, 1889-01-27

than an hour. Almost all that time I
had been looking at the safe. Still think
ing deeply and wondering what had be-
come of Harding. | turned my head to-
ward the street. l looked out absently,
did not notice what WAS before me, and
in a few seconds turned my head again
toward the safe. Oh, Godi Right there
in the shadow stood a man, haggard, pale
terribly emaciated, In such an attitude
that it seemed as If he must totter and fall
forward. / would nave thought it was
some decrepit beggar who had entered
stealthily had | not recognized unerr-
ingly my partners features. 'HardingT
l cried, starting up, n thenIGod help
me-, Drakei-he was not thereI"
"Oh. come, Taggart, exclaimed the
lawyer, hastily. lis blood chilling in
spite of himself at his friends dramatic
recital, 81 told you you had been think
ing too much of this matter
"Stop. Drake" interrupted Taggart.
"that is not all. | sank back in my clair.
not knowing what to do or think. WIS
absolutely certain Of the testimony of
my own eyes, and yet | doubted. | know
what i had seen, but what was the sig
niicance of it? | dared not look again
until could reason myself III of the
tremendous excitement that stirred me.
Just then you passed. l tried to call out
to you, but, in spite of everything, l
could not open my mouth. | wanted you
to come up at once, for, to tell the truth,
II think / was frightened. After you
went on l turned about and looked again
at the safe. AS sure as / sit here now
Harding stood there. He seemed to be
back of the wall n bit and leaning, as l
told you, n trifc forward. The whole
scene wavered indistinctly an instant and
then went out, and | went clear up to
the safe and touched the wall where he
hnl ptpnl Aftor tbaf I ~, I,,I, ,nJ
had not taken my eyes off the spot until
you came in. expected him 10 appear
a third time, and | was dreadfully afraid
nobody would ne here to see him with
me. Ali Lookr" and Mr.. Taggart leaned
away over the arm of his chair and
strained his yes ut the shadow, which
was getting rapidly deeper, for the sun
had set.
you don't mean to say you see any
thing now, do your" whispered the
lawyer.
"No-no-I was mistaken that time.
was INSTRUMENTATION. But not be-
fore; no, sir, not before" q
81 am afraid you were, Taggart." said
tho lawyer, gravely. Lets investigate
here and be convinced that you are mis-
taken" He went to the further side of
the room and Taggart rose and leaned
against n desk watching him. Mr.. Drake
grasped the handle of the safe door and
tried to shake it, saying, as he did so, in
a careless tone: THAT seems to be all
right" Then he passed his hand along
the wall and thumped. "Ahi" he added,
you have n thin partition or a hollow
wall here"
1T is a condemned chimney" said Mr..
Taggart, whose agitation was increasing.
THE department for the inspection Of
buildings sealed it up several months
ago. We used to have a fireplace there,
and Harding had it boarded over and
papered to correspond with the rest Of
the ROOM"
TIL LAWYER thumped again on the wall
without any real object except to gain
time for thinking what to do next. He
raised his left hand to q level with his
head, and placed it against the wall, at
the same time putting his foot upon a
wall protector that projected from the
mopboard. Before he had time to re-
alize what he had done, he felt the par
tition give under the pressure of his hand,
and h wall protector sink under his
foot, n simultaneously n part of the
wall swung open in front of him, dis
closing an upright, CHASTITY, emaciated
form. In the infinitesimal fraction of a
second that it maintained its upright at
titudo he recognized the distorted fea-
lures of the missing Harding, and heard
Taggart gasp, 1.-THE third timer and be-
fore he could move his hands the figure
fell face down to the floor. He turned to
see Taggart reel and sink |Iifeless under
the window. So great was his astonish-
ment and horror that he stood for an in
slant staring blankly from one PROSTATE
figure to the other. Then he turned to
the opening in the wall. He saw a closet
too narrow to permit of q man lying
down in it. 1t was completely closed on
all sides, except the n opened by the
door, whose combination lock he had ac-
~cidentally worked. On tho noor were
packages of paper and parcels that he at
once judged to be the $50, 900 distracted
from the safe. He rushed to Taggart, in
whom he sought to discover signs of life.
He raised his head and chafed his hands
a~nxiously.
81 say, Drake, you owe me a dollar
n fifteen cents" said a voice at the
office door. You forgot to pay your
bill and l got tired of wait-why, what's
the NATTER
1t was the brother lawyer.
Run for a pitcher of water and get q
doctor if you can," was Mr.. brakes an
swer.
When the lawyer returned with water
Taggart had recovered consciousness and
was sitting up on the floor, and Mr..
Drake was saying:
Its all right, Taggart, old man.; it's
all clear now. Your money and securi-
ties are all in the secret closet that Hard
ing had made to hide them in. He must
have been at the job when you came,
and, having no time to complete it, shut
himself in there without realizing that
the door could be opened only from this
side. The miserable fellow undoubtedly
suffocated and starved to death"
81 told you l saw him." responded
Taggart faintly.-F. r. Burton in The
Bulletin.
Tho Most Popular Poem.
Tho Cincinnati Enquirer answers n
correspondent by saying that the most
nNr,,1,r 1900, l.. d. l.