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ask no questions by beldon dvff t ill five fathoms deep paul brown in field and stream july 32 the waters of the bay of gonaive synopsis annassa west leases hrides house n connecticut so called because a bride who had sought shelter there with her husband had strangely disappeared the tease specified that the tenant must ass no question annassa rinds that one of the graves in the private burial ground has been oered her stable boy otto is murdered john diamond owner of a new york newspaper tries to induce annassa to leave the place derick cran- ton a former circus athlete and admirer 9f jane icunnells one of the first ten ants of the house takes care of annas- las polo ponies a deputy is put on guard in the kitchen annassa in the night see- a stranger riding dracula there is the sound of an explosion and miss itarth anns housekeeper calls out that the deputy has been murdered the women start through the woods for cransons place chapter v contd a sudden sympathy for the little doctor welled up in annassas heart no wonder he v as a bit touched in the head a man of some education and of a certain refinement to have come to this what trick of fate had brought him to seek such seclusion what disappointment what sorrow her own worries for the moment forgotten she walked over to the house climbed the steps to the rotting porch and saw that the door yawned open through is crooked frame the interior or that portion of the inter ior disclosed by the light which filtered in through the one window looked even more depressing than the exter ior had miss west laid her knuckles to a panel and rapped smartly there was no response may i come in still no response she stepped in bide mr cranton im miss west were in trouble up at our house you said i might call on you from close at hand came the rustle of paper as something big and black scuttled along the opposite wall and lp on a sort of desk or cupboard in the corner a cat she told herself and presently this surmise was con firmed by a yowl the phosphorescent gleam of yellow resentful eyes her heart had just begun to beat normally again when from the ceiling just over head came a mjffied taptap twice with an interval between the tapping was repeated it was a stealthy sound and in those surroundings sinister the girl stepped back to the door and looked out over the untidy yard bright as noonday in the moonlight empty egg crates soda bottles tin cans a dog house without a dog the spare parts of many automobiles what was there in these things to make one feel afraid at that moment the veterinary clothed as she had last seen him in his green frock coat and tall hat emerged from the woods she opened her mouth to cry out to him but the feeling of relief his appearance had awakened changed to one of uneasi ness there was a woman with him and such a woman a poor neglected- ooking female dressed from head to foot in rusty black garments that had neither shape nor pattern but hung from her emaciated form in every conceivable length fluttering like the ceremonial rags of a scarecrow even her face oddly enough wjs covered in a desultory halfhearted sort of way this creature was givirg the vet erinary quite a tussle her cries were scarcely human either raucous hoots unintelligible shouts as they drew nearer the mcaiing ox this extraordi nary behavior became apparent the pcor thing was either drunk or drug get or both undei no circumstances must the iittle doctor know he had had a wit ness to this scene no matter how pressing the necessity t brides house might be miss wests sense f delicacy der anded that she slip way as unannounced as she had come but at least the question of dr cran- tons strange choice of habitation had teen settled it was clear from the tenderness he had cxhibitei through out that the solitary shack in the woods had been selected as a refuge a haven in which to hide a thing much loved from the eyes of an unsympa thetic world the couple had by this time reach ed the steps that led to the porch fortunately they were too absorbed in their grotesque harlequinade to have eye or car for anything else the girl slipped back into the house and found as she had hoped that there was a rear door as well as a front one in a few seconds she had jut the distressing scene behind her excited by the incident she complete ly forgot the danger lurking in the ojjgy ground between cransons house and the south pasture flying on light feet the narrow strip of woods had been all but crossed and annassa mad caught a glimpse of abby passing restlessly back and forth be tide the old burying ground when a tuft of moss gave as she jumped on it if the branch to which she had been holding had not snapped at the same ime her weight could have been shift ed quickly enotigh to avoid trouble as it was she found herself up to her ankles in what felt like cold sticky dough at first it did not promise to be so terrible it was not until she made a move to get out that the real sinking began only an inch or two lvt a rather ominous inch when one remembered about those plow horses it was like all quicksand the more she worked th3 deeper she went soon the mud sucked about her knees the situation as it dawned was too hideous to seem real