Smyrna times., 1899-12-20
DURING THE NIGHT.
A Lodger Wakes and Smells Gas.
Nobody In the House and a
General Mystery.
BY NEIL WYNN WILLIAMS.

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have an affinity for awkward pre-
dicaments, and to submit to what is
popularity known as an experience
is, if not exactly my daily lot In life,
my very frequent fate. For the one
that am about to describe l paid half
a crown. The sensations that that half
crown brought to me were in excess of
what l had anticipated and strained
every nerve in my body. Yet | am not
a fool, and no one is in his own estima-
tioI.
Twas a November day; the time, 9
o'clock in the evening. was in a Lon
don street and had just viewed to my
satisfaction a bow window in which
was hung up a card with Apartments
to Lett printed upon it. With the
knowledge that l wanted a bed for the
night and with the card before me,
what could be more natural and with
in the ordinary lot of man than to as
cend the flight of steps that lay before
for half a crown. paid in advance? To
my mind there was such a plethora of
vulgar incident in this that | remem-
| ber the transaction but dimly. That |
was received by a landlady (she was
middle aged, think and escorted by
her to a comfortable bedroom on the
second floor, that | was left there with
| pen and ink. that | called for some
writing paper and was waited upon by
a girl who said that she would ask her
father for some. that when she had
brought it to me | wrote several let
ters and afterward went to bed-all
this is fixed vaguely in my memory by
its similitude to many another night
that have passed under a hired roof.
Then there comes q blank. which grows
into memory again with the lugubrious
sound of a prolonged howl-a dogs.
Ii was dark. so dark that the cur
tanned window of my room offered but
the faintest suggestion of the fog
swathed light without. Again and
again the oppressive silence and heavy
gloom around me were intensified to
my semiconsciousness by the howl
without dying down to a whisper. to
extinction. A nervous feeling took
possession of me. and, fed upon the
darkness. | sat up in bed and drew a
long breath to free myself of it's incu-
bus. What was there foul with the
night that it came so heavily to my
lungs? For the moment | was puz-
zled. but only for the moment, and
then. half suffocated. | CALCULATED: 1T
is gas! There is an escape of gasv'
With a wave of my arm | threw the
bedclothes to one side and with an ca
ger leg placed foot to the floor. Then
| stood up and hesitated. Should 1
ring, should | call? NO" | muttered
to myself as | reflected that 1t was
more than probable that the servant
would strike a match In coming to
my room. Besides. the escape was
perhaps in my room. A step and a
grope would tell me. | felt cautiously.
No; the tap was as it should bel
Then thought lapsed into instinct,
and action supervened. | crept quietly
to the door and. turning the key in its
lock with the caution of a thief and
drawing the door into the blackness of
my room, faced the blackness that
vaster lay outside it. Gently. gently,
with a hand touching a cold wall, i
crept onward and to my left. My fin
gers were caught by projection. They
passed 1t by and sank into a hollow
: twas a door. | turned the handle and
: whispered gently but distinctly through
J the now half opened door: Its |. Mr..
Snipe. the lodger. Don't strike a match.
There's an escape of gas. The house ID
full of IL. Are you there? Do you
hear? There's an escape of gas
No answer. but again the dog howl
ed. and again | felt a nervousness
come over me as entered the room to
feel for the bed and found it-empty.
, In and out of the walled blackness, tc
another room and another-empty,
Then up the stairs. to right and left
e and back again-nobody.
Y Down and down through the dark.
g ness. the ghost of light In a hall glass
r with here a stumble and there STUN.
: ble-to the basement. warm and odor
ferrous with kitchen odors tainted with
gas. Verify I. and only l, was In the
house. Suddenly the dog ceased tc
3 howl. and heard the dripping Of Q
!. water tap-drip. drip. drip. And with
d the fall OF the water came to me q
l. measure OF time. and thought again
= What does 1t mean, this empty. blach
Z house? Why is this stifiing gas seeth