Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1894-11-06
.THEL0NE
B, FERGUS HUME.
toepyAsh,. ,s.. By n. As,Ao,.i
CHAPTER II.


" roprovc them for such neglect After
oil. an inn IL an Inn. and one has q
right TO attentions for which one pays
Judging from the landlords looks Ibid
not think my bill would eu ON the side
Il cheapnesS
The-e thoughts passed through my
mind A. hastily drcssed myself Open
Ing the window. I looked out on tho
marhc. golden In the sunshine A keen
wind was blowing from the sea, and
the smell Of brine struck into the heavy
az. sphere Of my bedroom. An absolute
s,iline~. prevailed both inside aud out
felt ~ though had awakened In the
spcllbound palace Of the sleeping beau.
". An inn Of all places should b. full
of hustle and noiss. but there was some
thing uncanny In the silence which
rcigncd In this marsh locked hostel IL
hinicd trouble. and ! felt uneasy.
In no very good temper ] Descended
o. the dinin. room. with the intention
of apoiogiring TO Francis for my tardy
ap,sarance and of rating the landlord
for his neyligcnoe Tony asionishment.
neither Francis nor any one else was 90
b. -ccn. and tho room was In precisely
the same condition NJ on the previous
night Tho fire. was unlighi.si, the table
not set out for breakfast; even the win
dow blinds wero down For the moment
wa~ sick with apprehension. ~ u was
impossible 90 conjecture the rcason OF
this neglect and absence of human life
Til. stiffness was ~ absolute ~ had pre-
vailed up stairs and when rang the
bell 10 cchocd through the house -
though mocking my efforts 20 summon
landlord. maid or friend
Twice. thrice. I pulled the bsllropc
without RESULT; then. somewhat un'
nervcd by the silence In which ! found
myself. went to the hack part of the
prrmises Here the condition ~ things
was the same as In the dining room.
The kitchen was empty. nor were there
any signs of fre OF Of food explored
the whole IL the ground fioor and found
nobody. The conclusion forced itself
upon me that strcnt aud his daughter
had left the inn during thu night
What was the meaning Of this sudden
fighti What reason could IL sufficient
iy powerful TO force them 10 vacats the
premises, Asking myself thee ques-
tions, l entered rom after room. but I'm
none of them did l find any answer.
The front door was bol,cd and barred.
the back entrance was In the same con-
dition. and there was no key In either
lock. I considered the features ~ the
cas. and saw that the air was full ~
mystery. perhaps of-but. no: In that
lonely house could not bring myself to
utter the terrible word
knew not what had happencd dur
ing my sleep but felt certain that some
event had taken place Otherwise there
could 10 no rrasun for this state OF
things Almost against my will j
searched the house again. but could dis
cover neither str,nt nor his daughter
Ro-e Twas alone In the house but
Francis-
Francis. said I. repeating my
thoughts aloud. "aye Francis won
der n he has left the inn also OF whether
be has ovcrslcpt himself and Is still In
his room" To make SURF went NJ
stairs 10 his bedroom Pray observe that
all this time had not connected thes'
things with crime II IL true j had n
faint suspicion that there might possibly
B. some foul play. but n. there was moth
ing 10 confirm such belief | abandoned
the idea declare that when ] knocked
ut the door Of Briarheld's room ] has
no morc idea Of the horrible truth than
the bale unborn My prmoniiiom
pointed 20 mystery. but not 10 murder
Yet frum the conversation Of the prcyi
ous night might have guessed what
hal happened The house was ~ nc
cursed as the palace of the Artids. and
Ate bidcd on the threshold stone
Not until had thrice knocked with
out receiving any answer did my sus
picions begin To form Then they tool
Shape In an instant ! tried the door
Il was locked Tho ominous silono
ptill hintcd at unspeakable horrors ii,
knocking cchocd jarringly through Oh,
stiffness Al that moment there flashed
before my eyes the picture of two fig
ures flying across rcd horizon against
which blackened the beams of a gal
lows II was the shadow of the future
I knocked. I called his name, and finally
In desperation ut the continued silono
s-t my shoulder against the crazy door
10 yielded with tearing sound. and
entered tho room amid cloud Of hn'
dust
He was lying ON the bed stin and cold
had no need to call. 10 touch his shoul'
der. TO place my hand ON his heart lie
was dead. With the clothes drawn ny
smoothly TO his chin lay the man with
whom I had conveped the previous
night The right arm lay outside the
oounterpane On the hand glistened a
pcarl ring. looked at that bauble
glanced at the waxen face The matter
was beyond all doubt Francis Brian
held was dead
Before I could further examine the
body or the room was forced 70 run
for my brandy fiask. For the moment
was deadly sick. and II needed long
draft Of the fiery spirit TO speed the stag
Mating blood through my veins The
strange circumstance was sufficient
apology for puch qualmishnesa This
lonely inn set ON . handbreadth Of liv.
Ing ground amid quaking bogs. this
dead body Of what had once been a
friend, this solitude by which ! found
myself enviroi,cd. these were sufficient
| 10 shake tho strongest nerve IL looks
| In manner prosaic ON black and white.
but think of thu horror Of the actual ex'
perience
For the moment could formulate nc
ideas on the subject That my friend
should be dead was sufficient TO stun
me When reason came back. ! askcd
myself how he died and who was 10.
sponsibie for the crime The landlord,
the maid. the brother. one Of these three
had murdered Francis Briarheld But
In what wayi
examined the body. u was clothed
In Q nightgown. and the clothes lay
folded mp on the cnair BY the bedside.
| The fscs was calm; thsre were no mark
Of violence on lhe throat o. IN ths
frame Only on the violet lip linssrsd
q slight curl Of foam. The smooth bed.
clothes drawn MP 10 tho chin forbade the
Idea Of astruggle. Hooked at the right
arm lying on the oounteFpans q ths
hand, and thsrs In The palm We . rag'
ssd woand iron thumb 70 ut1,e anGse.