San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-07-01

IN what seemed Egyptian darkness,
until an electric lighter attached TO
the gas fixture suddenly flashed
brightness over M t curious place
1t was papered in cardinal red with
curtains and furniture to match, while
the border was a wide and deep black,
the trimmings of furniture, etc. being
also black. In fact, no colors were
visible anywhere except red and black.
There were apparently no windows.
These, as Paul later learned had been
shut in by thick inside shutters, and
curtained as desert bed On one side
was well-tlled bookcase. with the
curtains half pulled back. Quaint
| pictures adorned the walls in red
cherry frames and black velvet mats.
| A skeleton grinned at you from one
| corner and the inkstand on the
blackfolded center table was
| fashioned out of a skull Across
one side was common looking
rope festooned in Grape. The
skeleton was murderer's, Archer as
| serted, whose arrest he had secured
and whose hanging he had written up.
and the rope was the one that had
broken the skeletons neck The ink
| stand was that murderer'S victim
head. Some burglars tools, faro lay.
out, even press once used in manu-
| featuring the queer" trophies of
police raids were the curious memora.
bilia of that curious room, secured by
hook or crook, despite the law, Archer
had long stood in well with the police
powers that be. AS soon as the gas
was lit he touched OF a wood tire-the
fire dogs were couple of snakes
fashioned by the industrious patient of
an insane asylum-took out a
couple of cigars from a drawer in
his desk, which was of the
blacklist of ebony, lit one and handed
the other to Paul. Before seating him
self in sleepy hollow" easy chair, in
whose mate he had enscouced Paul, he
pulled back a curtain which covered
skylight and took look at the night.
when it is day" he said, II sit under
this to read, where no prying eyes can
possibly watch me, as have here the
only entrance to the roof and there are
no nearly adjacent blocks. When it is
| a bright night, and have nothing else
better on my mind, l like to watch the
stars and fancy am an ancient Egyp-
tian priest. There's my guide he
added, pointing to an astrological
chart, that hung opposite the bookcase.
Have a drink? No? Well, l don't
care for anything myself"
"You are the first member of the Orb
staff who has ever been in my den, +"
| Archer went on. Il had intended
asking you before what happened to-
| day, which made me think we might
| pull together in little matter
| knew you had the true gentlemanIy
instinct which appreciates another
gentleman's private eccentricity, and
would not vulgarly blazon the thing
abroad with wonder-wagging tongue.
Perhaps some day | will tell you my
story, but not tonight, for it will be
late before we get through talking
you will be my guest, of course, that
is, if you can sleep here Paul did net
see where). So let us plunge in medals
res at once, to quote hackneyed scrap
| of Virgil in whose smooth
lines, by the way, find
much to nurture roundness of
style, and not bit of the monotony
| which Bulwer ascribes to him"
The surroundings were wierd enough
to suit the strange man and his oddly
| mixed talk. The flames blazed high
from the brightly burning, constant
cracking wood They shot fantastic
shadows over the dead red wall, and
twisted around the serpent andirons in
sibilant tongues of fire. They lit up
the skeletons grin and sparkled be-
tween the coils of the festooned hang
mans rope. Paul could not help look
rest at skeleton and rope, to only look
back again and watch the fire tongues
embrace the serpents that twisted
themselves almost out of their reach.
Paul enjoyed good cigar and the one
he was smoking was excellent. A
glance at his companion seemed to
show that Archer was trying to find
clue to something in the quicklyfall-
ing ashes.
81 don't know where to begin" said
Archer. 81 don't know whether to
tell my story frontward or backward,
might lead you up to p startling de-
ncuement, the newspaper way; or com
mence in the business way by telling
you first why want you to listen to
the tale at all. | think the last the
most straightforward and shall choose
it. So prepare to be surprised at the
outset. The matter in hand intimately
concerns Miss Lebourgeois Paul
drnnnad his rirar and Started from his