Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1902-04-18
CHAPTER v.

OaAfl Eh v.
There was general commotion at
that end of the table where / sat,
when Netley made his amazing state
ment. Most of the people near,
though, took it for granted that he
had been dreaming. Others thought
he had been the victim of a practical
joke.
why, what should they murder
| you for?" asked one.
SHOW us your. wounds, Netley!"
cried another.
But the young man took no notice
of these remarks. Seating himself be-
| side me. in "a chair which some one else
gave up to him, he gave me an account
of his alleged adventure.
II wasn't asleep, tell you,' said he,
| impressively, ina low voice, not deign-
ing to take the general public into his
| confidence on "a matter concerning
which they We're unsympathetic. II
was as wide awake as am now. / al
ways bot my door at night, and l had
fastened iii as usual before getting into
my berth. ! was just thinking had
made a great change for the better,
for liked your cabin very much, when
heard some one gently trying the
door from the outside. I listened again
to be quite sure, and then it came into
my head that it must be you; that you
had forgotten something you wanted,
and had come back to get it.
$50 jumped out, went to the door,
| , , u II
lily opened it when man dashed in
quickly and seized me where stood.
I yelled out: Who are you?' But
hadn't the presence of mind to do any
thing but just cry out. The moment
1Ispoke the man let me go, and was out
of the cabin as quickly as he had come
into it. There! What do you think of
/ that?'
II think you ought to have rung the
bell for the steward" replied, prompt
ly.
why, so did, of course" said Net
ley, impatiently, land told him what
had happened; and all the satisfaction
! got was that the fellow looked as If
he didn't believe me. He said he had
passed the door himself only q few mo-
ments before, and had seen nobody
about"
i confess felt very much Of the
same opinion as the steward that Net
/ ley had been the victim of his own
imaginings, especially as, although he
i declared himself actually seized by
this mysterious individual, he could
give no account whatever of the in
truder's height, breadth or dress. All
that he could say was that the hands
which had, seized him must have been
very cold, for they struck chill into
him through the sleeves of his pa
jamas.
So reasoned with him. If any per-
son had come to the cabin in the way
he described, it could only be through
one of two things-either that he had
mistaken it for another or that he
was a thief who had come for the pur
pose of robbery. In the former case
of an accidental visit, the intruder
would have apologized and explained;
while in the latter case, would-bt
thief would either not have entered al
all when he found the occupant on the
alert, or else on selling Netley he
would have stified his cries and made
at least an attempt to carry off some.
thing. 1t was absurd to suppose that
he would have allowed himself to be
let in, and even seized the occupant OF
the cabin, and then suddenly have
made off at the first sound of his voice
Neuey's face assumed puzzled ex.
preston.
ut does seem odd" he admitted
"but 1t is as tell you. / swear It,"
And not all the chaff he received
that day would alter his opinion or his
determination not to sleep in my cabir
4 again,
"Very WE'LL" said 1, with shrug Of
the shoulders, whenI had done my best
to prove to him that he must be al
right as long as he kept his door bolt
ed; II shall be very glad to get bach
to my own cabin, for / like it better
s than yours"
Perhaps the man came to me in mis-
take for you,' suggested Netley sud
denly.
Breakfast was over, and pretty big
group of us had collected round Netley
J on deck, delighted to get something
fresh to talk about, though nobod,
put much faith in what was already go
ing by the name of "Net,ey's phantom
laughed.
"Weil, if he comes again, shall b,
ready for him. I've got areyolver Will
me; and if you see ghost walking
about on the following day with ,
couple of bullet holes in him you'll
/. know how they came there"
A deep voice, speaking in a peremp
tory tone, struck into theconversation
1t was Dick Mullion's.
"You couldn't do that" said he
briefly.
'Why couldn't II" retortedI.
Because, if you killed the man, i
/ would be murder none the less it h
were attempting to rob YOU
Now, nothing in this world had bee
further from my thoughts than t.
connect young Mullion with Netley'
absurd story. But when saw hoy
desperately earnest his tone was, an
that his dark complexion had change
to a livid color, an uncanny though
darted into my head hat made me fee
quite sick. 1t was few moments be
fore could answer him. Then ! sale
without looking him in the face:
II think the modern idea of the sane
tity of human lifein all circumstance
4 Il