The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-10-13

plicfty. An injured man. possibly dead one. was in the room before him; the opposite room was locked; there was no light to be had short of the
 kitchen, to reach which he must des- cend the stairs and cross the hall and the room where the secretary stood. Something awaited him at the foot of the stairs. which the silence that fol- lowed the rattling at the door only
 made the more terrifying.
 Cautiously, step by step, he descend the winding stairs. At each step he stopped and listened, his terror of un-
 certainty being so great as to make him almost wish to catch some sound to tell him that something living shar-
 ed the darkness with him. He reach ed the last step. He stopped and
 out of the blackness came that strange perception of human presence which is neither of hearing nor of sight. It was covering at the farther end of
 the hall. near the bolted door, and he
 knew it's position so exactly as to be
 certain that he could walk over and put his hand on it. Instea1 of doing so, he walked past it. entered the room with the secretary and closed the door behind him. The possibility that n. should grapple in the dark with this
 unseen thing did not appeal to him.
 The fire was blazing brightly in the
 kitchen fireplace and was as a breath
 of life to man sick almost unto
 death. The boy, Barber, was not there
 and the opened outer door showed the
 way he had fled. Grimbleshaw re-
 lighted his candle. found two more and a supply of matches and by a strong exercise of will power forced himself to return to the upper room.
 As he crossed the room adjoining the kitchen his eye fell on the tele- phone and it came to him as revela- tion that here was means in summon ing assistance. which would at least be companionship. Pressing his finger against the connection knob he gave the handle a half dozen quick turns, There came only the dead burr of
 the handle as he whirled it around. He
 seized the receiver and placed it to
 his ear. There was not even buzz
 of life. It was as if dead, too-he shuddered at the comparison that flashed into his mind.
 Instantly the meaning of this new development came to him. The house was absolutely isolated from every liv- ing connection. Yet less than an hour
 before he had held talk with it and had been summoned through this very instrument. now dumb and dead That the instrument had been purposely
 disabled admitted of no question. He failed of courage, or desire. to carry the thought to it's logical conclusion. For the space of a breath he was
 divided in purpose between advance or retreat and only the sense of pro- fessionaI duty to the injured man up stairs was powerful enough to turn
 the scale. The fact that he had been
 summoned might be interpreted as in dicating that the man who best knew
 the extent of the injuries did not think
 the other past help and was not dis
 posed to prevent help being given. That being the case his course was
 plain. In any event, it was his duty
 to know, and anything less than
 knowledge was clearly derelction
 When he again opened the door into the entryway the same cold, icy blast
 as formerly, struck him and nearly extinguished his light. The outer door,
 which he had bolted. again stood open
 and the hall was empty. In the very corner, however. where some subtle sense had told him that something, or ! somebody, covered, lay in a rumpled heap a sheet of white cotton. Above was the ominous blackness of the stairway and upper hall. which might conceal any terror r-creating shape.
 This time he did not lock or even closa the door. He had less fear for what might be without than for that within and there was someth ng re- assuring in knowledge of an open way of retreat more direct than through the kitchen. Before going upstairs
 however, he tried the door of the low CT room, and on reaching the upper hallway tried the second door. Each