The Irish standard., 1907-02-16


flashed once into the hall and disap-
| reared. heard now a sound as of a
I hammer tapping upon woodwork.
! Then it ceased, and voice whis-
pered:
| He'll kill Mo II he finds me here
I'll try again tomorrow. swear to
God I'll help Won, but no more now"
I Then the sound of scufT1e and
! again the tapping OF the hammer
After several minutes more of this
there was a whispered dialogue which
! could not hear.
! Whatever was occurring two or
| three points struck me on the instant
! One OF the conspirators was an unwill.
| ing party to an act as yet unknown:
second. they had been unsuccessful
and must wait TOR another opportu-
! nifty; and third, the business, whatever
it was, was clearly of some Importance
to myself, os my own apartments in
my grandfather's strange house had
| been chosen for the investigation.
f! Clearly ! was not prepared to close
the incident but the idea of frighten-
itie NY SiSitClo oGDCdlcu W ulS SCNSo
OF humor ] tiptoed to the front stair
way, ran lightly down, found the front
door, and. from the inside, opened and
slammed it. I heard instantly hur-
ried scamper above. and the heavy fall
OF one who had stumbled in the dark.
grinned with real pleasure at the
, sound of the mtshap, hastened to the
II, ,~L
WE'LL and. opening one Of the long win.
, dows. stepped out on the balcony. At
once from the rear of the house came
| the sound OF stealthy step, which
! increased to run at the revine bridge.
listened to the fight OF the fugitive
through the wood until the sounds died
away toward the lake
Then. turning to the library window,
saw Bates. with candle held above
his head, peering about.
Hello, Bates" called cheerfully.
Il Just got home and stepped out to
see ii the moon had risen. I don't
believe know where to look for it in
this country"
He began. lighting the tapers with
MS uSuA! dellberat1On.
IT'S a triie early, I think, SIR.
About eight O'Clock, should say, was
the hour. Mr.. Glenarm'
There was. Of course, no doubt what.
aver that Bates had been one OF the
men I heard in my room. 1t was
wholly possible that he had been COM
PEELED to assist in some lawless act
against his will; but why. IL he had
been forced into aiding q criminal,
should he not invoke my own aid to
protect himself? | kicked the logs
in the fireplace impatiently at my I'M.
certainty. The man slowly lighted
the many candles in the great apart
ment. He was certainly a deep one,
and his case grew more puzzling as
studied it in relation to the rife shot
of the night before, his collision with
Morgan In the wood, which I had wit
messed: and now the house itself had
been invaded by some one with his
connivance. The rifle shot might have
been innocent enough; but taken in
! connection with these other matters
| 1t could hardly be brushed aside.
Bates lighted me to the stairway,
and said as passed him:
There's baked ham for dinner. I
should call it extra delicate, Mr.. Glen
arm. suppose there's no change in
the dinner hour, sir?"
Certainly not" said with asperity:
for | am not person to inaugurate a
dinner hour one day and change it the
next. Bates wished to make CONVEX
sation--the sure sign of guilty con-
science in a servant,-and l was not
disposed to encourage him.
closed the doors carefully and be-
gan thorough examination of both
the sittingroom and the little bed
chamber. | was quite sure that my
own effects could not have attracted
the two men who had taken advantage
of my absence to visit my quarters
Bates had helped unpack my trunk
and undoubtedly knew every item of
my simple wardrobe. | threw open
the doors of my three closets and
found them All in the good order
established by Bates. He had carried
iuy I'll uuhS anu DAYS 10 Il StOfe.rOOn1,
so that everything 1 owned must have
passed under his eye. My money
even, the remnant Of my fortune that
I had drawn from the New York bank,
! had placed carelessly enough in the
drawer OF a chiffonier otherwise afilled
with collars. 1t took but moment to
satisfy myself that this had not been
touched. Aud. to be sure. hammer
was not necessary to open a drawer
that had, from its appearance, never
been locked. The game was deeper
than l. had imagined; 1 had scratched
the crust without result, and my wits
were busy with speculations as +
brushed my clothes. pausing frequent
i ly to examine the furniture, even the
| bricks on the hearth.
! One thing only found-the slight
scar of a hammer-head on the oak
raneling that ran around the bed
! room. The wood had been struck
near The base and at tho top OF every
rouo1 fSr thouoh <h. ,,,,,,l- ~,a.