The Foss Enterprise. (Foss, Okla.), Vol. 8, No. 17, Ed. 1 Friday, February 13, 1914 Page: 3 of 8
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THE FOSS ENTERPRISE
IkRed Button
by will Irwin
AUTHOR OF THE CITV THAT WAS, ETC.
illustrated by Harry R.Grissinger
COPYRIGHT 1912 BOBBS-MERRILL C?
SYNOPSIS.
Tommy Ni rth. returning to his room In
Mrs. Moore's boarding house at :!; ) a. m..
tun, overs ihe body of Capt. John Manuka,
another roomer, with a knife wound on
his breast Suspicion rests upon a man
• • I\ >n e th« name of Lawrence Wade. who
hud called on I!an ka In the evening and
hail been iu-urd quarreling with Hanska.
1 oiring the excitement a strange womae
who given tier name a* Rosalie Ije 3range.
r.p;,-cars and takes into her own home
M-r.ms the street rill of Mrs. " Moore s
hoarders, including Miss Kstrllla. an 'n-
\alid. who waa -onflned to the room she
occupied and whose brother was a favor-
ite among the other boarders. Wade Is
Arrested as lie Is about to leave the coun-
t r\ Mis. I ^Grange, who. while plvlng
her trade a^ a trance medium, had aided
Police Inspector Martin McGee several
limes, culls at his office to tell what she
liiirwn of the crime. While she Is there,
' ''instance Kanaka, widow of the murder-
ed man. whom existence had been un-
l. iiov. n, appear!*. Mrs. Hanska. says she
''hi: I .-ft I '■ husband and discloses the
fact that Wade represented her and vis-
ited Hanska on the night of the murder
In nn eflorl to settle their affairs. She
Admits Warte was in love with her. Wade
i« if Id bv tlio coroner's Jury for the death
of H.irisks Tommy North, who had been
held by i'"> police. Is teleased and re-
Mirns to Mr< Lctirange's house He he-
■ ames infatuated at once with Betsy Bar-
Sara. Driven by the belief that Betsy
Bfttbsra lovn l-'strilla Tommy North cets
•drunk and is discovered by Betsy Bar-
bara. T^" next morning Tommy apolo-
srlres to Betsy Barbara and at her urging
prepares to establish the Thomas W.
S'otth Advertising Agency. Mrs. T.rf -
<:rsnge. with Inspector McGee, examines
tlie house where Hanska was killed and
finds on the tire escape outside Kanaka's
■"vindow a r d shoe button, which she ron-
. r. ■ Mis [itOranft secretly examines
ilie shoes her boarders In search of
one the red button will fit. She pretends
to go into a trance in Miss Estrllla's room
mid commutes with spirits. Rosalie se-
en res from Inspector McGee the services
..f an Itp'lnn detective, to work under
her direc tion Rosalie finds evidence to
•show tli.it KstrUlas' real name is Terex
nnd that they formerly lived in Port of
fpain
CHAPTER XII.—Continued.
It came as she had expected—the
second test. Clearly and distinctly,
Miss Rstrilla eaid In English:
"You are a fraud. I am pointing n
revolver at your head. Wake and
hold up your hands or 1 will 6hoot
you!"
■Rosalia slupabered on in seeming;
and this time it needed no effort of
1 he will. Hut. thp foot sent a thou-
sand tiny twinkles of pain and dis-
romfort up her ankle. She was medi-
tating how she might manage a natu-
ral awakening, when Miss Estrilla
*hook her and said in her natural
voice
"Mrs. Le Grange! Mrs. Le Grange!
"Wake up!"
Rosalie came to full consciousness
most artistically and effectively.
What was It—dear me, my foot's
iisleep! Ow!" she said. She rose,
and hobbled about the room. "Did1
1 stay out long? This just takes the
. Kimp out of me—I won't be fit for a
thing to-morrow an' it's scrub-day, too!
"What have I been talkin' about—or did
1 talk at all9 They've told me that
sometimes I never say a word."
"Oh, a great many things."
"Well, I must have, I'm that tuck-
ered. out. Excuse me for askin', but
was*it about anybody in the house?"
