The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-12-10
The de.c ctive locks the
dcsF of the old m ans on

/ p~'lh'''t \
showed for this same library? Though
( he would live in no other house, he
( would not enter that room nor look at
the gloomy settle from which the gen
eral had fallen to his death. The place
was virtually tabooed, and, though as
the necessity arose it was opened from
time to time for great festivities, the
shadow it had acquired never left it,
and my father hated its very door un-
til he died Is 1t not natural that his
daughter should share this feeling?
cit was, and 1 said SO, but I would
say no more, though she cast me little
appealing looks which acquired an
eerie significance from the pressure Of
her small fingers on my arm and the
wailing sound of the wind which at
that moment blew down in one gust,
scattering the embers and filing the
house with banshee calls. I simply
kissed her and advised her to 60 back
with me to England and forget this old
house and all it's miserable memories.
For that was the sum Of the comfort
at my poor command When after an
other restless night crept down In the
early morning to peer into the dim and
unused room whose story / had at last
learned. 1 cannot say but that I half
expected to behold the meager ghost
Of the unfortunate general rise from
the cushions of the prodigious bench
which still kept it's mysterious watch
over the deserted hearthstone.'
So much for the passages culled from
the book itself. The newspaper ex-
cerpts. to which I next turned, bore a
much later date and read as follows:
"a strange coincidence marks the
death of Albert Moore in his brothers
house yesterday. He was discovered
lying with his head on the identical
spot where General Lloyd fell forty
years before 1t is said that this sud
den demise of a man hitherto regarded
as a model of physical strength and
endurance was preceded by a violent
alteration with his elder brother. If
this is so. the excitement incident upon
such a break in their usually pleasant
relations may account for his sudden
death. Edward Moore, srho Nnfortu-
nGtely Nds out Of the room srhen his
brother succumbed-s0me say that he icds
in his grGHdfdfher's room abore-was
greatly unnerved by this unexpected
end to what was probably merely a
temporary quarrel, and now lies in a
critical condition.
1.-THE relations between him and the
deceased Albert had always been OF
the most ami.able character until they
unfortunately fell in .love with the
same woman"
Attached-to this was another slip, ap-
parently from later paper.
1.-The quarrel between the two broth
ers Moore, just prior to the younger'S
death, turns out to have been of a
more serious nature than was first sup
posed. 1t has since leaked out that an
actual duel was fought at that time
between these two on the floor of the
old library and that in this duel the
elder one was wounded. Some even
so so far as to affirm that the lady's
hand was to be the reward of him who
drew the first blood. 1t is no longer
denied that the room tcdS in great dis
order chen the servants first rushed in
at the sound he made IL falling. Every
thing movable had been pushed back
against the wall and an open space
cleared, in the center of which could be
seen one drop of blood. What is GER
tain is that Mr.. Moore is held TO the
house By something even more serious
than his deep grief. and that the young
lady Who was the object Of this fatal
dispute has left the city
Pasted under this was the following
short announcements:
Married. on the 21st of January, at
the American consulate in Rome, Italy,
Edward Moore of Washington, ID. c.,
United States of America, to Antoi-
nette Sloan, daughter of Joseph Dewitt
Sloan. also OF that city
With this notice my interest in the
book ceased, and 1 prepared to step
down from the chair on which 1 had
remained standing during the reading
of the above passages.
As | did so / spied a slip OF paper
lying on the floor at my feet. AS it had
not been there ten minutes before there
could be no doubt that it had slipped
from the book whose leaves had been |
turning over so rapidly. Fastening TO |
recover it. l found 1t to be a sheet OF
ordinary note paper partly inscribed |
with words in q neat and distinctive |
handwriting. This was a great find. |
for the paper was fresh and the hand I
writing one which could be readily |
identified. What / saw written there |
was still more remarkable 1t had the |
look OF some Of the memoranda I had |
myself drawn up during the most per |
picking mements OF this strange case. |
I transcribe it just as il read:
I'VE have here two separate accounts /
OF how death comes to those who /
breathe their last on the ancestral |
ef the Moorv house library. |