Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-04-28

sion made on me at my first entrance
by this ancient and characteristic arti
Gle Of furniture.
1t was intensified now as my eye ran
over the clumsy carving which added
TO the discomfort of its high, straight
/ back and as / smeiied the smell of its
lnoldy and possibly mouse haunted
cushions A crawling sense of dread
took the place of my first instructive
repugnance, not because superstition
/ had as yet laid Its grip upon he, al
| though the place, the hour and the near
and veritable presence of death were
enough to rouse the Imagination past
the bounds Of the actual, but because
of discovery had made--a discovery
which emphasized the tradition that all
/ who had been found dead under the
! mantel had fallen as If from the end of
| this monstrous and patriarchal bench
/ DO you ask what this discovery was!
/ 1t can be told in word. This one
| end and only this end haG 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 or even
a moment Of casual rest.
The natural inference was that the
owner Of this quaint piece Of furniture
had been very selfish man who
thought only Of his own comfort. But
might he not have had some other rea-
son for his apparent niggardliness
AS asked myself this question and
noted how the long and embracing
arm which guarded this cushioned re-
treat was fiattened on top for the con-
yenient holding of decanter and glass,
feelings to which / can give no name
and which had fondly believed N.Y.
self proof against began to take the
place of judgment and reason. Before
/ realized the nature of my own Inn
pulse or to what it was driving me
found myself moving slowly and stead
lily toward this formidable seat under
down upon these old cushions and
But here the crealling OF some faroff
shutter, possibly the one had seen
swaying from the opposite side of the
street, recalled ne to the duties Of the
hour, and, remembering that my in
vestigations were but half completed
and that might be interrupted any
moment by detectives from headQuar-
tiers, l. broke from the aceursed charm,
which Mortified me the moment ! es-
capped it, and, quitting the room by a
door at the farther end. sought to find
in some. Of the adjacent rooms the def
mite traces l had failed TO discover on
this the actual scene Of the crime.
1t was dismal search, revealing at
every turn the almost mnddened haste
with which the house had been aban-
doned l passed out into the kitchen
and so OH by close and narrow pas
sage to the negro quarters clustered in
the rear. Here l made discovery.
One of the windows in this long dis
used portion Of the house was not only
unlocked, but partly open. But, as I
came upon no marks showing that this
outlet had been used by the escaping
murderer, l made my way back to the
front Of the house and thus to the
stairs communicating with the upper
floor
1t was on the rug lying at the foot Of
these stairs that came upon the first
of dozen or more burned matches
which lay in distinct trail up the
staircase and along the, floors Of the
upper halls. AS these matches were
all burned as short as fingers could
hold them, it was evident that they
had been used to light the steps Of
some one seeking refuge above, posi-
bly, in the very room where we had
seen the light which had first drawn
us to this house. How then? Should
proceed, or await the coming Of the
'boys" before pushing in upon Il pos
sible murderer? decided to proceed,
fascinated, think, by the nicely of
the trail which lay before me.
But when after careful following
in the steps of him who had SO lately
preceded me l came upon d tightly
closed door at the end Of a side pas
sage, gave a slight push to the doc
and, on seeing crack OF light leap into
life along the jamb. pushed the door
wider and wider till the whole room
stood revealed.
The instantaneous banging Of a shut
ter in one of its windows proved the
room to be the very one which we had
seen lighted from below. Otherwise
all was still. nor was able to detect
In my first hurried glance any other
token of human presence than can
die sputtering in its own grease at the
bottom of a tumbler placed on one cor
ner of an old fashioned dressing table.
This, the one touch of incongruity in
a room otherwise rich If not stately in
its appointments, was loud in Its Sug-
gestion of some hidden presence given
to expedients and reckless Of conSe-
quences, but of this presence nothing
was to be seen.
Not satisfied with this short survey,
turned my attention to my surround
ings, which had many points Of inter-
est Foremost among these was the
big four poster which occupied large
space at any right. had never seen its
like in use before, and l was greatly
attracted by its size and the air Of
mystery impaired to 1T by its closely
drawn curtains Of faded brocade.