The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-07-13
The Room of Fear.

~N@&aAA A Sir Richard Gaunt was accustomed fo | 1pend hie evenings In the library. | which he had managed to turn into
 a fairly comfortable living room by
 despoNlng the other apartments of their best furniture The time which
 elapsed between dinner and bed was | the hAppiest part of his dreary day. His troubles were forgotten in the drowsy stupor which clouded his brain | and, ensconed full length on a huge l Chesterfield divan, he smoked and drank until hia eyes closed in sleep.
 1t was one of Hinton's duties to en- ter the library at eleven o'clock. wake his master from his drunken sleep. and see him safely upstairs Into hts
 bedroom.
 On this particular night, however, Hinton had obtained leave of absence
 to visit & dying father, and the duty
 was relegated to the butler. who re- ceived minute instructions as to the proper way of carrying out what sometimes proved to be a dIfflcult task.
 Unfortunately the butler was accus- toIned to spend his evenings in very much the same way as his master. and was also accustomed to go to bed ct 10 o'clock. when all the other servants retired for the night: and the extra hour proved too much for him. He spent it in drinking stiil more whis- key, and when il@o'clock came he was sound asleep in the big easy chair which stood before the fire in the ser- wants hall.
 And so 1t came to pass that when the clock struck Il. Sir Richard Gaunt still slept peacefully in the library.
 Hour after hour passed, and the fire sank to heap of grey ashes, and the candles Ruttered in their sockets, and still Sir Richard Gaunt slept. Then at last the candles went out one by one and the room was in darkness, and there was no sound but the tick ing of a clock and the heavy breath ing of drunken man.
 Then the moon rose above the hills. and the blinds of the windows resolved themselves into white squares, crossed with dark black lines. and the things in the room itself became dimIy visi- ble. And a shaft of white light stole through a space between blind and wall. and fell upon a box thrust care- lessiy in a corner.
 And still Sir Richard Gaunt slept, but he stirred uneasily in his sleep.
 A few minutes later Sir Richard Gaunt turned over on his side shivered, stretched out his, arms, and opened his eyes. At first he was barely con- scious of being in a strange sleeping place. The fumes of alcohol, which a Bopu uAAntb D rest beHeFAiAy uiSpeEseds were still strong enough to slightly cloud his perception. He~was comfort able. but he felt cold.
 Then by degrees he began to under stand that he was not in his bedroom, and he wondered what had happened to him. He raised himself on one el- bow and stared at the white shaft of moonlight which pierced the dim un- certainty of the room like a sword. His eyes followed 1t to it's final rest ing.p place in the corner of the room The polished surface of the oalIen box glittered like a pool of ink.
 Then he realized where he was. and gradually. as his senses grew clearer. he understood what had happened. The butler had forgotten to wake him, and he was still in the library.
 He did not move. His eyes were rive eted on the box, and the sight of 1t. standing out there in vivid contrast to the rest of the room, brought back that sense of fear which he could only dispel by the aid of brandy. He felt that there was some one with him in the room. some one who wished to in- jure him. and he was afraid.
 He listened attentively, as though he expected to hear footsteps or some movement, or even the sound of voice. But he could hear nothing save the ticking of a clock and the rapid beat- ing of his own heart.
 His first impulse was to rise and make his way up to his bedroom, to strike 6 light. and get out of the room as soon as possible. But he waited, as though he expected something to hap pen. and as if the sofa was a safe is- land of refuge among dangers which he could not define. yut which certainly lurked somewhere In the gloom.
 And then the thoughts which as rule only troubled him in the early morning returned to him with pitiless elearness. and were rendered more ter-