The Washington herald., 1907-11-03

men was Mr.. King. the sherins deputy:
the other, whose name was Brewer. was a
brother Of the late MRS Manton. Under
a beneficent law Of the State relating 10
property which has been for a certain
period abandoned By its owner whose
residence cannot be ascertained, the sher-
III was the legal custodian OF the Manton
farm and It's appurtenauces thereunto be-
longing. His present visit was in mere
peTfunctOry compliance with some order
Of court In which Mr.. Brewer had an
action 20 get possession of the property
as heir 10 his deceased sister. By a mere
coincidence the visit was made on the day
after the night that Deputy King had IN
locked the house for another and very
different purpose. His presence now was
not Of his own choosing. me had been or
dered TO accompany his superior, and at
the moment could think Of nothing more
prudent than simulated alacrity in obedi-
ence.
Carelessly opening the front door. which
10 his surprise was not locked. the sheriff
was amazed 10 SEE. lying on the floor OF
the passage into which it opened. a con-
fused heap Of mems apparel Examina-
ton showed it TO consist Of two hats and
the same number OF coats, waistcoats,
and scarfs, all in a remarkably good
state Of preservation. albeit somewhat de-
filed by the dust in which they lay. Mr.
Brewer was equally ast0nshed. but Mr.
Kings emotion IS not OF record. With
new and lively interest in his own
actions. the sheriff now Unmatched and
pushed open a door on the right, and
the three entered. The room was APP
parently vacant-uo; az their eyes became
accustomed 10 the DINNER light some
thing was visible in the farthest angle OF
the wall II vas q human igure-that
OF a man crouching close IN the corner.
Something In the attitude made the in
trUdeTs halt when they had barely passed
the threshold The figure more and more
clearly defined itself The man was upon
one knee, his back in the angle Of the
wall. his shoulders elevated 10 the level
Of his ears, his hands before his face.
palms outward, the fingers spread and
crooked like claws: the white face turned
upward on the retracted neck had an eX-
preston Of unutterable fright, the mouth
half open, the eyes incredibly expanded
He was stone dead Yet with the ex-
cepti0n OF a knife. which had evidently
fallen from his own hand, not another
object was in the room.
In the thick dust that covered the floor
were some confused footprints near the
door and along the wall through which
il opened. Along one Of the adjoining
walls. too. past the boarded-up windows,
was the trail made by the man himself
in reaching his corner. InstinCtively in
Il 4 al
lowed that trail. The sheriff grasped one
OF the out-thrown arms, il was as rigid
as iron. and the application OF a gentle
force rocked the entire body without al
tering the relation Of its parts. Brewer.
pale with excitement. gazed intently into
the distorted face. God Of mercy he
suddenly cried, 1T is Mant0n,'
You are right" said King, with IN
evident attempt at calmness. i knew
Manton. He then wore q full beard and
his hair long, but this is he.
He might have added: i recognized
him when he challenged ROsser. I told
Rosser and Sanchez who he was before
we played him this horrible trick. When
Rosser left this dark room at our heels
forgetting his outer clothing in the eX-
element. and driving away with US in
his shirt sleeves-all through the discred-
liable proceedings We knew whom We
were dealing with, murderer and coward
that he was"
But nothing Of this did Mr.. King say.
With his better light he was trying %
penetrate the mystery Of the mans death.
That he had not once moved from the
corner where he had been stationed, that
his posture was that Of neither attack nor
defense, that he had dropped his weapon,
that he had obviously persisted Of sheer
horror Of something that he saw-these
were circumstances which Mr.. Kings dis
turbed intelligence could not rightly COM
pTehend.
Groping in Intellectual darkness for a
clew 20 his maze Of doubt, his gaze. d.
rected mechanically downward, as is the
way O. ,,re who ponders mOmentous mat
tiers. fell upon something which, there,
in the light Of day. and in the presence
Of living companions. struck him with an
invincible terror. In the dust Of years
that lay thick upon the foor-leading
from the door by which they had entered.
straight across the room 10 within a
yard Of Manton's crouching corpse-Wer7
three parallel lines of footprints-light.
but definite impressions OF bare feet,
the outer ones those Of small children,
the inner a Womans. From the point AZ
which they ended they did not return
they pointed all one way. Brewer, who
had observed them at the same moment,
was leaning forward in an attitude OF
rapt attention. horribly pale.
Look at that" he cried, pointing with
both hands at the nearest print OF the
woman's right foot. where she had ap-
parently stopped and stood. The mid
die toe is missing-it was Gertrude.
Gertrude was the late Mrs. Manton,
sister 10 Mr.. Brewer.