"You did brin? something for me;
£
'f
I
'That Sick Woman!" He Said.
JUBt a 11:tie—but it was something 1
wanted to know Do you think you
can find more next time, If—"
"Now, rny dear!" put In Rosalie,
"don't ask me that! I can't tell you
how hard I've been tryln' to stop this
thing, which is bothersome to say the
best about It"—she crossed the room—
I've let it come these two or three
ti men just because I couldn't help It.
It would be askin' a lot."
"But it wo.ild comfort me," replied
he invalid, weakly; and there were
tears in her voice. "And, oh, you don't
know how I need comfort!
"Poor dear! I know how It Is.
You're Kick, an' I suppose you have
your troubles—we all have In this
world. But when a person's sick, she
Jest lays an' lets It roll up In her.
like. Well, now. let's see—" Rosalie
paused as though considering. "I tell
you what I'll do. I won't try, an' I
won't force It, but Beein' this Is private-
like, I'll stop resistln' the Influence
when It comes over me. An' I'll al-
ways beat it straight here. Perhaps
it was sent to do ub both good!
That's settled."
Rosalie held that night another of
her outdoor conferences with Inspec-
tor McGee.
"Well, I'm comin' out with It," Blie
announced. "I've got to tell Borneo
body. I guess I've got your case start-
ed, Martin McGce!"
"Then this fellow Wade—"
"You make me," said Rosalie; "you
make me want to shut my mouth an'
never tell you anythin' at all. Wade!
A cop can't keep two Ideas In his
mind at one an' the same time, any
more'n a horse. Martin McGee, you
listen an' don't you say a word until
I'm through." With a logical con-
secutlveness almost surprising In Ros-
alie, she stated her case from the
beginning. Tommy North's clew of
the diamond ring which Tommy North
had dropped and which had set Rosa-
lie on the trail, the discovery that the
coverlet on Captaiu Hanska's bed had
been wet with rain from the open
window; the tinding of the little red
button on the fire escape, the discov-
ery that Miss Estrilla had among her
possessions a pair of red strapped
shoes with a button missing, and the
final fact—the button matched.
Inspector McGee received that dra-
matic information with a long whistle
of amazement.
"That sick woman!" he Bald. "Gee,
and I'd thought of examining her. But
there didn't seem to be a chance on
earth. I'd thought more about that
brother of hers."
Rosalie pursued her narrative, set-
ting forth her discovery that Estrilla
was an assumed name and the discov-
eries of Detective Grlmaldl about the
history of the Perez family In Trini-
dad. She proceeded then to the se-
ances, and to Miss Estrilla's attempt
at frightening her out of control.
"Is that all?" asked McGee.
"yeb. Ain't It enough?"
"Well, it's suspicious. But there's
no real evidence. Nothing you can
convict on. Suppose I pinch her—and
her brother, too—and give 'em the
Third Degret?"
"See here, Martin McGee," replied
Rosalie, "what have I been takin' all
this trouble for, spendin' my good
time to get her to believe I'm a me-
dium, if I ain't to be trusted to run
this case? You can have your Third
Degree afterward—when I'm through
with mine."
"That's so," replied McGee. "Well,
anything 1 can do to help?"
"Yes. How long doeB it take to get
a man to Trinidad? Or Is there any-
body in Port of Spain that you can
use?"
"I've had a man there a week. An-
other case—missing burglar."
"That's good. Very important?"
"No. I guess he can be spared."
"Luck's with us if nothin' else. This
is a three-times winniu". Now you just
cable him—wait a minute, I'll write
the message—got a pencil an' paper?"
They were in a side street. A
lamp-post threw a shaft of light across
the stoop of a vacant house. Rosalie
set herself on the lowest step, braced
the note-book which McGee produced. ;
and, with many a purse of lip and 1
brow, composed the following mes- !
sage:
"Drop anything and get full infor- !
mation on the late Miguel Perez, cacao 1
grower of Port of Spain, aud his fam-
ily, especially Juan, his Bon, and a
daughter, probably half-sister of Juan,
name unknown. Details about life of
the family especially wanted and the
smaller the better. Learn everything
you can about first wife. Suggest
pumping old family servants. Wire in
full as you get the dope."
