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BY s. S. VAN DINE. killed and her younger sister, Ada, .s 'together with the five children, SYNOPSIS. Philo Vance, wealthy young bachelor and friend of District Attorney John F. X. Markham, becomes interested in (he Greene murder case. Julia Greene Is wounded. Old Tobias Greene's widow Julia, Chester, Sibella, Rex and Ada, an adopt- ed daughter, all live in the old Greene mansion. The burglary theory is ve- pudiated. Mrs. Greene is questioned «nd Vance insinuates that Chester Greene is of a flirtatious nature. CHAPTER V.--(Cont'd.) Markham, too, was annoyed at the frivolous line of interrogation Vance had taken. "I can't see what's to be gained by such futile inquiries," he said, striv- ing to control his irritation. "That's because you're still holding to the burglar theory," Vance replied. "But if, as Mr. Greene thinks, thare is another explanation of last night's crime, then it's essential to acquaint ourselves with the condtions existing here. And it's equally essential not to rouse the suspicions of the servants. Hence, my apparent irrelevancies. I'm trying to size up the various human factors we have to deal with; and 1 think I've done uncommonly well. Several rather interesting possibilities have developed." Before Markham could reply Sproot passed the archway and opened the front door to some one whom he gre=t- ed respectfully. Greene immediately went into the hall. "Hello, Doc," we heard him say. Thought you'd be along pretty soon. The District Attorney and his entovr- age are here, and they'd like to talk to Ada. I told 'em you said it might be all right this afternoon." "I'll know better when I've sen Ada," the doctor replied. He passed on hurriedly, and we heard him ascending the stairs. "It's Von Blon," announced Greene, returning to the drawing room. "He'll let us know anon how Ada"s coming along." There was a callous note in his voice, which, at the time, puzzled me. "How long have you known Dr, Von Blon?" asked Vance. "How long?" Greene looked surpris- ed. "Why, all my life. Went to the ola Beekman Public School with him. youth with narrow, stooping shoulder. end an abnormally large head set on a neck which appeared almost ema- ciated. A shock of straight hair hurg down over his bulging forehead, and he had a habit of tossing it back with a jerky movement of the head, His small, shifty eyes, shielded by enor- mous tortoise-rimmed glasses, seem- ed naver to be at rest; and his thin lips were constantly twitching as with a tic douloureux, His chin was small and pointed, and he held it drawn in, emphasizing its lack of prominence. He was not a spleasaut spectacle, and yet there was something: in the man --an overdeveloped studiousness, p:r- haps--that gave the impression of un- usual potentialities, I once saw a juvenile chess wizard who had the same cranial formations and general facial cast. Vance appeared introspective, but T Lnew he was absorbing every detall of the man's appearance. At length he laid down his cigare'te, and focused his eyes langaidly on the desk lamp. "You say you slept throughout the tragedy last night. How do you ac- count for that remarkable fact, in- asmuch as one of the shots was fired in the room next to yours?' Rex hitched himself forward to the edge of his chair, and turned his head from side to side, carefully avoiding our eyes. "I haven't tried to account for it," he returned, with angry resentment, but withal he seemed unstrung and on the defensive. Then he hurried on: "The walls in this house are pretty thick anyway, and there are always noises in the street-- Maybe my head was buried under the covers." "You'd certainly have buried your head under the covers if you'd heard the shot," commented Chester, with no attempt to disguise his contempt for his brother. Rex swung round, and would have retorted to the accusation had not Vance put his next question immedi- ately. "What's your theory of the ctime,| Mr. Greene? You've heard all the! details and you know the situation." "I thought the police had settled on a burglar," the youth's eyes rested His father--old Dr. Veranus Von Blon brought all the later Greenes into the world; family physician, spiritual ad- viser, and all that sort of thing, from time immemorial. When Von Blon, senior, died we embraced the son as a matter of course. And young Arthur's a shrewd lad, too. Knows his pharmacopeia. Trained by the old man, and topped off his medical edu- cation in Germany." Vance nodded hegligently. "While we're waiting for Dr. Von Blon, suppose we have & chat wiih Miss Sibella and Mr. Rex. Your