Owingsville outlook. [volume] (Owingsville, Ky.) 1879-192?, 1898-04-28
CHAPTER V.

On the first evening of my occupancy
Of the old homestead recalled Mr..
Morley's words and thought with sor-
row how much superior his Judgment
had been To mine.
year had gone by, a year of heart
ache, disappointment aud unfultilled
longing. and the cloud had not been
lifted from my life. And. oh. was ~
homesick for just glimpse of my dear
loves face.
\ few days after my interview with
Mr.. Morley | had received note from
Florence:
Dear Mr.. Conway: Father has informed
me OF Your resolve not To call on mc or at
tempt TO keepupthe fSiendship which made
me so 10y; untii'yoN ara. freed from all
suspieS np2res,Ste the mnnliness
which rrto such a resolve. and
! wish Nyou from the bottom of my
heart tina, I aspect and trust you. | know
you are innocent. and shall always believe
SO. Keep up a brave spirit. The mystery
VIII be explained and you eNonrratcd Re
member. | believe In You wholly. and shall
always remain, Your true friend,
FLORENCE MORLEY"
| took the worn note from the locket
which | wore around my neck and
pressed ii to my lips. as | had done
many times since its receipt, and won
dered if her heart was still true To- the
sentiment expressed in it.
The harvest moon was rcsplcCdent
and the white beams came into the win
dow where | sat in my night robe, II pod
ing my white drapery with light. There
were no sounds of human life; the
world seemed left wholly to the rrick
cts and katydids. With a sigh from
the depths of my lonely heart | re
placed the note in its receptacle and
arose.
Turning from the window. J saw
right opposite me. on the other side
of the room, n tall white figure. What
was il? There Ii stood. while J Cazed
spellbound, motionless. mysterious. In
a lightning flash of thought Sarah's
forebodings came to me.
Then | grasped my pistol, VIII. h was
lying on the table beside me.
"Now. then. il this is practica, Joke.
intended simply to brighten RE, let
il stop" ! said. Ii was with son.e diff
ficulty, | confess, that my voice was
kept steady.
Whoever YOU are, speak and cx-
plain. or I'll see IL you have substance
enough to stop bullet"
1paused for a reply, but none cam.
Speak out, ] say, or, as sure as there
is God in Heaven, I'll fire." | called
again, and again received no reply.
The white thing remained there. in
spite of my threats. After another
pause, during which the cold chilIs
chased up and down my spine, raised
my arm, took deliberate aim and fired.
\ rattle of breaking glass followed
the report of the pistol, and dark
spot appeared in the center of the
white figure. The fash of the pistol
had been reflected back, and in an in
slant | realized the truth.
With a scornful laugh and a con-
demnatory exclamation at my foolish
ness. l placed the pistol on the table
and got into bed.
Then a slight scuffliag noise. seem
ing 70 come from beneath, reached my
ear, aud said, aloud, and with laugh:
I've stirred up the rats, at any rate.
Hello, what's that" | exclaimed, as a
deep. muffied sound, accompanied by a
slighf Jar. Immediately followed. Il
was as though heavy door in some
distant part of the house had slammed.
For quite time l sat up in bed and
listened. but no more uausual sounds
followed.
Mrs. Snyder's words cor corning mys-
FERROUS happenings in my house and
Sarah's unreasonable fears for nv safe
ty, followed by the two eveGts just men
TONED. did have an effect rpon me. al
though the first event was due wholly
TO an ordinary cause, and the second,
the apparent sound of slamming door.
might be, snd probably was, Just what
il seemed. A gentle night breeze had
arisen, and some of the windows in the
upper part of the house might have
been left open, thereby producing
a draught and causing an intervening
door to swing shut. True. the sound
seemed 10 come from beneath me. But
then that was probably Imagination.
In the silence of night sudden noise
is rather difficult to locate. How often
the most common events, under ur-
familiar circumstances. become mex
plicable mysteries!
i am not of a superstitious makeup.
and therefore Sarah's vague fears did
not produce i'm me a feeling of fright;
but there was a watchfulness about my
senses as though there were funny
things" to use Sarah's term, about the
house. which would become apparent
in due time.
Nesting my head down on the pill
low, redolent with the grateful health
giving aroma CT spruce, ! closed my
eyes.
Sleep did not come as quickly as hal
boosted to my old nurse il would. and
it was some time before my conscious
ness began TO wander into the domain
of vague fancies and indistinct ideas
which characterize the period between
waking and sleeping.
Then. almost before my eyes could
open, l suddenly sat up in bed and
listened with hearing sharpened by the
sense of expectancy which had come
over me.
Out through the silence of my roon
there came stealing the sound of voir G
but such a voice. Not possessed by
any human being. surely! Pitched on
high, quavering tone, and yet so soft
and small; so faint, as though borne
from a great distance; so plain. rs
though right at my bedside; bearing nc
semblance to human tones, but never,
theless undoubtedly a voice; for after
time | could distinguish n word now
and then.
If there were in the world weird, mis-
shapen little folks like fairies ami
gnomes, and we could hear their cor.
versation, imagine their voices woult
sound like this one to which now was
listening.
There was no wonder Mrs. Snyder
had been impressed by it, if this were
the voice she had heard.
Strange indeed, and unnatural, as
though not of this world, it seemed to
Inc. A creeping sensation came over
me, not exactly like that produced by