Woodruff County news., 1908-03-26
(Copyright.)

5o .on,ember it was a Monday late in ,,aT and my stenographer had not ar 1 ,,,od Tn her place beside the door did not see her immediately, and nlv her trembling efforts to rise at tracted my attention. A whiter or aaore ehostly effect than that of her enowv hair, pallid face and deep-sunk ouoc all in relief from a severe black Sross it would be difficult to imag- ine and confess that 1 started the r,orest trife as she came forward out If the shadowy anteroom corner, her +bin hands extended toward me.
 o1 hone this is MT. Lawrence Rand?' che said. in a low, eager voice.
 oNo madam, these are MT. Rand $ offices. and I am MT. Duncan, one of his partners.
 q am Mrs. Dwight Stokes Coleman, and it is concerning a most important and neculiar matter, which has to do u,ith my husband, Dr. Coleman, the nactor of the Fifth Avenue Disciples church. that I have come to see Mr. Rand I must have help at once or l shall 20 mad myself. My family physi- elan Dr. Bowles, in Seventy-second street. came to us at our request yes terdav afternoon and recommended me to MT. Rand. He says that it is mat ter outside the bounds of any profes- sion except MT. Rand's, which seems to be the rendering commonplace of things apparently most extraordinary.
 Perhaps if you state the case may be able to assist you, and 1 can at least restate it to MT. Rand on his return from Boston tomorrow
 Relieved of her indirection of state ment and put in the proper proportion, her story was as follows: A most mys- terious circumstance was weighing so heavily on her husbands mind that she feared he was about to lose his reason, if it was not already impaired. He had obtained a metropolitan parish only that year, was overcoming some bit ter opposition among his church mem bers, and was completing the last vol ume of an important historical work. Altogether, he was at the critical point of his career, and with two sons and two daughters not yet out of college, everything was at stake.
 On Sunday, the 14th of April, few minutes after he had begun his morn ing sermon, he heard distinctly a choir singing an anthem. He thought it a triie unusual, there being no church in the neighborhood from which the music could come with such clearness. The music was very good, and, after the service, he mentioned 1t to the organist, who sat in the organ loft immediately behind the pulpit The organist was certain that he had heard no music, saying there had not been a sound to interrupt the sermon. AS matter of curiosity, the organist and Dr. Coleman together laughingly questioned the members of the choir All were positive that they had heard no singing. A horrible fear struck a chill to the old clergyman's heart Was his mind giving way? Were the anthem and the unseen choir the nfst hallucination, the harbinger of coming mental confusion, and the first slgn Of the horrible night of the mind
 on several succeeding Sundays the same mysterious music was heard by the doctor but by no one else, and he 1 was now OO thp voroa of ., o,,-o,,. ,>.or tTation
 assured Mrs. Coleman we would taKe up the matter immediately, wired nahd 10 insure his return, and gave nm detailed account of the whole 'n"iF' when he came in Tuesday night.
 brlght and early on Wednesday norhlng We were at Dr. Coleman S mousse In going over the case again, however, we found nothing to be in any way different from the facts al .eauy In hand, except that although 'ne voices were always the same, the music was different each time. With note from the pastor to the sexton. "e went to the church at II o'clock, anu posing as. an interior decorator S oS''iiate clerks, we slowly inspected every Inch of the interior.
 It was four o'clock in the afternoon "neh We left, and all that we had nUund can be told in few words. me church, more than 30 years old. vas deadly commonplace in it's de- tails. All -'' was tired. d1sgusted, and quite .eauy to believe the old clergyman mentally unbalanced. Rand was bit
 iS determined to go on. Said he: f., Duncan, l am going to fly in the na ,aoe or facts in this matter. I pur- F., roSe to hunt for the impossible. Kind n arrange to have the Callahan agency n seuu me 50 men at the studio to- tho o'i TOW morning to gather data on all 'he other churches"
 aid not see Rand that evening It tim taG', , did not catch a glimpse of him wh,. a'urday evening. Then he was ces.s worn, tired, and plainly unsuc- inn siui as he came into the club din ans ioom, where I was awaiting him, faia. sat down opposite me with a 'aiht, brief smile.
 moaa asand toyed with the table silver a