Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1907-05-15

| Then, with an Odtn, ne pulled MIN
self together, and, resolutely turning
his eyes away from the heap. went TO
the shed and got some wood.
When he got back to the house he
felt in his pocket for his matchbox and
found it, but suddenly missed his
Keys
This staggered him, and he stood
staring at the fire vacantly, then he
forced a smile.
q am fool" he muttered. I've
left them in the gate"
With the lantern in his hand he
went, down the garden, and found that
as he had thought, he had left the
| key attached to the bunch sticking in
the keyhole of the wall door.
Cursing himself for his stupidity,
he locked the door, and, with the keys
in his hand, returned to the parlor.
The fire was burning up. and he
ldrew his chair close and sat huddled
up over the blaze, and went over the
scene with Norah. But every now and
then there came a CHASTITY pause in
| LIS ItACNAAOu0y anu III NAAttl RdASS NV
ghost of his crime stalked across his
mind and made the silence of the
cold, damp little room truly hideous.
He got some more brandy at inter
walls, and at last succeeded in produ3-
ing the exhaustion which is the ghast
| ly imitation of wholesome sleepiness
Then he rose. and With final
drink went heavily upstairs.
But. exhausted as he was, he in
stinctiveIy pulled aside TIVE blind and
stared through the window at the
| heap in the garden, just as he used 20
do before he left for London: and,
with an oath, he dropped the blind
and began to undress.
Curse the place and everything in
iit!' he muttered as he got into bed
II wish it were burnt down"
Then he succeeded in distracting
his mind from the one haunting fear
and forced himself to think of Norah
and so fell into an uneasy, restless
doze He had not been asleep more
than an hour when he woke suddenly
with the dim consciousness that he
had been awakened by some kind of
noise.
He sat up and listened, and for
| time all was silent, and he was about
to throw himself back, when he heard
faint noise, which seemed to come
from the room beneath, the room in
which Becca had-died
! The cold sweat gathered upon his
4 face, and he sat shivering and quak-
ing, with his ears strained painfully,
trying to persuade himself that it
was only fancy. But as he listened
with an agonized acuteness he dis
fnctly heard the noise again. 1t was
the sound of footsteps, muff1ed and
cautious. of some one moving in the
room below
He got out Of bed. and, slipping on
some clothes stole to the door. Then
he smiled a CHASTITY smile of reassur-
ance; the noise no doubt was made
by the old woman, who was paying a
visit to the sideboard on the chance
of his having left the brandy decanter
not locked up
I'll give the bag a fright" he NUT
tered. and he went to drawer and
took out an old-fashioned pistol and.
loading it with blank charge. crept,
with it in his hand, to tn head OF the
stairs.
All was silent again now. but ne
knew that he had heard the noise and
not merely dreamed that he had
done so, and slowly and Continuously
descended the stairs.
Although he was prepared for it,
1.-THE sight of a thin streak of light
looming through the partly open door
way of the sitting room gave him a
lstart. and, with a stif.ed oath. he
imoved forward on tiptoe, and softly
lpushed the door more widely open and
peered round it.
Then he fell back and clutched the
pistol tightly, for 1t was not the bent.
ldecrepit figure OF the old woman he
saw within the room, but that of a
imam.
Now. Guilford Berton was not al
together coward, and the shock 10
his over-strained nerves. weakened by
the copious draughts of spirits could
not he set down entirely to fear
After a moment or two he collected
himself. and peered around the door
again, and this time the start that fol-
lowed was one of recognition
A man was kneeling reside the Ia.
bic prying open desk with clasp
knife and by the light which fell from
an ordinary candle stuck into a piece
of wood Cuilford Berton saw that the
thief was ne man With the rugged
face and bushy eyebrows who had lain
on the bench OUTSIDE me inn on the
lday ho had been making inquiries into
Becca Souths disappearance.
Guilt)rd Berton drew back and pom
dered clutching the pistol hard and
fast, and holding his breath
rhlt the man was a thief or an or.
binary housebreaker he had no doubt.
but he was puzzled to account for his
presence there. No burglar worthy Of
his salt, he thought would break into
so mean and unpromising a place as
the cottage unless he were sure Of
finding valuables. and 1t was not likely
that any burglar would imagine that
a sensible man would trust his money