Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1899-01-08
4 HOUSE BY THE LOCK
By MRS. C. L. WILLIAMSON,
For Of 1.-THE transformers, "The Woman Grey fortunes
Sport" LADY Mary Of the Dark House,, &c., &c.,
Copyright.
Continued from Last Weekly

my present position very fOnS.
Il suppose you did see him, though.
/ perservered. "how was he looking
after his accident-seedy at all"
HE wasn't very thin, If you mean
that" laughed my informant. But ne
limped about with a crutch, and as he
had bumped his forehead in the same
fall which sprained his ankle, ne wore
green snaue that covered his temples
and his eyes.
| grew attentive at this. 1t appeared
to me that here was point In my Ia
Yor. -,
II should like to have a talk WIN
one of his old friends in the hotei'
said; 1.-The manager, for instance No
doubt he knows Mr.. Farnham very
well" ~,
"He does, but he's out of town on
business for a day or two. L mink
you'll find. though, that our BARTENDER
and Mr. Farnham were about as chum-
INV together as anyone in the house.
Apparently at my leisure, really with
great iimpatience, | repaired " Inc
very handsome 'bar-room" OF the FlIth
Avenue hotel, and here the oracle was
very communicative.
Having mixed me a peculiarly Amerl-
can drink called gin fizz, the parteh-
der was willing to chat OF MI. farh-
ham.
81 guess he must have been pretty
bad this last time he said, in response
to my first question, for he dlon |
trouble the bar-room much.
"He did come in, however. did he
not?" l asked anxiously.
"Oh. yes, he came in once or twice,
but l thought he acted rather grumpy
and queer"
Did you have a good look at him
either time?" | pressed on, with eager
ness.
Pretty good. Almost as close as you
are now, | guess.
And did he appear the same as usual
with the exception of the green shade
over his eyes?"
well, l reckon he did. l was kind
of busy both times, and l don't know
as | took much notice.
"Still'-and | called up a laugh
you'd have known whether it really
was Mr.. Farnham or a stranger pass
ing himself off in his place."
The bartender stared at me for an in
thoughts, probably they might have
been appropriately expressed in the
slang phrase, "Ah, what are you givin'
me?" We'll, it might have been his
grandfather's ghost, | daresay," he
facetiously remarked at length, but,
anyhow, there seemed to be a strong
resemblance between Harvey Farnham
and him.
/, l set down my glass untouched. A
cold conviction was growing within
me that | had been mistaken; that, viii
lain Carson Wildred was, he had not,
after all, been guilty of the one great
crime which | had attributed to him.
1t seemed almost impossible that this
keen-eyed man, accustomed to Farm
hams comings and goings for several
years, could have mistaken another for
him.
Next morning, when l had put to-
gether the few things that | had had
occasion to unpack, and was tipping
the pretty chambermaid who happen
ed" to come to my door as | was de-
parting, sudden inspiration seized me,
and | called the young woman back
again as she was disappearing.
BY the way" | said, did you hap
pen to attend Mr.. Harvey Farnham,
who was here a few days ago, and who
has often stopped in the hotel?"
"Oh, yes, SIR she answered, 81
know him quite well, and very pleas
ant, generous gentleman he is-or
rather (and her face changed at some
recollectiOn), 'or rather was"
l caught her up eagerly. WASP" 1
a
this last time?"
No, that he wasn't sir. | thought to
myself. thinks [: Mr.. Farnham must
have been disappointed in love or
something; he was so grumpy and dull.
Always before when he came he had
good word for me: How do you do,
GIMME" or smile and nod, but now
he went by me without a sign. for all
the world as if he'd never seen me be-
fore, though I've been here since | was
seventeen; that's six years ago. When
/ spoke to him first, why, he looked up.
and answered in mumbling way, new
er even saying my name. But then,
poor gentleman, | suppose he was too
SICK to think of anybody except him
self"
Did he look Strangely" 1 went on
to question.
oh, | don't know about that, sir,
except for the green shade he had to
wear over his eyes; | suppose his face
was much the same. Only | didn't get
many chances to see it, and all his Jolly
ways and smiles were gone, so that
made difference. | was so glad when
| saw his baggage coming up. for
there's never been gentleman so pop
ular with us girls as Mr.. Farnham: but
except for his giving me something
when he went away he might almost
as well not have been in the hotel"
Would you have recognized his
voice | asked, IF you had not seen
him?"
Il would when he was we'll and like
hisself, sir, in a minute, but not this
time, because of the bad cold he'd got
on the voyage, which he said was the
worst he'd ever had. He did nothing
but cough and wheeze, and could only
speak in hOarse sort of whisper"
These details were all could extract
from GIMME the chambermaid: but
before l left the hotel l bethought me
to examine the visitors book for Farm
hams name, wishing to look at the
handsome writing, which, if his, I felt
sure | could not fail to recognize. AS
| searched the pages vainly I thought
with some conjunction of Farnham
himself, remembering how had hard