The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1903-09-30

eyes full OF sleep. yet alert and anx
ious to 10 his duty. We all three con
unued progress to the fourth floor.
Arrived in front of No. ODD, we listened
~intently, but we could only hear a faint
occasional groan.
Hes nearly dead" l said. The
no answer. Then he vainly tried to
open the door. The night porter de-
parted and returned with a stout pair
of steel tongs. With these and the nat
ural ingenuity peculiar to hotel porters
he forced open the door, and we enter
ed No. ODD.
A stout, middle aged man lay on the
bed fully dressed IN black. On the
floor near the bed was Il silk hat. AS
we approached the great body seemed
to lutter, and then it lay profoundly
and terribly still. The manager put
his hand on the mans head and held
the glass of his watch to the mans
parted lips.
"He is dead" said the manager.
"H'mp' | said.
I'm sorry you've been put to any
inccryenienc-," said the manager,
"and I'm much obliged to YOU"
The cold but polite tone was a re-
quest to me to re-enter my Owl cham
Der and leave the corpse to the man
ager and the night porter. l obeyed.
what about that MANI l asked the
hall porter early the next, or, rather,
the same, morning. l had not slept a
wink since 3 o'clock, nor had | heard a
sound in the corridor.
what man, sir?' the porter said.
"You KNOW" l returned rather m
grily-"tbe man who died in the night
No. 222."
II assure you, sir" he said. II haven't
the least notion what you mean"
Yet his face seemed as honest and
open as ever.
l inquired at the Office for the mana
ger and after some difficulty saw him
Ill his private Office.
~ thought I'd just see about that
man." l began.
what MANI" the manager asked eX-
actly as the porter had asked.
Look here" l said, as was now
really annoyed; Its all very well Civ
ing instructions to the hall porter, and
l can quite understand you want the
thing kept MS quiet as possible, but l
saw the corpse and was of some assist
ance to you
Excuse me-" said the manager. Ell
Their you or | must he completely mad"
do you mean to say" | remarked,
with frosty sarcasm, that you didn't
enter room 222 with me this morning
at 3 a. m. and find a dead man there?'
II mean to say just that" he an
swered.
"Well'- l got no further. ! paid my
bill and left. but before leaving | went
and carefully examined the door of No.
ODD. The door plainly showed marks
of some iron instrument.
Here" | said to the porter as l de-
parted. Accept this half crown from
me. l admire you"
=
In the curse of my subsequent trav-
els l once more found myself late one
night at the Grand Junction Terminus
hotel.
"Mr. Edge" said the night porter,
i've been looking out for you for
weeks and weeks. The managers com-
pliments, and he would like TO see you
in his room"
Again | saw the youngish, alert man
ager.
"Mr. Edge" he began at once, lit Is
probable that | owe you an apology.
At any rate l think it right to inform
you that on the night of the 9th of No
vember, the year before last, exactly
twelve months before your last visit
here, a stout man died in room No. do
at 3 Il. M. l forgot the circumstance
when you last came to see me in this
ROOM"
ut seems queer" l said coldly, that
you should have forgotten such a cir
cumstance,"
"The fact is" he replied, 81 was not
the manager at that time, My prede-
cessor died two days after the discov-
cry of the corpse in room 222."
"And the night porter-is he, too, a
new man?"
"Yes." said the manager. 1.-THE porter
who, with the late manager, found the
corpse in room 222 is now in Han
well Lunatic asylum"
"Then you think" l said, that l was
the victim of a hallucination on my
previous visit hereY"
ION these matters" said the man
ager, 81 prefer to think nothing