Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1894-12-01

mind as hastily dressed myself Open
ing the window, looked on. on the
marshes golden in .Le sunshine. A keen
wind was blowing from the sea. and
the smell of brine struck into the heavy
atmosphere Of my bedroom. An absolute
stiffness prevailed both inside and out.
felt as though had awakened in the
spel.bound palace of the sleeping beau
ty. An inn Of all places should be full
of hustle and noise, but there was some
thing uncanny in the silence which
reigned in this marsh locked hostel 1t
limited trouble, and l felt uneasy.
In no very good temper l descended
TO the dining room, with the intention
of apologizing to Francis for my tardy
appearance and Of rating the landlord
for his negligence. To my establishment.
neither Francis nor any one else was TO
be seen, and the room was In precisely
the same condition as or the previous
night. The fire was unlighted, the table
| not set out for breakfast; even the win
| dow blinds were down. For the moment
was sick with apprehension. as il was
| impossible to conjecture the reason OF
| this neglect and absence Of human life.
| The stiffness was as absolute as had pre-
vailed up stairs, and when / rang the
bell il echoed through the house as
though hooking my efforts TO summon
landlord, maid or friend
Twice, thrice, pulled the bellrope
| without result; then, somewhat I'M
nerved by the silence in which / found
myself, Went to the back part of the
premises. Here the condition Of things
| was the same as in the dining room.
| The kitchen was empty, nor were there
| any signs OF fire or of food i explored
the whole of the ground floor and found
nobody. The conclusion forced itself
upon me that Strent and his daughter
had left the inn during the night
What was the meaning Of this sudden
fight: What reason could be sufficient
ly powerful to force them TO vacate the
premises: Asking myself these ques-
tons, entered room after room, but in
none of them did j find any answer.
The front door was bolted and barred,
the back entrance was in the same con-
dition, and there was no key i'll either
lock. l considered the features of the
case and saw that the air was full of
mystery, perhaps of-but, no; in that
lonely house | could not bring myself to
utter the terrible word.
/ knew not what had happened dur
ing my sleep, but felt certain that some
event had taken place. Otherwise there
could be no reason for this state OF
things. Almost against my will
searched the houSe again. bat could dis
cover neither Strent nor his daughter
Rose was alone in the house. But
Francis-
Francis" said !. repeating MY
thoughts aloud, AYE, Francis. / Won
der if he has left the inn also or whether
! he has oversight himself and Is still il
his room" To make sure / went nj
stairs TO his bedroom. Pray observe tina
all this time i had not connected thes
things with crime. II Is true l had :
faint suspicion that there might possibly
be some foul play, but as there was moth
ing 10 confirm such belief i abandono'
the idea. | declare that when knocllet
at the door of Briarfeld's room i ha'
no more idea Of the horrible truth thai
the babe unborn. Ny premonition
pointed to mystery. but not to murder
Net from the conversation Of the previ
Gus night i might have guessed wha
| had happened. The house was as &C
cursed rs the palace Of the Artida, an
Ate bided On the threshold stone.
Not until / had thrice knocked with
out receiving any answer did my su.
| picions begin to form. Then they too
shape in an instant. i tried the dool
Z u. II
still limited AT unspeakable horrors. NJ
knocking echoed jarringly through til
/ | stiffness. At that moment there fiashe
I before my eyes the picture of two FL
{ ures flying across n red horizon again,
which blackened the beams of 4 "a
l | lows. IL was the shadow of the future
= knocked, called his name, and final
III desperation at the continued silenc
> set my shoulder against the crazy doc
Ii yielded with tearing sound, and
: entered the room amid cloud Of fiji
dust
x He was lying on the bed stiff and col,
( ! had no need to call. to touch his shou
o der, to place my hand on his heart. /
was dead. With the clothes drawn I
= smoothly TO his chin lay the man wit
k whom / had conversed the previo,
e night. The right arm lay outside Il
n counterpane. On the hand glistened
!. pearl ring. / looked at that bauble.
d glanced at the waXen face. The matt
IS was beyond all doubt Francis Bria
field was dead.
+ Before / could further examine Il
body OF the room l was forced to RI
a for my brandy ilasl,. For the moment
was deadly sick, and it needed lor
| draft of the fiery spirit to speed the sta
|. mating blood through my veins. It
p strange circumstance was sufficie
apology for such qualmishness. tt
lonely inn set on handbreadth of Ii
ID ing ground amid quaking boys, IL
dead body of what had once been
l. friend, this solitude by which i foul
" myself environed, these were sufiicie
p to shake the strongest nerve. 1t loo
4. in a manner prosaic on black and whit