bro- ther first, let us say." Greene looked to Markham for con- firmation; then rang for Sproot. Rex Greene came immediately upon being summoned. "Well, what do you want to know?" he asked, scanning our faces wirh nervous intensity. His voice was peevish, almost whining, and there were certain overtones in it which recalled the fretful, complaining voice of Mrs. Greene. "We merely want to question you about last night," answered Vance soothingly. "We thought it possible you could help us." "What help can I give you?" Rex asked sullenly, slumping into a chair. He gave his brother a sneering look. "Chester's the only one round here who seems to have been awake." Rex Greene was a short, sallow ANY DYEING? If you have anything to be dyed send it to Parker's, Canada's leading dJyers for fifty years. Dresses, coats, curtains, drapes, covers, etc. It is wonderful what we can do. y Questions on price and colors gladly answered, and postage charges on orders paid both NE ' sergeant who, until now, had preserv- shrewdly on Heath. 'Wasn't that your conclusion?" "It was and 'it is," declared the ed a bored silence. "But your brother here seems to think otherwise." "So Chester thinks otherwise," Rex turned to his brother with an ex- pression of feline dislike. "Maybe Chester knows all about it." There was no mistaking the implication in his words. Vance once more stepped into the breach. "Your brother has told us all he knows. Just at present we're con- cerned with how much you know." The severity of his manner caused Rex to shrink back in hig chair. His lips twitched more violently, and he began fidgeting with the braided frog or his smoking-jacket. I noticed then for the first time that he had short rachitic hands with bowed and thick- ened phalanges. "You are sure you heard no shot?" continued Vance ominously. "I've told you a dozen times 1 didn't!" His voice rose to a falsetto, and he gripped the arms of his chair with both hands. | "Keep calm, Rex," admonishad Chester. "You'll be having another | of your spells." "To hell with you!" the youth shouted. "How many times have I got to tell them I don't know any- thing about it?" "We merely want to make doubly | sure on all points," Vance told him pacifyingly. "And you certainly Famous Russian dancer, Alexis Dolinoff, who takes the role of horsepower in a strange modern- istic ballet given at Philadelphia. Leopold Stokowski directs. "Rex is a queer bird, Chester rs- marked, after a short silence, "He spends most of the time reading and working out abstruse problems in mathematics and astronomy. Wanted to stck a telescope through the attic roof, but the mater drew the line, He's an unhealthy beggar, too. I tell him he doesn't get enough fresh aie, but you see his attitude toward me. Thinks I'm weak-minded because I piay gulf." "What were the spells you spoke about?" asked Vance. "Your brother looks as if he might be epileptic." "Oh, no; nothing like that; though I've seen him have convulsive seizures when he got in a specially violent tantrum. He gets excited easily and flies off the handle. Von Bion says it's hyperneurasthenia--whatever that it. He goes ghastly pale when he's worked up, and has a kind of trembl- ing fit. Says things he's sorry for afterward. Nothing serious, though. What he needs is exercise--a year on a ranch roughing it, without his in- fernal books and compasses and T- squares." Again Vance went to the great win- dow above the East River, and stocd looking out. Suddenly he turned. "By the way, Mr. Greene, did you find your revolver?" His tone had changed; his ruminative mood had gone. Chester gave a start, and cast a swift glance at Heath, who had now become attentive. "No, by gad, I haven't," he admit- ted, fumbling in his pocket for his cigarette-holder. "Funny thing about that gun, too. Always kept it in my desk drawer--though, as I told this gentleman when he mentioned it""--he pointed his holder at Heath, as if the other had been an inanimate objeet--- "I don't remember, actually haven't seen it for years. But, even so, where the devil could it have gone? Damme, it's mysterious. Nobody round here would touch it, The maids don't zo in the drawers when they're cleaning the room--I'm lucky if they make the bed and dust the top of the furniture. Damned funny what became of it." (To be continued.) ------ After When I grow old, sweet earth, thou more fair; When I have seén the ruins, heard the crash Of many temples falling; felt the glare Of sunlight through their shattered domes, the ash, So fine and grey, like grief itself des- cend, That once was new-built cities, pros- perous