to real to be a product of the imagination darkness the unknown afilthy creeping death and worse than all else emptiness even the trees once so oppresively close had retired be yond reach their dim shapes aloof a mysterious telephone message around midnight had made the scoop possible a message which cropsey had taken the precaution to verify by calling up the chief of police at the crossing though why john diamond should have gotten so riled up about tr his doing so when he himself could u vere j sma not be reached at berkshire towers to boat ro and feil on the swells ge the confirmation first hand was as l th slde and kore than his managing editor could sccnded u 4 my shoulders exactly fathom what he did know approached the water i stopped and however was that the owner of the hcav pp helmet was slipped free press had driven down before i ovcr my heada fastened under my daylight and raised hell all over the could sce the grinning black fresfi and fragrant always office to be continued with indians in the black kills eastward for two natives start work at the pump an hear the slight hiss of the air escap ing through the valve over my headj a slap on the helmet told me all was and i started to the floor of the bay five fathoms beneath the surface i landed in a new world an in credibly beautiful and fantastic world where everyone of rry preconceived ureeu tea fresh from the gardens wrist would not cut deeply enough to bring blood which would have been dangerous nor be sure that the larger fish would not attack me i had no idea how long i had been thetthvglodniy rldvesof i notions was wrong even walking 1 1 submerged my fingers had already hills rose up before usl to iarn al ovcr a a step assumed the washerwoman wrinkles hich is usually a signal to we travelled days and and impersonal as witness in a death the black iiiils rose up chamber the village passed along for some could not be taken quickly a small state abby she called and knew the miles beneath their declivities trail- sotchwoman did not hear hor would ing out to a great lcngti over the probably never hear arid prairie or winding among small only her body from the waist up i detached hills of distorted shapes was fre now ought in that strange- turning sharply to the left we en- ly yielding vise the rest of her had tercd a wide defile of the mountains lost the power to move and as her down the bottom of which a brook bodily strength failed her mind con- came winding lined with tall grass jured up a panorama of events from and dense copses amid which were the past the old house in which she hidden many beaver dams and lodges issue no 4932 had been born hazy pictjre of her mother lying still and white in a bed of flowers her first pony the father who had taught her to ride daddy you culdnt see this hap pen to your little girl it was the appet1 she had always made when a threatened punishment promised to be too humiliating to be borne with dig nity it was an appeal that had never failed it did not fail now frome somewhere close at hand came a deep male voice stop struggling you little idiot and ill have you out in a jiffy a air of hands were thrust under her arm pits a leverage exerted slowly and with as little discomfort as possible under the circumstances we passed along between two lines of high precipices and rocks piled in disorder one upon another with scarcely a tree a bush or a clump of grass the restless indian boys castle wandered along their edges and j and ports and basticned towers jump was likelp to be extended to a ascend but i still wanted to see flying leap which carried far beyond i what was around the bend of the reef the original objective but very slowly and started for the edge of the coral arms and hands had to be moved de liberately the light from the surface was a soft glow permeating every thing an illumination without sha dows at iny feet as i landed a hermit crab scuttled into its usurped shell camouflaged with a waving anemone and lumbered away a big starfish contracted and simply disappeared ahead of me was a miniature fairy etched in moral with moats it clambered up and down their rugged was inhabited by gay little fishes gor sides and sometimes a group of them geous with all the colors of the prim- would stand on the verge of a cliff and look down on tho procession as it passed beneath as we advanced the passage grew more narrow then it suddenly expanded into a round grassy meadow completely encom passed by mountains and hero the families stopped as they came up in turn and the camp rose like magic the lodges were hardly pitched when with their usual precipitation she was drawn from the hungry mud the indians set about accomplishing and set on her feet none the worse the object that had brought them for her harrowing experience except there that is obtaining polos for that she had lost both shsss even their new lodges half the popula- the minor discomfort was discounted when without a word her rescuer caught her up in his powerful arms cradled her through the remaining few feet of woods over the stone wall and to the south pasture where abby still kept agitated vigil once solid ground had been put beneath her feet h stepped back his hands clenched at his sides in an attitude which while not exactly sheepish