The suburban citizen., 1900-02-03
DURING THE NIGHT
n Narrowing PrediCdment.
BY Neil wynn Wnliams.

There's an escape of gas. The house
is full of it. Are you there? Do you
hear? There's an escape of gas--!"
No answer, but again the dog
howled, and again I felt a nervous
ness come over me as L entered the
room to feel for the bed, and found it
empty. In and out of the walled
blackness, to another room and an
other-empty. Then up the stairs,
to right and left, and back again
nobody.
Down and down through the dark
ness, the ghost Of light in a hall glass,
with here stumble and there a
stumble--to the basement, warm and
odoriferous with kitchen odors tainted
with gas. Verily-I and only l was
in the house, Sud lenlY the dog
ceased to howl, and 1 heard the drip
ping of a watertap--drip, drip, drip.
Aud with the fall of the water came
to me measure of time, and 1
thought again. "What does it mean,
this empty, black house? Why IS
this sitting gas seething around me,
and only me? Ali there is foul
evil in the night-away and out, out
of the house"
With a rush, I fought my way up
step and step to the hall above, and
groped toward the dim light shining
pallidly through marrow glass win
dow above the door. "Will it be
locked?" / thought fearfully to my
self. els there not something fol-
lowing on my track?" L turned the
handle and pulled it feroely toward
me. The door yielded and L rushed
into the open.
Anything wrong, sir?" aud with
the words came q broad flash of light
which, settling momentarily on my
face, dropped as quickly to my bare
feetand back again. Anything wrong,
sir?" aud the voice drew closer, the
light flashing past me into the dark
hall behind. Then the outline of q
helmet and cloak loomed darkly upon
me, and 1 found my voice in the pres.
ence of constable of the law.
eyes; the house is full of gas,
and-they've gone. j might have
been sufocated; perhaps they wanted
to suhocate me. I don't kuow-I---"
"Who've gone? What's their
name?" the constable interruted alb
ruptly,
"The landlady-the landlord-the
daughter. / don't know their names,
but look here, constable" and pro-
ceeded to give my late experience"
to him in woof of words.
The man evidently did not know
what Interpretation to place upon
either me or my story land small won
der, [ hardly knew myself, but, ex-
tinguishing bis lantern, proposed that
we research the house together. This
we did carefully and cautiously At
the initial stage of our exploration
we, or rather he, discovered that the
hall gas burner was turned on full and
the gas issuing from it at a high
pressure. might have been blown
ont by the draught," suggested the
constable as he turned into the sitting
room, which L had already searched,
and threw open the windows to
sweeten the atmosphere. Eyes, it
might" / assented, Especially if they
left by the hall door, which, blythe
by, was unbolted when came down
stairs"
But to make long story a short
one-there was nobody in the house.
Not living thing, with the exception
of dog chained up in the backyard,
which was surrounded, so far as we
could see, by high walls. This was
the poor brute whose mournful howl
ing had first aroused me, and that
now seemed frantic with Joy at the
delusive prospects of social termina-
tion to his gloomy reflections. With
the discovery of the dog and the yard
our search ended, and the constable
intimated to me that he should sum-