known; When I shall say, Behold the tides and wouldn't want your sister's death to go unavenged through any lack of perseverance on our part." Rex relaxed slightly and took a deep inspiration. i "Oh, I'd tell you anything I knew," he said, running his tongue over his dry lips, "but I always get blamed for everything that happens in this house --that is, Ada and I do. And as for avenging Julia's death: that doesn't appeal to me nearly so much as pun- ishing the dog that shot Ada. She has a hard enough time of it here under normal conditions. Mother keeps her in the house waiting on her as if she were a servant." Vance nodded understanding'y. Then he rose and placed his hand sympathetically on Rex's shoulder. This gesture was so unlike him I was completely astonish1; for, despite kis deep-seated humanism, Vance seemed always ashamed of any out- ward show of feeling, and sought con- stantly to repress his emotions. that wash O'er yonder mudflats, and the winds that bend The outstretched wings of cormor- ant on his throne: With ever 'more resistlese urge they move To that sad age-long sighing round the shore Which is of earth and sea the whisper- ed love; J For man is dead, his voice is heard no more; Then, only then, contentment will be long; In that eternal resting and sublime For ever on some crag that beetles o'er Bo'h land and sea, I'll hear the gentle song. They call me Time: Time! 2 --Romiley John, in the Spectator. ee min lenses TRUE GREATNESS O Tiredness of | "Don't let this tragedy upset you, © Mr. Greene," he said reassuringly. | "And you may be certain that we'll 1 do everything in our. power to find| {and punish the person who shot Miss | Ada. 'We won't bother you any more now." ; Rex got up almost eagerly and drew himself together. "Oh, that's all He and with & covertly triumphant glance at: hus brother, he left th Great is he Who uses his greatness for all. His name shall stand perpetually As a name to applaud,and cherish Not only within the civie wall ~~ For the loyal, but also without For the generous and free. Just fshe, oo al law Who ig just for the popular due | game of kings and ministers centuries | ago; an expert falcon was the accept- 4 also its museum of drums, elaborate Notes From Geneva DIPLOMACY ON SKIS, ament Conference, that the ski became an instrument of diplomacy. Other sports have for long enjoyed political favor, Tennis, for nstance, was a ed equipment for an ambassador; many sports in one way or another have helped along international pour- parlers. Golf has in recent years been the most famo ¢, althongh not entirely of good repute, as witness M. Aristide Briand's luckless adventure on the links at Cannes in 1922 which drove kim out of office. But golf, on the links at Onex, near Geneva, is still a usefur method of achieving intimate and private contact. Skiing, however, has only this winter become a diplo-|* matic sport. During vhe Disarmament Conference, on many successive week- ends, the more adventurous diplomat- ists here have gone irom Geneva to the near-by Jura, or farther afield in the Alps, and under "he radiant mid- winter sun of Switzerland, on its vir- gin slopes, have regained fresh vigor 'or coming days, or aven done a spot of business amid scenes of winter sport. A CONTRAST IN CONFERENCES. Wien Erik Chare'l: brilliant film on the Congress of Vienna was chosen to welcowe the Disarmament Conler-| ence delegates to Geneva, it became fashionable to 'ompare the current, meeting with that which regulated Europe's destiny in 1815. But, in the midst of world-wide economic strese, the 193: conference has been scrupul- ous to avoid anything remotely vesem- bling .xtravagance, and outwardly its resemblance to the ostentatious | Vienna gathering has been nil. One remarkable coincidence, however, nas struck historically minded observers. In the absence of Sir John Simon, the chief British delegate here is Lord Londonderry, and the first British delegt.te to the Congress of Vienna was Viscount Castlereagh, also Lord Londonderry. The present Marquis' strikingly resembles his very distin-| guished ancestor in appearance. But to carry the comparison of these two critical conferences 'urther is to hit upon a series of vivid differences, How unlike is the brisk, frank, peremptosy Andre Tardieu, "'Americaine," to his predecessor, the Marquis de Talley- rand, whose name has become symbolic of suavity and patiert, devious wait- ing! But perhaps they will be equally successful. How far removed is Max- im Litvinoff, People's Commissar, from the mystic Tsar Alexander! Where will the Conference find its Metternich? Does