Morgan County republican. (Versailles, Mo.) 1906-1914, 1907-06-06
CHAPTER WI.
A Misplaced joke.

ough search disclosed no other door
opening into the room. and no pos
sible place of cOnCcalment for any.
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, but moth.
Ing of the sort existed and a moments
examination with a towel on the end
of a walking stick showed a layer OF
dust which evidently had not beer dis
turbed for years.
In short the presence OF the envel.
ope or my bed seemed to be shroudcd
in mystery of the most ~impcnctrable
kind; but eve It was exceeded in
its incomprehensibility by the aston.
fishing contents of the note.
My love for Florence Carney was. I
had thought, a secret buried deep in
my W breast. Surely ! had never old
II in all the years that | had cherished
II 80 fondly, and. on n 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.
| turned the matter over and over
in my mind, as ! strollcd slowly along
in the winding road that led to Hos
kins' hotel, but | was no nearer n so
luton of the problem when | finished
my breakfast than | had been when ]
left the house. There were a number
of letters for me at the post Office, but
had can ttnrt L., tIarn nnI rN,Hr
Ing them unread into my pocket.
wandered back to ~Carncy-Croft, still
bordering deeply. y
Unlocking the door. ! returned at
once to my room and again made a
careful search for any possible means
of ingresS after the door was closed
and secured for the night. While the
lock might have been turned from the
outside with a master key, there was
still the bolt to hold It. and that this
could not have been slipped by n
other hand than mine I was absolutely
sure. Moreover, there was no hidden
mechanism connected with the bolt,
which wal a 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
q minute inspection Of the EoTge aed
grounds. whcna faint odor of cigar
smoke attracted my notice, and ] saw
that the library door was ajar.
Tiptoeing forward, I pccred through
the opening and beheld, to my amaze
ment, a 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.
cnt proprictorship. At the same in
slant he turned his head slightly in
my direction and, uncertain rs to
whether he had sccn me or not, ! re-
treated rapidly n noisclcssly up the
stairs to my room. where ] locked my
self In and tried to smother my an.
ger n 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 unwGr.
ranted impertinence of this sorry at.
tempt at a practical joke.
To me the matter was 80 sacred, so
precious, SO entirely my own that my
rage at the frivOlity of this contempt
tble jest drove from my mind all
thought Of wonder that a man who,
] a every reason to believe, was
miles away. should be. at this very
moment. under the same roof with
ne.
sat down and gazed out OF the win.
dow across the river to the heavily
wooded hills In the distance, and
made an almost su%perhuman effort To
control myself. Finally l opened the
letters that had come by the >morn.
ing's mail and began to read them In
q perfunctOry way. The second was
from my secretary. and. as | perused
It. ! suddenly awOke from my apathy
and read with interest:
1.-TWO letters came this morning
from Mr.. Carney. one postmarked Lon
them. with other papers. under sepa.
rate cover
"Dr. MacArdel called this afternoon
and WA greatly surprised to learn
that you had gone away so suddenly
and without sending him word. lie
said he wanted to see you on a person.
al matter. And eeemed quite disap.
pointed at missing you
THE Jarvis case has been post.