Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-03-10

treasure would explain these lnCeSSnnt
attempts upon the house Itself or the
insistent efforts to take 1t out of my
hands? And whit again but treasure
could supply SO natural key to old
kestevsn's death and his mysterious
secret? II seemed to me. too. that up
IN this hypothesis several facts hither-
10 nexplcable might be referred to
reason The ccccntrcity of my host In
hoos,ns me for his heir became not 80
much mn eccentricity rs Il studious
piccc Of policy. He was In the general
eriict. devoid Of living relatives. and
mad so long fallen out OF the world ~ to
be practically frlcndless He had made
lp his miild to my honesty. possibly to
my capablity. and was resolved to
trust me- II this were so. as saw 1t
now, the making of the will had been
an inevitable act in the game he in
tended to play.
could not imagine that he had fore
seen his sudden death, yet with his
knowledge That he had nm orgnnlc dis
case II was wise to take pinctual pre-.
cautions. 1t was probable also that
the news he had evidently received
upon the morning of that fatal day
had conduced to his visit to the lawyer,
l was to be admitted to his confidence.
Twice he had been interrupted In the
very nick of his narrativc--the second
time by the interposItion Of Death
himself. In these considerations my
thoughts were naturally drawn to the
events Of that evening. Why had kes'
teven retired to his room? Obviously
there was n connection between his er-
rand and the sheet Of parchment which
l had detached from his clutch.
/ opened my dispatch box nnd spread
out the paper on the table once more,
porting over 1t with my pulse throbblng
to my finger tips. The meaning was
now plain, though the main secret was
yet to find. The parchment was clear
ly the second sheet only Of the docu.
ment which Mr.. Kesteven had desired
to bring down for my perusal. sat up
at a new and more alarming discovery
Where was the FIRST sheet?
That open window now offered up Its
secret. That desperate cry was no
longer now the scream of mortal ago.
ny, but an appeal for help. From tho
dead fingers I had taken the second
sheet OF the mysterious document, 80
pre@"ant with interest, but from the
hands Of the living could not doubt
that the first had been violently torn In
the course Of struggle In that silent
chamber. Terror had surprised the ras-
cal at his work--the terror OF that sud.
den and fearful dissolution, of that
bumped and pitiful body fallen on tho
floor. And here now with two ends Of
the secret. whatever 1t might br rent
asunder and secluded In separate
hands, the hoard OF treasure still lay
buried in Its ancient hiding place as In.
tact and private as It had lain maybe
through hundreds of years of silence.
My riddle was read. That certainly
was great step, and In the heat Of
my discovery, as sat palpitating with
strange emotions Of adventure, avarice,
even of ferocity, had no intention to
leave the matter where 1t stood. was
resolved to confront fate and to enter
the lists against those undetermined
enemies. So far they had kept very
silent, working only in the dark, but I
swore then and there to meet them,
drag them forth into the broad daylight
and contest my rights In the hidden
treasure. If 1t existed. against dozen
sorry knaves am patient man
and not overquick to take resolution.
but l do not easily lay down task
which have once undertaken. l
swore upon the spot to undertake this.
In the circuit Of my fancy I came
uddenly upon this consideration, which
pulled ME up quite sharply, even with
little breathlessness. These unknown
antagonists were still banded in arms
against me, and I was alone had
had repeated evidence that was pur-
sued by their ingenuity and In two
ways. On the one hand / was to be
evicted from my own house, and stimuli.
taneously my bureau was rifled, as
could not now doubt, for the purpose of
securing my remnant of the precious
document What would be the next
step which these insolent tricksters
would essay? had no one in the cas-.
tie beyond the estimable Mrs. Main
and neat housemaid, neither of whom
was to be counted in warfare such
as the situation promised to my imagi.
nation.
The one man that was daily visible
about the place slept at Llanellan, az
Mr.. Kesteven had informed me. What
puzzled me at this point was the isola.
ton in which my host had enwrapped
himself. He had taken no pains to
protect himself. Exposed, as he must
have known he was. to the treachery
of an INSCRIPTIONS foe, he was thrown
absolutely upon his own resources I'M
less indeed he relied upon the near
proximity of Hood in times Of emer
gerlcy. But Hood perplexed me. re-
curing in my thoughts, a haunting fig.
ure, provoking only vague uneasiness
and great uncertainty. And once
again the odd conjunction Of the cap
tain and the innkeeper returned before
my eyes. One thing was certain to
my newly awakened wits must
have some companion In my conf
denec There we're several friends
among my old acQuaintalA,es who
would serve me, but the year was
dra wine an md tho holiday season was