nor yet self- satisfied appeared to be a quite un- explainable blend of both annassa west looked up the man to whom she owed her life was dra- culas night rider the mysterious stranger and swift on tho heels of this discovery came the feeling that he was not unknown to her that she had seen him before the pasture epi sode seen him close like this tower ing over her it was a fleeting impres sion gone as soon as it had come but it served to quicken the interest he had already aroused her she had scarcely had time to murmur more than a conventional thank you when the loud and insistent honking of a motor horn from the direction of the house announced the arrival of some- o e unexpected reinforcements prob ably from the crossing and with a start the girl remembered the cause of her recent predicament oh she cried the watchman the dead watchman in the fireplace watchman dead her rescuers whole attitude changed disbelief uneasiness fear they stole across his face like ripples over the surface of a lake he was she saw prepared for flight and instinctively her hand shot out to detain him catching at the first thing that came within reach a fold of the loose flannel shirt she hung on while he struggled to be free a dead man the fireplace sud denly his every muscle galvaiized into action there came a savage jerk cloth ripped buttons gave the shirt slid down from one shoulder ex posing a bronzed and brawny chest on which was a splash of something which had a dark and ugly look in the moonlight let me go with one hand the man sought to draw tho shirt back into place with the other he wrench ed himself f re then as though some gentler instinct prompted him to wipe from her mind the impressijn he had just created he stooped and catching fie fingers which had souglt to detain him unshed them lightly against his lips the next moment he wrs gone tion men women and boys mount ed their horses and set out for the depths of the mountains it was a strange cavalcade as they rode at full gallop over the shingly rocks and into the dark opening of the de file beyond we passed between pre cipices sharp and splintering at the tops their sides beetling over the defile or descending in abrupt de clivities bristling with firtrees on our left they rose close to us like a wall but on the right a winding brook with a narrow strip of marshy soil intervened the stream was clog ged with old beaverdams and spread frequently into wide pools after having ridden in this man ner six or eight miles the scene changed and all the declivities were covered with forests of tall slender sprucetrees tho indians began to fall off to the right and left dis persing with their hatchets and knives to cut the poles which they had come to seek i was soon left almost alone but in the stillness of those lonely mountains the stroke of hatchets and tho sound of voices might be heard from far and near wild as they were these moun tains were thickly peopled as i climbed farther i found the broad i dusty paths made by the elk as they filed across the mountain side the grass on all the terraces was trampled down by deer there were numerous tracks of wolves and in some of the rougher and more pre cipitous parts of the ascent i found footprints different from any that i had ever seen and which i took to be those of the rocky mountain sheep i sat down upon a rock there was a perfect stillness no wind was stirring and not even an insect could be heard from the oregon trail by francis parkman chapter x it was high noon monday alva cropsey paused in the midst of packing for his summer vacation which was supposed to have started tho saturday before to admire the early edition of the new york daily free press a copy of which lay on his bed a special inserted just before the papers went out to the news strnds bore the announcement in scare type iwo deaths in twentyfour hours mystery in hales crossing deepens his prophecy had been fulfilled sooner than he expected the free press was running some exclusive frontpage murder stuff not so bad love and esteem are the first prin for a newspaper that had always had clples of friendship which always is the reputation of being a shade too imperfect where either of these two conservative ls wanting suited a firm advertised for a girl clerk and tho next morning hundreds of applicants ariived so numerous were they that the chief told the officeboy to admit no more ghorty after this an agiossivi wo man arrived and pushing her v iy past the others asked to soi the chief by this time the officeboy had grown deaf to all protestations and had but one answer not today madam he said but im his wife she said ma jestically ct today madam wa the inex orable reply o a judge was pointing out that a wit ness was not necessarily to bo regard ed as untruthful becauso ho altered a statement he had previously made for instance he said when i en tered this court today i could have sworn that i had my watch in ray pocket but then i remembered i had left it in the bathroom at home when tho judge got home that night his wife said why all this bother about your watch sending four or five men for it good heavens said tho judge i never sent anyone what did you do i gave it to tho first one who came he knew just whero it was ary spectrum they