Daily camera., 1897-07-15
CHAPTER I. =

Rouse III UIle SUISeI. le lceIudu Cdluo
along half an hour later, looked curious
ly at the closed door, as he unfastened
the hooks fromaa block of ice, and
raped loudly on the step, but no one
came to answer his call
An hour later a young man sleeping
in the front room downstairs awoke
suddenly and sat up in bed. He was
astonished to note that the sunlight on
the carpet extended from the window
far into the rom, indicating that the
sun had risen above the tall buildings
across the street. He felt a strange
heaviness in his head, and Il desire to lie
down again, but he shook off the feel
Y ing and rose and began to dress.
What could be the matter? The lit
4 tie clock on his dressing case pointed
I to ten. What had caused him to over
Sleep? Why had Mr.. Strong not walked
him as usual? The old man was always
4 up with the sun, and had never allowed
/ him to sleep later than eight.
The young man hurriedly put on his
| trousers, thrust his feet into his slip
pers, and drew aside the portiere that
4 hung between his room and his uncle's.
! Strong's bed was in the righthand
corner of the room, and WILDLY could
q see the back part of his head and one
side of his gray whiskers.
WILDLY called to him softly, but
Strong did not stir. WILDLY called
again, and stamped his foot, but still
the old man remained motionless.
'That's queer" murmured WILDLY,
as he approached the bed. Srong's face
was towards the window; his eyes were
. open; a ghastly smile was On his face.
He was dead WILDLY saw that by the
awful pallor of his face which made
/. each hair of the beard stand out as if
under magnifying glass. For mo-
i ment WILDLY stood as if turned to
stone; then he drew down the sheet,
which had been drawn up closely under
! the old mans chin, and saw the long
deep cash in the throat and the dark
! IDIOTS of the blood which had soaked into
5he mattress.
II WILDLY was strangelw calm. In an
I instant he had decided on a course of
slJtction. He stepped to the telephone
cross the room, and looked over the
/ directory; then he rang, and held the
receiver to his ear.
Al "Hello," he said, ''thats. the central
bffice, isn't it? Well, all right; one
II ,eventy-six on four eightytwo, please"
IN J"Wen, what is it?" presently came
I I rom the telephone.
''Is that police headquarters"
4 "Yes."
81 am Alfred WILDLY, 27S Leighton
,venue. A horrible thing has occurred
nere during the nights 1 have just dis
4 covered that my uncle, Mr.. Strong
4 Richard n. Strong, the banller-has
been murdered. Come and attend to
= it,
There wassa silence, broken by low,
indistinct mt lrmuring asif people were
talking at the other end of the wire;
then the reply came: .
"All right; as soon as we can get
there"
Then WILDLY hung up the receiver
and rang the bell. He went back into
his room, put on his shirt, collar and
necktie. and brsshed his hair. His
head still felt heavy and ached little
|, The electric cars were whirring past the
II house. and blind man was playing AN
accordion few doors away. There
was a crunching step on the graveled
walk near his window. WILDLY raised
the sash and looked out. 1t was Mat
ithews, the. gardener.
Seeing WILDLY, he touched his hat,
1 and asked after Mr.. Strong.
] lWhidby made no reply, but sat down on
s,Itbe window-sill and stared at the old
I Imam. He was wondering if the police
1 would prefer for him to keep the news
Aifrom the gardener. 1t was the look of
s,islow astonishment coming into Mat
4 Ithews' ewes that made him decide what
ito say.
"Matthews." he said, something has
lhappened; l can tell you that much,
hut that is all. | have telephoned the
lpolice; you'd better not come in till
ithey get here. If 1 were you I'd go ON
lwith my work: the rose bushes near the
Mountain need trimming"
Matthews stared and started to speak,
n fbut WILDLY withdrew, sat down on the
W side of his bed and tried to collect his
/, :,Hthoughts. Suddenly he was reused by
sfia sharp ring at the door bell. Wild
iEibv's heart sank, and he was all in
pGuiver, but he rose calmly and went to
the door. 1t was boy with the morn
4 ing paper. He held also bill in his
hand, and wanted to collect the money
due to him for delivering the paper for
the month past, but WILDLY sent him
4 away, and stood for several minutes in
h the doorway watching the crowd pass
ing in the street. Then he closed the
door, and went into his uncle's room,
and walked restlessly to and fro at the
foot of the bed. Suddenly he stopped
at the telephone and rang the bell.
l ''One seventy-hve on four eighty-two,
please" he said.