The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1901-12-07

nearer to it. and then cried out wildly
and dropped the match.
The face was that Of q dead man,
horribly distorted; and 1t. was the face
Of the messenger he had sent into
Rtckerby's Folly-James Holden!
CHAPTER Nv. I
Little Miss Innocent.
Nugent Leathwood was haunted in q
double sense. For the moment he
knew that he was safe; he had public
ly claimed a man as Gilbert Rickerby,
and had buried him under that name;
beyond that, the real Gilbert Rickerby
was hidden away in a cupboard, in that
ghostly house into which no n ever
went. So far, so good; but then the
haunting began.
In the first place, it was absolutely
impossible for him TO knoW what raw
ings the man Probyn, who had died in
the hospital had been guilty of before
his death; what words he might have
let slip which would give the whole
clue to the murder. II only ne could
know what had been said-who had
been with the mar when he died-what
they had found upon him. With the
cowardice5 OF, the. man whose hands are
~sbloocstained he felt that even these
surgeons and nurst.s were capable Of
lying to him, tt entrap him, if possible.
Again, at n time, some man might
spring upon him from nowhere, to de-
mand what had become of Miles Pro-
*byn. Oh, 1t had been a great and splen-
did scheme, to seize upon that one frail
chance Of a d%elirious man dying with
that name upon his lips-to declare that
that man was the n he had muir
dered! That was a stroke of genius;
the world was at liberty to look upon
the tombstone of Gilbert Rickerby,
without knowing what CHASTITY fraud
lay beneath 1t. If only Miles Probyn
was Of little enough Importance not to
be sought after, Nugent Leathwood
was safe.
But, on the other hand, that horrible
thing shut up In the cupboard Of the
empty house haunted him. At night,
when he went out into the old garden
and glanced up at the dark windows.
he could have sworn he saw a horrible,
distorted face passing to and fro be-
hind the glass; yer and over again at
night ne yoke up, with a cry on his
lips. from a dream he had had Of strug-
Cling over the floor with someone and
choking the life out Of him. A. dozen
times hesmade up his mind to flee the
place and have done with it; as many
times he knew that he dared not. be-
cause of the thing that was hidden
there.
Moreover. there was another reason
why he should remain at Rickerby's
Folly; and the reason was, perhaps,
pretty well explained in q conversation
he had with old Cornelius. on the after
noon Of the day on which Gilbert Rick
erby so mysterfously took up his resi-
dence In the deserted house. Nugent
sat alone in q adjoining that in
which he had been on that first night
when the messenger came to him; he
sat alone before the fire, staring mood
lily into 1t and chewing the stump of a
burnt-out cigar. At the very moment
when he was least prepared for any In
terruptionf old Cornelius stood beside
him and laid a hand upon his. shoulder.
Nugent sprang to his feet and struck at
him blindly. overturning the chair on
which he had been sitting; saw who It
was, and tried to laugh. Z
you dodderfng idiot! Why do YOU
creep about5lilSe 9 ghost in that fash
ion, soaring people out OF their wits?
Shout, or dance, or sing. when You en-
ter a room; the place Is quite enough
like a vault without any Of your grave
yard antics. What do you want?"
Cornelius-not In the least disturbed
by the others sonslaught-smiled grim
~, and terkedS his headStn the direction
% the second house. .Yo 'aven't got
kfean Foo - {kS11 ~,xG1 r.J 10 1xoa1 2lS hA4 ou1,oA
"Hush!a" cried the other glancing
TN have no moreSaaid aboutsit? Isn't
- enough that the thing should be with
me, night and day, without your drag
ginlg. It out? Now,acone, Cornelius. We
3sshave got to face. thissthing----to fight Il
out as best we can. The nan IL dead
doubly dead. Thatsidiot, Probyn, stuck
8hintself in the wayssanid 3 = what he de-
ISserved; he's buried underaa moresre-
Spectacle name than heseverl' bore ~ HE
life:s The real we've got to ld1lp
that's the next. thing tossbs
Isdone,,' said Cornelius, scratching his
chin and glancing out fs oreSeyes atShi
master. You see. you can't goaa-leaY-
An,%dead folk stuck boutsthe44,,ons YOU
issneyeT know what may sappen. Then,
itheresss the GEL. 4ssSs:
replied Nugent, SLOWLY. 2sIsm
fsthinkiisg Of the girl. It'll sseverY-
thing-4-the reason for thtsss1mianssshde death
-~theSrseason for whatever dapgerathere
may ~ In II for sus. N0w,TSletsslis look
a4tsthles thing fairly andscaslmtIH In4SthNs
arst place. who is to suspectSuisg3ssg@sH5sS
ssGssIThaksg the second tiuaNe ;ssssa
neliass :syeith much gravity.sssthAtssyy6n.Ks
sllekIsssso u.s. don't slikesttIry
s1guuigIeat Leathwood twistsslSasasttpSGfniIdd1sAi a
4 HI cita IL and looked III SsIIal1ila
NtranGr4IysS ss ss lMM5sEs@ s%sss saesSt
lltHt hessasksd. DO yoIlHHbaakaAs6ltIn
on |ma$SsSGoms---o WITH I'll q e.
tAsssEssa - a. q my Z ssgs