The Harrison times., 1908-10-31

door. When | told him of our loss,
his eyebrows went up, his lips in, and
his hands out.
'Impossible!" he exclaimed "And
in my house! Mon Dieu!"
1T is possible" l retorted, since
it has happened"
at is a mistake. They have been
mislaid."
Neither the next day nor all the
days of the succeeding week, fur
nished a solution.
The evening before we departed
from the city my wife retired, ex-
hausted by the strain. I stayed on in
the dressing room, smoking, and OBJ
stinately thinking 1t over in a vain
attempt to catch some thread, some
clew that would lead to an eXplana-
tion and to a recovery of the gems.
The room was unlighted, and the
door stood wide open into the dark
hall to let the smoke from my cigar
drift out. J. lay back in reclining
chair, staring into the long pier-glass
mirror which hung upon the wall op-
posile the door. The glow of my
cigar was reflected with each puff l
took until finally, finishing it, |
dropped it upon an ash tray. The
minutes passed slowly, and | heard
far away a city clock strike the mid
night hour All the house was still.
My mind, wearied with intense
thought, relaxed, and gradually | be-
came conscious of a point Of light,
sharp and shining, in the middle of the
| black mirror In quick reaction | once
more focused my thoughts to explain
| this speck of light which stood out so
| clearly in the darkness. | stared and
stared until my eyes ached-then, sud
denly, this strange thing happened;
The point Of light grew less sharp
and began to expand. Diffusing soft
glow about its rim, it spread until
J there stood a disk Of light, wide as
| the mirror itself AS | watched, the
faint outline Of hand etched itself
into the light, Elusive at first but
! growing constantly more real until at
! last it seemed as if Of flesh. Stretch
! ing out from the darkness, this hand
lay upon a table, and upon one finger
! burned the rainbow opal Of my wife.
! It's fires glOwed and smouldered as
! clearly as though | myself held 1t,
Beside the finger tips, in careless
twists, lay the necklace Of pearls. And
near the thumb, shooting a hundred
flames, | saw my own gift Of diamonds,
But there was something else-some'
thing upon the hand, black and ugly,
that held my eyes fixed. A little
shudder crept cold over my body and !
awoke with a half laugh, but shivered
instinctively
Like an inspiration It came to me
| that this bright speck clear and deep
in the blackness Of the glass, was re.
Election. The mirror was sQuarely be.
fore the open door and low, dark
passage that ran into the uninhabited
part Of the old mansion. A crowd OF
possibilities flooded my mind. | felt,
with all the force Of my mysterious
revelation, that ! was on the track OF
the jewels,
Rising and feeling for matches in
the pocket Of my smoking jacket, ]
went stealthily out Of the room down
the low musty passage Carefully
feeling my way | went forward until
my finger touched door. Stare as ]
would, no ray Of light, such as | knew
had made the reflection, rewarded me
| had been low down in my chair, !
remembered, The keyhole Of course
and as stopped to it the anticipated
CLEAN flashed in my eye,
Mastering as well as | was able
the terror Of nervousness which seized
me- | tried the door lightly 1t gave
way, and in an instant | stood within
the lighted room, The sight which
greeted my eyes brought me up with
jerk My humping heart, | felt
sure, would wake the man who sat
sleeping at the table his head upon
his outstretched arms,
A sparkle Of red and purple played
before me on the table, and there
behcld the hand Of my dream-wth
the opal and pearls and the diamond
brooch And there, too, upon his hand
squatted the ugly thing which had
made me shyer 1t was then that
the sweeping horror Of the truth
struck me- The man was dead. His
murderer the swollen spider, crouched
against his hand large as coin, with
eyes peerng sharply at me from a
purple body that bore upon its back
furry, yellow cross
While Gloating over his booty, the
thief, who proved to be a nephew Of
Matt Favreau, had evidently fallen
asleep and, bitten by this poisonous
insect, had passed into the deeper
sleep of death Now The spider waited
by his prey, The necklace still lay
against the mans white fingers and
the diamonds still Quiycred and leaped
with light
A lointed fishing pole, well wrapped
with plush and stout step.ladder eX
plainod the mystery Of the transom
For one with a steady skillful hand
/ 4, ,,d ,,t hppn dIfRruit tn Ash for thf