The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-12-09
CHAPTER TX
HUNTERS INN.

Hc MI NalSo recntcred the hotel, which he did under a
twooP OF wind which turned his umbrella inside out and drenched
nm III, mIougn IN n instant it was to find the house in renewed tur-
stairs.
"ohl. MI. Johnston she cried as she edged by him with a pile
OF bed-inen on her arm. "Please excuse all this fuss. Another guest
IS c9ming-rhav just got a telegram. A famous lawyer from New
Where will you put him inquired Mr.. Ransom with a good
"Moreis the pity." She signed. with a bafjnoTiTn@ 81" b ns en
catory look at this fortunate first conner 81 shall have to put him
remained silent. But" She went on with sudden cheerfulness. n
many for this quiet hotel"
Four retorted MI. Ransom, as he turned towards his own
coor l he number has grown by two since I went out"
brings her sister with her. The little girl who~yes. I am coming"
This latter to some perpexed domestic down the hall, who had al
are dreadful wet. How I wish the v,eather would cI2 = iu
Mr. Ransom wished the same. To saw nothing Of his own incon-
venience, If was 4 source Of anxiety to him that she should have
70 ride these inevitable ten miles in such a chilling downpou Be
sides, a storm Of this kind complicated matters; gave him less sense
OF freedom shut him in, a it were, with the mystery he was there
self, filled him with such a sense OF foreboding that he had moments
IN which he thought only Of escape But his part must be played
and va1,rd himself Win ~ = f{ p" . % Hbislrv he 10 sst ' dow ~ bs t.bIs
and was busy writing when the maid came in to ask if he would
wait for his supper till the coach came, OF have it earlier and served
With an air OF petulance, he looked up. raped on the table. and
Here herel I'm too busy to meet strangers. An early supper
and an early bed That's the way I get through my work.
The girl stared and went softly out Workt-that? Sitting at
g table and just putting words on paper. If it was beds he had to
drag around now, or a dozen hungry, ctmoring men TO feed all at
or-but I need not fill out her thought 1t made her volube in the
kitchen and secured him the privacy which his incognito demanded.
10 supp ONAB III NHN1 NfNAloiHE III OS CDdClt WHICH OIQF
narIy was due at seven in the evening. Tonight 1t babe fair to be
late, owing to the bad condition Of the roads and the early darkness.
The wind had gone down. but it still rained. Not quite so tempestu-
Ousy as when he rOamed the cemetery, but steadily enough TO keep
caves and branches dripping. The sound Of this ceaseless drip was
eerie enough to his strained senses, waiting as he was for an event
which might determine the happiness or the misery OF his life. He
tried to forget it and wrote diligently, putting down words whose
meaning he did not stop to consider, so that he had something to
show to prying eyes If such should ever glance through his papers.
But the sound had got on his brain, and presently became so insis-
tent that he rose again and flung his window up to see if he were
deceived in thinking he heard a deep roar minghng with the inces-
SAINT patter, a roar which the wind had hitherto prevented him
from separating from the general turmoil, but which now was ap-
parent enough to call for some explanation.
He had made no mistake; a steady sound Of rushing water filled
the outside air. A fall was near, a fall BY means of which, no doubt,
the factories were run.
Why had he not thought of this? Why had its sound held a
note of menace for him, awakening feelings he did not understand
and from which he sought to escape? A factory fall swollen by the
rain! What was there in this to make his hand shake and cause
the deepening night TO seem positively hateful to him? With a
bang he closed tine window; then he softly threw it up again. Surely
he had heard the noise Of wheels splashing through the pools OF the
highway. The coach was comingl and with it-what?
His room was in the gable end facing the road. From it he
could look directly down on the porch of entrance, a fact which he
had thankfully noted at his first look. AS he heard the hustle which
now broke out below, and caught the CLEAN of a lantern coming
round the corner of the house, he softly stepped to his lamD and Dut