The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-06-16
The SECRET CHAMBER.

| After the sudden death of Bluebeard,
Mrs. Bluebeard had nerves She had
passed through trying ordeal, and for
| the short while that her own life had
hung by a thread she felt that she had
lived through many years. When the
| excitement attending the funeral OF Blue
beard and his wives had died away
| Sister Anne carried the young widow to
the seashore, and the thoughtful broth
/ ers saw to the overhauling OF the man
sion which had been the scene of so
much tragedy. Strange to say, when they
| sought the Blue Room, behind the doors
Of which Blue6eard had hidden his
| dreadful deeds. like the small boy in the
ballad. 1t wasn't there at ALL
IN amazement they rubbed their eyes.
| and then began search from the found
| atoms of the mansion to the turrets
| which drowned il. But in vain. The
| Blue Room had vanished so completely
| that though these brave men had fought
| and bled to save their sister. they began
| TO doubt that there was such chamber
at all.
| When Fatima returned she found the
place transformed. She did not mourn
very much for Bluebeard, but filled her
home with gay guests. As she was very
young. and very beautiful and very
rich she had many admirers. though,
naturally, she was in no haste TO marry
| again.
1t CHANGED one day that a noble sutton
came riding from the far north. He was
tall and sinewy. with bright, blue eyes
and a handsome. smooth face. and as he
gazed at Fatima he straightway fell in
| love with her.
Fatina knew that she, too. was falling
in love with the stranger. and the sensa-
| ton was an odd one, for even in his
softer moments, Bluebeerd had never
| inspired real affection. For many nights
! Fatima had the most beautiful dreams,
but once she awoke with a start She
thought she heard Bluebeard's terrible
voice which rumbIed like thunder, and
he said:
Let him who dares to take my wife
seek first the Blue Chamber"
All the next day those words kept ring
| ing in her ears, and when her lover came,
demanding an answer to his suit, she
told him OF her dream.
This afternoon then, sweet Fatima,
he said. will we seek the Secret Cham
Der; dead men do not daunt me, and l
will find it before l sleep tonight"
So in the afternoon, accompanied by
his betrothed, and followed by the two
faithful brothers and Sister Anne, the
determined youth set out upon his quest
I'd and down the long corridors, in and
out of the spacious rooms, he led the
way with Fatima OF sudden she stop
ped, and her beautiful face grew pale
Il cannot move" she said, there is
something holding my train"
Sister Anne stopped to look.
ut seems to be a huge nail IN the
floor. Wait, | will draw II out
But it resisted all her strength. and the
two brothers tried, and then the lover
but it still held firm. When Fatima put
her slender hand upon it. II yielded at
once, and she drew it out easily. She
ch axty /
proved to be the very key with which she
had opened the forbidden chamber She
recognized it by the rusty mark, which
had been her undoing.
Fatina put her key through the mas
sive keyhole, and the door opened wide
as If a gust of wind had blown it. A
short fight OF marble steps led down
into the very apartment on the thresh-
old OF which Fatima had stood that
fateful morning and at the foot Of the
steps a. huge and ferocious looking bust
Of Bluebeard had sprung up. A deep
blue light enveloped the place, and a
shudder ran through all who looked
within.
"Oh, do not go down." cried Fatima to
her lover. DO not pass that dreadful
face of nv dead husband and that blue
light--you will never come back to me-
Give me the key" he replied Your
husband may have been terrible in HE
but / do not know fear
The poor lady tremblingly obeyed him,
and il Law for a moment on his broad
palm, while he turned it over and over
as if in thought. Then, of a sudden, he
hurled It with all his great strength full
in the face Of the hateful image. The
key was heavy and the aim true, for
the pedestal tottered and fell with dun
crash. and gradually a beautiful yellow
light chased away the shadows. Blue
boards image lay crumbled into dust
The walls of the secret chamber grew
thinner and thinner. and bits OF the
blue sky peeped through interlacing
branches.
The dreaded spot became bower where
birds nested, and great golden butter
flies sailed in the ambient air. Here the
very next day the happy pair were mar
ried ana from that time until this moth
ing more was seen of the key which had
wrought such mischief.
wrought such Observation-Disclosures In
quirer.