Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1888-08-03

much of the spirit of adventure in me the
monotony of business life had knocked it
out of me, and had come to regard good
nights rest as one of the best things in life
Still the stake was well worth the playing
for, and | did my best to look pleasant over it,
One thing did ask my host What was
the story attached to the house, and what
form did the nppariton take
He tapped his snuirbox and shook his
head.
mo, no." he said, 81 am not going to put
things into your head. How can | answer
for the state of your DIGESTION or your prob
able immunity from nightmare, as it is!
You know too much-that is too say, you
would know too much, surprising you were a
man of weak nerves or vivid Imagination,
already. If | could have kept YOU in utter
ignorance the test would have been surcr
one, but that | could not, and | have to re
quire of you, on your honor, that you neither
seek nor accept at the hands of any one the
information | withhold from you You will
.seek-of that am satisfied what | wish
you distinctly to promise me is that you will
refuse TO lend an ear to any one who may try
to enlighten you-thc woman Minchin, for
example"
gave him my word that would respect
his wishes, and an hour or so later found me
in ,,oesc., in, of tl,o room, ,,,b,ch Ind Lcen
ASSIGNED mo ot fine Cadnr. MIR Van Decker.
mann had NOT bin,soIf faced tlo cu+tir,, cold
of fine noonlit Docc,,bor NIGHT but tbo old
connie worn ON fin, I,ol,ot+ for ,,,. oniaar-
oncn and tbiu,-s had boon mazda mora com
Portable than cxpcctcd Some Of fine old
furniture. of whichmy host had spoken when
he first rlitcrod unon fine .ubicrt of tLc hoilse
had been brouuht down, from, fine carrots
md dispnsed i'm what would auuoar to
have been It's ORIGINAL Quarters. while
a bright fire burned frn,tiiv in the
old fashioned crate. observed. with a
certain rcmorserul auprecation of "A thought.
fulnes, for my comfort for which | should
not have given her credit. that Mrs. Niuchir
had not limited her provision for my accom-.
mediation to absolute neressarics. OF the
two windows, the one nearest to- the bed wa
closely and carefully curtained-for the
other as she took occasion to explain, there
was no curtain forthcoming, and AN arm
chair and footStool with the faded COVERINGS
of which the moth had long since made ac-
quaintanCe, had been drawn up to the fire
Tho old woman seemed indeed To have re-
membered everything, even to the night
light in a saucer on the mantle piece, to ignite
which was her last care before leaving me
for the night. For the rest, She was as tact
turn as her employer could have wished
She received my thanks i'll silence, and,
having ascertained at what hour she was to
call me, left me to myself with all possible
celebrity
When she had turned her back proceeded
to take a minute survey of the ROOM
That it was, or had been at some
time, the scene of whatever mystery
was connected with the house,
could not reasonably doubt, seeing the object
with which had been sent there. The first
thing for mo to do then was to discover in
what way-if any-it was likely to lend itself
to the preparation of a fraud
Briefly, | could find nothing in it to reward
my inquiries 1t was a large room, almost