Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1893-10-15

N-a ro2t4 L-tGl4s = lAt Il-AAAe A4lAAAs
on. wait behind the bSr counter, r.gtt up
- she syss desr, and looked r. Tia shut
tsrs rsrs ali e.G.st. bat b. the lsai s1st
cane u through sbs bar Window a-r
Da.o -. Patty sitting fass . fEes A. ia
air.y tahis. with pipes in thsiE mouths and
= eEn o. drink between them, playing
eS-ds The air was thick with snl1ke. uIt
IS wa CLEAR enoagh that no on-, dead OF
alive. was in the room but those two.
Without looking Et ne Putty, sorting Lis
cards, asked me what wanted, sul5lll Ill
Ing the question with few foul words.
His czlnness Estonis-td re.
Il want 70 see the fair man, " said ! sud.
Dolly.
Thea yUan havs to wait TIL he comes
h--k"
Re AMT saae cat. and you know It. /
Aiu't tg9k ny eyes or the door siEce be
Czrne il SKIS morning a. half past . q"
Oh very WILL II he isn'l gone out,
you'd better Look about hc-e and and him.
Two fer his bloomin mob" he a6dsd, ad-
6Ee.z.ng DEigo ~ he turned up card.
On the ground door there were but those
two roozs-ths bar and the pArlor To ind
Tarl.s ules- look IN the rooms above Ny
retreat would be cut Oh II went up stairs,
and II Tsras was murdered and lying there
knew we'll enough that should never he
allowed to tell the tale. But took Putty
at his word without hesitation. and pre-
pared for the worst made my way down
the side passage 70 the Stair, and after A.
Euring my self thAJ the cupboard under the
stairs was SIMPLY, ave for little coal piled
in one corner. and that the passage Itself
eontaiuHl nothing. l went up to the story
above with faltering step, quaking wish
ka ~ Il. rf HraslfVrev Ta d. n
Of hearins the stairs behind me creak IN
der the pursuing feet Of his murderer
passed from room TO room, laying my hand
against the wall for support, my heart eens-
ing 70 beat Whenever a rotten beard creaked
under my foot.
The three rooms that composed the fat
were absolutely empty; there was nothing
above but the cockloft. To reach that /
had 10 ascend q ladder and creep through
the trapdoor But did II, though / ex-
pected never 70 come down again.
The loft WAS empty and thick with the
unStirrsd duLt Of years ! descended the
ladder and went down stairs too bewild-
srgd by this MYSTERY TO reason upon t. The
two men were still playing in the den be
hind the bar; they had not troubled them
selyes 10 follow me
"well, he you found hint" Putty called
out, hearing rny step.
"He amt there" answered stupidity.
"PreAp. hes made o glass, as you didn't
sec him along Of his friends and can't see
him nowhgres about the house"
~ wouldn't give him up, sneered Dri-
go, Come and sit down with US till be
comes back"
"oh, IL you're a-goin to stay, you ken
give tho bar bit Of clean up There's
Ill al - ...fVu -
II he had received some silent admonition
from Drlgo.
Invent behind the countsr and began to
put il in order mechanically, for my
thoughts wsr9 now occupied in solving the
mystery OF this disappearance. asked
myself II NJ any time during my watch
had given away 20 fatigue and dozed. No;
had sat down only for few minutes. and
certainly had net lost consciousness then
felt that il was an impossibllity for TRras
50 have paused me without my perceiving
him. Had they thrown hls body In the
nYeri MOI IN the silence Of the night
should have heard tho door In Ferryboat
alley open . second time as had heard it
the first, nor could heavy body have bean
carried down she alley withouI the aeuf-
cling " feet being audible Besides, the risk
was ons which Putty, knsu, had not tbs
courage 80 run. And their compozurs now
was not consistent with their having done
dangerous deed, though DrigO light vary
well have eounseisd Putty to sssums indif
ference In order 10 avert suspicion which
might have led me to communicate with
the police
The most reasonable conjecture could
foriu was that Taras had actually left the
Joy with his friends and had turned down
40. fh.k fuaNtaaA Of flarrt
into Sweet Apple lane. lie might have or
dered the waterman to return, and 10 got
away. II this were really the case, he
might return as Drigo had intended
that his word was TO be taken in earnest,
his whole tone was ironical and indicative
OF double mtlning But the hope that
Taras still lived and might return put new
life into me, and went about mywork be
lind the oar with such alacrtty tbat snins
thu men inside conceived ! was trying to
make amends for my misbehavior At any
rate, after long silence, in which they cast
furtiye glances at me every now and then
their suspicion relaxed, aud they entered
heartily into dispute over some trick
which one had played with the cards while
the other was not watching, and this led 10
their deyoting more attention to their game
bad row VI washed glasses On the bar
and was standing IA front OF the parlor
door wiping theu when my sense OF hear
ing gradually took recognition OF u sound
which did not come from the men AZ my
buck. The silence Of my occupation al
lowed me 70 listen and yet continue work
ing. The sound WAS vary faint Its regi.
lsrity attracted my attention. One doss
not notice the single chirp Of sparrow. bat
II the chipping Is continued psrsistsntly tor
any length OF time Il nsVsr fails to excite
attention. II Wa just the same with this
sound, which | noticed after awhile oe.
Cured IN this way, with regular Intervals
between.
Tap, tap, tap-tap tap-tAp, tap-tap.
tsp-tap, tap-tsp." aud 30 on over and over
again.
looked round the bar for an explanA
tion. | SAN no vibrating bottle on the
shelves such As the sound seemed to indl
cate Thsrr was no wind 20 shake the vel
low curtain against the front window. IL
scented 70 come from the old disuaed beer
engine bsfors me, and touched one Of the
handles 10 see n Il was loose The rattle Il
made under my hand was answered almost
Immediately BY a similar rattle, aud then
the sngine itself seemed to be whispering
with human voice
The glass nearly alipped from my hand
but ! recovered my presence Of mind in an
instant and went on polishing the glasses
| till a new disuuta arose within OVER n fslss