"There," concluded Rosalie, "an' a
lot I'm goin' to cost New York City
for cable tolls."
"Say," said Martin McGee, "when
they put this Estrilla woman through
—If she's the one—I can Bee the pa-
pers. 'Woman against woman. Ex-
medium sends victim to the—' "
"Don't say that!" exclaimed Rosalie.
"For God's sake don't!" She had
been walking elbow to elbow, leaning
a little upon him. Now she drew
away. And much more that Martin
McGee had Intended to say, remained
unsaid that evening.
CHAPTER XIII.
The Final Test.
Pnder the pretense that her obses-
sion was driving her. that she had
bottled it up too long, that "It just had
to come out of her," Rosalie Le Grange
multiplied the seances with Miss Es-
trilla to the point of danger and ln-
cautlon.
On the second day after the session
in which Miss Estrilla had tried the
test of the fictitious revolver, she was
back again. This time—having assur-
ance that this was the true line of at-
tack—sbc brought both Victoria and
Miguel. Victoria, according to Doctor
Carver, was the stronger; she spoke
much, though vaguely. Miguel dropped
only a few phrases—now Spanish, now
English. During this session Miss Es-
trilla never moved nor spoke. But
Rosalie, daring a look at her through
her long lasheB, perceived that her
attitude was tense, rapt.
In this, her third seance. Rosalie
Was proceeding as cautiously as an
elephant on a bridge, waiting for that
first and vital question.
It came at the fourth sitting.
By this time, Rosalie had begun to
receive cable reports from Port of
Spain. The detective, It appeared,
was a policeman of singular fidelity or
of Bingular acumen. Taking literally
the order about "little details," he
had filed one of the most curious dis-
patches In the annals of the New
York Police Department. It glittered
with gems for Rosalie Le Grange, Es-
pecially was It strong In facts con-
cerning Miss Estrilla's relations with
her father. Their rides together when
she was a little girl and the family
was conspicuous on the island, the cir-
cumstances of an accident to one of
the horses, even pet names and small
coin of domestic intercourse—all this
he set forth fully. Beyond doubt, he
had fourtd the "old family servant"
mentioned in the telegram of instruc-
tion and milked him dry.
So at this fpurth sennce Rosalie
brought not Miguel—that were too
great a Btrain on her Spanish—but Vic-
toria—Introduced her, as usual, with
vague sentences, growing always more
definite, and crystallizing finally into
the vital startling fact. Rosalie was
speaking freely now, her pose that of
a dead trance.
"Do you remember," she asked, "the
time they carried you home, as though
you were dead, from the stable, and
! you revived and spoke to me when
they brought you in the door? Do you
remember—Margy dear? The tele-
[ gram from Detective Hawley had in-
formed Rosalie that the baptismal
name of Miss Estrilla—or Miss Perez
— was Margarita; and that her mother
used the name In Its English form and
her father In Spanish.
"Do you remember, Margy dear?"
repeated the voice of the "spirit"
through the entranced lips of Rosalie
Le Grange.
"Yes," said Miss Estrilla, so sud-
denly that it nearly shook Rosalie out
of the trance. "I remember, mother
dear. What was his name—that
horse?"
("Still a little skeptical; but It's the
last gasp. I'll fix her right now.
Lucky I've got it!" said the minri of
Rosaiie Le Grange working rapidly
behind her mask.)
"We had Billy and—but It wasn't
he—it was that black horse Vixen
which you would ride against my
wishes!" said the voice. Rosalie heard
Miss Estrilla heave a long sigh; heard
her settle herself against the pillows
as though quite overborne by emotion.
But Rosalie did not proceed directly
along the road of treacheries which
she was traveling. Victoria went away
with the capricious suddenness of all
Rosalie's spirit friends. The voice of
Laughing-Eyes, the child control, burst
j In. Upon Miss Estrilla Rosalie used
Laughing-Eyes sparingly. With an
ignorant and overlmpressionable sit-
ter she was an Invaluable feature, this
Laughing-Eyes. To a person of great-
er discernment, the child impersona-
tion was likely to be ridiculous. Rosa-
lie usually employed her, therefore,
only to fill In the chinks, to occupy the
time while she was thinking.
