Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1907-08-29
The Mystery
Carney-Croft
By
JOSEPH BROWN COOKE
Copyright. 1907. by Story Press Corporationl
CHAPTER XxiV.-Continued.

words, for they brought a new and
hitherto unsuspected person into the
case. Whom did the widow mean by
"she?" 1t could not have been Miss
Weston, who was too i'll 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
if unknown members of the domestic
staff were concerned in the matter
there was no telling how far the con-
spiracy might reach nor to what pur-
pose it was carried on.
l had become SO accustomed to mys-
terious happenings of this sort, and
my head was so filled with visions of
Miss Carney. and with the words /
was now determined to say to her,
that no impression could have been
made on my mind by anything short
of most startling phenomenon.
AS l have said, the message was
evidently intended for jerks and was
from the widow, who it seemed equal
ly clear either was or had been in the
subterranean passage holding con-
verse with it's Ioathsome inhabitants.
From my window / could see that
there were no lights in her cottage,
and | 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-
tion 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 I
dressed and returned to the manhole.
There was light fall of snow on the
ground and | was not surprised to see
that someone 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 it was locked,
found, at the sides, two openings in
the grating larger than the others and,
slipping my revolver easily back and
forth through one of these, | was no
longer at a loss to understand how it
had appeared SO mysteriously the
night before.
1t was quite evident that it had been
passed up through the opening and
turned until it lay fat on the grating,
the person below doubtless mistaking
me for jerks and misconstruing my
efforts to raise the lid into signal
Iriua hot h.
rived and was awaiting orders. That
/ did not understand this simple
maneuver from the first and appre-
ciate the situation at glance was
because of my highly excited nervous
state and my subsequent encounter
with jerks himself
On my return to the house l found
the following telegram which had Just
arrived:
Wire received. Will 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.
sive until he arrived keeping sharp
watch on things, but taking no posi-
tive steps in his absence unless I'M
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
mantle of white under which it was to
sleep for SO many long weeks, and it
was with comfortable shiver that l
entered the library, just before lunch
con, and strode up to the fire to warm
my hands and toast my shins and
back successfully.
1 found Miss Weston's physician
similarly engaged and asked him So
licitously concerning his patient.
His face clouded and even thought
l saw tear in the corner of his eye,
for, like all doctors with the right kind
of stuff in tham, familiarity with hui
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 it is 1 cannot