The Washington times., 1907-04-28
= 90 -. q - 90 ~ =

For one thing, the rent they are GsE-
ing Is $4,000 annually Mr.. Weldon
''What2' cried three voices at ono0.
What on earth Is it?" asked Dun
frey "A palace?'
NO. only good. comfortable. TWEEN
ty-room stone house"
Then why the fancy price2-
We'll. that constitutes mystery rsIrn-
Der one said Maltby. 7 don't mind
confessing that that very fact reused
my own curiosity sufficiently 10 send
me 70 the real estate agent on the
pretext Of renting the property"
And the report was true"
Perfectly. The agent. Henderson 7
think his name was. treated ne IN me
incest way and stated IMPLY that tie
rental was twenty thou and and that
nothing less could be considered. ]
asked him why. and he 81 led ana said
that those were the orders Of the
executor and that he han no power 70
deviate from them IN the slightest
degree"
An OF which solves mystery the
hrst," laughed Dunfrey. The execu-
tor Is IN line for the lunatic asylum"
7 don't know Maltby stroked his
short beard. 1T may be that K nay
be too. that for some other reason they
do not desire 70 have the plsco oo-
cupied. you know. At all evepzs. 7
wanted to 20 deeper into the subject.
asked him 10 let me see the place,
and he said that. owing 70 the ps-
under which he was obliged to work.
Z would be impossible. II was not
even 70 be shown TO any one who had
not leased 1t and paid the first months
rent"
''Pish.' murnured Sellers. rs thai
10 be taken as a fact?"
The man is stilI doing business I'd
there" said NIaltby. mildly. "On Cal
ford street. 7 believe. Hes sssfi.-
found; you might ask him. Mr. sellers
Well. I was more and more puzzled.
and began TO ask him about sore
OF the weird tales I'd heard about the
house; I told him that the neirhbors
called II the House OF Suspicion. which
IS the fact He froze IN an instant.
then he turned red hot and orTsred. II
/ would produce the originator OF one
OF those stories. 10 pay a thousand
dollars for his conviction in a law
suit"
And the tales. what are taeyr'
Weldon asked.
"Oh, there IS no end 70 them Malt
BY answered They're Ike the sands
OF the sea IN that part o: the suburbs
Very likely. 1 haven't heard hair OF
them har-a-f~ 10.
the matter. you know. One deals with
eounterfeiters- They say that early
certain mornings any ona high evlourh
20 look over the wall can see hghrs
come and 80 in the upper. stories.
Some OF the more Imaginative ones. 7
suppose. have added the details OF
smoke rising n great white voiuues
and spurts OF fame coming from the
big chimneys."
AND the stories haven't been investi-
gated"
4 presume that they have 81,
don't know. as a matter Of fsct Ger
tainly, no criminals have beenf cs.rzlt
there. OF We should have heard OF Il
IN the papers before now
Are there more rumors "a
Dozens. There's the COM entlonal
ghost story, OF course; no 5ns1ss15or-
hood could dispense with thae They
tell about shadOwy white aganes which
hit along the TOP OF the vail and
groan in the approved fashion They
even tell about The ghost OF the par
owner which strides through the cold
oak gate after midnight. walks npfaad
down in the grounds, and then. fits
away again That. 1nough. would be
almost q necessity with an unoCcupied
house. walled IN as that il"
ANY more?" Sellers smiled over his
glasses.
That smile seemed 20 frritste the not
altogether willing narrator He-was
silent for a moment: he seemed 70 be
overcoming a little hesitauonN
Well, I'd be ,fe last man. under
ordinary circumstances. to say a word
that would hurt the value OF property"
he smiled. but there is one story that
almost seems 70. have some foundation.
II Is. II anything, a little more weird
and improbable than the rest yetethree
people whose names am not ct liberty
70 mention. have assured me-. that. 70
their positive knowledge. people have
entered that main gateway without
(Conrfrfra5 ~, Egsfb Pei