The Dickinson press., 1896-05-16

"
Come in, I Cried"
Howard, the dramatist, and myself,
attended one of the entertainments of
the Press club which at that time had
rooms overlooking Ludgate circus.
When the Press men found that Mr..
Howard was present they goaded him
into making n speech, and afterwards,
by request, l addressed a few solemn
words to the assemblage. On Mon
day l received q letter from my cor
respondent, written this time from the
Eccentric club. and he said he had
been present at the Press club ell
tertainmcn. ard Led been much
pleased tn sce tine man who had given
out such a quantity Of erroneous in
formation to Il credulous world. He
added that he would have made him
self known to me but as he learned
that MI. Howard was my guest he did
not intervene. l answered this letter,
Gliding him for his backwardness, and
said that now when he had seen me
it was only fair that l should have a
chance Of seeing him. TO this he an
swercd. appointing a day when we
should lunch together at the Eccentric
club. At that time l had never ell
tered the precincts of this association,
but judging from its name, 1 thought
1t was well chosen for such a meeting.
On the night before the day of the
appointment. | vas working late in
my room, which at time was at the
top of a building overlooking the
Strand. 1t must have been near mid
night when l was startled by a knock
at my door. 1t vas odd that anyone
should call ut that hour. although I
aware that any acquaintance who
knew l occupied this room could have
seen from tho Strand by the light in
the window that l was there; still, the
street door was usually closed at 6
O'Clock and no IL could enter unless
he had q latch-key, for there was no
caretaker in the house and it was USE
less to ring the bell. Aside from this.
Il friend had warned me that it was
TO remain alone in an un-
tenanted house late at night, as some
one had been murdered in a similar
situation not long before. 1 thought
of this warning at the moment when
l Shoutcd-"Comc in"
The man on the landing opened the
door but did not enter. The hall was
quite dark. and the light from the
room merely showed the lower part
of the mans body; his face was i'm
shadow. He said: Excuse me for
calling ut this late hour, but | saw
your light in the window ana Thought
perhaps YOU were working here. NV
name is -, and you were to lunch
with me tomorrow ut the Eccentric
club"
AS he said this 1 sprang to nv feet.
"Come ill.," l cried. "Neyer mind
the lateness of the hour: / am verv
glad indeed to see you"
II cannot stay a moment" he an
swercd. II must be off at once. I
merely called to tell you it would be
impossible for me to meet you to-mor-
row, as arranged. You will excuse
my postponing the meeting, l am sura.
The cause of breaking the appoint.
ment is quite unexpected, but impera.
tive. | shall let you know when 1 can
meet you
'"That's all right" | answered. ~
shall be very pleased to lunch with
you at any time that is convenient. It
10 too bad, you're having the trouble
Of climbing oil these stairs merely to
let me know the appointment is off.
You write so many letters that one
note, more or less, wouldn't have
made much difference and l should
have gotten it in the morning"
II happened to be passing, and saw
your light in the window. and it was
such short notice that l thought it
was better not to trust to Il letter, if
you happened to be here"
With that, he turned down the dark
stairway. l went out to the landing
and struck a match. but he said it
was not necessary and that lie could
find his way down all right enough,
and begged me not to follow. which /
was about to do, having descended
several steps. Hit II or two more
matches, holding them over the well
of tile staircase, and at the foot he
shouted Goodnight and that was
the last l saw of him.
After he had gone l began to Won
der how he had gotten in. for it
seemed almost impossible that the
door should be open at that hour Of
the night. The street door closed with
a spring latch, and any tenant Of the
building OH going out was certain, il
it was not Cookbook, to close the door
after him, knowing that there was no
caretaker within. l wondered at the
mans abruptness. and his seeming un-
friendliness after SO many letters had
passed between us.
Next morning l was shocked to read
in my paper an item something like
the following:
Tragic Event at a Club-Last night
one Of the walters at the. Eccentric
club. hearing groans in n private
room, entered, and found Mr.. $50
one of the members, lying on the floor
with the blood pouring from his
mouth. A doctor was instantly sum.
moned, but before he arrived Mr.. -
had expired. AS no n in the club
knows Mr.. IS private address, the
body has been taken to the morgue.'
The paper then went on to state that
Mr.. - was n of the Oldest mem.
bers Of that organization, and was q
quiet, retiring man of whom his fel
low members knew very little. l am
sorry that / cannot find this item and
give the date on which it appeared
but anyone may learn from the porter
Of the Eccentric club the date of tho
tragic occurrence. and in next morn
ing's London dailics they will find tho
item of which l speak. On the follow
ing day the papers said that no one
had claimed the body, and this was
the last item that appeared in the pub
lie press relating to this remarkable
man. l learned later from the waiter
at the Eccentric club who had founC
Mr.. ---, that n brother in the norti
of England had ultimately been fount
who took charge of the body. The
waiter told me that the death had oc