
client sent up to me by our Texas cor-
respondents, and aa far as I am con
cerned I wouldn’t care a snltcbet If
I bad never teen him"
Peter nodded.
"You saw the laat of him."
Lanfrew looked out the window at
the harbor that appeared to stretch
out tike a woolly gray blanket from
the bases of monument buildings; be
wheeled suddenly upon DeWolfe.
"He came here that day—the laat.
He had tickets for some place end
spoke of taking hla wife, but he was
excited. He spoke of an alternative.
Be drank. You know that?"
"Waa he—r
"No; he was nervous, excited."
•Aa If afraid?"
"No."
Peter thought e moment before he
said. “Would you aay he waa thinking
of anlctdeT"
“No. I wouldn’t," replied Lanfrew
hatting the tassel of the wind* w cur-
tain with hla stubby fingers. “He had
something else on hla mind. He spoke
vaguely. I didn't give a d—n what he
had on hla mind. It was something.
He spoke as If it were some errand-
like a man who bad received a mes-
sage."
"What kind of a message?"
"1 don’t know. I got the Im-
pression—mind you now and mark me
well. I don't aay It was ao—I got the
Impression that ha waa engaged In
some—what shall I say—Inveattga
tlon."
"Investigation?" repeated DeWolfe
In a startled voice.
Lanfrew nodded hla bulldog head up
and down aa If there were oiled bear
Ings In hla Invisible short neck.
"He left no word for bla wife?"
Peter asked, shooting the question
when Lanfrew’s eves had met bla
He saw the lawyer flinch.
"I asked whether be left any mes-
sage for hla w!fe7"
The other mnn conghed. felr under
'his heavy chin for his concealed throat
and sat down In his desk chair.
To he frank with you, he did.” he
said. "This of course Is confidential.
It was too brutal to give her."
Peter leaned forward. He eald.
“Too brutal?”
Lanfrew aald. “Yea. He aald to me.
’If I make np my mind not to take
her away—If I go on a little Journey
myself, you tell her that I’ll be hack
In two weeks You tell her I’m going
to cut a knot—that I’m going to re-
lieve the hell Pve been living.’"
The two men sat silently looking at
each other.
"Of course I thought he’d telegraph
her." aald Lanfrew argumentatively
"I dldn" take hla message seriously.
It wouldn't have done her any good
to loll bet that brutal uiennage. ebt
And later? Well. I put the thing off.
It cleared no mystery. It wae Incoa-
seqentiaL"
Peter asked, "Then you thought
he blatned her?"
Lanfrew threw op his hands, a few
tore which aald, "There Is no ques-
tion."
"For what?" asked Peter. '
Lanfrew chewed upon an Imaginary
mouthful; he said finally : “God knows
Some women—beautiful women—era
poisonous. Bare cases. They carry a
deadly poison. DeWolfe. Some Influ-
ence, some bane, some corrosive with-
ering, devilish, fatal fluid or vapor or
aura—whatever you choose. Who
knows what It la? But she— that
woman—when you find her, will bleat
man like—"
He stopped.
Peter drew a deep breath. IT# aald
almost Incredulously. "Did you tell me
that you got the Impression from Mr,
Parmalee that he waa going to lnve»
tlgate something?"
Yea Been Invited to Investigate
something,” the lawyer aald.
DeWolfe stared at the carpet. Aft-
er a pause be got up and held out hla
hand.
“Let this alone," said Lanfrew.
'But of course If you want anything
else, come In again.”
Peter went home to hla apartment.
He found there an envelope brought
by a messenger from the office of Pen-
nington, Gould and Goodhue. It con-
tained a cable from Brena. overseas.
"Do not ao aoy deeper. I beg yon.
I am In mof>J fear," It aald. “I am
coming to AmetVa. All my I ova"
chapter xiv
By afternoon on Friday Peter hnd
acquired certain Information that M
bad sought.
In addition to acquiring tba Infor
matlon that would lead him to thren
men, he bad wrestled with the prob-
lem presented by Bretia’e cable. He
lied sent her word when he had arrived
safely In New York that K (Ml of
hope and optimism. “We shall t**/
he had aald. “because eny other
thought U too terrible to bear." He
could not understand thea what new
facta she had to Justify her string#
message to him unless It were an
anonymous warning aucb aa that which
he had received In Liverpool. To ac-
cede to her request and to proceed no
further along the tinea of Inquiry
which he had chosen aa significant
would mean delay and perhaps a too*
of tho thin threads that be bad plckad
up to unravel
Peter had in him a great deal of the
fiber of determination, a good deal of
a single-track purpose that frowned
upon him and mado him wince who*
he became tempted to postpone his
plana and Indulge hla desire In wait-
ing Idly for her to come. He knew
from ihe beginning that this man wae
the side of self that would win; be
was only doing that which be knew
In hla Inner consciousness he would do
when he cabled a reply to her that
said, "Do not come yet. I will cable
you again. If yon have Important
news do not he afraid to send It."
Be waa glad when that waa donA
There waa an additional reason for Its
he was not yet prepared to meet Bnrna
Selcoss for the second time Be mUft
first clear the way for relationship
that had In It no reservatlonA
The first thing to be done waa to
confer with one Joseph Smallwood of
Drennan A Co., tho publlahera.
When Peter first saw Smallwood be
felt a little like one who has been sent
to an armless dentist. The mao was
pale and flavorless like tlie cream
sauce of cheap restaurants DeWolfe
bad difficulty In believing that this
was the man to whom he bad been re-
ferred.
"Mr. DeWolfA how can I serve yon?"
he aald In a low drawl rs If he were
pulling hla words like molasses randy
Into long strips to match hla own long
body.
"I understand thaf ynn not only
maintain a connection with Drennan
bnt undertake commissions and pass
upon technical questions Independ-
ently." • °
Smallwood's smile was of the kind
that snaps on and off like an electric
light Now lie annpped It on; It waa
gone In a fash—a string-pulled smllA
“Oh. yea." he aald wearily. “Did
you want to find—”
"A book." said Peter.
“What book?"
" The Explorations of Father Car*
los In Ihe Mescalero Desert.' Here ts
the whole atory." Peter gnvw him a
card with the details. "I want t* ba*
a perfect copy."
Smallwood shook his head from left
to right and then to left again with a
sad expression followed by the camera
shutter smile.
"It will take a long time." he aatd
tenderly as If he bore Ihe weight of all
human suffering upon hla heart. “It
la a very rure book; Anderson, the
sugar refiner, owned a copy. That la
how I happened to know. I appraised
his library. Perhaps It will take a
year."
"A week." eald Peter. “No more."
"A week," repeated Smallwood, clo*
Ing his eyes as If resigned to anything
come rhat would.
tTO BS CONTINUED.*
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Cowgill, W. T. & McMillan, E. E. The Supply Republican (Supply, Okla.), Vol. 24, No. 36, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 17, 1925, newspaper, September 17, 1925; Supply, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc848461/m1/2/: accessed April 23, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.