Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1899-10-04


never associated with the inhabitants of
Norcombe; went over to Barnstaple
once or twice year. He rarely had
any letters. Now and again one with q
foreign postmark, so the village post
man told him, would come. or maybe
he would have a French newspaper or q
chess magazine. Young Marsden- ah,
he was always a nice, affable young
gent, he was! Many's the bottle he'd
had in the room where they were now,
and many more bottles he hoped to open
for him. Yes, Astray Marsden staid
there at the Palace on the night of the
murder, and in the morning, after Dob
son had called and seen him, he left for
Barnstaple.
"Bless your heart, sir" said mine host
as Darrent buttoned up his coat and
prepared to start for The Grange,
"there are some people who suspect
Astray of the murder, but they might
just as well suspect me, sir-just as
WE'LL"
The irritating church clock chimed
the hour of 9 as Darrent reached the
gates of The Grand and found await
ing him, erect as soldier on parade,
the potrolmsn he had seen the previous
night.
"Good morning. am glad to find
you are punctual.'
"Good morning, sir"
"Any message from Mr.. Dobson?"
"He hoped you would call upon him
again this morning"
"Right. Have you the keys?"
eyes, sir" answered the policeman
unlocking the gate as he spoke.
81 suppose you didn't see the ghost
who committed the murder?" Dsrrent
hazarded, with q smile.
"Ghostw laughed the young officer.
"Not much. There's no ghosts in
Norcombe. I've heard the fairy stories
about ghosts and The Grange being
haunted, but don't believe any such
nonsense, sir"
'Indeed!''
"No, sir, not a bit of it. There was
flesh and blood on this job. sir, and II
looks like q case of revenge"
"What makes you think thatf"
"Well, sir, as far as we can make
out, nothing in the house has been dis
turbed and no robbery committed"
well, let's get inside.
The policeman unlocked the heavy
door and pushed it open.
''Now, go slowly" said Darrent as
they entered, "and tell me all you know
about the building"
The door banged after them, and the
dull echo of the sound reverbsrated
through the house.
The entrance hall gave access to
rooms on either hand, and the police
man, unlocking and opening door on
the right, stood on one side for Darrsnt
to enter.
The room, which was at the back Of
the house and evidently the library,
wasa large and lofty apartment paneled
in dark oak, and the old fashioned fur
niture matched the decoration-solid
armchairs with deep seats and sunk
backs and massive oblong table, The
walls were lined with bookcases. but
they were evidently very rarely opened,
for Darrent noticed how thickly the
dust lay in all the crevices where the
glass doors shut. He walked slowly
round the room. Two sides were en-
tirely taken up by the bookshelves.
while at the two others were the fire.
place and broad window. The chin
ney piece, with its high mantel in
carved oak, had q couple Of cozy corner
seats, one on each side. The window,
which was opposite the fireplace, COM
manded a magnificent view Of the dis
tant snow covered country for miles
and the windings Of river, Its frozen
surface glistening in the sunlight. Some
dozen skaters were gliding over the
splendid ice, and Darrent, after watch
ing them for moment, turned with q
sigh from the scene. He could not yet