The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1905-05-10
The dead bride

was to emphasize rather than detract
from the extreme desolation OF the
great room. The settle was a fixture.
as afterward found and was almost
the only article of furniture to be seen
on the wide expanse Of uncarpeted
floor There was table or two in bic.
ing somewhere amid the shadows at
the other end from where ! stood aud
possibly some kind Of stool or settee
but the general impression made upon
me was that cf completely disman.
tied place given over TO moth and rust.
The elegance OF the hn.vily succeed
ceiling. admitted TO be one of the finest
specimens OF its kind IN Washington.
as we'll as the richness of the carvings
ornamenting the mantel OF Italian
marble rising above the accursed
hearthstone, only served TO make more
evident the extreme neglect into which
the rest Of the room had sunk Being
anything but anxious 20 subject myself
further 10 its unhappy influence and
| quite convinced that the place was in
deed as empty as II looked turned to
leave when my eyes fell upon some
tking so unexpected and so extraordi-
nary, seen as x was under the inau
ence OF the old tragedies with which
| my mind was necessarily full. that
paused baked in my advance and well
nigh uncertain whether | looked upon
a real thing or on some strange ard
/ terrible fantasy Of my aroused imagi'
nation.
A form lay before me. outstretched
on that portion OF the Goor which had
hitherto been hidden from me by the
half open door-a woman's form.
which even ia that FIRST casual look
impressed itself upon me as one of
aerial delicacy and extreme refine
ment and this form lay as only the
dead lie: the dead And ! had been
+, looking AT the hearthstone for just
such picturel No not just such a
picture for this woman lay face upper
most. aud. on the door beside her was
blood
A hand had plucked my sleeve. II
was Hibbards. Startled by my i'm
| mobility and silence, he had stepped in
with quaking members, expecting he
hardly knew what But no sooner did
his eyes fan on the PROSTATE form
which held me spellbound than an un.
foreseen change took place in him
What had unnerved me. restored him
10 fun self possession, Death ia this
shape was familiar TO him He had nc
fear OF blood He did not show sur
prise at eucountering 1t. but only al
the effect IL appeared 70 produce on me
shot" was his laconic comment as
be bent over the PROSTATE body. "shoi
through the heart She must have
died before she fell"
Shotl
That was a new experience for this
rlom. No wound had ever before dis
hgured those who had fallen here MOI
had any Of the previous victims beer
found lying on any other spot than the
one over which that huge settle KEEP
guard AS these thoughts crossed my
mind I instinctiveiy glanced again to
ward the fireplace for what / almos
refused 10 believe lay outstretcbed al
my feet When nothing more ap
peared there than thai old seat Of siu
lister memory. I experienced a thrill
which poorly prepared me for the crs
which LOW heard raised By Hibbard
Look here What do you make o.
thist"
He was pointing 70 what upon closel
Inspection. proved % be q strip 0
white satin ribbon rlnning from onl
= ol the deliclte wrists of the SRI befan
~ ihe handle oi pi4iol which AZ,