The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1909-08-25
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12)

ITINUED FROM PAGE l2)
slowly yielded until there was an open
ing wide enough for him to slip through.
But within the room there was no light,
and before that black entrance into the
the girl, and she touched his arm.
Turn on the light, she whispered
The switch is at the level of the door
He reached his hand through the open
ing, and after a moment of uncertain
groping found the switch ;, At the pres,
within the room.
and gesture the girl shrank away from
the door. Then he turned and squeezed
his body through the opening.
ONCE fairly. within the room. a sudden
- shock of horror checked him. Against
the door, at his feet, lay the body of u
stain disfguring his white shirt-front. 1t
was this that had resisted his entrance,
and now, as he stood staring at it. once
minute he stared at the body, his heart
beating wildly as though the wings of
the angel of death had brushed him in
passing. Then he mastered himself and
remaining.
AS his knee touched the floor, Rodman
gave an exclamation. In that instant he
had recognized in that dropped jaw and
palid face the features of one he had
known. Before him lay the body of Ar
thur GriScon
But three nights had passed since he
had parted in anger with this man in the
dining room of the Owl club. And the
&C ntrast between the reckless gaiety of
the Arthur Griscom he had last met,
and this still form before him, struck
like weight upon his spirit. 1t seemed
impossible that 50 much life had come of
sudden to nothingness and he bent to
search for sign that the man still sur
,vived. He nerved himself to touch the
body, and placed his hand over the heart
to learn if it still beat. But the tale of
the glazing eyes, the huddled form, the
CHASTITY face. was merely confirmed The
man was dead beyond recall
He Withdrew his hand with the quick
dead, and sticky moisture that adhered
to his fingers threw him into sudden
panic. AS his eyes fell upon the red
stain, a faint nausea assailed him, and
his handkerchief with his unsoiled hand,
and rubbed energetically to cleanse the
blood from palm and fingers. Then he
flung the handkerchief away as though
he were unable to bear the touch of it,
and his qualms of the flesh were con
quered by his horror of the fate of the
man who lay before him. The anger and
contempt OF lnelr laSI meCCl0T were FOR
gotten, and now only pity remained
d ODNIAN looked again at the huddled
- form, and then his eye hastily sought
suicide. The closed door, with the body
braced against it. seemed to make es-
cape by that exit impossible, and to in
dlcate that In some freak of dependency
the reckless young man had made away
with himself. Then his eye lighted
upon the handle of revolver. showing
from beneath a heavy chair. He stepped
across the room and picked it up. 1t was
a 32-calber weapon, and one cartridge
had been freshly discharged The re.
revolver had lain nearly twenty feet from
the body, and at this discovery Rodman's
But If 1t was murder, where was the
one who committed the deed? Could he
have escaped other than by the door that
was held by Arthur Griscom's dead body !:
watching, for chance to escape. Rod
man looked carefully about him The
room was large. and seemed to suggest a
bachelors sitting room. Its windows
closed, and offered no road to escape.
Then folding door ON the western side
OF the room caught his eve. He had
thought at first that it was but one of
the panels of the wall. He hurriedly
threw 1t open, half expecting to be met
by the rush of flying desperate, or by
n bullet intended as encouragement to
curiosity.
The folding door opened upon bed
room. The room was still airing from
western window, and the soft scent of II
rose drifted pleasantly in on the night
air. Another door opened into Il closet
hung with mans clothing. Still another
door opened into bathroom. His ex-
ploration had led to blank wall. He
was the only living person in the rooms,
and there appeared no way to escape ex-
man lay. The murderer, then, must
have escaped by that opening, and Girls
com, dying, attempted to follow, only to
fail against it's closing panels with his
last step.
w It'll this conclusion to his survey,