The Coalville times. [volume] (Coalville, Utah) 1894-1923, 1908-01-24
CHAPTER K.


ing the howl Of the wind outside with
satisfaction Ia the warmth and com
fort of the great room Bates brought
In some sandwiches and bottle Of
ale at midnight
~ there's nothing more. bir-"
"That is all. Bates" And he went
on sudatoly to his own quarters
was restless aud in mo- mood for
bed. and mournod the lack Of variety
iu my rrundnthor's library. 7 moved
about from shelf Co shelf taking down
one book after another. aud while thus
engaged came upon q series ~ large
volumes extra illustrated in water col.
ors of unusual beauty They occupied
% lower shelf. and ! sprawlod on tho
floor like a boy with a now picture
book ia my absorption, piling the
great volumes about me. They were
ON rolatcd subjects pertaining to the
French ChatcauX.
In the last volume / found a sheet
Of white note paper no larger than
my hand. a forgotten book mark, as.
sumcd. and half crumplcd q In my fin
gers before ! noticed the lines OF n
pencil sketch ON one side " H. ! car.
rlcd It TO the table and spread It out
II was not the bit Of idle ponclllng
Il had appeared 20 bee ut FIRST sight A
scale had evidently been followed and
the lines drawn with a ruler With
such trinos my grandfather had no
doubt amused himself There was a
long corridor Indicated. but Of this !
could make nothing / studied a for
several minutes. thinking 81 might
have boon q tentative sketch Of some
part of the house. In turning It about
under the candclabum 1 saw that In
several places the glaze had been
rubbed from the paper by am eraser,
| and this piquod my curiosity.
brought a mngniiying glass to bear
upon the sketch The drawing had
been made with a hard pencil and the
eraser had removed the lead. but a
well defined imprint remained.
was able 10 mako ont the letters
n. w. q TO Ca reference clearly
enough 10 points Of the compass and
distance. The word ravlne wal
scrawlod over rough outline OF q
doorway or opening OF some sort, and
then the phrase;
THE DOOR OF BEwLDERAiENT
Now am rather an lmaglnatlv,
person; that ~ why engineering cap
tured my fancy. II was his efforts
20 make an architect Ga person who
quarrols with women about tholi
kitchen slnksD OF a boy who wanted
10 be an engineer that caused me q
break with my grandfather. Fate was
busy with my affairs that night. for
instead of lighting my pipe with IN,
little sketch | was strangely impellet
TO study II seriously.
| drew for myself rough outlines oil
the Interior Of Glenarm House ms II
had appeared TO me, and then | tried
TO reconcile the little sketch with CIV
cry part OF II.
THE Door OF Bewllderment" was
the charm that held me. My curiosity
was thoroughly aroused as TO the hid
den corners of the queer old house
round which the wind shrleked tor
meGungly. | went 10 my room, put
on my corduroy coat, took a candle
and went below. One o'clock In tho
morning Is not the most cheerlnp
hour for exploring the dark recessoi
OF a strange house, but had resolved
TO have a look at the ravine openinp
and determine. n possible, whether II
bore any relation TO "The Door OF Be
wilderment."
All was quiet In the great cellar:
only here and there an area window
| ratified dolorously. carried tape
line with me and made measurements
OF the length and depth OF the CORR
dor and OF the chambers that were sci
of from II. These figures ! entered Ia
my notebook for further use and SAT
down on an empty nail keg to reflect
I The place was certainly substantial
| the candle at my feet burned steadily
| with no hint OF draft: but / saw no
solution OF my problem. I was loslnp
sleep for nothing; my grandfather
sketch was meaningless. and rose
and picked up my candle, yawnng.
Then "A curious thing happened The
candle, whose thin flame had risen un
wayeHngly sputtored and went out az
sudden gust swept the corridor.
had left nothing opon behind me
but some one had gained lngross "a
the cellar by an opening OF which
knew nothing
! faced the stairway that led IN [,
the back han OF the house when. &,
my astunishment, stops sounded be
hind me, and. turning. / saw mar
carrying a lantern coming toward me
! marked his careless step; he wa,
undoubtedly on familiar ground. As
watched him he paused, lifted the Ian
tern TO level with his eyes and be
gan sounding the outer corridor wal
with hammer
Here, undoubtedly was my friend
Morgan-againl There was the same
periodicity In the beat on the wal
that had heard in my own rooms