Oxford Democrat., 1909-10-26
NUMBER 43.
The silence Of It discounted hiri be.


Before him rs he fingered at th'
door. vaguely disclosed by wan II
Elimination penetrating dusty ant
begrimed fanlight. broad 'ial
stretched indefinitely toward the real
Of the building. losing itself In black
ness beyond the foot Of a flight OF
stairs. Save for few articles of fur
nfiurc--s hall table. an umbrella stand
Ia tall. drmb clock aanked by high
backed .hairs--lt was empty. Other
than Kirkwocd's own restrained res
riia,.on rot sound throughout the
| house advertised its Inbabitation. not
Ia md , soaked beneath the pressure
Of Il foot, not mouse rustled In the
wainFcotiag or beneath the floors, not
:, brenth OF air stirred signing In the
| Fitness
| And yet tremendous racket had
| been raised at the front door within
| the sixty seconds past. And yet with
In twenty minutes two persons at
least had preceded Kirkwood into the
building. Had they not heard? The
speculation seemed ridiculous. Or had
they heard ard. alarmed. been too ef'
fectually hobbled by the coils Of their
nefarious designs to dare reveal them
selves, to investigate the cause OF that
thunderous summons? Or were they,
perhaps, aware Of Kirkwood's en-
trance and lying hidden in some dark
corner to ambush him as he passedP
True, that was hardly like the girl.
True, on the other hand, 1t was possl-
BILE that she had stolen away while
Klrkwood was hanging In irresolution
by the passage to Quadrant news.
Again, the space Of time between Kirk
woods dismissal and his return had
been exceedingly brief. Whatever her
errand. she could hardly have fulfilled
It and escaped. At that moment she
might be In the power and Mt the mer-
cy Of him who had followed her. pro
yided he were not friendly. And In
that case what torment and what peril
might not be hers!
Spurred by solicltude. the young man
put personal apprehensions in his pock-
ct and forgot them. cautiously picking
his way through the gloom TO the foot
Of the stairs. Slowly he began to as
cend. hand following the balusters.
the other with his cane exploring the
obscurity before him. On the steps
carpet, thick and heavy, mutiied his
footballs. He moved noiselessly. To-
ward the top the staircase curved, and
presently foot that groped for
higher level failed to find It, Again he
halted. acutely distrustful.
Nothing happened.
He went on. guided by the balus-
trade, passing three doors, all open.
through which the underlined proper.
tions of drawing room and boudotr
were barely suggested iE a ghostly
dusk. BY each lie paused, listening,
hearing nothing.
His foot struck with deadened thud
against the bottom step of the second
flight, and his pulses futtered wildly
for a moment. Two minutes-three-
he waited in suspense. From above
came no sound. He went on, as be-
fore, save that twice a step yielded.
complaining, to his weight.
Again the raised foot found no level
higher than It's fellows He stopped
and held his breath. oppressed by
conviction that some one was near
him. Confirmation Of this came star.
tlIngly-an eerle whisper in the night,
so close to him that he fancied lie
could feel the disturbed afr tanning
his face.
els 1t you. Ecclesi"
He had no answer ready. The voice
was masculine, II he analyzed 1t cor
rectly. Dumb and stupid. he stood
poised upon the point Of panic.
"Eccles. is 1t you"
The whisper was both shrill aud
shaky As It ceased Kirkwood was
half blinded by fash of light strik-
Ing him squarely IN the eyes. Involun-
tarily he shrunk back pace, to the
first step from the top lnstantane-
ously the light was eclipsed.
Halt or-or | fire.!
BY now he realized that he had been
scrutinized by the aid Of an electric
hand lamp. The tremulous whisper
told him something else-that the
speaker suffered from nerves as bi.h
strung as his own. The knowledge
gave him inspiration He cried at
venture. In guarded voice, Hands
up" and struck out smartly with his
stick. Its ferrule impinged upor some
thing soft. but heavy. simultaneously
he heard low. frightened cry. the
cane was swept aside, blow landed
glancIngly on his shoulder. and he was
carried fairly Off his feet by the weight
Of a man hurled bodily upon him with
staggering force and passion. Reelng.
he was borne back and down n step or
two and then, choking on an oath,
dropped his cane and with one hand
caught the balusters, while the other
tore Intellectually TT wrists Of hands
that clutched his throat. So, for
space, the two hung. painting and
struggling.
Then, endeavoring to swing his shoul.
ders over against the wall, Kirkwood
released his grip on the hand rail and
stumbled on the stairs. throwing his
antagonist out Of balance. The latter
plunged downward, dragging Kirk
wood with him. Clawing. kicking,
graphing, they went to the bottom,
jolted violently by each step. but long
before the last was reached Kirkwood's
throat was free.
Throwing himself of, he got to his
feet and grasped the railing for sup
port, then waited. painting, trying to
get his bearings Himself painfully
shaken and bruised. lie shrewdly sur
missed that his assallant had Jared as
Ill, II not worse. And. In point Of fact,
the man lay with neither move nor
moan, still as death. at the Americans
feet.
fro BE Continued