Mi. Henry L. Stim- son fancy himself in that role? Which statesmun will follow Count Neszel- rode, and invent a pudding? And in the realm of ideas, how different :s today's insistent clamor for change-- thought it does meet with denial 'rom one group---from the overwhelming movement agaiust change which was Vienna? = Vienna brought Europe' peace for forty years. Geneva hopes to do better' than that. THE WORLD'S CITY OF DRUMS. Basel sprang into the "headlines when the World Bank was established there. Already that old town on the Rhine had given the world its shaie of philosophers, of painters--Hans Holbein lived tere--of poets and sol- diers and men of lelters. But it is r.ot so well known that Basel gives the world its best beaters of drums. It is all because of the Basler Fastnacht, the carnival by which Basel celebrates Mardi Gras. For, unique in the world, the Basel carnival is a matter of drums. Every citizen has his drum, and for three days on end he beats upon it. There are processions in the streets, with magnificent and gro- tesque costumes, but everybody drums. W:th so many drums, there must be rhythm. Naturally every man or boy or woman or girl must keep the beat. In the schools, children are taught carefully to drum. Furnished with "wooden sounding boxes, the schoolboys le: rn all the world's marches, If an American or an Englishman or a Jap- anes2 comes to Bagel he will recognize many of his own tunes, adapted and fitted into their Rhen'sh setting. Or perhaps tunes he thinks his very own came originally frum Basel. Basel has beyond comprehension of the uniniti- ated. And its libraries of drum music. It is the world's city of drums." NEWSPAPER MEN'S PARADISE. The League of Nations has been ac- cused for many years of being unduly solicitous for the welfare of news- paper men. The League's Information Section is a vast body always at the disposal of journalists. As a conse- quence, newspaper men of long resi-| dence in Geneva have become increas- ingly proud of their prerogatives and increasingly insistent "upon. their rights. But all that the League has ever done to make easy the task of correspondents accredited here has It was only recently, at the Disarm-; charge on a plated platter! But this is 20, v too shameful, and correspondents have not been seen availing. themselves of the privilege. The Geneva cafetiers have, veritably, gone too far.--The Christian Science Monitor. © mmm Af mane Holds Coin Record Belgrade, Yugoslavia.~--~According to a recent report, the Belgrade National Museum has acquired since 1921 more coins of ancient orign than any other museum in the "world in so short a time. Among the new alquisitions are 11, 000 pieces of Roman money dating from about 240 A.D. another Roman collection of 9000 pieces dating from a slightly later period, and 1600 very old Gréek drachmas. Hundreds of coins struck by the famous Serbian kings of the Middle Ages have also been found. a it ell HOWLERS A contortionist ie a lady who recites pieces. Average means something that hens lay eggs on. A corps is a dead man; a corpse is a dead woman. 'The Solar System is a way of teach- ing singing. King Alfred conquered the Dames. A goblet is a male turkey. The feminine of bachelor is lady in waiting. . Certain areas of Egypt are culti- vated by rritation. i A cynje ig a receptical in which dirty crockery is washed. A The chief occupation of the inhabit- ants of Perth is dying. Acrimony, sometimes called holy, is another name for marriage. The climate of Bombay is such that its inhabitants have to live elsewhere. ' y Make Living" The game of bridge is now big business and expenditures on the pastime are estimated at $100,000 000 yearly. Twenty thousand people are making their living from it. Waterloo Bridge, in London, one of the main highways across the Thames, is to be replaced. "No repairs in 22 years," ""Yisitors are delighted with the noiseless operation of my doors," says a home owner of Monongah, West Virginia. "The locks and hinges have been in active service 22 years, and during this time I haven't spent a cent for repairs. I've never used anything but 3-ln- One Oil" n ! Many housewives who pride them- selves -on the spotless appearance of their homes are careless about the lubrication of hinges and locks. Try a few drops of 3-in-One Oil to- day and see how quickly it brings out rust, dirt and queaks, For 3- in-One, a blend of animal, mineral and vegetable oilg, is distinctly dif- ferent from ordinary oil: it cleans and protects as well as Jubricates. For 35 years 3-in-One hasbeen recognized as the besy oil for sew- ing