swam in schools from their protective fissures to the very glass in the front of my helmet and peered in at me with motionless eyes then suddenly they all de parted as if by signal almost at once they were replaced by a small group of parotfish great vividly shaded creatures with beaks that enabled them to wrench knobs of coral from the reef and lunch on the small fish and crustaceans that their house- wrecking activities disclosed then a small shark perhaps five feet long swam past lazily for a long moment it stared at me but as i reached for the threetined spear which swung from the belt of my bathing suit and becked toward the coral cliff behind me it swam away into the dusky obli vion 30 feet from me as i approached the coral had suddenly changed from glowing mass of yellow and lavender and orange mosaic into a uniform pinkish blown i leaned forward the entir surface of the coral cliff was covered with sea worms these worms live in tubes of their own construction which they anchor to their host and into which they disappear at the slightest notice these tubes which looked for all the world like gray and irregular clay pipe stems were soft and yield ing the tops were lightly closed and there was no sign that beautiful flowerlike animals were concealed within i leaned my shoulder against the coral while i pried one of them from th cliff instantly the whole color scheme of the reef changed again as the- minute pinkish polyps flashed into their stony shelters and left me gazing at the pure whiteness of the coral itself then a big grouper came idling through the fissures of the reef and flirted its tail at me presently i be came aware of many groupers around me i hauled from my pocket a six- foot piece of fishing line fitted with a heavy hook and baited it with a small crab the tide carried the bait ed hook toward the feeding groupers a twofoot grouper looked at it just once and then calmly swallowed it i struck the fish struck back then went insane in a mad series of whirl ing flashing twisting contortions at the end of my short line i became enormously concerned in merely re maining upright that- twofoot fish gave me a battle i would not have believed possible later i realized this was due to my own inability to move rapidly i was in the midst of a school of groupers that with their busineslike teeth could have made a hospital case of me had they attack ed together as my catch grew weak er one of this school of groupers bit a huge chunk from the captives tail instantly a general attack was launch ed at the injured fish and before i could haul it to me there was little more than the head left on the hook the eternal voraciousness of the crea tures of tho sea was never more graphically illustrated in the meantime tho appearance of the sea bottom had changed the chrysanthemums gardeni is gently waving nasturtiums and gay little asters that are the living animals of the sea had withdrawn into their pro tective homes i sat down on a brown ish violet stool equipped with a soft cushion to find it a sponge that quiv ered beneath me i changed to a large lump of brain coral and watched tho seascape unfold and come to life again a jewfish awkward and hid eous billowed past a number of lit tle puffers their spiny bodies looking like overgrown chestnut burrs went on their eisuroly way unmolested red snappers suddenly became frequent members of the milling fish before me and i crught at least 20 it was sport of the best kind i could never be sure whether or not tho fish would upset me and let a rush of water into my helmet never bo certain that tho line about my growth which jutted into deeper water as i rounded the bend a verit able marine garden opened before me weeds and grasses grew in lovely gracefully swaying luxuriance brown and violet chimney sponger sprouted from shafts of volcanic rock elk- horn coral flung its arms alout with embracing pieturesqueness a bril liant butterflyfish tiny and almost iridescent swam past then another then many all concerned with some thing that was beyond my ken i watched these fish as they round ed the corner of the reef and dis appeared but while i looked one of them disappeared forever it swam just a bit too close to one of the large flcwers which was a tube worm as soon as the sensitive feelers of the v orm which were the petals of the flower felt the passing fish it closed like lightning and took the tiny fish into the maw that was at the same time its protecting tube as i watched the process 1 slowly realized that a lengthy shadow had appeared just beyond the coral i peered again and found myself stav ing at sixfoot barracuda it was surveying me with motionless hollow- looking eyes for a moment i was powerless to move the shark that had passed didnt really frighten me but the barracuda did everything depended upon what this savage tor pedoshaped killer decided to do with me and not what i decided to do then i realized that i had failed to roll up the fishing line which still sported a chunk of crab dangling from the hook the current had slowly lifted the bait toward the bar racuda i was actually fishing for the beast but i certaintly didnt want to catch it i was only hoping it would decide not to catch me i twitch ed the hook toward me intending to get ihe line