Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1886-08-04

quietp"
Writing, suppose" said 'ny
mother. "Hc is making up ,de pay
rolls, you know"
Then he'll never get through, re-
piled my sister, for he has fallen
asleep, I'm sure"
We listened again. We heard only
the steady, monotonolls patter Of the
rain.
WELL" said my sister, rising.
"don't you think | ought to wake him
up, mother?"
Eyes" answered my mother.
My sister went into the next room.
Father, she said. 'wakc up; il is
growing late
There was no answer. The next mo-
ment piercing shrek rang out through
the house.
my God! He is dead
Horror-stricken, we rushed INTO the
room. The safe had been robbed and
my father shot through the heart while
no sat not thirty feet away from us,
and we had not heard sound AT the
post-mortcm examination they found
in his body curious missile more than
,.a inch long and shaped partly like n
daTl. Tho point was sharp and three
sharp faces ran back toward the body
of the missile. Experts said the missile
had been protected by some force other
than powder, else my mother and sis
ter would have heard the report, and
they talked very learncdly about the
| application Of compressed air and even
| limited at electricity. But what man
ner of weapon the murderer used none
could say.
l bad mechanically taken the dart
and put it in my pocket. | always
carried il there in the vague hope that
some day it might help me to unravel
the mystery Of my fathers death,
which had slain my mother and had
rested upon my soul like n great pail.
had that dart in my poe kct even thep.
And there WAS following a mystcri-
Gus black cat out Of the suburbs of the
city in the glooiny night and down a
country road, moved by some impulse
which could not explain, and which,
strangely enough, did not want cx-
| planned. The-cal turned into a mar
row lane leading To Il piece of dense
woods. ! could hear the bell in tho
cathedral tower striking the hour of
midnight. ! was cold almost numb
although the night was hardly chilly.
| wanted 10 go back. yet ! went on.
My eyes vainly strovc To penetrate the
black arches Of the forest. The whs-
pcring of the night wind in the trees
was full of hidden meanings. Cold
pcrspiration tricklcd down my fore
head. Ny teeth chartered Nv knees
knocked together. Yet | went on.
At the edge of the wool the cat
paused. 1 could not see her body, but
her eyes glowcd in the darkness with a
weird light. She began to new and
the sound echoed disinally among the
trees, dying away in smothered sobs in
the darkness. could tell by the agi-
tation of the dead leaves at my feet that
the eat was scratching. as II hunting
for something. Presently she uttered
long, piercing cry that seemed TO
make the very trees trcmble and then
she was silent and motionlcss. Trcmb-
ling violently, j struck match and.
stopped over her. She had her foot on
something half covered by leaves. 1t
looked like dead branch. picked
it up. 1t was a gun not like any
had ever seen before, but still like a
gun. looked at il bankly. Mechan-
ically drew from my pocket the curl
Gus missile which | always carried and
dropped it into the barrel II fit per-
fcctly. The horror that rushed over
me when | knew that | held in nv
hands the weapon which had slain my
father was too great TO be borne. The
skies rceled above ne. | saw n hun
dred pairs of glowing eyes. Itottcred,
groaned, and fell sensclcss upon the
earth.
Two years passed away. | had not
yet solved the mystery. My sister was
about to De married. and was prepar-
ing to 90 TO the wedding. She had
been living with relatives in Cincin-
natl, where she was completing her mu-
steal studies. There she had met
young man whom had never seen, but
who, all my relatives assured me, was
He had been in Cincinnati only two
years, but had in that time made him
self favoritc in the best society OF. the
city. He had plenty Of money, which
he said he had made in the West. where
he had a large cattle ranch. saw no
reason why should object to my sis
ter's choice.
/ had invited Mortimer Melville to
30 with mc. Mortimer was my most
intimate friend, although I had known
him less than two years. | had the |
good fortune TO find his pocketboolS, f,
which he lost, and took it 10 the bust
ness address written on card inside. |
From that trivial incident our friend
ship grew up. We never visited each !
other rooms. because we used To pre- |
fer 10 cit together in the smoking room
of the modest club TO which VIE be-
long,d. Having invited him TO 90 To |
the wedding with ne. was waiting for
him in my room, where he was to call |
for me on his way TO the station.
Come in, ] said, hearing knock |
at the door.
Good morning. old fellow" he
said. entering, ''it's Il little early vet,
have a peep at your rooms before start
ing. Pretty comfortable place you
have here, Boil"
Eyes. it is. Make yourself at home,
Mort, while | try To coax the total de- |
pravity out Of this nccktic."
Mortimer strollcd around the room |
looking at the pictures. Suddonly he |
uttered an exclamation of surprise. ] |
turned and saw him pointing at the |
black cat, which was lying asleep on
the hearth rug.
Where did you get that catP' he |
asked.
"Sbe followed me home one night"
| said.
''She's mine" he exclaimed. 81
lost her two years ago, before / knew |
you"
Then he walked to tho other side of |
the room and called: Here Witch, |
WITCH The cat ran TO him and |
purred around his feet
"You sec," he said, "she answers To !
her name. But how on earth did YOU |
get herp"
1 looked at my watch. We had &C !
hour to spare. / sat down and told 1