Wallowa chieftain. [volume] (Joseph, Union County, Or.) 1884-1909, 1902-04-03
CHAPTER wv

To-day i Wet e soaking. steady down
pour -1at commenced az early dawn =
~. rendering m.>e-a ule the shruBue-y
and gardens
Vera, depressed by the melancholy %
The day, has east her book aside. and.
with s. certainty OF meeting nobody il
the empty rooms and corridors, wauders
alm.ess.y throughout their dTea-y length
and breadth. These rooms are well
known 10 ne-. and presently wea-yiu- ot
rhem she turns aside and rather tim!dly
pushes open huge. faded. balze-covered
door that leads she scarcely knows with
e.. She pushes il back and looks eagerly
inward
Il Is not an apartment, after all. 4
long, low, vaulIed passage reveals itSeli,
only dimly lighted by 6 painted window
al the lower end. II appears 10 be &
completely bare passage. leading no
where; but presently. as she runs her
eyes along the eastern wall, door meets
them. al old Oaken door, iron-clasped
and literally hung with cobwebs.
Curiosity grows strong within he-.
Catching the ancient handle Of Ihis door,
mere brass ring sunk in the woodwork,
she pushes against il with all her might.
In vain. But not deferred. she pushes
again and again; and at the last t-ial OF
her strength sharp Souud-a ring OF
I something b-azeu falling on q stone floor
crashes with q quick. altogether as
founding noise upon the tomblike silence
I that nils the mysterious passage.
Al the same moment the door gives
way, and she. unexpectedly yielding with
Z il, steps hurried!y forward into e dark
and Grewsome hole.
The poverty OF the light has perhaps
dimmed her sight, because after q little
while z shadow on the opposite wall,
| that resolves itself into an opening. be.
| comes known 10 her. II is not g door.
( rather z heavy hempen curtain, and now.
/ resOlute!y determined 10 90 through with
her adventure, she advances toward il,
I pulls il aside. and finds herself face TO
face with Gregory Dysart.
/ He is on his knees, next that peculiar
/ cabinet described in an earlier chapter,
+ and as he lifts mis- head upon her en-.
/ trance, g murdeTous glare. as OF one
hunted, desperate, comes into his curious
eyes.
The side Of the cabinet is lying wide
open. and, a he involuniarily moves, the
/ chink Of golden coins falling one upon
another alone breaks the loud silence tina,
/ oppresses the atmosphere In his hand
he is holding an old and yellow parch,
ment
Il am sorry" murmurs Vera. terri
hed; Il did not know: i
What brought you here, girl-here
where l believed myself safe: Go. go
;nere is nothing-nothing I tell you
they lied TO you If they told you any,
thinE-go, I say
He has entirely lost his self-possession
and is still kneeling on the foor. now
hugEinG, now trying TO hide beneath hin
the paper he holds with his sinewy ner
vous fingers. Go, 20. go"' he shrieks
beside himself. He is in & perfect fren
zy; all dignity Is gone; 10 the girl stand
ing trembling there it is a loathsom,
sight 10 see this old man on the brink OF
the grave thus crouching. abased. dishon
Z ured.
II am going" she says. family. She
is ghastly pale: the sight % him in hi:
horrible fright, cringing thus upon tbs
ground, has 50 unnerved her that she &C
tually grasps al the curtain for support
TO be continued