The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1905-09-26

He related the episode to her
father, who scarcely seemed to
comprehend it. Some other thought
was troubling him.
Come with me-" He led the way
to the white and gold room, which
was dedicated to Camilla's use.
Graham expected to see her, but the
place had a troubled and disordered
look.
Mr.. Rathbun pointed to the large
white-paneled folding doors which
secluded this apartment from the
rest of the house, to which, indeed,
it bore little relation.
Look" he said; what do you
see there?"
Kenneth Graham, practical fellow
that he was, felt as if he were los
ing his head. He pulled himself to-
gether with an effort.
"The marks of five dirty fingers,
l should say" he answered.
And there was, indeed, the ap-
pearance of five distinct long dark
lines that appeared on the white
surface of the satin-smoothed ena-
mel, as if the fingers had been alb
normally long and horribly unclean.
"They have been washed off by
the housemaid and have reappeared
always when nobody was in the
room. You know, Graham, am not
a believer in the supernatural, but
how did the finger marks come
there without hands? Tell me
that"
Some one put them there, that
Is certain" said the young man,
boldly. Nothing happens by chance
in this world"
He advanced closely to investi-
gate the marks, and was seized
with giddiness and repulsion that
made him instantly seek the air.
Let me see Camilla" he demand
ed. Have those marks removed,
and, Mr.. Rathbun, set a watch in
that room-someone who will be
prudent and silent"
While Rathbun was attending to
these details Kenneth had his inter-
view with Camilla.
The young man was appalled, at
the change in her. and his thoughts
reverted to that mysterious box. He
asked her about it gently so as not
to startle her, but she had forgotten
or failed to understand him.
But she Historically referred to
the finger marks, ending with a
wild cry of Ghosts! ghosts!
ghosts"
The empty box had been de-
stroyed; the housemaid had burned
it, so that menace was gone.
Meanwhile Camilla was growing
worse, doctors and specialists failed
to help her, and Graham suggested
to her father her removal from the
house.
Everything was ready and Camil-
la was given sleeping draught to
prepare her for the ordeal.
Then her father and her lover sat
near to watch her. The utmost
quiet was observed and she fell into
Tranquil sleep. This was the time
when she was to be taken out to
the carriage in waiting. but the two
watchers, tired from sleepless
nights and anxious days, yielded to
the strange somnolence of the room
and they, too, slept.
Only a second 1t seemed, but
when Graham opened his eyes he
saw that which galvanized him into
a motion sudden and swift as light
ming.
Camilla was in his arms and
borne down the staircase past the
assembled household before her
father saw the awful shape that
sQuatted on her pillow, that had
been within touch of her white
cheek when her lover snatched her,
that fearful death in which madness
lurks-the deadly tarantula.
IT happens to be a scientific fact
that in the immediate presence of
the fatal wolf-spider, as the terror
is called, sympathetic symptoms
develop without the person being
bitten, and recovery follows the re-
moval of the cause.
Mrs. Kenneth Graham Is now a
robust young woman. an acknowl-
| edged power in society, and the idol
of Two men seen with her every
where. her father and her husband.
Thds remember some things which