Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-06-15

one-in Washington at least-of Benjamin
Franklin at the court of France; interesting
no doubt in a general way, but scarcely
calculated to hold the eye at so critical an
instant. Neither did the shelf below call
for more than momentary attention, for 1t
was absolutely bare. So was the time
worn, if not blood-stained hearth save fer
the impenetrable shadow cast over it by the
huge bulk Of the great settle standing at
it's edge.
1 have already described the Impression
made on me at my first entrance by this
ancient and characteristic article Of fur
niture.
1t was intensified now as my eye ran over
the clumsy cafving which added to the dis
comfort of Its high. straight back and as
smelt the smell of it's moldy and possibly
mouse-haunted cushions. A crawling sense
or dread took the place of my first instinc
tive repugnance; not because superstition
had as yet laid its grip upon me. although
the place, the hour and the near and verit-
able presence of death were enough t,
rouse the imagination past the bounds of
the actual, but because of a discovery 1
had made-a discovery which emphasized
the tradition that all who had been found
dead under the mantel had fallen as IL
from the end of this monstrous and patri-
archal bench. Do you ask what this dis
covery was? 1t can be told in a word
This one end and only this end had been
made comfortable for the sitter. For
space scarcely wide enough for one, the
seat and back at this special point had
been upholstered with leather, fastened to
the wood with heavy wrought nails. The
remaining portion stretched out bare hard
and inexpressibly forbidding to one who
sought ease there, even a moment of
casual rest. The natural inference was
that the owner of this quaint piece of fur
niture had been a very selfish man who
thought only of his own comfort. But
might he not have had some other reason
for his apparent niggardliness? AS l asked
myself this question and noted how the
long and embracing arm which guarded
this cushioned retreat was flattened on top
for the convenient holding of decanter and
glass, feelings to which can give no name
and which 1 had fondly believed myself
proof against, began to take the place of
Judgment and reason. Before realized the
nature of my own impulse or to what 1t
slowly and steadily toward this formidable
seat, under an irresistible desire to fling
myself down upon these old cushions and
But here the creaking of some far-off
Shutter-poSSibly the one had seen sway
ing from the opposite side of the street.
recalled me to the duties of the hour and
remembering that my investigations were
but half completed and that 1 might be in
terrupted any moment by detectives from
headquarters, l broke from the accursed
charm. which Mortified me the moment /
escaped it, and quitting the room by a
door at the farther end. sought to find in
some OF the adjacent rooms the definite
traces had failed to discover on this the
actual scene of the crime.
1t was a dismal search revealing at every
turn the almost maddened haste with which
the house had beer abandoned. The dining
room especially reused feelings which were
far from pleasant. The table. evidently set
for the wedding breakfast, had been de-