Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1909-11-17
"wherse Howe" she yelled vociter

haIl" trying TO hold me back. But l
am large woman and Liddy is small.
We Sot to the door. somehow. and
Liddy held q brass andiron. which Il
was all She could do TO lift. let alone
brain anybody with | listened. and.
hearing nothing. opened the door
little and peered into the hall. Il was
black Aoid. full of terrible sugges-
uon. and my candle only emph asized
the g!ooal. Liddy sQuealed anc drew
me back again, and as the door
slammed, the mirror had put on the
tranRoal came down and hit her on
the head That completed oar de
moral'gation II was some time before
could netsuadc her she had not been
attacked from behind by burglar.
and when she found the mirror
smashed on the floor she wasn't much
better.
There's going to he DEATH" she
vailed ION. Miss Rachel. there's 20.
Ing to lSe n death"
There will be-" | said grimly. If
you dont keep quiet, Liddy Allen"
And 50 We sat there until morning.
wondering il the candle would last
iiptii daSn and arranging what trains
80 could taRe back TO town. II we had
only stuck to that decision and gone
back before Il was too late!
The sun came finally, and from my
window watched the trees along the
drive take shadowy form. gradually
lose their ghostlike appearance. be.
come gray aud then green Tho
Greenwood etHD. showed itself a dab
OF white against the Hill across the
valley. and nm early robin or two
hoped around in the dew. Not un-
al the milll-boy and the sun came.
about the same time did | dare to
open the door into the hall and look
around. Everything was as we had
left H. Trunks were hcaped here and
there, ready for the trunk room, and
through an end window OF stained
glass came streak OF red and yell
low daylight that was eminently
cheerful. The milk-boy was pound
Ing somewhere below, and the day
had begun
Thomas Johnson came ambling up
the drive about half-past six. and We
could hear him Gathering around on
l
had 10 take Liddy to her room IN
stairs, however she was quito sure
she would find something uncnnny. In
fact when she did not, having now
The courage Of daylight, she was actu-
ally disappointed.
Wen, we did not go back to town
that day.
warned liddy not TO mention what
had happened to anybody, and telc-
phoned TO town for servants Then.
aftel a breakfast which did more
credit TO Thomas heart than his head
went on short tour of investiga
ton. The sounds had come from the
east wing and not without some
qualms / began there At first / found
nothing. Since then / have developed
my powers OF observation, but at that
time was a novice. The small card
room Seemed undisturbed | looked for
footprints. which is. believe, the con.
ventional thing to do, although my
experience has been that as clews
both footprints and thumbmarks are
more useful in fiction than I'm fact.
But the stairs i'm that wing offered
something.
At the top Of the fight had been
placed a tall wicker hamper. packed
with linen-that had come from town
II stood at the edge OF the top step,
almosts barring passage, and on the
step below II was n long. fresh
scratch For three steps the scratch
was repeated. gradually diminishing.
as IL some object had fallen, striking
eachsOne Then for four steps nothing.
/ On the hfth step below was round
dent in the hard wood. That was all.
and it seemed little enough. except
that | was positive the marks had not
been there the day before.
itgbere out my theory Of the sound.
/ which had been for all the world like
the humping OF metallic object down
/ flight Of Steps The four steps had
, been skipped ] reasoned that an iron
| bar, for instance. would do something
| OF tho sort Astrike two or three steps.
| end down, then turn over. jumping a
few stairss md landing with thud.
| Iron bars. However, do not fall
! downstairs in the middle OF the night
along Coupled with the figure on the
! yeranda the agency by which it
cliPbed might be assumed But-and
here was the thing that puzzled me
| most-tho doors were all fastened
! that morning, the windows unmolest.
! cd, 9nd the particular door from the
! card room 20 the veranda had a com.
I hination lock OF which held tho key.
/ and whidh had not been tempered
With.
fixed on an attempt az burglary,
~ the most natural explanation
/ attempt frustrated ~ tho falling Of
the object whatever Sc was. that had
reused nee 1.-Two things could not
understand; how the intruder had cs.
capped vit5 everything locked. and
Why he hHd' left the small silver.
which iu tbs absence Of % butler bad
remained downstairs over rigb.
Zoo fhe afternoon q hack came ru
from agandva with y fresh r.I.y of
-'rsapla. The driver took fh-m uth