Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1907-11-07
Alive or Dead?'
The Strange Disappearance Of
Gerald Rathbone
~ GUY TLoRNK.
Gerald Rathbone.
sy ouY TAoRhE.

that. Just as I was, in the chair II
front Of the dressing table, sank into
Sleep"
And your dream?" Megbie said
quickly.
ii She started. 'Ah, you know" she
said. "The spirit OF Eustace Charlie
Il wood could not tell me while was
conscious, but in sleep he could in.
f1uence my brain in some other mys.
4 ferrous way! 1 dreamed that Gerald
u was in a sort of cell. BY some means
or other I knew that it was under
ground. A man was there, a man
who have seen, a mana horrible
creature-who is a fellow worker OF
Sir William Gou!desbrough The man
j was doing something to Gerald; ]
couldn't see what 1t was. Then the
picture faded away. I seemed to be
moving rapidly in cold, empty place
where there was no wind or air, sound,
or-or- can't describe it. It was
a sort Of between place."
4 "And then?"
Then / saw you standing by the
side Of Sir William Gouldesbrough. It
4 was at the party-Lord Malvin's
party, which we had just left. saw
this as if from vast distance. It
was tiny, tiny picture, just as If one
could see something going on under a
miscroscope! Sir William was talking
to some one whom couldn't see. But
I knew it was myself, that was look
ing at the exact scene which had hap
pened at the party when you were
/ going away with Sir William and he
had stopped on the way to ask me to
go to supper with him. And, strangely
enough, in another part Of my mind
the sub-conscious part, suppose,
knew that was looking at an event
of the past and that this was the rec.
! son why it seemed so tiny and far off
The picture went away in a fash-just
like an eye winking. You've been to
/ one of those biograph shows and seen
how suddenly the picture upon the
screen goes? Well, 1t was just like
that. Then a voice was speaking-a
very thin and very distant voice. If
one could telephone to the moon one
would hear the voice at the other end
1 just like that, should think And
| though the voice was so tiny it was
| quite distinct, and it had a note of
| terrible entreaty. GO to Donald
| Megbie,' it said; go at once to Don
aid Megbie, the writer. He will help.
There is still time. Go to Donald
/ Megbie. I have been able to com
| municate with him. He has the silver
Gerald And then, Mr.. Megbie,
the voice stopped suddenly. Those
were the exact words What they
meant / did not know. But when I
{ awoke they remained ringing in my
ears like the echo of a bell heard over
| a wide expanse Of country. In the
morning resolved to come to you.
| didn't know where you lived, but
looked you up in Who's Who And
as soon as could get away without
any one knowing, came here
Donald Megbie rose from his chair.
He realized at once that it was neces-
sarys to keep the same high tension of
] this interview. IL that were lost ev-
erything would go.
Il know what the poor troubled
/ spirit-if 1t is a spirit-of the man
| Charliewood meant by his last words.
There is a thing called psychometry,
Miss Poole. In brief, it means that any
article which belongs, or has belonged,
to any one somehow retains a part Of
their personality 1t may well be that
the mysterious thought vibrations
which Sir William Gouldes5rough has
discovered can linger about an actual
/ and material Object. Last night, whsa
Sir William left me to take you in to
supp Lord Malyin's, he left his
cigarette case behind him in the con
servatory where we had been sitting.
didn't want to bother him then, SO
put It In my pocket, intending to send
# to him to day. Here it is. It be-
longed to Gerald Rathbone. fous5
Lit In Sir Williams possession, and I
believe that 1t has been the means
owing to some law or force which we
| do not yet understand of bringing us
together this morning. .
He handed her the cigarette case
Neither OF them could know that
this was the case which Eustace
Charliewood had found In the pocket
Of Rathbone's fur coat when he had
taken it from the Bond street coiffeur's
IN mistake. Neither Of them could see
how 1t had been restored by Charlie
| wood to Rathbone, and had been APP
propriated by Mr.. Guest when the
captive had been taken to his silent
1 place below the old house Ia Regents
4 Park. And even Sir William Gouldes-
btough did not know that he had seen
the thing In his study justAas he was
starting for Lord Malvin's house, and
had absently slipped IT into his pocket.
thinking It was his own. B
CHAPTER XVIII.
Plans.
Sir William Gould esbrough stood n
4 the large laboratory. The great room