The Indianapolis journal., 1903-01-16
ELIZABETH KENT /
Copyright. 1902. |
by q. Il. Put /
nan's sons
The House Opposite
MYSTER
"A M Us T E X 7:

sured me somewhat by saving that he did
not believe any one would think of the key
TIL evening. Still, it advisable TO
run as few risks as possible / decided TO
make another attempt as soon as the men
returned TO their work. Peeping through
crack OF our door. L waited till the coast
was clear before venturing out. After ring
ing the elevator bell l walked boldly for
ward. and had already stretched out my
hand towards the keyhole when a queer
gratlng noise made me pause. telltale
boot was thrust suddenly out, and TO my
horror l discovered that man was stand
ing directly behind the door, busiy scrap
ing OH the old paint. The narrowness OF
my escape made me feel quite faint An
other moment. and the click of the lock
would nave betrayed me, and then-but
could not indulge in such conjectures.
swallowing my disappointment, got into
the lift There was no help for II; dared
not try again till later in the day. In the
meantime L decided to do some shopping,
as L wanted TO be able to give that an
excuse for my prolonged stay in town.
After spending several hours in this way
concluded that l might again make an ef-
fort TO replace the key, and this time was
successful, for. although l met one of the
workmen, yet L am sure he had not noticed
that had been fumbling with the lock. L
found Mr.. Norman, on my return, as calm
ana cheerful as ever. He urged me not TO
stay In the apartment, and, although L felt
ashamed to leave him to face the situation
alone yet the place was so dreadful to me
that L yielded to my fears and his en-
treaties, and went out again and wandered
no longer dared to remain out alone. 1t is
impossible for me to describe the ensuing
evening. We sat together in the kitchen,
as being the spot farthest from the tragedy.
AT first we tried to talk, but the hours
| crept by we grew more and more taciturn.
We had decided that at o'clock we would
attempt our grewsome task, for that is the
time when the world sleeps most soundly.
Mr.. Norman suggested that / should muf-
f1e myself up as much possible so that
/ In case we were discovered / might yet es-
| cape recognition, or, what would be even
| better, observation. / therefore put on a
dark shirtwaist 1 found hanging in my
closet, drew on pair Of black gloves to
| prevent my hands attracting attention, and
tied up my hair in black veil, which L
| could pull down over my face in case of
| emergency. Two o'clock at last struck.
| We immediatey-but why linger over the
grewsome details of what occurred during
the next fifteen minutes? Fortunately. no
the landing with our burden, and we man.
aged to get back to the shelter of our four
walls unobserved. AS we stood for a mo-
ment in the hall congratulating ourselves
on having got rid Of the body so success
fully, l noticed long, glittering object ly-
ing at my feet Bending down, picked it
with a shudder. Mr.. Norman asked me
again and examined it closely. Where is
the head of this pin?' he asked. / had no
| idea. L remembered that it had been
broken off in my hand as wrenched it out
OF the body, and thought that in all prob
ability 1t still lay somewhere in THE draw
ing room unless 1T had been carried else
| where by the same chance which had
! swept its other part into the hall. Mr..
| Norman looked very grave when he heard
| of this loss, and said he would look for it
! Immediately. He insisted, however, on my
going to my room and trying to get some
sleep. But sleep was, OF course, out of the
| stairs TO bid my kind friend goodbye. We
| had concluded that at that hour he could
easily leave the building unobserved.
hnd N 1nr inc n
| thought the time for my release had come
| the janitor brought me request a COM
mand, rather, from the coroner to the eff
| feet that was to remain on the premises
| till he had seen me. If McGorry had not
been so excited himself he must have no.
ticed my agitation, for jumped at once to
| the conclusion that my secret was discov-
cred. Luckily / had time enough before
was finally called to regain my self-posses-
| sion and to decide how had better behave
| so as to diSSipate suspicion, even if it had
already fastened upon me. / knew that to
show too much emotion would be fatal.
| must try and prove to them that / was not
/ particularly affected by the sight OF the
| corpse, and yet must be careful not to go
| TO the other extreme and appear callous.
How could do this? Had enough self
control to risk raising my veil when / en-
tered the room where the dead man lay?
| If 1 did this and showed calm grave face
/ believed it would go far towards estab-
| who would be watching me. And / think L
| did hide my agitation till the detective
asked me a question I was quite unpre-
pared for
You did, indeed 1 assured nei.
when the ordeal was at last over and
Mr.. Merritt had handed ne into a cab
really thought that L had allayed all sus-
picion. On arriving at Thirty-fourth-street
| ferry / was detained by collision which
had occurred between two vehicles, and. as
/ was afraid of missing my train, jumped
| out in the middle of the street. AS / was
paying my fare another hanson dashed up
| and 1 saw the man who in it making
desperate efforts to attract the drivers at
| tention. Having at last succeeded in doing
so, the horse was pulled up on its launches
| and the man sprang out, knocking against
me as he did so. He apologized profusely,
| and L noticed that he was an insignificant
looking person, gentleman's servant, per-
haps, and thought no more about him. 1
did not see him on the ferry. but after 1
| had taken my seat in the cars | turned
around and saw that he was sitting almost
| directly behind me. 1t then occurred to
me that 1 ought to have telegraphed to my
| mother and asked her to send the carriage
to meet me. ! looked at my watch. The
train would not start for six minutes
| got off and hurried towards the telegraph
| office, but, catching sight of the station
| clock, l saw that my watch had been slow
| and that / had barely time to regain my
seat Turning abruptly around, i almost
ran into mans arms. | started back and
| recognized, to my surprise, the same fellow
| l had already noticed twice before. / then
made up my mind that he was following
me. / jumped on to the last car and stood
|
the man appeared. Seeing me, he hurried
forward. but had found out what L want
| ed to know
Il walked back to my seat outwardly
| calm, but inwardly prey to the most
| dreadful emotions. What could / do?
| Nothing. On arriving at my destina ton
the fellow also alighted, and as | drove
home felt he was still following me. After
that. knowing that | was being shadowed,
/ had not a moments peace. L dared not
go beyond the gate. / dared not roam
around the garden. 1 hardly knew what
feared, for, of course, they could have ar
rested me as easily IN the house as outside.
At last | could bear the strain no longer
and sent for Mr.. Norman. His presence
gave me a wonderful sense of security and,
days, L really began to hope that the Rose
mere tragedy would always remain a mys-
terry, when, picking up the paper one morn
ing. i read that wretched Frenchman was
suspected of the-the death. OF course,
there was nothing else for me to do; | must
give myself up. Then you, doctor, sug-
gested that it might not be necessary, after
all-oh, you gave that advice quite uncon-
scously. i knew that. But when you told
me that the man Argot was hopelessly in
sane and would In any case spend the rest
of his days i'm a lunatic asylum / wondered
if the sacrifice of my life were indeed de-
man6ed. At any rate, | felt / must go to
| New York. SO as to be hand In case
watch developments. You can now under
stand why / begged you so hard to per-
suade mamma to bring me here. When |
had at last induced you AL to let me come
/ went out for q walk and was terribly
frightened by tramp whom / mistoOk for