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a -- Rm By J. R. WILMOT X . (Author of "Where There's a Will". etc.-. A ® {The "Moorcroft Manor Mystery A " These thoughts crowded 'in upon her mind with bewildering insistence, bit: standing out among them all was 30, hactountable "fear. She had ex» 8 enc hed it-aside as being of little consequence. But now in these first few moments of swift realization. of her position, it bore down upon her like some haunting CHAPTER 10 * Po Helen Overington, as she sat 'by the window of Lady Isabel For- room, watching the afternoon t gild the needle tips of a row tinel pines that guarded the of the wide stretch of front of Moorcroft Manor, with a single swift stroke had 'transformed from a pleasant, care-free romance, into a tragedy so so irrevocable as to be un- As yet she could not bring her- self to believe that only yesterday the and her father had been won- ferfully happy. They had both been looking forward to this Christmas diversion with the eagerness of chil- dren, and now--she was alone in a wotld that seemed to be bristling t trigue. Ever since her mother died ten ears ago, she and her father had een inseparable companions. He never went anywhere without her, 'and whatever he did he had always béen in the habit of first consulting her to see whether she approved. Gradually she brought her mind Bo focus, and endeavoured to think ngs out a little more clearly than she had been able to during that awful night when she had sobbed herseli into a welcome oblivion of sleep, just as the first steely glint of dawn had begun to. climb . over the window sill into the room, : Lady Forrester had been 'wonder fully kind and Helen felt that even her own mother could not have sur- passed this gemerous-hearted' woman in the warmth of her sympathy and helpfulness. Here she was utterly a- lone. She remembered that her fath- er had once mentioned a brother out in Calgary, but they had never cor- responded, and to all intents and purposes she hadn't a relative in the world, It is a disconcerting thought for a young woman of twenty-five, and the situation has to be actually exper- ienced if it is to be adequately un= derstood. Immediately there arises in, the mind a sense of suspicion accom- panied by an overwhelming emotion of fear. Helen Overington realized this. She realized, too, that Ler father had, no doubt, left her.the bulk of his fortune, and she was level-headed enough to know that there is some- times a strange danger about being rich, Victor RED SEAL 9 Records { £) its Library 9 Musical Masterpiece "New World" Symphony med by Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Leopold Stokowski On 5 Double-sided 12-inch Victor Records Complete in album with descriptive folder Price $13.50 Dvorak wrote this music after a visit to the North American continent, The well-known melody " Goin' Home'® which everybody knows, was taken bodily from one of the principal motifs in this refreshirg symphony, which develops, cleverly interwoven, many aboriginal melodies. See His Master's Voice Dealers for other greal masterpieces of Canada, Limited er Tt 2 F HIS MASTER'S VOICE D. J. BROWN 10 KING STREET WEST PHONE 189 wie phantom. - In some way she con- nected this strange dread with her father's secretary, Whenever she thought of him--and she had thought of him more than once during the past few hours--the fear came again, until now she felt that she could scarcely stand the strain of it any longer. Come what may, she would have to unburden her soul to some- one. But to whom? That was the question, She had suffered already at the hands of the police questioning. Inspector Wishart had been with her for almost an hour plying her with questions concerning her father's friends, his business acquaiit : THE OSHAWA DAILY TIMES, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1927 it _befafe, but she had] along something the gallery hall, 'Helen's eyes 1 few moments upon the portraits of En a r two days ago since she had stood there with Morton Sinclair eriticizing the portraits in a spirit of care-free banter. ous he had seemed in those few mo- ments. But there was one portrait in the corner that still held her gaze. It was that of an old cavalier with deep, inscrutable eyes and a curi- ously cynical smile twisting his heavy lips. During the walk Helen was unus- ually silent. In spite of her compan- ions chatter upon all manner of top- ics wholly unconnected with the tra- gedy, her mind refused to eradicate the fear that had possessed her dur- ing the afternoon. It returned again and again, each time with an in ing i ity. Strive as she and whether she knew anything which would, in some measure, lead to some clue, however slight, to en- able him to place the onus of the crime on the shoulders of some par- ticular person. . By. the time the Inspector had fin- ished with her, Helen's brain was more or less chaotic, She was not so