The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1903-10-30
Beyond the
Pale Of the
- - w sss BY III. A.
BRUCE
By ii. A.
BRUCE
Copyright, 1908, bv It. c. Mcclure

'Jasper MathieSOn. that | had inherited
goodly sum from Miss Rebecca Aims.
worth. | could not help breathing a
sigh of relief Death had at last loosed
my tongue enaSling me to make public
the Facts concerning mystery of years
long ago.
one May morning some thirty years
ago Henry Ainsworth. the wealthy an
uquary, was found foully done TO
death i'm his bed There were living In
the house at the time three persons be-
sides the victim-Rebecca Ainsworth.
the antiquary's maiden sister. spin
ster OF fifty years; an old butler and .
maid servant As a professional de.
tective my first care was to interrogate
these carefully.
Neither Of the servants had heard n
sound on the night of the murder. Both
had retired at II o'clock, about an
hour after the master Of the house had
sought his couch and both had slept
peacefully until o'clock when they
had been awakened by a shrek from
Miss Ainsworth
That lady testified that she and her
brother had remained I'm the library
until 10 O'Clock, At that hour her broth
or babe her good night. and they went
10 their rooms Miss Ainsworth further
Informed me that she had slept I'M
I'll nearly 6 O'Clock. when, as was her
custom. she dressed and went to knock
on her brothers door, for ne also was
an early riser. Rappng two or three
times and receiving no reply, she open
ed the door and was so alarmed M
what she saw that she uttered the cry
which startled the servants
Mr.. AinSWorth had been stabbed by
dagger, one of set of oriental wcap-
ons he had collected while on a tour OF
the east Ihe murderer must have
been in the library to have obtained it.
and 10 the library we accordingly went.
1t was high. oak paneled chamber,
only called library by courtesy.
There were a few books in evidence,
but most of the space was filed with
wonderful and curious objects ON Il
small table in an alcovc were several
skulls labeled and ticketed marking
every stage in evolution. from the era
mum of Il Patagonian TO that Of a IA
nous scholar. The oakcn walls were
covered with weapons. primitive me-
diRval and modern. Ranged under q
lofty mantel stood four baskets con-
tanning mummies from Egypt I'm
ages from IIindoo, Aztec, Burmese and
Chinese temples were scattered about
the room.
What especially impressed me was
an image about four feet and half
high, apparently Of some dull bronze
marble. Its hands were folded placid
~ on its breast, but the features form
ed terrible contrast to the repose OF
the figure. The eyes were wide open
and bore an expression Of intense hate.
The upper lip was raised in a snarling
fashion, disclosing fanglike teeth. The
nostrls were dilated. one could not
repress a shudder while gazing on this
silent statue. N
Miss AinSWOrth inSrmed mo that ii
was not really a statue. as | had sup
posed, but petriied man the body OF
an old HindOo fakir unearthed 10y her
brother while engaged on some eXcava-
tons in India. The antiquary had
told her that he had Struggled it out of
the country, as the natives vcDeratcd
il as a god and had threatened his life
if he disturbed it,
Wilkie Collins story Of "The Moon
stone" flashed into my mind as heard
this. Al once | formed the theory that
possibly some superStitious IIindoo had
murdered the antiquary. the object
being to recover the petrifed man and
take him back TO India.
q g..C
was volunteered by Miss Ainswor'h
who told me that about 3 O'Clock the
morning after the murder she hpd en-
tered the library and had observed
smear Of blood on the mouth of the i'm
age Neither of the two windows in the
library had been found open, and the
door was shut as usual.
At Miss Ainsworth's solicitation |
consented to sleep in the house. After
dinner in the evening | made my way
to the library, where l enjoyed per
fecto and spent two hours examining
the curios.
/ was about TO go to my room when
! was startled by hearing a low hiss
ing noise, like a long drawn sigh The
sound seemed 10 come from the image,
and l at once conceived the idea that
this was hollow and that a man might
be hidden I'm ii. | tried 10 move the
pedestal. but could not. The thought of
a secret entrance into the room then
occurred to me, and / tapped all over
the panneling, but everything sound
ed true. Balled. | stood i'm the center
Of the room and gazed slowly around.
While not supcrstitious, l confess l
experienced an uneasy feeling as |
stood in that silent chamber | was con
WINGED that the key TO the riddle OF
Henry Ainsworths death was conceal
ed i'm the room, and | decided that it
was my duty to spend the night there
and to keep wide awake.
/ lighted fresh cigar. picked up a
book oddly enough Mrs. Groves
might Side Of Nature'O and composed
myself to read Enthralling as the vol
ume was | soon found my interest in it
aa~gfnp Vet | did NOT fall 9slppp-