stowed away before the big murderer had a chance to bite but the barracuda moved faster than the hook and grabbed the bait i tried to snatch the line to me and thereby set the hook in the barracudas jaw with a terrifiic wrenching surge the fish started away i was pulled to my knees falling slowly like a man in a slowmotion movie when i landed flat on the bottom the sea started gurgling into my helmet it was splashing around my nose before i could struggle to a kneeling posi tion all the while the terror at the end of my line pulling and wrench ing my mi was an almost indistin guishable blur because of the frenzy of its efforts to escape the hook i reached desperately for my tri dent vaguely intending to slide it down the line until it penetrated the head of the plunging barracuda but i could not hold the trident against the line for the fighting fish started dashing from right to left i tried to slip the line from about my wrist but was unable to neither could i cut it with the trident while i was frantically wondering what i could do i was suddenly knocked back on my haunches the fish had struck at my helmet only the fact that it hit the copper rather than the glass saved me tired and hurt i hooked by arm about a jutting piece of tube coral made a blind stab toward the swirl ing blur and felt the steel strike home again and again i stabbed toward where i knew the ish must be and eventually i felt the strain on my arm and wrist lessen cautiously i pulled in my almost nerveless arm until i could catch the line with my other hand then slowly i manoeuvrred the fish into position close to the bottom i thrust the trident against it and leaned on the handle th v h gave one fearful convulsive struggle which almost threw me on the bottom again then it rolled over and floated belly up in the current slowly and painfully i wound my way through the blank area which had been so beautiful when the fight started i was unable to find the rope leadinj to the surface or the anchor chain and i was still too exercised to hu it must for them i wanted to go up and up i went hand over hand up the air line and light rope leading to my helmet and so 1 emerged with the dead barracuda dangling from my cut and bleeding wrist my trident still protruding fro n its head that was the first of many dives i made off the coral reefs of haiti div ing in shallow water on reefs or be side them where fish are sure to be numerous is one of the greatest ex periences an angler can have sharks pass so often they arey are dlregard- ed and there seems to be no real d ger except for the occasional vor acious barracuda what every woman should know whistling pigeons travelers in the north woods of on tario next summer may be astonished when they hear and see what they may take to be a new species of bird and into their heads may pop visions of whistling swans and wild pigeons says the department of the interior at ottawa they may see the birds real pigeons and hear the whistle but the two are separate entities joined it is true but only for a space and then to carry out an idea next spring after a period of train ing teams of homing pigeons will be transported to various fire patrol points where communication by wire less is now difficult or impossible re ports of fires forced landings and im portant messages may be relayed by the use of these birds to the base camps of the provincial air force the whistle that is to scare away hawks and other pedatory birds that might attack the homers and is at tached to their legs along with identi fication tags trust in god implies thust in ones self as gods agent the christians who have the most serene faith that gods kingdom will some time come upon the earth are those who are do ing something to make i come they make effort themselves because god is making use of their efforts they have courage to work because they know that it is god that worketh in them he was making plans for an autumn holiday and visited a travel agency to discuss details youd better take one of our pamphlets where to go and where to stay said the young man behind the counter thanks i wont trouble replied the visitor my taxidriver told me that last night a complete course in cookery for only 50c postpaid the new purity cook hook is ilio most complete and popular work f its kind took two years to edit and cost many thousands of dollars contains 743 test ed family recipes bread pastry cakes meats salads desseis everything new stepbystep etiiod assures o- cess in cooking and baking clear type greaseproof cover opens tu at nny page well worth 200 sen l stpaid for 50c address western canada llour mills co limited dcpt 107 jvromo ont ii i i mi mi i in i illili ii lwjhtilfffifav to every taxpayer good roads the year round at low cost ace you concerned in maintaining your local roads with as little cost as possible you naturally expect well maintained roads to the main highway but even though your gravel roads arc in fair shape ihcy arc dusty in summer muddy in winter and expensive to maintain at all times new process a new resurfacing process has been developed which assures you of travel in comfort the year round gives your roads a hard smooth nonskid paved surface at very low cost provides work for local men saves wear and tear