Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1889-02-21

and again spoke down the tube in Ian
vuage which sounded Oriental, but with
which neither Morton nor ! was ac-
1uainted. Only here and there we caught
the name Grey Towers. An answer
came up through the tube. seemingly in
the same language which Peregrine had
EMPLOYED. ana in a tone Of which the eff
feet corresp0nded closely enough to that
produced by the whistle. Peregrine
looked over at us with an expression OF
amused content. and spoke down the
tube again, this time in English. and, as
[ thought, for the express purpose OF
UuzZlIng us.
Thank you, my dear" he said. 'You
IAN start as soon as you Ike, and if you
IAN engage one or two of the well-be-
haved ones so much the better. You
know the terms and the commission
Only, mind, the place must be cleared IN
a week And now, Mr. Norton" he
said turning to my friend, 81 see you
are not unwilling 70 have an explanation
Of an this, and YOU shall have one if, as
expect 81 goes well, in very short
time Jus. Tor the present l must ask
YOU TO We content not 70 burst. hut 20 rest
IN ignorocce. Do yCu propose returning
10 Grey Towers before the week which
you heard me mention has elapsed:'
81 had Thought of going back tonight
and asking Latimer to accompany me-
replied Morton. who was by this time in
the state of a man whom nothing can
surprise.
"There can be no objection" observed
Peregrine; "only must beg, if my plan
is 10 succeed, 70 make one condition with
YOU. It is not a difficult one. If you
should meet "a lady in ain somewhat
eccentric attire on the staircases, or in
the passages, or in the grounds, or, in
short, anywhere about, please do not no
tiCe or interfere with her in any way.
This is important. You will undertake
this2 Thank YOU. If you will kindly
speak to my head clerk as you go out, he
viii make all business arrangements
with YOU. One moment. Perhaps it
might be as well if you could devise
some story to account for the presence Of
"a strange lady to whatever servants
are still staying with you. 1t may save
trouble" And with this Peregrine bowed
US out.
This is an odd business" said Morton
when we got into the street; "but as I've
consulted Peregrine I'll go by his advice
and sec Is out according to his instruc-
tons. We shall just catch the next train
if we start now
We occupied part of our time on the
iourney-that day of the week was Tues
dav-in devisiug a more or less plausible
tale to account for the presence which
Percgrine had told us to expect Of a
strange lady. and arrived at Grey Towers
in time for dinner. Morton's sister in
formed as that nothing new had hap
pened in the way OF disturbance, but
that some of the old experiences had
been repeated, and that some more SER
wants had given warning. lie In return
took her into confidence concerning our
visit to Mr. Peregrlne | watched with
some curiosity to see how she would re-
ceiye his story; she IS a woman of strong
nerve, strong judgment, and little speech.
She heard HIM out and said. quietly: Il
think Mr.. PeregrIne is a man Of sense. y
She went 10 bed early, and Morton and l
went to the billiard room, where pres
entity entered to us the Incompatible
One with bottle and glasses. Having
put his tray down, he stood and looked
inquiringly at Morton.
"WeIl what is it, asked Morton.
BEG pardon, sir, replied the valet.
"but told YOU about those lights and
noises,
.Yes. What Of taem;'
They were there again tonight sir,
aud curious thing happened
"Wbat was it,
"Thc l.ut- were flashing and hopping
about I'M the passage 10 the anterOom,
and heard muueriu-, and whisperings
all round, when the lights grew grad
ally dim. and SAVIOR thought saw
"a VIC man taller than any of the women
n the house come along the passage. |
,ould not hear her football, but / thought
[ could hear the rustic of her dress. and
she seemed to lift up her hand with q
commanding gesture, and then the lights
all went out and the noises ceased
thought you might like to know. sir"
Thank you. Did you see how she
was dressed
mo, sir: it was too dark"
every good. rely upon YOU not to
say a word of this TO anyone else. And
If you see this woman again don't take
any notice"
VERY good, sir. said the essence of
discretion, and left VS..
The Green Ladym said 7 to Morton.
"May be he replied "Let Us go to
the room where my nephew slept.
We went. taking glaSS-shaded candles
with us. Now both Morton and / re-
membered the story his nephew had told
about the room, and therefore it cannot
be denied that imagination may have
eaused us to think that on entering the
Dom we heard a scullle behind the vain
scoting, followed by the clank of steel,
which gave way to a rustliug sound, rs
of a silk dress. which in its turn was sue
ceeded by absolute silence We left the
room and exchanged our impressions,
which were rs above recorded.
The next dav, as was once said in ev-
idence before a grand jury by an engag-
ing pawn-hroker's boy, who came TO a
sudden stop in the midst of a too fluent
and probable st0ry-"the next day mo-
think appened." But in the evening,
after Mortons sister had gone to bed, an
idea occurred TO me. "Whar was it you
told me about strange doings in the
moat?" | asked Norton ." Singular Con-
duct of a Rotten Boat might have been
the heading ma a newspaper
Yes, Morton replied; lit was some
thing Of that kind that the butler told
me"