confused, however, as not to real- ize that she did possess information which might very well be useful to him in his investigation, but it was of such a nature that to disclose it to someone like the Inspector, who was an epitome of stern and unre- lenting officialdom, would entail a great deal of courage, which at the moment, she did not possess, Under any other circumstances things might have been vastly different, but the events of the past twenty-four hours had been such a strain upon the sen- sitiveness of her nature that she felt she could not lay bare a secret which she had hoped might never have been disclosed. * It was while she was in the midst of her meditations that the door of her room opened softly and admitted Lady Isabel, smilingly calm, and pos- sessing that atmosphere of self-re- liance, which had first caused the girl to admire her. "Feeling better, dear?" Lady Isa- bel's voice was soothingly soft like the velvet petals of a June rose. "Heaps, thank you," the girl repli- ed, with a smile that was in no degree forced. "I'm trving to be as brave as I can, Lady Isabel. Do I 'really look as if I've been crying?" "Not a bit; not the least little bit! I think you've been simply splendid. How about a walk with me through the grounds before it grows dark?" "I'd love that. When I'm indoors I feel as if I'm in a prison from which no one ever escapes. It's silly of me, I know, but I can't help it." There was a little note of despair in Helen's voice, "Then we'll let the wind blow the cob-webs away," smiled Lady Isabel "There's" nothing like fresh air for chasing life's little doubts and diffi- culties away, You'd better put your fur coat on dear. It's more chilly than yon think." "I suppose nothing's been done?" asked Helen, as she turned up the callar, of her. coat. they'd tell me they'd found him." "Perhaps thcy will--now." There was a hint of secrecy in the words which did not escape the girl's no- tice. "Why do you say that? Tell me-- please tell me what's happened." A strange eagerness had suddenly crept into Helen's voice, "Well, I suppose if you insist, I must." Lady Isabel sounded doubtful, "That stubborn husband of mine has had his own way at last, he's wanted to call in Scotland Yard since this morning, and it seeths he took it upon himself to send a wire to a friend of his in London telling h'm what had happened, and a de- tective from Scotland Yard arrived half an hour ago, It's because of that, that I want you to take a little : walk with me, for I suppose one of the first things he'll want to do will be to ask you more questions, and I don't think you're fit for another ordeal' just yet. I've told Sir John that you're going out and that if the detective wants to speak to you he. will have to wait until we get .| back." "Im rather glad that Sir John has asked someone else to come," said Helen; simply. "I don't like Inspec- tor Wishart a bit. He's much too officious. Do you really think they will find. . . ." She broke off with a meaning glance at her companion, unable to complete the remainder of the sentence, "Sir John says he is one of the cleverest men at the Yard, Now, "Qh, I do wish You know | | cr y. might she could not rid herself of it, but at last she fought dowri her fear and turned, smilingly, to her com- panion. Lady Isabel, meanwhile, had been discussing Helen's future, but as she talked she could not help observing that her words were falling upon un- responsive ears, That there was something troubling Helen, she had no doubt, but being a woman of in- finite tact, she refrained from mak- ing any suggestion that would make it appear that she had guessed that something was wrong, ; At first she attributed it to the strain which the girl had endured, but gradually this initial impression eva- porated and gave place to a very real apprehension that something else was gnawing at Helen's brain, "And now what about the future," remarked Lady Isabel, brightly. "Let us see what plans we can make to- gether, I've already decided that for the time being, at any rate, you shall come and stay in town with us until everything is settled up. By the way, Mr. Sinclair has undertaken to see that everything is put right up here for you, Helen, He's agreed to stay on after we have gone so that every- thing will be seen to." "Mr. Sinclair is awfully kind," ans- wered Helen, genuinely. "You know, Lady Isabel, I rather like him," she added, simply, "He's always so very dependable," said Lady Isabel, guardedly. "That's why we all like him, I think." Lady Isabel had no desire to dwell unduly upon a eulogy of Morton Sinclair just then, She realized that he was just a little too intimately connetted with the chain of recent events for the girl's peace of mind, What she wanted to do was to direct her charge's thoughts into altogether new channels, but an interfering Fate had deemed it otherwise, for, just ERAL CHIANG "LEADS IN CHINA oe ae Propaganda REUNITING