"Lady iB gone!" said Laughing-Eyes.
"Pretty lady! Another spirit—oh—I
see pretty things! They shine—oh—
go away. Come back!! No, he will
not Btay." she paused here.
And now Miss Estrilla spoke again,
and In such a tone that Rosalie knew
she might hurry to her climax.
"Can't you bring him back, Laugh-
ing-Eyes?" she Bald. "Oh, please
bring him back. Tell him, oh, tall
him that I am not angrv!" A dry
I sob shook the silences of the room.
"No. He is afraid And he is weak
in spirit!" babbled Laughing-Eyes
"Maybe he will come again may be!"
And Laughing Eyes giggled and bab-
bled of Miguel and Victoria and a
dozen spirits impertinent to MIsb Es-
trilla. Yet always in her babblings
she seemed to hold the atmosphere of
truth; she referred casually and In
remote ways to a dozen facts about
Miss Estrilla's family and her past.
Presently her voice died away; and
Rosalie lay silent and impassive, wait-
ing for Miss Estrilla to wake her
CHAPTER XIV.
John Talks.
In the following seance—held the
next afternoon at the special and
plaintive request of MiBS Estrilla—
Rosalie Le Grange reached at last
the very kernel of the matter.
She brought "John."
She had prepared, by a special and
subsidiary line of play, for this vital
move. She had been cultivating Con-
stance Hanska. With arts all her
own, Rosalie broke through the re-
serves of that distressed widow. From
discussion of the murder, Rosalie led
Iter on to detailB of her married life.
From that, she lured Constance into
deeper confidences, which Involved the
personal peculiarities of the late Cap-
tain Hanska, such as hlB way of speak-
ing, the quality of his voice, and his
methods with women. When Rosalie
settled down to the fifth seance. Bhe
had In her mind a picture of John H.
Hanska which was good enough for
any of her purposes.
The preliminaries were over; Laugh-
ing-Eyes had gone her babbling way
back to the land of spirit; Doctor
Carver held control.
"A spirit has been trying to commu-
nicate, but he 1b a new spirit and not
yet strong. He says that the lady's
sickness is not of the body. It la of
the mind. He also 16 not happy yet.
John was his name on the fleshplar.e
—it Is hard—we over here must make
an effort—it Is a strain on us as on
the medium—I get ah 'H.' " In the en-
suing silence, Miss Estrilla gave one
hard sob.
The silence lasted for half a min-
ute. Rosalie strained and struggled as
though a tumult were going on within.
Then came a man's voice, higher and
softer than that of Doctor Carver.
"I am John, Margaret. I can not
stay long. I ani not strong—they tell
us over here—that we must forgive—
even as we are forgiven. But—I will
come again—"
"Oh, John—1 am trying to forgive—
oh. do you understand—wait—"
gasped Miss Estrilla.
But John spoke no more.
"He may grow stronger after a
time." said the voice of Doctor Carver,
"If this poor earth vessel through
which we speak does not break." So
he finished the pertinent part of that
session.
The seances were coming every day
now. Miss Estrilla wished It; and
Rosalie granted her request with an
appearance of Indulgent reluctance.
The next day, John Intruded again.
This time, it appeared, he had grown
strong enough to speak consecutively.
"I have not full power yet. But it Is
coming. I grow stronger. But the
shock in my breast—I feel it." That
waB something of a venture. Rosalie
waited to see what reply it would
draw.
The reply came, quick and puzzling:
"Did that come first then? Or, Bure-
ly you didn't feel that?" asked Miss
Estrilla as though in a fever of anxi-
ety.
Rosalie, thinking like lightning, felt
herself for the moment at her wits'
ends. Upon the answer to that cryp-
tic question everything might depend.
It were best, she concluded, to humor
MIbb Estrilla; to give her what she
wanted, but to make the wording
vague. She le*. her body heave, as
though John were retaining his con-
trol with difficulty.
"No," said the voice, "that was not
first. It had come already. But, some-
how- I knew."
