Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1898-01-13
CHAPTER I.
AUTHOR OF.

I'LL lued tndt sOule uIuSuhA houuu udu
reused her She sat up in bed to listen.
Then she heard voice. 1t was old Mr..
Benton in his room adjoining hers. He
was speaking in loud. angry tone.
Miss Hastings rose, thrust her feet
into slippers and put on wrapper
She was vaguely frightened and yet
hardly knew why she should be So She
turned up the gas, which had been
burning low, and approached the parti-
tion between her room and the old
mans. Now she could hear more dis
tinctly. Mr.. Benton seemed to h" an
grily upbruiding some one. Miss Has
tings opened the door leading into the
corridor, and the voice of the old man
became more distinct
"You are no child of mine from this
day forthr' she heard him cry. IL shall
disown you tomorrow! Get out of my
sightl To think that YOU
The door of Mr. Benton's room was
suddenly slammed, and Miss Hastings
shrank from the crack through which
she had been peerinR. Then she heard
footsteps pass her door and descend the
front stairs
Miss Hastings sat down at her table,
took up a book and tried to read, but
found herself turning page after page
without recalling word she had read.
She could hear the heavy tread of the
old man as he walked to and fro IN his
room What had happened? What was
about to happen? What had been going
OH all that week between her friend
Alice Benton and her father? The old
man had treated Arthur Montcastle, n
guest like herself, very rudely and had
since been taking his meals in his own
room to avoid meeting him, Besides
this he had quarreled constantly with
Alice and his son Ralph about tritles
ever since Miss Hastings arrived, a week
before 1t had made her feel very uncom-
Portable, and she would have gone home
but for her sympathy for Alice and the
fact that Ralph had asked her to remain
longer
Old Benton = walk had ended Miss
Hastings hoped he had gone to bed, but
Just as she was about to undresS herself
she heard his step and the rafting of
his doorknob He was leaving his
room. Miss Hastings again prercd eau
tiously into the corridor She saw the
old man, dressed as he had been all
day, go into tho laboratory which ad-
joined his room on the other side. Look
ing out on the lawn below, she saw
bright light streaming from the win.
dow Of the laboratory and knew that
he had lighted the powerful electric
lamp which hung in the center OF the
room. Now and then she saw his gigan-
tic shadow on tho lawn AS he moved
about. What could he be doing there at
such u lato hour? She looked mt her
watch 1t had run down and stopped at
III. but she thought it was at least two
hours later than that. Suddenly the
light left the lawn Then she heard Mr..
Benton close the door Of the laboratory
and descend the back stairs leading to
the garden,
Miss Hastings decided to 10 to bed.
She was angry with herself for being
SO unreasonably nervous She had un-
buttoncd her wrapper whcn--
"Crackp
1t was loud, clear report like that
of "a revolver
Miss Hastings blood ran cold. She
conquered an impulse TO scream, delib-
Grated moment as she stood quivering
in tho center of the room, then jerked
the old fashioned bell pull One min
ute, two, three, ten minutes passed.
No one came to answer her ring, and
there was nothing to indicate that the
report had reused any one else i'll the
house.
Miss Hastings did not want to run
the risk of making herself appear ridicu-
lous in the eyes Of the rest of the house
party, SO she began to try to persuade
herself that the report was made by
some explosive with which old Benton
was experimenting. What could be
more natural, since he was given to
such things and had just left his lab
oratoryl She sat down and tried to
calm herself by using her will power.
Half all hour passed. 1t expanded
slowly into an hour, and yet Mr. Ben
ton had not returned to his room. Miss
Hastings fears were now Increased ten
fold She was sure she had done wrong
in not rousing the house at first She
drew the silken bellcord to the fiocr
several times Then, getting no re-
spouse, she decided to wake some one.
Mr. Stanwood, a guest of the house,
roomed across the corridor. She went
to his door and raped.
She knew he was sleeping aoundly,
for it was several minutes before she
heard him rise He opened the door
slightly.
"Who is it?" he asked.
Its !, Mr.. Stanwood-Miss Has
tings," she explained apologetically.
IL heard "a loud report in the garden
about al hour ago 1t sounded like a
revolver and as Mr.. Benton-Mr. Jacob
Benton--went out about that time and
has not returned | was afraid something
might have happened to him. some
burglar orr
"Oh, presume notr said the young
man lightly. at may have been some
one shooting at cats. They have been
very noisy i'll the neighborhood lately"
IL don t think 1t was that, said
the young lady, land really l am so
nervous that [ should be verS grateful