PARTY Would Welcome Investiga- tion of Treaty Situation By United States Shanghai, Dec. 14--General Chi- ang Kai-Shek, who was drafted Saturday to re-enter the National- ist movement as leader by the Kuo- mintang conference, declared yea- terday that unless Soviet Russia "discontinued its intrigue toward China", the Nationalist government would be compelled to break off re- lations, = This the General added, would necessitate the closure of the Soviet consulates in Nationalist ter- ritory in China, "The Kuomintang," said General Chiang, "has made me responsible for the tremendous task of re-unit- ing the party factions and reorgan- izing the National Government in order that the revolution may pro- gress, I intend to bring peace t the Nationalist territory and to re- sume warfare against Chang Tso Lin upon whose elimination ae: pends nation-wide peace in China." 'While real unity of the Nation. alistic factions is considered diffi- cult of realization, Chiang Kai- Shek is believed to be the most likely person capable of its accoms- plishment, Friendly Gesture, Continuing his statement, Gen- eral Chiang said "I have heard that Presid Coolidge fis {dering sending a commission to China to investigate the treaty situation, Na- tionalist China would consider such action a friendly gesture. It would have a tremendous solidifiyng ef- fect on Chinese public opinion, pos- sibly resulting in the Southeruers and the Northerners uniting on a commission to meet the United States delegation for discussion of treaty revision, The time nus ure sived for the powers to meet China in a friendly attempt to break the treaty dead-lock which is disrupt- ing trade, The Nationalist leader expressed his belief that Japan was pianuing another miltary expedition to Shan tung. "The last adventure," he added, Nerman H. Gampp the Canadian Ancona King, of Ask your dealer for it and feed it mecording to directions, You'll get eggs. See our Display at the Oshawa Poultry Show COOPER~----SMITH 00, Oshawa caught her in his | ded detrimentally to Japanese politics, The Japanese people want to preserve friendly relations with China." He was of the opinion that Ja- pan, Russia, and Germany were "negotiating 'with the purpose of forming a political bloc, in order | to offset certain European allian- ces," but declined to mention the '| European nations concerned. || COBALT WANTS INQUIRY INTO COST OF POWER Cobalt, Ont., Dec. 183--A further i| enquiry into the question of domes- tic power rates charged here by the j| Northern Ontario Light and Power Company, will be made next year, if the 1928 town council follows a recommendation made by its pre- decessor in office last night, The present council rejected the com- pany's suggestion that a vote on as they were nearing the house, Sin- clair came hurrying down the steps )| and, catching sight of the pair, he almost ran towards them, "I say," he said, quickly, "you don't by any chance happen to have seen anything of Mr, Morrell, have our . "Not since the morning," Lady Isa- » bel told him. "Why? Sinclair glanced at Helen who was regarding him queerly. "The Scotland Yard man wants him '| but--he's disappeared." "Disappeared?" There was sur- : prise in Lady Isabel's tone. Helen watched the young man nod an affirmative then, with a little choking cry, she swayed uncertainly, {| her face paler than it had been and would have fallen had not Sinclair trong arms, (To be Continued) FOR Thc deco mies entertaining deliciously flavored Christie's Water Ice the new franchise submitted might be taken in the near future, and, by formal resolution, urged that since the operations here appear to be "highly profitable," the idea of conducting them as a pupife utility under the Hydro should bc considered. It was recommended also that a meeting of the northern municipalities should be arranged, at which steps to ask the Provin- cial Government to have the Hydro enter the field in Temiskaming and Cochrane districts might be discus- 'sed. MORE EARTHQUAKES London, Dec. 13--A despatch to The Daily Mail from Nicosia, Cy- prus, says that eighteen earthquake shocks occurred at Limassol and neighborhood Monday night and Tuesday morning. No casualties have thus far been reported, but many buildings were eracked, and the schools are closed. Many peo- ple are camping outside the town. delicacy for your than crisp, light, Wafers In the store or om the *pbone, always ask for SOLDIERS FOR CHINA St. John, N. B., Dec, 13--Great War years were recalled vividly to St. John tonight when a party of soldiers limped from the train en route from Shanghai, via Vancou- ver, to "Blighty." They will sail from here on the C.P.S.S. Mont- nairn tomorrow, 7 Fort William, Dec. 13-+Chi Thompson, who said he livedat] Queen's Hotel; * \ evening uncon street railway tra had fallen out of ar tell no more, Today CH; in the hospital fi a semi-goneel condition, . 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