The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-07-13

uifnru = PiQfE,sE 4HPlMays SET VI the
head Of tie ebE ahv GFard told me his
wife wasethkfes = He c6nversed with her
in my presence, made comments to her
on remarks of mine, laughed heartily at
comments she made in return and repeat
ed them to me. ] never could see any
thing, but 1t occurred to me from the
first that II Girard was merely acting he
was the most consummate actor l had
ever seen on or off the stage. Almost un-
consciously l came to treat the vacant
chair at the hend of the table with defer
entail reverence to its supposed occupant,
but to me it was never anything but an
empty chair l had not known Mrs. Gil
rard in the life, but Girard insisted that
some time or other l should be able to
see her. There was something uncanny
at first in the spectacle Of man defer
ring in every point of conversation to an
| invisible third party. but in time l be-
| came used to 1t and lost my sense Of dis
comfort in the spiritual presence. At
O'Clock In the afternoon Girard received
telephone message, II related to some
| important matter niid necessitated his 60
| ing at oape. ito the West hotel. / wanted
to go with him., but he wouldn't hear Of
| it. TIL be back in IN hour, he said, and
| we'll have quiet evening together
$40 tell the truth about it, l didn't
| care about being alone there Ordinarily
I am the reverse of timorous, but i had
witnessed such strange proceedings in
that very-room that the idea of remain
ing there alone in the twilight was dis
| quieting. believe Girard read my sem
salions, for he said, You're not afraid Of
Margaret, are your
margaret was Mrs. Girard. OF course
was not afraid of her, and told him so.
A moment later he was gone. The house
was quite empty. The servants were all
out The coachman has apartments over
the stable. The clocks licked more loud
| ly every moment after Girard had left
There is a big clock at the head of the
main staircase. and it has disagreeably
| audible hating tick-a-tack that seems al
| ways on the point of stopping. There is
! smaller clock in the front parlor and
still smaller one in the library. There
seemed to be n jealous rivalry between
them that afternoon.
'Dusk was gathering, and parted the
curtains to size up the weather. A ter
| rife snOwstorm had set in. Already the
walks Were heavily covered. 1t occurred
| W Lle ludl blFuIu WOulu HtNeE BGt uOIIie
in a street car. He would have to take
hack. As the storm increased in violence
] doubted whether he would find hack
| even.
Oppressed by the loneliness of the
place, lit cigar pulled GiraEd's big
leather armchair up to the blazing log fire
and sat there smoking. 1t didn't Occur to
me to light the gas until, hearing all three
of the clocks strike Z, l was about to
make n light, when the door of the room
opened, and woman entered. At first l
supposed one Of the maids had returned,
but Immediately the impression was cor
rected. lnstinctively l knew that Mrs.
Girnrd stood before me. She crossed the
room hesitatingly, apparently embarrass-
ed in the presence Of a man she did not
know. 1t may seem odd to you, but
from that instant | had no sense of fear.
A more attractive woman have never
looked upon. She carried herself like
princess after the first few steps in my
direction ! rose from the chair in which
l had been loungng, bowed to her and
introduced myself.
oh, YES, she replied. 4 know you
quite well! l should not have intruded
upon you she added, but Mr.. Girard
has met with an accident. The car upon
which he was returning has been showed
in and is now standing on the track at
Fifteenth street. The storm is so violent
that ! am afraid he will not reach home
tonight unless
"l'll go after him Immediately said.
1t never occurred to me that there was
anything supernatural about the trans
action.
"'lf you would tell John to harness the
bays to the light cutter, believe they
could get through easily she said. 4 am
ashamed to ask it of you, but it is, oh,
such storm" and saw her shudder as
she walked to the window and looked
out.
Il made for the stable with all haste,
told the man to hitch up and went in for
my coat. Mrs. Girard was nowhere to be
seen. did not await her return, but
started Immediately. l found the street
car precisely in the position she had indi-
catSd. Girard was on it. He boarded the
cutter without comment, and we started
home. | didn't say anything, because /
was thinking After time he spoke:
"'Did Margaret send youT he asked.
ayes said
John he called to the driver push
along, Mrs. Girard will be alarmed l
dropped out at Twenty fifth street be-
cause it was close to my house. and since
TINT | haven't seen Girard. Wasn't that
n fright of snowstorm though ?'-Seat-
tie (Wash) lnteligencer