Evening journal., 1900-11-21
CHAPTER Ill.


One seized The horse.
did not much like the arrangement
Of James new house when Icame to stay
in it. The way the two bedrooms. hers
and mine, were shut off from the rest Of
the house by door, barred and locked
at night for fear of burglars, was, /
thought, unpleasant, especially as once
in my room for the night there was no
possibility Of getting out Of it, the key
of the door Of the passage not being even
allowed to remain in the lock, but refir-
ing with Jane, the canary cage aad
other valuables into her own apartment.
1 demonstrated, but I soon found that
Jane had not remained unmarried for
nothing. She was decided on the point.
The outer door would be locked rs usual,
and the key would be deposited under
the pincushion in her room as usual, and
it was so.
The next morning, as Jane and / won't
out for a stroll before luncheon, we had
to pass the house to which had driven
by mistake the day before. To our as
tonishment there was a crowd before
the door, and a policeman With his back
to it was guarding the entrance. The
blinds were all drawn down. The image
of the pale, lonely woman sitting by her
little fire, whom had disturbed the day
before, came suddenly back to me with
a strange qualm.
"What is it," / hurriedly asked a
bakers boy who was standing at an
area railing rubbing his chin against the
loaf be was waiting TO deliver. The boy
grinned.
"It's murderT he said, with relish.
burglars in the night. I've supplied
her reg'lar these two months. One quar-
tern best white, one-half quartern brown
every morning, French rolls occasional;
but it's all up now" And he went off
whistling a tune which ali bakers bows
whistled about that time, called MY
Grandfather's Timepiece." or something
similar.
A second policeman came up the street
Mt this moment, and from him learned
MI the little there was to know. The
poor lady had not been murdered. il
seemed, but being subject to heart com
plaint had died in the night Of an acupe
attack, evidently brought on by fright.
The maid, the only other person in the
house, sleeping as maids Of al work only
can, had heard nothing, and awoke in
the morning to find her mistress dead in
her bed, with the window and door open.
Strangely enough, the policeman added,
although nothing in the house had been
touched, the lock of an unused bedroom
had been forced and the room evidently
searched.
Poor Jane was quite overcome. She
seemed convinced that it was only by a
special Intervention of Providence that
she had changed her house, and that her
successor had been sacrificed instead Of
herself.
1T might have been mel" she said over
and over again That afternoon.
Wishing to give a turn to her thoughts
began TO talk about Sir Johns legacy,
in which she had evincod the greatest
interest the night before, and greatly to
her delight showed her the jewels. / had
not looked at them since Sir John had
given them to me, and I was myself as
tonished at their magnihcence as I spread
them out on the table under the gas
lamp.
Jane exhausted herself in admiration
but as l was putting them away again
saying it was time for me to be dressing
and going to meet Carr, who was to join
me at the Criterion, she begged me on
no account to take them with me, affirm
ing that it would be much safer to leave
them at home. was firm, but she was
firmer, and in the end allowed her t
lock them up in the tea caddy, where
her small stock of ready money reposed
Imet Carr as we had arranged anC
we had very pleasant evening. Poo
Carr, who had seen the papers, hat
hardly expected that 1 should turn up
knowing the catastrophe of the previou
night had taken place at the house ] wa
going TO, and was much relieved to hea
that my sister had moved and had TIM
been spared all the horror Of the event
The dinner was good, the play better
Ishould have come home feeling that
had enjoyed myself thoroughly if it ha'
not been for a little adventure with on
cab driver that very nearly proved SER
Gus. We got hanson directly we cam
out of the theatre, but instead of talzin
US to the direction we gave him, afte
we had driven for some distance bega
to make out that the cabman was goin
wrong, and Carr shouted to him to stol
but thereupon he lashed up his hors
and away he went like the winds, up on
street and down another, till l had 10.
all idea where we were. Carr, who wa
young and active, did all he could, br
the cabman, who ! am afraid mus
have been intoxicated. took not tl
slightest notice, and continued drivin
nadly, heaven knows where.
At lest, after getting into a very ding
neighborhood, we turned up a crooke
dark street, unlit by any lamp, stree
so narrow that thought every momeI
the cab would be overturned, In a.