Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1899-01-20

1.-THE lady remained apathetic despite
these promises continued the driver. II
think she hardly spoke word in our long
journey together. We put up at the vii
lage inn for the night and my services
were retained for next day too. On the
following morning l drove the couple to
the ruins, which are distant about three
miles from the inn. 1t was low tide, and
the gentleman and his wife reached the
castle by way of the tongue of land. L
was ordered to wait for them on shore,
and If necessary procure the assistance of
fishermen with their boats to facilitate
the return. | waited four, l waited five
hours, the tide came in with a rush, and
return by land was cut off. For an hour
or longer fisherman had kept me COM
pany. He had his boat ready to row over
the minute the signal was given. But
no signal came and no sign of life. When
| couldn't stand the suspense any longer
l went across and, remaining in the boat
shouted for my customers. No response.
FINALLY, though l was afraid to enter
the ruins, which, as the people say, are
peopled with demons, we both went in
siGe and searched the place from cellar
to tower We looked into every niche
and corner; we cried ourselves hoarsc. we
prayed, we wept-all to no avail-iny Gus.
toners were gone. were swept off the face
of the earth, and" concluded the honest
IL
Paris who don't believe in the devil"
On reaching the inn, NJ. de Courtballes
soon learned that not only the landlord
but the whole population, nay, the au-
thorities themselves. backed up the hon
est Jehu's tale of terror.
"Why was no word of this sent to
Paris?"
Because the Investigations are not
completed yet we don't even know the
l..g,
But from the description ] gather that
the gentleman was the owner of the
village and castle, the Count Raveneau."
He registered under that name" said
the innkeeper but l thought 1t was
merely dodge to escape paying the bill
By the provisions of my leasehold | am
bound to entertain the count free Of
charge. and. never having seen our mas
ter and knowing nothing of him or about
him, ! concluded that the stranger was
a fraud"
These Brittany people are a cunning
lot and above all hate TO part with
money. That was probably one Of the
reasons why the innkeeper did not fol-
low up the clue An absent or dead
master collects no rents from his prop
erty.
NJ. de Courtballes searched the ruins of
Ca. tile KerGuivarch for ten days, with
He sent men with ladders and dangling
on r. pes into the crevices of the walls and
towers and down the chimneys. He in
vestigated the cellars for secret walls and
tunnels. He sounded the floors in apart
ments and corridors. His search was thor
ough and systematic. Nothing was dis
covered that promised a solution of the
mystery. That the count and countess
lad visited the ruins and had not left
l1Y off hui nd IF N
there could be no doubt. The whole viii
lage had seen them go in. and none had
seen them leave.
An incident reported by a certain fisher
man promised some sort of a clue. This
fellow had seer the man and woman on
the western balcony of the tall tower
overhanging the sea. Possibly" thought
M. de Courtballes, this balcony is defec-
tive and the unhappy count and his wife
fell from it to PERISH
But the balcony proved to be in perfect
state. Its stone tagging was apparently
sound. Its stone railing showed not a
single crack.
After that NJ. de Courtballes listened
more patiently to the ghost stories told
of Castle Ker-Guvarch. The villagers
knew of half a dozen persons who had
entered the ruins during the last fifty or
sixty years, never to be seen again by
mans eye. Even in the nearby monas-
terry of St. Brandon he heard similar
tales. and though the prior a learned
and experienced man, would not tolerate
the superstitious conclusions of the com
mon people, he was unable to offer any
satisfactory explanation for the present
mystery and those that had gone before.
One day toward the end of November.
when NJ. de Courtballes sat talking to the
prior explaining his own theory of the
Mot tlA 1a1 loo
queline to Ker-Guvarch to murder her
there and to commit suicide, the priest
remarked: "He had certainly some secret
object in taking her to the ruins for his
statement that his family archives are
kept there Is untrue, as you yourself can
testify The archives have been in our
library for the last thirty years to save
them from the damp and from vermin.'
Next day, with the prior's permission.
Courtballcs began a systematic invcsti-
cation of the archives as far as they re-
lated to the ancient history of Castle
Ker-Guvarch and it's owners After
vading through miles of documents he
at last discovered the specifications of the
architect who rebuilt the castle for Rob
ert de Ravencau. Seigneur de Ker-Gui-
varch, toward the end of the seventeenth
century. In the estimate a Thousand
francs were set down for the benefit of .
certain Italian mechanic, 'who fixed the
moving platform on the balcony in the
Louis XXI. tower"
Courtballes looked up the record of he
/ said Sir Robert, and found that he bore
| the reputation of a cruel and crafty lord,
| who was the terror of his enemies and
subjects alike. While he held forth at
Castle Ker-Guivarch his residence was
known as the "hOuse of mysterious disap-
pearances," and twice Sir Robert had
| been summoned TO appear before the king
| to defend himself against charges of MUIR
| der-the murder of men high In office,
| who were known to have been as Castle
! Ker-Guivarch, but never returned. How
| ever nothing could be proved against
| him.
| Now, after centuries. Courtballes held
| the murderer's last will and testament in
his hand, which, according to the tes-
| tators provisions must be communicated
| to every successive head of the Raveneau
| family. Its main article read as follows:
For the benefit Of myself and my sue
cessors. I have constructed, in the bal
| cony of the Louis XI. tower of my good
| Castle of Ker-Guivarch, death trap,
viz, a moving platform. One flagstone
! on the eastern end of the balcony Is safe,
! the rest looking toward the west turn
about themselves as soon as heavy
body steps upon them. In this way one
may invite an enemy or a brace of them
to the balcony and, by taking the pre-
caution to hug the eastern extremity, see
those hated parties drop to their death,