The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-12-17

N.
gloom Of those old halls and the al
most inpenetrable nature Of the dark
ness which settles over the library the
moment the twilight sets in. I put in
my pocket two or three candles, the
candles, sirs, about which you have
made such a coil. Fly errand was two
foid-I wanted first to see what Mr..
jeffrey had been up to the night be-
fore and next TO spend an hour over a
| certain book of old memoirs which in
recalling the past might explain the
present You remember door leading
into the library from the rear room. 1t
was by this door / entered, bringing
| with me from the kitchen the chair you
| afterward found there.
| Il knew where the volume Of MEM
| oirs / speak of was to be found-you
do. too, | see-for il was my hand
| which had placed il in IT'S present con-
cealment Quite determined TO reread
| such portions of it as had long before
| marked as pertinent TO the very at
| tempt l had in mind, I brought in the
| candelabrum from the parlor and drew
| out a table 10 hold il. But l waited a
| few moments before taking down the
book itself. I wanted first to learn
what Mr.. Jeffrey had been doing up
| stairs the night before: SO, leaving the
| light burning in the library. l proceed
| ed to the southwest chamber. holding
| an unlit candle in my hand, the light
| feebly diffused through the halls from
| some upper windows being sufficient
| for me to see my way. But in the
| chamber itself all was dark.
THE wind had not yet risen and the
| shutter which a half hour later moved
SO restlessly on its creaking hinges
Rugged the window SO tightly that l
| imagined Mr.. jeffrey had fastened it
| the night before. Looking for some re-
ceptacle in which to set the candle l
now lit, failed to And anything but an
| empty tumbler, 50 l made use OF that.
Then : glanced about nae, but seeing
nothing worth my attention-Mrs. JEFF
frey's wedding fixings did not interest
me, and everything else about the
room looking natural except the over
turned chair, which struck me as i'm
material-I hurried downstairs again.
leaving the candle burning behind me
in case 1 should wish to return aloft
after 1 had refreshed my mind with
what had been written about this old
room.
"Not a sound disturbed the house as
1 seated myself to my reading in front
of the library shelves. l was as much
alone under that desolate roof as NOR
tai could be with men anywhere with
in reach Of him. enjoyed the solitude
and was making very pretty theory
for myself on a scrap OF paper l tore
from another old book when noise
suddenly rose in front. which. slight as
it was, W quite unmistakable to ears
trained to ns1ening. Some one was I'M
locking the front door.
Naturally / thought it to be Mr.. JEFF
frey returning for a second visit to his
wife's house, and, knowing what l
might expect IL he surprised me on the
premises, I restored the book hastily
to its place and as hastily blew out the
candle. Then. with every intention Of
flight. / backed toward the door by
which / had entered. But some i'm
pulse stronger than that of escape
made me stop just before reached it.
1 could see nothing-the place was dark
as Tophet-but could listen. The per-
son-Mr. jeffrey or some other-was
coming my way, ana in perfect dark
ness. / could hear the faltering steps
the fingers dragging along the walls;
then a rustic as of skirts, proving the
intruder to be a woman-a fact which
greatly surprised me-then a long
drawn sigh or gasp.
This last determined me. The stu
alton was too intense for me to leave
without first learning who the woman
was who in terror and shrinking dared
to drag her half resisting feet through
these empty halls and into a place
cursed with such unwholesome mem
cries. \ Ord not think at Veronica. No
one looks for a butterfly in the depths
OF a dungeon. SUIT did think of Miss
Tuttle-that woman of reso'ute will.
Without attempting to imagine the
reason for her presence, l stood my
ground and hardened till the heavy
mahogany door at the other end Of
the .USm began to swing in by jerks
under the faint and tremulous push of
q terrified Rand. Then there came
silence-a long silence-followed by a
moan so agonized that / realized that
whatever was the cause of this painting
woman's presence here, IT was due to
no mere errand of curiosity. This
whe:ted my purpose. Anything done
In this house was in q way done to me:
80 remained quiet and watched. But
the sounds which now and then came
from the remote corner upon which
my attention was concentrated were
very eloquent.
81 heard signs and bitter groans, With
now and then q murmured prayer.
broken by a low wailing. in which I
caught the name of Francis. And still,
possibly on account of the utterance of
this name, I thought the woman near
me to be Miss Tuttle, and even went I
30 far as to imagine the cause of hef
suffering if not the nature of her re-
tribution. Words succeeded cries and
1 caught phrases expressive of fear
Al some sort Of agonized hesita ton.
Once these broken CALCULATIONS were
interrupted by a dull sound. Some |
thing had dropped to the bare floor.
We shall never know what it was. but |
have no doubt that 1t was the pistol, |
and that the marks Of dust to be found |
ON the connecting ribbon were made |