The Rich Hill tribune. (Rich Hill, Mo.) 1903-1911, 1907-05-16

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in some sandwiches and a bottle Of
ale at midnight.
II there's nothing more. sir
That is all. Bates" And he went
on sedately to his own quarters.
was restless n in no mood for
bed. and mourned the lack Of variety
in my grandfather's library. 1 moved
about from shelf to shelf, taking down
"A book after another. and while thus
engaged came upon a series OF large
volumes extra illustrated In ate col
OTIS Of unusual beauty. They occupied
a lower shelf. and I sprawled on the
floor like a boy with a new picture
book in my absorption. piling the
great volumes about me. They were
on related subjects pertaining 70 the
French %chateaux.
In the last volume 7 found a sheet
OF white note paper no larger than
my hand, a forgotten book mark, / as
sumed. and half crumpled it in my fin
gers before ! noticed the lines Of a
pencil sketch on one side Of IL. I car
ried 1t to the table and spread It out.
Il was not the bit Of idle penciling
a. naQ uNFEalEu " NC III hAcA EAEMN= a
scale had evidently been followed and
the lines drawn with a ruler. With
such irihes my grandfather had no
doubt amused himself. There was a
long corridor indicated. but Of this I
could make nothing. ! studied II for
several minutes. thinking 1t might
have been a tentative sketch of some
part OF the house. In turning 1t about
under the c~andelabrum I saw that In
several places the glaze had been
rubbed from the paper by an eraser,
and this piqued my curiosity. 1
brought a magnifyfng glass to bear
upon the sketch. The drawing had
been made with a hard pencil and the
eraser had removed the lead, but a
well defined Imprint remained.
] was able TO make out the letters,
n. W. z 10 Ca reference clearly
enough to points OF the compass and
a distance. The word racine was
scraWled I've a rough outline Of a
doorway or opening Of some sort, and
then the phrase:
THE DOOR OF BEWILDERMENT.
Now I am rather an imaginative
person; that is why engineering cap
tured my fancy. It Ia his efforts
to make An architect "a person who
quarrels with women about their
kitchen sinks!) OF a boy who wanted
to be IN engineer that caused me to
break with my grandfather. Fate was
busy with my affairs that night, for.
instead OF lighting my pipe with the
little sketch ! was strangely impelled
10 study II seriously.
I drew for myself rough outlines OF
the interior OF Glenarm House as Il
had appeared 90 me. and then / tried
70 reconcile the litue sketch with ev-
cry part OF II.
The Door OF Bewiidermentr was
the charm that held me. My curiosity
was thoroughly aroused as TO the hid
den corners OF the queer old house
round which the wind shrieked tor.
mentingly. ] went 20 my room. put
on my corduroy coat. took "A candle
and went below One O'Clock in the
morning Is not the most cheering
hour for exploring the dark recesses
OF a strange house. but had resolved
10 have a look AZ the rayine opening
and determine, u possible. whether Il
bore any relation 10 "The Door of BE
w~ildcrment"
AN was quiet IN the great cellar:
oaly here aud there an area window
ratified d%oiOrously I carried a tape.
line with me and made measurements
OF the length aud depth OF the CORR.
Hnw nuH Of the rluH.Innn HAnH &c. -
on from g. These figures ] entered IN
my notebook for further use. aud sat
down ON an empty nail keg 10 reflect
The place was certainly substantial;
the candle at my feet burned steadily
with no hint OF a draft but ] saw no
solution Of my problem. ] was losing
sleep FOR nothing; my grandfather's
sketch was meaningless, and / rose
and picked up my candle, yawning.
Then a curious thing happened. The
candle. whose thin flame had risen an.
w~averingiy, sputtered and went out as
a sudden gust swept the corridor
1 had left nothing open behind me,
but some one had gained ingress 20
the cellar by an opening Of which I
knew nothing.
7 faced the stairway that led up TO
tho back bah OF the house when. TO
my astonishment. steps Bounded be-
hlnd me. and, turning. saw a man
carrying q lantern coming toward me.
marked his car ess step; he was
undoubtedly on + niliar ground. As /
watched him he raused. lifted the Ian.
tiers 90 a level with his eyes and be-
gan sounding the outer corridor wall
with a hammer
Here. undoubtedly, was my friend
Morgan sgainl There was the same
p~euodiclty 10 the beat on the wall
that ! bad heard Ia my " rooms
ie began AZ the top and vent method.