The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1908-04-21
AGRLOFGRIT
BY ARTHUR GRlFFITHS
Copyright by r. F. Fenno C Coz

| uoW III COoOo III othvah6s anu
buttoning on her gloves.
Come, sir" she said brisker and
sharper than ever. 81 cannot easily
forgive your previous milatoriness,
but we must try and make up for
lost time. Here is the pony cart,
and we will take the dog"
When we reached the Strathallan
road, to my deep chagrin, the boy
Joseph was not there, nor was he
to be seen anywhere, near OF far.
Now l could have staked my life
on little Joseph Walls. He was a
London Lad, who had seen mu Oh in
his short life, on shore AMI afoat;
for. although I had picked him of
| a crossing on account of his quick
tongue and bright ways, he had
been to sea on Thames lighters
| right round the coast. Now l was
| training him to our business.
Miss Fairholme turned on me
like a tiger when we drove past the
/ house and back, still without a sign
| of joe
Get out of this cart and go and
ring the bell" she said fiercely.
THE sooner we get inside that
, house the better. Make haste,
| please"
l hammered at that door, and
hung on to that bell till woke all
the echoes of that dead-alive SUI
burb. No one came; there was not
a sign of life within.
Presently the police came up. and
the general, who had been cruising
about on his bicycle, joined Miss
Fairholme outside. They all
stopped there talking to her bit,
and l judge they were hesitating to
act, arguing 1t out with the general.
who was very fierce and positive,
ordering them about short and
sharp, but doing little good till the
girl took up the running. But she
soon sent them flying in after me,
and came with them.
! One of the cOnstables nipped
round to the back, where he found
a strip of garden with low wall.
He was over that like ninepence,
anu in through the scullery window
Half a minute more and we heard
him Enchanting the front door.
Then we all trooped into the entry
and ran through the house, some
high, some low, but none of us find
ing anything. There was not a
scrap of furniture, nor the signs OF
any occupancy that we could see.
But miss, she also hunted, halloa
ing on the collie dog with &c
look, Roy" worry, worry, worry
which drove the beast nearly mad
He hunted and quested through the
house with short, swapping bark
as if he was rounding up sheep
fold, and it was he-marvelous ami
mal-who led us into the basement
into a sort of cellar between the
front parlor and the kitchen.
Here he raced round and round
like thing possessed, yelping furi
ously.
The place was all darkness; nj
windows, not CLINT Of daylight
But someone struck match and Iii
a lantern or bull's-eye, and we
could make out what there was
there. One big, long table. a Hitch
en- table. with seats on each side
and at the end a strang thing tina
told its own story.
| 1t was a sort of wooden, erection
something between a scaffold and ;
bulkhead two great upright tim
bers, wedged in tight between thu
ceiling and the stone floor-migh
have been a support, pillar-like, TO
the roof or ceiling, but we could SCI
it was meant to make someone fas
to-a pair of stocks, you might say
or whipping post. And so 1t hat
been used, no doubt. For there wa
a long chain and paddock hanging
between the uprights just over
low bench that tserved as a sea
for whoever was held there pris
oner.
This was where the collie rage,
about most fiercely, shifting, scent
ing, hunting to and fro, always ur
der the encouraging voice of missy
who shouted, "Lu-lu-lu, good dog
find him, then. Where is he? Gu
, with him Lulu"
OF course his master had bee
there. None of us had doubt c
that, any more than Of the plat
| fact that he was not there now w
| looked at each other blankly, afte
a bit. hardly knowing what to d
or say, next. till miss stamped he
pretty foot and cried. "Well?"
= L.