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Reginald Paynter had for years been looked upon half askance and yet with a certain secret pride by Oakdale He was her sole bon vivant in the true sense of the word, whatever that may be He was always spoken of in the columns of The Oakdale Tribune as 'that well known man-about-town,' or 'one of Oakdale's inald Paynter had been, if not the only, at all events the best dressed man in town His clothes were made in New York This in itself had been sufficient to have set him apart from all the other males of Oakdale He idely travelled, had an independent fortune, and was far from unhandsome For years he had been the hope and despair of every Oakdale hters The Oakdale fathers, however, had not been so keen about Reginald Men usually know more about the morals of men than do women There were those who, if pressed, would have conceded that Reginald had no morals

But what place has an obituary in a truthful tale of adventure and inald Paynter was dead His body had been found beside the road just outside the city li fro trip The skull was crushed back of the left ear The position of the body as well as the marks in the road beside it indicated that theautomobile The fact that his pockets had been rifled led to the assu dumped upon the road

Now there were those in Oakdale, and they were many, who endeavored to connect in some way these several events of horror, mystery, and crime In the first place it seemed quite evident that the robbery at the Pris, and the murder of Paynter had been the work of the sas be in any way connected with the disappearance of Abigail Priinald were old friends; and that the forinald's French roadster, that he had escorted her to parties and been, at various times, a caller at her home; but no less had been true of a dozen other perfectly respectable young ladies of Oakdale Possibly it was only Abigail's added ht of Reginald's murder

But later in the day ord cae touring car with two unknowntheir heads It was mentioned, casually of course, that this toas a few stations along the very road upon which Abigail had departed the previous afternoon for that destination which she had not reached It was likewise ree men and the GIRL had been first noticed after the time of arrival of the Oakdale train! What ues ceased wagging in order that they s