The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-11-09


When Edward Gardner found himself
in his own room upon that same night,
he was moved to great stealthiness and
caution in his behavior, for he not only
tiptoed about in his stockings, but also,
before closing the door and scrutinizing
its fastenings, stepped back into the
corridor and listened in the STOPPING at
titude of still attention, until tho throb-
bling of his temples was distinctly audi
BILE in his ears.
Having secured himself against the
possibility of sudden interruption, he
took off his coat with careful and de-
liberate movement, and then drew from
its outer breast pocket waterproof
bath bag, whence he extracted drip
ping sponge This he squeezed over a
glass tumbler, and having smelled and
examined with absorbing interest the
liquid therein contained no poured 1t
into a pair of glass stoppered walls,
which he labeled "Bimeconate of NOR
phia," muttering as he wrote, "As we'll
one name as another.
He then seated himself upon the
nearest chair, and with his chin resting
upon his open palm, his eyes staring
before him in vacant abstraction, he
became plunged in deep, silent thought.
What We're his reflections can never be
known to mortal being, but of their re.
suit upon the physical man the 1nowl-
edge is certain.
A shudder passed over him, perspira-
ton broke out upon his face, and as q
long sigh escaped his lips he passed a
wet hand over his brow as if to remove
some mental picture which troubled
End oppressed him. He had barely done
70 when tremor seized upon his limbs
and startled him to activity, but his
movements were as uncertain as those
of intoxication. He stepped unsteadily
forward to possess himself of tho vial
which stood upon the table, but his
hands clutched the air as he fell back
in stupor and forgetfulness.
In-the--name-of- all-that' s.
asonable-what-do establishment"
gasped DR.. Gardner when he sat up in
bed OIL the following morning and look
ed with establishment round tho apart
ment. Upon the carpeted floor lay a
portmanteau, ripped open and cut in
fantastic curves, the leather hanging
from it in strips. In moment he had
bounded from bed and was kneeling up
on the floor, gazing in bewilderment at
the wreck of his property. Then he
hastily stepped across the room to ex-
anime the lock of his door. Both it and
the window bar We're intact. Surely he
was dreaming, he thought, as he sat
upon the edge of the bed to collect his
faculties. And then his eyes rested up
on the pillow.
Mercy OIL mel What has happened
to this?" he exclaimed.
Also slashed and cut as if by the
knife of frenzied maniac. The whole
thing was inexplicable. ..s..-.
Yonder the door of press cupboard
showed lines of whitewood through the
paint. 1t had been repeatedly stabbed.
Even the soap had not escaped There
it lay upon the washstand in a heap Of
thin shavings. What absurd fit could
have induced any one to commit such
senseless acts as these? Had the room
been entered while he slept? To believe
that and explain the locked door and
barred window was impossible. Some
body must have experienced Il gloating
sort of pleasure in cutting the portman-
teau That was evident from the way
in which it was done. 1t was not a sim
pie act of destruction. The curved in
cisions showed how carefully and DELHI
erately it had been carved, as if the
knife had dwelt with lingering joy
over each sweep of its blade.
For some minutes he sat upon the
bed staring in perplexity and bewilder-
ment at the cvidence& Of madness before
him, and then there passed fleeting ex-
preston across his eyes, and his face
was suffused with Il dcathly pallOr.
A light was thrown across his under.
standing, for he instantly started to his
feet, and the next moment his nervous
fingers were busily playing over the
lock Of an oaken case whose contents
became subjected to an intent and eager
scrutiny. A long black handled operat-
ing knife appeared to engage his chief
attention, for he several times felt its
edge, breathed upon 1t, held 1t up to
the light Of day and contrasted its up,
pearance with that Of others in the box:
90,