The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-03-13

am. Truly you are wonderful woman
"a very wonderful woman"
"A truce to compliments" I cried.
IF you know as much as your words
show of what went on in that i'll
omened house last night, you ought to
| show some degree of emotion yourself,
for If 1T was not silly Rufus VINO was
laid away under the flower parlor who,
then, was it? No one for whom tears
could openly be shed or of whose death
| public acknowledgment could be made,
or we would not be sitting here talking
away at cross purposes the morning
after his burial"
Tears are not shed or public ac-
| acknowledgement made for the subject of
a half crazy mans love for scientific
| investigation. 1t was a dog you saw
buried, madam-a favorite dog which
Mr.. knollys loved, but which for all
that could not escape that half mon
ster's passion for vivisection."
You are playing with me-" I cried,
outrageously and ineXcuSably playing
with me. dog laid away in such sec
recy and with such degree of feeling
as l was witness to? You must think
me in my dotage, or else
I'VE will take the rest of the SEN
tence for granted" he said. you know
that | can have no wish to insult your
| intelligence, Miss Butterworth, and if
L say dog l must have ample reasons
for 1t. Can you contradict those rea-
sons? Do you know it was man that
was buried there last night. If you do,
! there is no more to be said or, rather
| there is everything to be said, for that
would give to the transaction of last
night very dreadful and tragic signi-
| ficance which at present l am not dis
! posed to ascribe to it,"
Taken aback, almost overwhelmed by
j statement for which [ was in no de-
gree prepared, and yet which l could
not but think false for all his quiet self
assurance, l stolidly replied:
Since you say it was dog, prove
that. 1t will be time enough for me to
talk when your superstition is proved
untenable.''
"Madam"-he was not angry; fell
low feeling for the disappointment he
considered me a prey to made him
very gentle to me-"madam, if you
know il was not a dog. say SO. l do
not wish to waste my time
Il do not know it,
Very well, then, 1 will tell you why
/ think my supposition true. Mr. Knoll
lys, as you probably have already dis
covered, is man with secret passion
for vivisection.'
YES" said I, Il have discovered
that
1T is known to his family, and it is
known to very few others, but it is
not known to the world at large, not
even to his fellow villagers
L can believe it, said 1.
His sisters, who are gentle girls,
feel dreadful about it. They have
tried in every way to influence him to
abandon it, but unsuccessfully so far,
for he is not only entirely unamenable
to persuasion, but has a nature Of such
brutality he could not live without some
such excitement to help away his life
in this dreary house. All they can do,
then, is to conceal these cruelties from
the eyes of the people who already exc
crate him for his many roughnesses
and the undoubted shadow under which
he lives Time was when 1 thought
this shadow had a substance worth our
investigation, but further knowledge
of his real fault and a completer knoWl-
edge of his sisters virtues turned my
! Inquiries in new direction, where L
, shave found as I have told you, actual
reason for arresting Mother Jane. Have
you anything to say against it? Can
not you see that all your suspicion
can be explained by the brothers cruel
/ impulses and the sisters horror of hav-
ing those impulses known?"
1 thought a moment; then 1 cried out
boldly: mo, l cannot, Mr.. Gryce. The
anxiety, the fear, which / saw depicted
on those sisters faces for days might
have some such explanation, perhaps,
but the knot Of Grape on the window
shutter, the open Bible in the room Of
death (William's ROOM, Mr.. Gryce,
proclaim that it was a human being
for whom Lucetta's sobs went up, and
SO shall I continue to think till inves-
LEGATION has proved my mistake"
II do not follow you,' he said, moved
for the first time from his composure.
What do you mean by a knot of
ND .,1Nt anI
entrance into Williams room?'"
II have points to relate" was my
quiet retort, las interesting as anythin g
you have told me of your Investigations
at Mother James cottage. Did you
think I simply walked on the outside
| of things, Mr.. Gryce?"
81 should not have done you that in
Justice
Il have pierced, as I think, deeper
! than even yourself into Williams char
acter. think him capable-but do sat
isfy my curiosity on one point first Mr..
Gryce. How came you to know as much
as you do about last nights proceed
ings? You could not have been in the
house Did you succeed, then, in max
ing Mother Jane reveal on her return
what it was she took part in?''
The tip of his cane was up, and he
frowned at it. Then the handle took its
place, and he gave it a good natured
smile.
Miss Butterworth," said he, II have
| not succeeded in making Mother Jane
at any time go beyond her numerical
monologue. But you have been more
successful" And with sudden marvel
Gus change Of expression, pose and
| manner he threw over his head my
shawl, which had fallen to the floor in
J my establishment, and, rocking himself
| to and fro before me, muttered grinly:
Seventy! Twentyeight Ten! No
more, I can count no more. Co."
Mr. Gryce,' 1 exclaimed, at was
then you I saw
In Mother James cottage with Mr..
Knollys," he finished. "And it was l
who helped to bury what you now de-
clare, to my real terror and astonish-
ment, to have been a human being.
| Miss Butterworth, what about the knot
| of Grape? Tell me-
But ] am methodical even at the most
critical instant, as those who have read
THAT Affair Next Door have had am
pie opportunity to know. Having heard
him make this startling declaration
| could not proceed to establish my
standpoint till l knew a little more
about his.
Excuse me one moment" said I.
IF you had the handling of one of
those ropes, you were nearer the heart
| of this business than l. Is that why
you decided it was no human being you
were burying?'
I'm a measure, yes. Having some
skill in these DISCUSSES, especially
where my own intirnities can have
! full play, as in case of this strong but
! half bent woman, I had no reason to
| think my own identity was suspected,
much less discovered. Therefore I
could trust what I saw and heard as
| hot