The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1875-07-28
CHAPTER II.
A MYSTERIOUS vIsrroR-TAEING NOTES.

A MYSTERIOUS yIsTrOR-TAEING NOTES.
The attorney passed. a restless ni"3t.
After trying for III hour 10 sleep, he arose,
ut his table, giving his attention strictly TO
those papers marked Wallingford."
The mill-owner had been one Of his best
clients. Having great dislike for details,
and trusting implicitly in Gray, he had
shifteda large portion Of his business from
his own shoul lers t. those of the attorney.
The result was, that Gray WAS Thoroughly
posteI in every branch OF his affairs. He
could have told ut any time. 10 q pound,
how much cotton the mills had ground up
during the preceding twelve months. and
how much cloth had been s;,ipIel away,
Mr.. Wallingford had also denlt largely IN
stocks, and the record Of his losses and
gains was also safely housed in his at
torney's memory.
can immense fortune awaits some man
here hc muttcrcd rs he examined the,
papers before him. at must he more than
million, and that is worth fighting for, So
l must be very careful in my work"
And he fell to plotting again, with his
head resting npon his hand. In this posi-
tion he fell into dozc, in which the
papers before him seemed to rise and shape
themselves into fantastic forms. First
they rescmbled the walls Of the mills
then, the exterior Of q prison; and finally,
everything seemed to drift away, further
and further, until he could 40 longer dis
Germ them. He arose to his feet with
start. A gust Of cool outdoor air had Ger.
tainly fallen upon him, and for U second he
shivered in his light atrire.
He glanced ut the windows, and seeing
that all were securely Fastened, he con-
cludCd that he had been mistaken. Then
his eyes fell upon tie table, and he saw
that the papers he had assorted and pllced
there had actually been swept to the floor
and lay there in a confused heap.
Fora moment he stood perfectly still in
the middle Of the room, with an undcn-
able terror creeping over him. What
could it mean? Outside, the fall wind WIS
bowling do!ctnlly down the street, but it
did not seem possible tla.t q crevice large
enough to admit such gust existed about
ally OF the windows or doors.
81 either brushed those papers away in
my dream,' he thought, cor that door WAS
opened while slept" II was with good
deal of terror that he admitted, even to
himself, that this last Cause might explain
the strange affair. Many men are physical
towards who are brave morally, and Gray
was one of these. The thought that some
one might have beca even for amomcnt in
his room ut hat time OF the night, with evil
intent, completely unnervcl him for Il
time.
Finally, he turned his lrm? mp to its full
est glare, and made a c ir,I.ii Examination Of
the room and the doors lea Iins into it.
There were two Of these, enc opening FROM
his h'lsii,ess Office i; front ~ aue nru the
main hallway of the building. The latter
was securely loc!;c,l just as h" hnl cftit,
and tho former was open, rs WAS his custom
to leave it. He stood for Il moment in the
doorway between the two rnoEls, with the
lamp in his hand, and looked around the
outer Office.
Nothing unusual was in si:ht, and he
turned back to his chair, As he did so, he
saw that he had neglected to bolt the
hall door, and did so at once.
"I am getting nervous he muttcrcd, as
he rcscated himself He worked away
until nearly morning, and then doz"'l again,
this time too heavily to hear light footsteps
creeping about his room, or see dcft
fingers stirring the papers on his table.
The intruder WIS dressed in the garh Of
an ordinary working-man. and was closely
masked. His object did not seem to he
plundor, for the attorneys wcll-fllcd wal
let, protruding from the pocket Of n coat
living on a chair r"!nnincd untouched.
But he examined closely every paper in
sirht, and even looked for more among the
pages Of books of reference lying on the
table.
The attorney stirred slightly IN his sleep,
and the searchrr hastily crert into the
main Office, where he paused and listened in
tently. Gray was soon souml aslecpagain,
and he returned again to his task, but
seemed to meet with no better success than
before. Just as the light Of morning be-
ran to creep into the rooms, he returned to
The outer Office, carefully unlocked the
door with skeleton key, unboltod it, and
passed into the hall leyond.
Again, a gust Of wind touched the sleep
ing mans face, for the draught was strong
in the hall, and again he srrang to his
feet, to find his papers ittering the
carpet.
"What can it mean ?" he asked himself,
,ver and over again. At length, he saw
that the door was unbolted, He started
back in terror. !,