Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1907-06-14
CHAPTER VIZ
A Misplaced Joke.

| tue leIteTS ldlTly danced before my
eyes, and then ! suddenly awoke to
the importance Of finding, II possible,
how 1t had been placed in my bed.
The window was open, to be surer,
and had been open all night, but It
was too far from the ground to have
been reached without a ladder, and
a later inspection Of the ground be-
meath showed conclusively that mo lad
der had been placed under II. More
over, the little tendrils of ivy that
waved IN the breeze all around the
sash were absolutely uninjured, which
could not have been the case II an
entrance to the room had been effect.
ed in this way.
|. The door was securely locked AMI
bolted on the inside, as I had left II
the night before, and a most thor
ough search disclosed no other door
opening into the room, and no pos
sible place Of concealment for aAy-
thing Of the bulk Of a man.
The thought Of a concealed opening
In the ceiling over the bed naturally
suggested itself to my mind, butJ6oth.
ing ofthe sort existed and smoment's
examination with towel on the end
Of a walking stick, showed layer Of
dust which evidently had not been dis
turbed for years. >
In short the presence of the envel-
ope on my bed seemed to be shrouded
in mystery Of the most impenetrable
kind; but even 1t was exceeded In
Its incomprehensibilty by the aston.
ishing contents Of the note.
My love for Florence Carney was, I
had thought, secret buried deep in
my own breast. Surely had never told
1t in all the years that l had cherished
1t so fondly, and, on one occasion at
least, / had denied 1t fatty. Yet 1t was
mentioned here, in as matter-of-fact a
way as II our engagement had been
formally announced and our wedding
day named.
! l turned the matter over and over
In my mind, as strolled slowly along
In the winding road that led to Hos.
kins' hotel, but / was no nearer a So
luton of the problem when l finished
my breakfast than had been when I
left the house. There were a number
of letters for me at the post office, but
/ had no interest in them, and, stuff
Ing them unread into my pocket,
wandered back to Carney Croft, still
bordering deeply.
Unlocking the door, returned at
once to my room and again made a
careful search for any possible means
Of ihgress after the door was closed
and secured for the night. While the
lock might have been turned fro he
outside with master key, there was
still the bolt to hold It, and that this
could not have been slipped by any
other hand than mine | was absolutely
sure. Moreover, there was no hidden
mechanism connected with the bolt.
which was simple, commonplace af.
fair, bearing the name of a well-known
maker and evidently attached to the
door after the house was completed.
Giving up in despair, for the pres.
ent, at least descended to the
ground floor again, intending to make
a minute inspection Of the house and
grounds, when faint odor of cigar
smoke attracted my notice, and saw
that the library door was ajar.
Tiptoeing forward, | peered through
, the opening and beheld, to my amaze
ment, familiar figure seated comfort.
ably in one Of the large leather chairs
with his feet resting lazily on an
other in all the assurance OF appar.
ent proprietorship. At the same in.
slant he turned his head slightly in
my direction and, uncertain as to
whether he had seen me or not, re.
treated rapidly and noiselessly up the
stairs to my room, where locked nv.
ser In and tried TO smother my an
ger and view the situation logically.
While the manner In which the
note had reached me was still as much
of a mystery as ever, its contents, at
least were explained, and my fury
knew no bounds at the wholly unwar.
ranted impertinence Of this sorry at.
tempt at a practical joke.
To me the matter was so sacred, so
precious, so entirely my own, that my
rage at the frivolity of this contempt
ible jest drove from my mind all
thought of wonder that a man who,
/ had every reason 10 believe, was
miles away, should be, at this very
moment, under the same roof with
me.
| sat down and gazed out of the win
dow across the river to the heavily
wooded hills In the distance, and
made an almost superhuman effort to
control myself Finally l opened the
letters that had come by the morn
ing's mail and began to read them in
perfunctory way. The second was
from my secretary, and, as | perused
1t, | suddenly awoke from my apathy
and read with interest:
Two letters came this morning
from Mr.. Carney, one postmarked Lon.
don and the other Paris. | forward
them, with other papers, under sepa.
rate cover.
"Dr. MacArdel called this afternoon
| and was greatly surprised tn learn