Morgan County republican. (Versailles, Mo.) 1906-1914, 1907-09-05
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CHAPTER xxtv.-contlrued.

CHAPTER xxtv.-contlrued.
puzzled long and deeply over these
words, for they brought a new and
hitherto unsupported person into the
case. Whom did the widow mean by
she" 1t could not have been Miss
Yves .on, who wa too Ill to leave her
bed. and, after considerable thought,
] was forced to believe, as the only
possible explanation, that the pronoun
referred to one of the servants In the
house. This. to my mind. added ma.
terially to the gravity of the AFFAIR, for
II unknown members OF the domestic
stan were concerned In the matter
there was no telling how far the con.
spiracy might reach nor to what pur.
pose II was carried m
had become so accustomed to mys-
terlous happenings of this sort, and
my head was so filed with visions of
Miss Carney, and with the words |
was 10 determined to say to her,
that no impression could have been
made on my mind by anything short
Of a most startling phenomenon.
AS j have said. the message was
evidently intended for jerks and was
from the widow, who, 1t seemed equal.
ly clear, either was or had been In the
subterranean passage holding con.
verse with its loathsome inhabitants.
From my window 1 could see that
there were no lights In her cottage,
and l was on the point Of venturing
forth again and, from a safe distance,
watching the pit until she emerged
and started for home, when a realiza-
ton Of my physical exhaustion took
hold of me and | adopted the wiser
plan of remaining In my room.
The night was far from restful, and
at the first glimpse Of daylight ]
dressed and returned to the manhole.
There was a light fall of snow on the
ground and | was not surprised to see
that e had climbed out OF the
shaft and gone across the lawn toward
the Bruce house, but the lid of the
manhole was securely fastened down
as before.
In my efforts to raise It, or at least
to assure myself that 1t was locked, |
found, at the sides. two openings in
the grating larger than the others and,
slipping my revolver easily back and
forth through n OF these, | was no
longer at a loss to understand how 1t
had appeared so mysteriously the
night before.
1t was quite evident that II had been
passed up through the opening aud
turned until 1t lay fiat on the grating,
the person below doubtless installing
me for jerks and misconstruing my
efforts to raise the lid into a signal
from the stage driver that he had ar.
rived and was awaiting orders. That
! did not understand this simple
naneuver from the first and appre.
ciate the situation at a glance was
because Of my highly excited nervous
state and my subsequent encounter
with jerks himself.
On my return to the house | found
the following telegram which had Just
arrived:
Wire received. VIII not await let.
ter. Sure to arrive on time.
CARNEY"
This message was dated New York
and, apparently, had been transmitted
thence from the cable over the local
wire to Carney-Croft. 1t must have
been in response to my dispatch OF
the previous day and served to set
my mind at rest as to the where
abouts and purposes of John Carney,
which had been troubling me in an In.
definite way for some time past.
The only thing now left for me to do
seemed to be to remain virtually pas.
siye until he arrived, keeping a sharp
watch on things, but taking no posi-.
tive steps In his absence unless un.
foreseen circumstances arose to call
for immediate action. My chief desire
was to see Miss Carney and make
clear to her my feelings, but this
seemed to be out Of the question, as
she remained constantly with Miss
Weston and no longer came to any
meals or showed herself about the
house.
The country was fast taking on the
sAAah'iN Va "hAAN ulutl "lltH IL was "
sleep for so many long weeks, and 1t
was with a comfortable SILVER thai |
entered the library. just before lunch
con. and strobe up to the fire to warm
my hands and toast my shins and
back successfully.
| found Miss Weston's physician
similarly engaged and asked him 80.
licitously concerning his patient.
His face clouded and | ever thought
] saw a ear In the corner of his eve.
for. like all doctors with the right kind
of stuff in them, familiarity with hu.
man suffering had only warmed his
heart and softened his nature.
Il had hoped" he continued, that
young Carney's return would have a
good effect on her. but when we told
her of the message that came this
morning she only drew the sheets over
her face and broke down completely.
There is something more to this. Mr..
Ware, than the mere absence OF her
sweetheart, but what 1t is | cannot
even imagine"
Then you know nothing of the mys.
terry of Carney-Croft?" | asked eau.
tlously, closing the door and speaking
in a Town tone,
The mystery of Carney.Croft!" he
exclaimed in bewildered surprise and
then his face relaxed and he smiled
pleasantly as he said: "Oh! you mean
the ghost stories that were told about
here after Mr.. Carney died?"
Well" | returned, ghosts or some.
thing OF the sort we're really seen
about the place, were they not?"
His smile broadened as he replied:
"Oh, yes, some of the boys did rig
themselves up In sheets and play
spook for a time, until | took q hand
in 1t myself and drove them out. |
was going to send you word about It,
but found 1t was only a lot OF boyish