The Weiser semi-weekly signal. (Weiser, Washington Co., Idaho) 1904-1911, 1904-06-25

In the steps Of him who had SO lately
preceded me ! came upon tightly /
closed door at the end Of side pas
sage, gave slight push to the door
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 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 cam
die sputtering in its own grease at the
bottom of tumbler placed on one cor
ner of an old fashioned dressing table
This. the one touch Of incongruity In
room otherwise rich If not stately ID
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, l
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 my right. had never seen its
like In use before, and / was greatly
attracted by its size and the air &c
mystery impaired to it by its closely
drawn curtains Of faded brocade.
A dressing table laden with woman's
fxings and various articles Of the tot
let, all of an unexpected value and
richness, occupied the space between
the two windows. and on the floor. i'm
medintely in front Of high mahogany
| mantel, there lay, amid q number OF
| empty boxes, an overturned chair.
This chair and the conjectures its po-
sition awakened led me to look up at
the mantel, with which it seemed to
be in some way connected, and thus
became aware of wan old drawing
hanging on the wall above 1t. Why
this picture, which was totally unin-
teresting sketch Of q simpering girl
face, should have held my eye after
the first glance cannot say even now
1t had no beauty, even of the sentimen
tai kind, and very little if any mean
ing. It's lines, weak at the best, were
nearly obliterated and in some places
quite faded out, yet not only paused
to look at it, but in looking at it forgo
myself and well nigh my errand. Yc
there was no apparent reason for thu
.. spell It exerted over me.
1t may seem both unnecessary ant
. out of character for man of my call
ing to acknowledge these chance sen
sations, but only by doing 30 can &c
count for the minutes which elapse'
: before l summoned sufficient self pos
I session to draw aside the closed cul
! tains of the bed and take the quic
look inside which my present doubtft
;. position demanded. But, once ! hn
= broken the spell and taken the loo
3 Just mentioned, found my manhoo
return and with it my old ardor Il
clews. The bed held no gaping, cha
e tering criminal yet was it not qui
e empty. Something lay there, and tn
o something, while commonplace in
it self, was enough out of keeping Wi
L the place and hour to rouse my int
!? est and awaken my conjectures.
d was q lady's wrap, so rich In quail
g and of such festive appearance til
e. 1t was astonishing to find it lying In
D. neglected state in this crumbling o
$, house. Though /, know little of t
10 cost of women's garments. / do kno
the value of lace, and this garme
y was covered with it.
70 Interesting as was this find, it W
followed by one still more so. Nestl
:, in the folds of the cloak lay the wit
cred remains of what could only ha
~ been the bridal bouquet. insight
80 now and scentiess, it was once a bef
:, tiful specimen of the florists art. A;
- noted how the main bunch of ros
~, and lilies was connected by long sa
n ribbons to the lesser clusters viii
!. hung from it l recalled with concei'
:. Bile horror the use to which SINH
~ ribbon had been put in the room
- low. In the shudder called up by t
- coincidence l forgot to speculate h
- bouquet carried by the bride CO..
have found its way back to this
"a stairs room when, as all accou
90 agree, she had fed from the parlor
On low without speaking or staying I
the moment she was told of the cat
o+ trophe which had taken place In
sto library That her wrap should be
~. ing here was not strange, but that
ION wedding bouquet
as That it really was the wedding I
in Quet and that this was the room
nv which the bride had dressed for
lis ceremony was apparent TO the n
nlv casual observer. But it became an
9 I tablished fact when In my furl
his course about the room / Glanced
ing handkerchief with the name Verol
the embroidered in one corner.
This handkerchief had an inte
apart from the name on 1t. 1t wa
dainty texture and quite in keepin
far as value went with the other
t-.~x~<.o - de focffdfoHQ QxVnQT