on vehicles and can bo laid without increasing road grants or taxes annual maintenance cost is considerably less than for ordinary gravel roads saves you monby you can save your township or county money and helpto get better roads by interesting yourself in this new process send the coupon for your free copy of good roads every where coupon please send a copy of free booklet on low cost roads no obligation on my part v name address mail in envelope to sawyermassey limited hamilton ontario no fear of cancer of tla breast if examined im mediately irritation is present there is no better sign of hie aver- ago high intelligence ot the woino of this couutry and no better evid ence of the value of publicity and of correct information in the da press than the change that has luken place in tho status of cancer of the breast today as compared with thirty years before in the decade between 1s30 and 1900 before 1900 and since 1s90 tne op erative treatment for cancer of th breast was perfected vet during that decade in the best elinies ul i civilized countries throughout oi i world the actual incidence of cancel among every hundred women enter ing the clinic complaining of seme trouble in the breast was elguy today in a number of clinics in this country in localities where there has been publicity through the daily prcs- for seventeen years the incidence cl cancer has fallen from eighty to sev enteen the hopeless cases of can cer from more than fifty to less than live per cent and the actual five year cures have risen from less than to- to more than sixty per cen this tremendous change for the batter has nothing to do with improvement in surgery or the advent of radiation xray or radium but it cannot he accomplished unless the diagnosis the surgery and the irradiation are of the best that can be obtained any where tho enlgihteucd woman should have no fear of cancer of the breast if she reports for an examination the moment she observed anything un usual in the breast or nipple or in the- region of the armpit or axilla ii is safe to ptty attention to anything unusual no matter how insignificant pain without a lump a lump with out pain any change in the nipple any irritation any discharge from the nipple pulling in of the nipplo anything that can be felt in tin breast like a cake or something that could not be felt before any lumi under the armpit go at once tc your family physician and request i thorough examination if you arc properly educated you will havi selected your medical adviser youi breast will have been examined ti the- last periodic examination anc your personal physician will b familiar with the normal cenditiot of your breast in a large numhei of cases of this kind your selectee family physician will be able lo de cide that the condition of the breasl which lias attracted your attentioi has no relation to cancer and ex cept for irritations cf the nipple no treatment is necessary the treat ment is necessary of the nipple is discussed in another raper of this series and has already been puhli li ed in a certain portion of the iaes the general practitioner after exam ining your breast will decide i hat it is safer for you to he studied by a specialist in a group of cue huiid- dred women who seek an examination the moment they are warned and after being examined by one or bti doctors the chances are that seven tyfive per cent or more will require no operation or irradiation frri the standpoint cf greatest sifety and protection a number will he re quested to return for a second examin ation among this enlightened group of women properly examined in about twentyfive per cent there will be a definite lump and a simple operation in a hospital will become necessary in lumps of this kind it is impossible to detect the prs- ence of cancer by any method or examination previous to cperaton do not consent to any form of b03u test for cancer or preliminary treat ment with any serum for protection against cancer your surgeon should tell you before the opera ion that there are just two kinds of lumps in one you remove the lump only and savo the breast in the other yon remove the breast by the com plete operation as the best protec tion against a return and the best assurance of a permanent cure in addition in some instances it is a good plan after operation to have protective irradiation with xrays oi radium women who have borne childrci should be best protected becausf they will become familiar with the value of periodic examination be fore and after tho birth of theli children they will be instructed as to the absolute necessity for protec tion against cancer of tho cervix to submit to periodic pelvic examlna- tlons and at this timo the physician should examine tho breasts and give them tho correct information thai every woman should have about tin care of her breast and nipples publicity in regard to the breast tho skin and tho mouth is giving evl denco of its valuo in many of the clinics of this country today and ii tho chief reason for these articles the distrlutlon of these artlclei in this province has been approve by the provincial department o health o film star newly married and ii this your home bridegroom it is precious say it looks mighty fa miliar aro you sure i havent marrlet you before