Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-05-17
l}be MYSTERY :?
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lose It when the frost disappeared.
The foot prints led me up on the
hill and around to the side away
| from the house and, at length, be-
came lost in a grove Of hemlocks I'M
der which there was no tell-tale frost.
For q time it seemed that my ef-
forts were to prove of no avail, and
that l might as we'll return home,
but the more ! thought OF the mat
ter the more ] was convinced that
these people had been out for no
good purpose, and that 1t was my
duty to learn, II possible, what mis-
chief they had been contriving at
this early hour and where they had
been.
In fact, I suddenly realized that I
had not taken proper interest in
the mysterious happenings at Carney
Croft and that while 1t had seemed
quite enough to bring them to stand
still, as far as outward appearances
were concerned, they were, in reality,
Of far too great importance to let
pass so easily.
Miss Weston's connection with the
affair gave new aspect to 1t. OF
course, and while was bound by my
word to respect her secret there was
nothing in my promise to her to pre-
vent me from using every legitimate
means to find out all that could
on my own account and make use Of
such knowledge as might ac-
quire in any way that would best
serve my purposes without reacting
on her.
Since i had come to correct I'M
Outstanding Of my position in regard
to Miss Carney, 1t seemed imperative
that I should probe this whole affair
to the bottom, II for no other reason
than to, show my devotion to her and
her interests.
wandered about more or less aim.
lessly, in the grove until, as Twas on
the point of leaving in chagrin, 1again
discovered the tracks int the frost lead
ing across alittle open space from an
other and denser grove near by. 4
plunged at once into this and had mo
trouble In directing my steps through
the underbrush, which was broken
and bent in many places and showed
plainly the course taken by the man
and woman but . short time be-
fore. III
4 After going on IA this way for some
little distance suddenly found my
self in q small clearing under the
branches of the overtowering trees,
and saw, to my horror, an oblong
space of newly turned earth which
bore every resemblance in size and
general appearance to . grave.
For several minutes stood spell
bound with fear and dread and then.
summoning up all my courage and
with a .cold sweat standing out on
my body, / began to dig down in the
soft brown earth, using a stick that
was lying near BY, and even my
hands, to remove the stones and
larger clumps Of soil.
About Z foot below the surface
came upon bundle wrapped in cloths
Of the same kind in every way as
those found by MacArdel and myself
on the night when we first saw the 4
ghosts and shot at jerks
/ could bear no more for the mo-
ment, and quaking visibly. rose
from the ground and leaned against
a tree for support. Then, for the
first time, saw that there were many
other little mounds surrounding the
one had opened and--but had
reached the limit of my endurance,
and, with pallid face. dashed mad
" down the hill toward Carney
Croft.
(To Be Continued.)