machi. ., vacuum cleaners, lawn mow .rs, hinges and general household lubrication, Insist on 3-in-On> Oil. At good stores every- where. For your protection look for the trade n.ark "3-in-One" print- 2d in Red on every package. this winter been cast deep in the shade. For, through the intiative of '| an enterprising news-ticker eompany;' the leading Geneva cafes have instal- led tickers in their establishments, where the wandering newsman ean read the full verbatim account of the Disarmament Conference or of the Council or Assembly of the League, a ~|few minutes after speeches or an- | nouncements have heen : : As well ir the privatedebt. +. ~~ --Hlizabeth Barrett Browning, "Poems" . V Pos Pp err Rd | a mere scrappy ticker bulletin; a full verbatim account, Thus the corres- pondent Sik uly ot he cafe tabl red. Not Even the water used in its making le purified Filtration & ng the ¥ | match or Queen Victoria gathering a: ; ; of Oxford winning the On the other side it is urged that accurac - of this sort is of no account, and that to say of a picture 'hat it looks like nothing on earth is. peob- ubly a compliment. All that matters, it is held, is that a painting should be a harmonious and pleasing ar- rangement of lines, colors, and pat- terns. *. | The man in the street is undoubted- ly behind the first school of theorists. But it 1s well to remember that much of the best art in the world, from an- cient Egypt to Mr. Epstein, is not photographically accurate. It is said that a friend of Turner's on being shown one of that master's pictues, made the observation, "I have never seen a sunset like that" To which Turner very properly answered, "But den't you wish you had?" Th's disagreement about the virtues of realism does not affect painti'g only. , It is rife in the theatre and cinema. Most theatrical and film pro- ductions seek to be realistic to the iast degree; but on the other hand there is the work of Craig and some rather radical producers of films to be con- sidered. To the outside observer the reconciliation >f these disagreem nts seems to be easy. A theory is kaown by its results in practice. And in jractice both theor- tes have been amply justified by pro- ducing works of great and acknow!- edged beauty. They both err only in declaring that the other is necescarily and always wrong.--"The Christian Science Monitor." RE The Pipes With the « spring awaken other springs, Those swallows' wings are shadow- ed by other wings And another thrush behind that glad bird sings, A multitude are the flowers, 'but multitudes Blossom and waver and breathe from forgotten woods, | And in silent places an older silence broods. With the spring long-buried springs in my heart awaken, Time takes the years, but the springs he has not taken, My thoughts with a boy's wild thoughts are mixed and shaken. And here amid inland fields by the down's green shoulder I remember an ancient sea and mountains older, Older than all but time, skies stern- er and colder. When the swift spring night on the sea and the mountains fell, In the hush of the solemn hills I remember well The far pipes calling and the tale they had to tell. Sad was the tale, ah! sad beyond all saying The lament of the lenely pipes in the evening playing, Lost in the glens, in the still, dark pines delaying. And now with returning spring I remember all, On southern fields those mountain shadows fall, Those wandering pipes in (he down- land evening call. Robin" Flower, in "Po.ms and Translations " + gpm on Science And the Schoolhouse The little red schoolhouse, or iis modern countei part, preserved in sOuUg and story, is g ing elac.rical. To the commonpli.c . electric 1izhls new fea- tures are being added. ©. Alabama and New Y nk State precical adapta- tions of the Jhoio-eleciric cell are bringing new, end it is ped, useful factors into primary school health, At Tuscumbia, Ala, for example, no student in the sixth grade room will ever have to 'study in light that may strain his eyes. Photo-electric cells keep an automatic watch on the amount of light in the room, and if & passing cloud so much reduces the light available below a predetermined figure on comes the lights until the ) m is naturally removed. R. BE. Thompson, superintendent of schoos, states that the fortunate pupils in this test made "considerable more advance 'ment" during the last semester tham [the others. . And In Herkimer, N.Y., pupils of the fifth grade receive two doses of arti filly created ultra-violet light each day. © A six lamps give one 'hour treatments : 0 himself, himself bad.--Marcus Aurelive, moruing and after by making