Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1907-11-08

house. had seen it many times, but
l felt that I should see 1t with new
eyes after the story l had just beard
In the inspectors office That an nd-
venture OF this nature could take place
in New York house taxed my credul-
ity. | might have believed II Of Paris,
wicked. mysterious Paris, the home Of
intrigue and every redoubtable crime,
but Of our own homely. commonplace
metropoiis-the house must be seen for
me to be convinced Of the fact related.
Many Of you know the building. 1t
Is usually spoken of. with a shrug. the
sole reason for which seems to be that
there Is no other Just ike 1t In the city
myself have always considered 1t
imposing and majestic, but to the aver
age man 1t Is too suggestive Of old
world feudal life to be. pleasing On
this afternoon--a dull, depressing one
it looked undeniably heavy as we APP
preached 1t, but interesting in a very
new way to me, because Of the great
turret at one angle, the scene of that
midnight descent of two men, each in
deadly fear of the other, yet quailing
the other of pursuit
There was no railing in front of the
house 1t may have seemed an I'M
necessary safeguard to the audacious
owner Consequently, the small door
in the turret opened directly upon the
street, making entrance and exit easy
enough for any one who had the key.
But the shaft and the small room at
the bottom-where We're they? Nat
urally in the center of the great mass,
the room being without windows
1t was, therefore. useless to look for
it, and yet my eye ran along the peaks
and pinnacles of the roof. searching for
the skylight in which it undoubtedly
ended At last | espied 1t, and, my
curiosity satisfied on this score. | let
my eyes run over the side and face OF
the building for an open window or
! lifted shade. But all were tightly
closed and gave no more sign of life
than did the boarded up door. But
was not deceived by this. AS we
drove away. thought how ON the NOR
row there would be a regular process
! sion passing through this street to see
just the little | had seen today. The
detectives adventure was like to make
the house notorious. For several min
utes after | had left its neighborhood
my Imagination pictured room after
room shut up from the light Of day, but
bearing within them the impalpable
aura of those two shadows fitting
through them like the ghosts OF ghosts
as the detective had telingly put 1t.
The heart has its strange surprises.
Through my whole ride and the in
diligence In these thoughts l was con-
scious of great inner revulsion
against all | had intimated and even
honestly felt while talking with the
Inspector Perhaps this is what this
wise old official expected. He had let
me talk, and the inevitable reaction
followed couh now see only Mr..
Grey's goodness and claims to gespect,
and began to hate myself that had
not been Immediately impressed by the
inspectors views. and shown myself
more willing to drop every suspicion
against the august parsonage | had
presumed TO associate with crime.
persist? Loyalty to my loyerf His
innocence had not been involved. In
deed. every word uttered in the in
spector's office had gone to prove that
he no longer occupied Il leading place
in police calculations; that their eyes
We're turned elsewhere. and that | had
only 20 be patient to see Mr.. Durand
quite cleared in their minds
But was this really so? Was he as
safe as that? What II this new clew
! failed? What If they Failed to find
l Sears or lay hands on the doubtful
Wellgood? Would Mr., Durand be re
. leased without trial? Should we
hear nothing more of the strange and
to many. the suspicious circumstances
which linked hiM 70 this crime? I
J would be expecting too much from
either police or official Discrimination
No; Mr.. Durand would never be com
pletely exonerated till the true culpri
was found and all explanations made
had therefore been simply fightin:
his battles when pointed out what
/ thought To be the weak place In thei
II present theory, and. sore as ! felt II
- contemplation of my seemingly heart
less action. was not the unimpres
sionable, Anticipated nonentity mus
have seemed to the inspector
= Yet my comfort was small and tn
\ effort IT took to face Mr. Grey and IN
\ young patient was much greater tina
, | had anticipated. | blushed as | al
preached to take my place at Mis-
Id
been as suspicious OF me at that IN,
ment as | was of him, | am sure that
should have Jared badly in his thought
But he was not on the watch for m
emotions. He was simply relieved
" OAsToEEA.