Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1906-09-29
SIR GEOFFREY'S GHOST
che Author THAT Mysterious Major by Mutual Consent
:" 1.-THE Generals God Daughter" Etc

N-~N--Nr~~-r~-~~~~~~~-~-N-~
The murder took place in the gun.
know" y" want u
Inc gunroom!" calculated Miss Dare,
gianelhg nervously about her.
les, the gmroom; but the master
gave orders for the door to be closed and
,oeEe9 The day after the inquest, and
this" 'o'" '''"' ia! 10
Ibis piece of information was uttered
WIN strange energy, and there was A
look almost of defiance in the woman's
pale, lusterless eyes as if she expected
that Miss Nelverton's morbid curiosity
would extend still further and demand an
actual inspection of the death chamber
She need not have alarmed herself
Phyllis heard her words as in drcam
LOT sWlit as lightning her thoughts had
carried her back in fancy to the gloomy
oid garden, and those eight mysterious
looking windows, about which the dark
masses of ivy grew. In am instant She
lau realized that she need speculate no
longer as to the reason of the wings for
saken appearance
After all, she found herself thinking.
IL had been kind act on Mrs, Mathews
part when she had so unceremoniouslv
locked the door IN the corridor that morn
ing She had done her best to keen them
IN ignorance of their proximity to the
scene OF the crime; and in ignorance they
would have remained. but for the strange
instinct which had prompted PHYLLIS to
ask that question!
II the girl regretted the step she had
taken then, she regretted it ten times
more as the evening advanced and the
utter drearincss of the old manor be
came intensified. Every time she thought
OF her own room, with Its funprcal look
ing tour-poster and its tapcstried walls.
the blood seemed to freeze III her veins ;
and when at last / o'clock struck and
she said reluctant Good night" to Miss
Dare Phyllis hurried along the corridor
with the candle tlaring in her hand look
ing neither to the right nor the left. and
never by any chance daring to raise her
eyes to that closed door. which stood out
so lndlstinctly from the dark oak panclcd
walls.
There was no longer any need for her
to marvel at the chill. vault like atmos-
phere which pervaded the whole house.
- Ai''N 81 hNh a Nillii 70 itI HpdEl tHe
moment she crossed the threshold of her
new home; and as She lay shiyering be-
tween Mrs. Mathews lavender scented
sheets something seemed to tell her that
50 long as the door of those fatal rooms
remained closed nothing could be changed
the gloom of that unfathomed mystery
would hang over Chudlcigh manor like a
shadow and pail.
A fortnight had elapsed since PHYLLIS
Nelverton and her companion arrived at
Chudleigh manor. Two whole weeks
Time enough for them to have become
fully acquainted with their new home and
to have learned something at least of the
surrounding neighborhood.
Yet though fourteen days had come
and gone, days spent in idle rambles
along the lonely country lanes. or in an
occasional expedition to the nearest vii
lage, a couple of miles away. Phyllis was
vaguely conscious that she felt almost
as much a stranger as ever, and in fact
knew little more of its respective inmates
than she did when she came.
1t was clear that the newcomers were
regarded in the light of intrudcrs, and
that their proceedings were watched by
both the two younger women and Mrs
Mathews herself in a decidedly suspicious
fashion 1t seemed to Phyllis that there
was always one of them watching her
movements, and were she only in the
garden, wandering aimlessly among the
overgrOwn flower beds. on strollng along
the mkempt paths. there was sure to
be either a head of glimpse of cap
strings to be spied fluttering behind the
diamond panes of one of the windows.
To some extent. however. the girl had
grown accustomed to the idea of the
mystery and the ghostIincss of that dis
used wing, and had tried to assure both
herself and Miss Dare-who was per
haps the more nervous of the tw0-that
the strange sounds which occasionally Is
sued from its moldcring walls were the
result of nothing more lmcanny than the
army of rats and mice which had been
left in undistUrhcd possession for so long
past and which would most probably be
holding high rcycl there.
Mrs. Mathews story had left a pc
culiarly disagrceabe impression upon the
young girl. y gamckeeper had been sus-
pectcd of the crime-that Mr. Sackett
had told her also but he had never hint
ed that any serious doubts existed. or
that the affair had been one of par
ticularly mysterious kind.
At the same time, in her anxiety to de
fend the cause of the poor man" Mrs.
Mathews had unwittinely thrown -lur
upon her masters character To show
the unfairness of the law she had illus
trated the ease somewhat forcibly-rath-
er too forcibly, perhaps for once such
an inference i formed it invariably clings
with persistence to its unfortunate We
tim.
Phyllis. however, pooh.poohcd the
whole thing. Such an idea. She felt was
too absurd Had the slightest suspicion
rested upon the present baronet her ia
Their would never have left her under his
charge; he who had always been 20
anxious for her welfare, would a--urcdly
have been doubly cautious in arranging
for his daughters comfort and safety