Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1908-08-06

XTH44
I'd SQUARE OF LIGHT SUDDENLY OPENED in THE NIGHT"
my hand ON the iron post: Except for this flicker of gas, no larger
than the tip of my finger, 1 could distinguish nothing about me. For
the rest, the mist hung between tue and the world like a damp and
heavy blanket. ~ ~#e#sza4x%~A+
II could hear voices, but I could not tell from whence thew came.
and the scrape of a foot moving cautiously, or a mufaed cry as some
one stumbled, were the only sounds that reached me.
II decided that until some one took me in tow I had best remain
where I was, and it must have been for ten minutes that I waited by
the lamp, strainng my ears and hailing distant footballs. In a house
near me some people were dancing to the music of a Hungarian band.
| even fanced [ could hear the windows shake to the rhythm of their
feet, but L could not make out from which part of the compass the
sounds came. And sometimes, as the music rose, it seemed close at my
hand, and again, to be floating high in the air above my head. Al
though I was surrounded by thousands of householders I was as COM
petely lost as though l had been set down by night in the Sahara
desert. There seemed to be no reason in waiting longer for IN escort,
so I again set out, and at once bumped against a low iron fence. At
first I believed this to be an area railing, but o. following it I found
that it stretched for a long distance, and that it was pierced 1T regular
intervals with gates. [ was standing uncertainty with my hand on one
of these when a square of light suddenly opened in the night, and in it
I saw, as you see a picture thrown by a biograph in a darkened theater,
a young gentleman in evening dress, and back of him the lights of a
hall. I guessed from its elevation and distance from the sidewalk that
this light must come from the door of a house set back from the street,
and | determined to approach it and ask the young mar to tell me
where I was. But in fumblng with the lock of the gate 1 instinchve1v
bent my head, and when [ raised it again the door had partly closed,
leaving only a narrow shaft of light. Whether the young man had
reentered the house, or had left il, I could not tell, but | fastened to
open the gate, and as [ stepped forward | found myself upon an
asphalt walk. At the same instant there was the sound of quick steps
pun JIG paul., du oOuG OS IlSuCu DDS ue. L CduGu ITO aim, u ut
made no reply, and [ heard the gate click and the footsteps hurrying
away upon the sidewalk.
"Under other circumstances the young mans rudeness, and his
reckessness in dashng so hurredly through the mist would have
struck me as peculiar, but everything was 20 distorted bv the FOG that
at the moment [ did not consider it. The door was still as he had left
it, partly open. l went up the path, and, after much fumbing, found
the knob of the door-bell and gave it a sharp pull. The bell answered
me from a great depth and distance, but no movement followed from
inside the Louise, and although I pulled the bell again and again l
could hear nothing save the dripping of the mist about me. I was
anxious TO le IN my way, but unless [ knew where I was going there
was lif> lance of my making any speed, and I was determined that
untiI 7 earned my bearings I would not venture back into the fog.
So ! pushed the door open and stepped into the house.
II found myself in a long and narrow hall, upon which doors
opened from either side. At the end of the hall was a staircase with a
balustrade which ended in a sweeping curve. The balustrade was Gov
cred with heavy Persian rugs, and the walls Of the hall were also hung
with them. The door on my left was closed, but the one nearer m G O.
the right was open, and as [ stepped opposite to it I saw that it was a
sort of reception or waMingroon, and that it was empty. The door
below it was also open, and with the idea that l would surely find some
one there, 1 walked on up the hall. I was in evening dress, and 1 felt
I did not look like a burglar, so I had no great fear that, should l en-
counter one of the inmates of the house, he would shoot me O. sight.
The second door in the hall opened into a dining-room. This was also
empty One person had been dining at the table, but the cloth had not
been cleared away, and a Pickering candle showed half-fled vine
glasses and the ashes of cigarettes. The greater part of the room was
in complete darkness.
"By this time [ had grown conscious of the fact that I was wan
dering about in a strange house, and that, apparently, 1 was alone in
it. The silence of the place began to try my nerves., and in a sudden,
unexplainabe panic [ started for the open street. But as I turned, I
saw a man sitting on a bench, which the curve Of the balustrade had
hidden from me. His eyes were shut, and he was sleeping soundly.
'Ihe moment before / had been bewildered bdnause I could see no
one, but at sight Of this man I was much more bewldered.
"He was q very large man. a giant in height. with long yellow hair