Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1908-03-27
p III.

L;oneI's chamber at the BLACK Wolf"
was one of the ghostliest and quaintest in
that quaint and ghostly inn. His one
wax candle burned dimly on the high
mantelshelf. Thrown up in strong relief
among the shadows was a great four-post
bedstead, heavily curtained with red dam
ask Just the kind of curtains for a ghost
to draw in the middle of night and wake
one up, with the announcement of some
unsupported, long-forgotten crime.
The rain was pattering against the
window, and every now and then the voice
of the wind was heard, rising like a la
mentation, and dying away in a sigh.
Lionel listened to the wind, and then
glanced about into the corners of the
shadowy room. He was not afraid of
ghosts, but there was an imaginative
power in him, a love Of the mysterious !;
and this vein was on him strongly to-
night while he sat in the bed chamber of
the~.Black Wolf"
Mystery snrouded his birth. Educated
on the Continent, almost entirely, he
came, he was sure. of English parents.
More than that, he was convinced that he
was we'll If not nobly born that if he
could succeed in discovering the true
name of his family, he should probably
find himself the heir to wealth and land,
and even title. But insuperable diff
Guilty stood between him and this dis
covery ; nor was he anxious to devote the
precious years of his youth to what
might prove but an unsuccessful search,
and would probably end in blank disap-
pointInent.
Lionel was only t%wsnty-four. Ills lodg-
7ings were ut WoodInancote a rural VIII
lage three miles from Abbotshold, since
most Of his pupils lived in that Immediate
neighborhood. Lately he had been strug-
Cling manfully to throw of the subtle and
dangerous fascination which enthralled
him and, since the first step in this wise
direction is said to be to seek society and
shun seclusion, Lionel no longer spent his
evenings in his study with his reading
lamp, his books, his manuscripts, his pot
OF strong coffee, after the fashion Of a
would5be wakeful student.
The l~iveliest place within access Of a
friendly youth-without connections or
~introductions, in that proud and exclusive
little country coterie, where none were
admitted unless they could bring fashion
able ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS the BLACK
Wolf" So it happened that lately Lionel
had supped at the favorite inn, listened
to laughter and song, and strivcn to for
ret . certain pair of dark eyes which
haunted him continually.
.It,s no use,'' he muttered. II must
leave tAis neighborhood. III 60
abroad"
He passed his hand over his forehead,
and then he heard distinctly q cough
there could be no mistake-a cough,
which the person seemed to strive to re-
press. but which broke out again more
loudly-a distinct human cough, as Of one
hoarse with cold. Lionel stood up and
seized his candle. He held it high above
his head, and peered into all the dark
corners Of the low-ceiled room.
"Nothing to be seen. It must be fan
cy,n he muttered. ~ might think that I
had heard a neighbor cough in an adjoin-
ing room, only if is we'll known the walls
in this old house are OF such a thickness
that no sound comes from one room to
another. 1t must be fancy"
He undressed and put out his candle
and rept into bed; but his mind was
too active, too busy. too much peopled
with fancies and plants and regrets and
vague. Wild hopes, to permit him to sleep.
While he lay thinking, against his will,
Of those haunting eyes, he distinctly heard
the cough again.
No fancy" said he, aloud.
a b ssrsnsg out and went to the
FIRE, and contrived to light his candle;
and he walked about, carefully searching.
He looked under the bed and felt the
walls. At last, while his hand wa on the
wall, the cough came a third time behind
IL. He struck the wall The sound WAS
hollow.
"HeiioIthere Is 9 cupboard here" sasd
Lionel.
And 20 1t proved. The cupboard door
was papered over with the same red vel
vet paper a the walls. But Lionel found
ksgs turned 4. and entered ! largs, deep
closet. he fully expected TO encounter :
buxHaar. but The place yae He