Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1907-05-16
CHAPTER X.
An Affair With the Caretaker.


eort of the great room. Bates brought
In some sandwiches and bottle of
ale at midnight.
eff there's nothing more, sir"
THAT is all, Bates" And he went
off sedately to his own quarters,
J. was restless and in no mood for
bed, and mourned the lack o. variety
in my grandfather's library. Imoyed
about from shelf to shelf. taking down
one book after another and while thus
engaged came upon a series of large
volumes extra Illustrated in water col
ors of unusual beauty. They occupied
lower shelf and | sprawled on the
floor like boy will, a new picture
book in my absorption, piling the
great volumes about me. They were
on related subjects pertaining to the
French chateaux.
In the last volume ] found a sheet
of white note paper no larger than
my hand, forgotten book mark, l as
sumed, and half crumpled it in my fin
gers before | noticed the lines of a
pencil sketch on one side of it; ! car
Tied it to the table and spread it out.
1t was not the bit of idle penciling
1t had appeared to be at first sight. A
the lines drawn with a ruler. With
such trifles my grandfather had no
doubt amused himself. There was a
long corridor indicated, but of this |
could make nothing. | studied it for
several minutes, thinking it might
have been a tentative sketch of some
part Of the house. In turning it about
under the candelabrum | saw that In
several places the glaze had been
rubbed from the paper by an eraser,
and this piqued my curiosity. |
brought a magnifying glass to bear
upon the sketch. The drawing had
been made with a hard pencil and the
laser had removed the lead, but a
Sell defined imprint remained.
l us able to make out the letters,
N. y to Ca reference clearly
eE Gh to points of the compass and
distance. The word ravine was
scrawled over a rough outline Of a
doorway or opening of some sort, and
then the phrase:
THE DOOR OF BEWILDERMENT.
Now / am rather an imaginative
Jerson; that is why engineering cap
cured my fancy. 1t was his efforts
to make an architect Ga person who
quarrels with women about their
kitchen sinksD of a boy who wanted
to be an engineer that caused me to
break with my grandfather. Fate was
busy with my affairs that night, for,
instead of lighting my pipe with the
little sketch l was strangely impelled
to study It seriously.
/ drew for myself rough outlines of
the interior of Glenarm House as it
had appeared 10 me, and then | tried
to reconcile the little sketch with ev-
cry part of it.
THE Door of Bewilderment' was
the charm that held me. My curiosity
was thoroughly aroused as to the hid
den corners of the queer old house,
round which the wind shrieked tor
mentingly. | went to my room, put
on my corduroy coat, took a candle
and went below. One o'clock in the
morning Is not the most cheering
hour for exploring the dark recesses
of a strange house, but had resolved
to have look at the ravine opening
and determine, if possible, whether it
bore any relation to The Door of Be-
Wilderment."
All was quiet in the great cellar;
only here and there an area window
ratified dolorously. l carried a tape
line with me and made measurements
of the length and depth of the CORR.
dor and of the chambers that were set
off from it. These figures entered in
my notebook for further use, and sat
down on an empty nail keg to reflect.
The place was certainly substantial;
the candle at my feet burned steadily
with no hint of draft; but | saw no
solution of my problem. was losing
sleep for nothing; my grandfather S
sketch was meaningless, and / rose
and picked up my candle, yawning.
Then curious thing happened. The
candle. whose thin fame had risen un.
wayeringly, sputtered and went out as
sudden gust swept the corridor.
had left nothing open behind me
but some one had gained ingress to
the cellar by an opening of which ]
knew nothing.
faced the stairway that led I'D tc
the back hall of the house when, tC
my establishment, steps sounded be
hind me, and, turning, | saw a mar
carrying a lantern coming toward me
/ marked his careless step: he wa!
undoubtedly on familiar ground. AS
watched him he paused lifted the Ian
tern to- a level with his eyes and be
gan sounding the outer corridor wal
with hammer.
Here, undoubtedly, was my frient
MOrgan-again! There was the SAM
periodicity in the beat on the wal
that ! had heard in my own rooms
He began at the top and went method
ically to the floor. leaned agains
the wall where | stood and watche
the slow approach of the lantern. TIL
small revolver with which l had frs
fired at his flying figure in the WOO
vas in my pocket. 1t was just a
well to have 1t out with the fe;lo,
COW. My chances were as good a
his, though | confess ] did not relis
the thought of being found dead tn
next morning in the cellar of my ow
house. 1t pleased my humor to let hill
approach in this way, unconscious tn;
he was watched, until | should thrul
my pistol into his face.
His arms grew tired when he WI
about ten feet from me and |
dropped the lantern and hammer
his side and swore under his breat
impatiently.