"Oh, thank God!" cried Miss EBtrilla.
John departed on this. Doctor Car-
ver and Laughing-Eyes spread clouds
of mist, Intellectual but rosy. They
went; RoBalle entered that apparent
sleep with which she concluded her
"trances." As she lay there, with
nothing to do but think, this new per
plexlty revolved Itself In her mind.
What meant that sudden question—
"Did that come first?" The trail was
leading Into wildernesses of which she
had never dreamed.
Rosalie held three more seances
with Miss Estrilla before she reached
tne rtoai vital on® w which all her
diplomacies had been leading.
•♦•
John Is speaking through the lips
of Rosalie Le Grange; and MIbs Es-
trilla is answering.
"I am stronger now. The flesh In-
fluence is not yet goue from me. There
was much on my bouI. 1 flnd It hard
to forgive. And 1 know 1 must—little
lady." Rosalie had learned fron
Constance that "little lady" was Cap-
tain Hanska's pet name for woman la
tender relations, and she let It out
as a venture.
"Oh, John! But consider how much
I have to forgive. Ah, did you ever
love me? You never answered my
letters."
"I loved you perhaps too much.
Over here, we can not lie. I w l
carried away—and I waB married—"
"Yes. Every one knows that now.
You deceived me. It Is harder for
ine to forgive that than the other
thing."
"Yes—but I loved you too much—to
risk telling you."
"Was that why you kept the jewels,
tjien?" A hard attack came Into Miss
Estrllla'H tone. It was more than a
question; there was irony in it. Rosa-
He thought rapidly. That diamond
buckle on the staircase—"the jew-
els'—here was a startling new corre-
lation of facts. She must venture no
further; Bhe must have time to imag-
ine and to plan.
"I can not tell you now." said the
voice of John. "1 am—growing weak—
I sinned—"
"Oh. he's gone away!" broke in the
voice of Laughing-Eyes.
Another seance. John Is speaking,
Miss Estrilla answering.
"Ah, I really love you. But I find
It hard to forgive."
"Don't you understand, John, that It
wasn't revenge? It was duty."
"I know. There Is much that I do
not understand, but I do understand
that. In the flesh, I was alwayB at-
tracted by the glitter of jewels—"
This was a lead Into territory only
partially explored. And the road
opened.
"I think there were two parts of you.
John. But, oh. the better part loved
me, did you not?"
"Yes, loved you truly, little lady."
"John, If you had stolen them out
right but to use my love!"
"1 am going. I am not strong
enough yet to endure reproach—"
"Oh, I will not reproach you again.
You must forgive. You know how
little you have to forgive. Wait, John,
wait!" -
* * • • *i
John la speaking again: Miss Es-
trilla replies.
"They give me new strength every
day. But this poor Ignorant woman
Is weakening. Why did you try to
get them bb you did?"
"What was I to do when I found I
had no claim under the law? What
was I to do after you wrote me that
letter?"
"That happened before I passed out.
I could not see you then. And I have
not seen any onn clearly. 1 am not
like the better spirits. My soul was
not good when it left the flesh. But
I think you caine to New York just
to get the jewels."
(This was a venture on Rosalie's
part; still there were ways of retriev-
ing the mistake if her guess was
wrong.)
"YeB. It was my plan, not Juan's. I
have been more foolish than he. Ev-
ery day 1 spent in the room above you
I was afraid you would discover me.
Yet when I thought of you down there
I
"I Am John, Margaret."
—1 loved you still! But my eyes were
really sick. It was because I cried so
much—but I promised not to reproach
you "
"Little lady—I was bad, but I loved
you. I think if I had seen you, I
would have restored them."
"Oh, John! That is hardest of all!
John, 1 can not die and join you dow
I dare not—because it would be
wrong—and because of Juan!"
Rosalie noted how the name of Juan
came in again. For caution, she must
'eer away from that lend at present.
(TO BK CONTINUED.)
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Martin, C. P. The Foss Enterprise. (Foss, Okla.), Vol. 8, No. 17, Ed. 1 Friday, February 13, 1914, newspaper, February 13, 1914; Foss, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metapth349276/m1/3/: accessed April 25, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.