The Columbus journal., 1908-06-17

moment was 004Ole 10 recall W0er0
I was. or on what errand had come.
Then memory returned In q food. and
l sprang from the bed and peered
about me.
A dim light struggled In from tho
darkened window. but no cause for
apprehension could be seen. was the
only creature that breathed the air Of
that bleak and dingy room.
l drew aside the curtain, and threw
up the window. 1t opened merely on
light-well, and the blank walls be-
yond gave back the CHEEKY reflection
of a patch Of sunshine that fell at an
angle from above.
The fresher air that crept in from
the window cleared my mind. q dash
Of water refreshed my bsdy and l was
ready once more to face whatever
might befall.
l looked at my watch. 1t was 8
o'clock. and l had slept four hours In
this place. Truly had been impru-
dent after my adventure below, but
l had been right in trusting Mother
Borton. Then l began to realize that
1 was outrageously hungry, and re-
membered that l should be at the
Office by 9 to receive the commands
of Doddridge Knapp, should he choose
to send them.
/ threw back the bolt, but when I
tried to swing the door open it re-
cSot of hn HnN hoA
missing when l closed 1t, but a sliding
bolt had fastened it securely. Now I
saw that the door was locked.
Here was a strange perdicament.
had heard nothing of the noise of the
key before l lost myself in slumber.
Mother BOrton must have turned 1t as
an additional precaution as slept.
But how was l to get out? l hesitated
to make noise that could attract at
tention. 1t might bring some one less
kindly disposed than my hostess of the
night. But there was no other way.
l was trapped, and must take the risk
of summOning assistance.
raped on the panel and listened.
No sound rewarded me. raped
again more vigorously, but only ST.
lence followed. The house might
have been the grave for all the signs
of life 1t gave back.
There was something ominous about
it. To be locked. thus, in dark room
of this house in which l had already
been attacked, was enough to shake
my spirit and resolution for the mo-
ment. What lay without the door, my
apprehension asked me. Was 1t part
of the plot to get the secret it was
supposed l held? Had Mother Borton
been murdered and the house seized?
Or had Mother Borton played me
false and was l now a prisoner to my
own party for my enforced impOsture,
as one who knew too much to be left
at large and too little to be of use?
On a second and calmer thought it
was evidently folly to bring my jailers
about my ears. if jailers there were
l abandoned my half-formed plan of
breaking down the door, and turned to
the window and the light-well. An
other window faced on the same
space, not five feet away. II it were
but opened l might swing myself over
and through it; but it was closed, and
a curtain hid the unknown pOssibili-
ties and dangers of the interior. A
dozen feet above was the roof, with no
projection or fOothold by which it
might be reached. Below, the light
we'll ended in timed floor, about four
feet from the window sill.
l swung myself down, and with two
steps was trying the other window. 1t
was unlocked. l raised the sash eau
tiously, but its creaking protest
seemed to my excited ears to be loud
enough to wake any but the dead. 1
stopped and listened after each squeak
of the frame. There was no sign of
movement.
Then l pushed aside the curtain
cautiously, and looked within. The
room appeared absolutely bare. Gain
ing confidence at the sight, l threw
the curtain farther back, and with a
bound climed in, revolver in hand.
The room was. as l had thought,
bare and deserted. There was a musty
smell about it, as though it had not
been opened for long time, and dust
and desolation lay heavy upon 1t.
There was, however, nothing here
to linger for, and fastened to try the
door. 1t was locked. stopped to ex-
anime the fastening. 1t was of the
cheapest kind. attached to door and
easement by small screws. With
good wrench it gave way. and l found
myself in a dark side-hall between
two rooms. Three steps brought me
to the main hall, and recognized 1t
for the same through which had felt
my way in the darkness of the night.
took my steps cautiously down the
stairs, following the way that led to
the side entrance. The saloon and
restaurane room l was anxious to
evade. for there would doubtless be q
barkeeper and several loiterers about.
1t could not be avoided, however. AS
l neared the bottom of the stairs
saw that door led from the hallway
to the saloon, and that it was open.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
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