Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1906-03-15


| isn't gone, sir"
"But he is" said Sheppard. Il saw
| him myself two hours ago halfway to
| Llanelian.
Mrs. Main looked her incredulity. If
| it wasn't his back saw no more than
| two blessed minutes ago, I put 1t to-
! you, whose was it. sir?"
| i sat up, and we stared at each other.
sWhere was thisg' asked.
| Il was leaving the kitchen for the
| pantry, sir, just preparatory with
some dishes like, and, the blinds being
| down against the window that faces
| the courtyard, see Williams shadow
--leastways what / took to be Will
Iiams' pass across the blind, sir"
1T couldn't be Williams" said l
after a pause williams has never
been in the castle since 2 o'clock, and,
besides, the drawbridge is up
Ibid you see his face?" asked Shep-
pard.
ssNo, sir; it was on the blind like, but
happening to have a question to put to
him / just drops the dishes on the
sideboard, and run to the door, but
when I'd got it open Williams was
gone"
1T was not Williams" repeated
| testify.
"What / took to be Williams, sir, Z
corrected Mrs. Main, with gentle OBJ
stinacy.
did you hear any sound Of foot
steps?"
mo, sir, but then was making a
noise with the dishes like, and Will
liams walks very gentle"
.Oh, well,' / murmured at length,
you must have been deceived, and II
williams was here he has gone since,
and at any rate he won't want his
supper"
When the housekeeper had retired
found Sheppard watching me. s'What
do you make of 1t, Ned 2"
II make nothing" I answered. TITS
practically impossible for any one to
get into the castle. We have had the
bridge up nearly all day, but-syou
know my old adage, that it's better to
be sure than sorry-we may as well
have look around"
Taking candle we made tour OF
the castle rooms and Investigated all
the corridors, peering into the dark
for / hardly realized the number OF
passages anG crannies to be explored
Presently we both came to stop on
simultaneous thought
| "This is really no use" said. TITS
quite impossible to exhaust all the
possibilities of this house. And / still
adhere to my previous notion that Mrs.
Main was hardly in sufficiently pa
cific state to judge between shadows. q
! 'sI'm with you there" said Sheppard
cheerfully.
| Every well, them; bed" said I, and to
Ted we went, admirably tired with our
excitement and our labors.
i I must have been asleep for some
hours when I awoke from dead uncon-
seriousness with the presence Of some
one in the room expressing me. Al
most as sat up heard Montgomery
& voice.
"Are you awake, Greatorex? There's
some one about the house.
| 1 sat still, striving to dissipate the
confusion of my brain. Somewhere, far
off, I remembered that had heard this
before. But with a strenuous effort of
the will I threw off the dWindling
hands Of sleep and got out of bed.
sNe'll go and see" said |. what time
is it,"
Il don't know" said Montgomery as
II lit a candle with fumbling fingers.
"But my watch is over. / think it's
about - or II
Now, young man." l said, having
pulled on some clothes, what about
this alarm of yours?
1T was noise-it woke me up" ex-
planned Montgomery. Sheppard re-
lieved me at Il, andI turned in, feel
ing very sleepy. thought slept like
a log, but something got on my nerves,
| I suppose. At any rate, it woke me
up
ssMy dear lad, what was it?v asked
| impatiently.
ut came from the back of the bee"
ne duS W0Ieu. IL was q SOuAd " ACSt'
Something within the walls" ar
gued; mice, beetles"
Montgomery shook his head. "Come
and listen" he pleaded.
/ followed him. Certainly he was
the least imaginative young man in the
world, and it puzzled me that he should
have taken this whim. Perhaps it was
not fancy! Suddenly Mrs. Mains
statement, which I had doubted and
ridiculed, returned to my mind in a
flow of memory
Montgomery's room stood upon the
back Of the castle and, like all the
rooms which were in use, faced the
park. 1t was a small, square cham
Der, lined, as had been practiced
throughout the castle, with oak. Mont
gomery pointed to the pillow. MY
| hood 1uac fhar-n >, ha aYn1ainad. "I.iS-