Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-10-04
clothes chute?' Who was It scared
Miss Louise almost into her grave 2"

LAotncS CuuIc. w no WAS IL scared
Miss Louise almost into her grave?"
I'm doing my best to find out"
said. What in the world are you
driving at?" She drew long breath.
There is hole in the trunkroom
wall, dug out since last night. It's big
enough to put your head in, and the
plasters all over the place"
"Nonsense!" said. Plaster is al
ways falling"
But Liddy clenched that.
"Just ask Alex" she said. when
he put the new cooks trunk there last
night the wall was as smooth as this.
This morning it's dug out, and there's
plaster on the cooks trunk. Miss
Rachel, you can get dozen detectives
and put one on every stair in the
house, and you'll never catch any
thing. There's some things you can't
handcuff.'
Liddy was right. AS soon as could,
I went up to the trunkroom, which
was directly over my bedroom. The
plan Of the upper story of the house
was like that of the second floor, in
the main. One end, however, over
the east wing, had been left only roug-
ly finished, the intention having been
to convert it into ballroom at some
future time. The maids rooms, trunk
room, and various storerooms, includ-
ing large airy linen room, opened
from long corridor, like that on the
second floor. And in the trunkroom,
as Liddy had said, was fresh break
In the plaster.
Not only in the plaster, but through
the lathing, the aperture extended.
reached into the opening, and three
feet away, perhaps, could touch the
bricks of the partition wall. For some
reason the architect in building the
house had left space there that
struck me, even in the surprise of the
discovery, as an excellent place for a
conf1agration to gain Roadway.
You are sure the hole was not here
yesterday" I asked Liddy, whose ex-
preston was mixture of satisfaction
and alarm. In answer she pointed to
the new cooks trunk-that necessary
adjunct of the migratory domestic. The
top was covered with fine white plaster,
as was the floor. But there were no
large pieces of mortar lying around
no bits Of lathing. When, mentioned
this to Liddy she merely raised her
eyebrows. Being quite confident that
the gap was of unholy origin, she did
not concern herself with such trifes
as bit of mortar and lath. No doubt
they were even then heaped neatly
on a gravestone in the Casanova
churchyard!
!, brought Mr.. Jameson up to see
the hole in the wall, directly after
breakfast. His expression was very
odd when he looked at it, and the first
thing he did was to try to discover
what object, if any, such a hole could
have. He got piece of candle, and
by charging the aperture little was
able to examine what lay beyond. The
result was nil. The trunkroom, al
though heated by steam heat. like the
rest of the house, boasted of fire.
place and mantel as we'll. The open
ing had been made between the flue
and the outer wall of the house. There
was revealed, however, on inspection,
only the brick of the chimney on one
side and the outer wall of the house
on the other; in depth the space ex-
tended only to the flooring. The
breach had been made about four feet
from the floor, and inside were all the
missing bits of plaster. It had been
methodical ghost.
1t was very much Of q disappoint-
ment. 1 had expected a secret room,
at the very least, and think even Mr..
Jameson had fancied he might at last
have clew to the mystery. There
was evidently nothing more to be dis
covered; Liddy reported that every
thing was serene among the servants,
and that none Of them had been dis
turbed by the noise. The maddening
thing, however, was that the nightly
visitor had evidently more than one
way of gaining access to the house, and
we made arrangements to redouble
our vigilance az to windows and doors
that night.
Halsey was inclined to pooh.pooh
the whole affair. He said a break in
the plaster might have occurred
months ago and gone unnoticed, and
that the dust had probably been
stirred up the day before. After all,
we had to let It got at that, but we
put In an uncomfortable Sunday. Ger
trude went to church. and Halsey took
long walk in the morning. Louise
was able to sit up, and she allowed
Halsey and Liddy to assist her down.
stairs late e the afternoon The eas.
veranda was shady, green with vines
and palms, cheerful with cushions and
lounging chairs. We put Louise in a
steamer chair, and she sat there
passiyely enough, her hands clasped
in her lap.
We were very silent. Halsey sat on
the rail with pipe, openly watching
Louise, as she looked broodingly
across theNvalley to the hills. There
was something battling in the girls
eyes; and gradually Halsey's, boyish
features lost their glow at seeing her
about again. and settled into grim
lines. He was like his father tust
then.
We sat until late afternoon, Halsey
growing more and more moody. Short.
ly before six he got up and went into
the house, and in few minutes he
came out and called me to the tele.
phone. 1t was Anna Whitcomb. in
town, and she kept me for 20 minutes
telling me the caildren had had the
measles and how Nine. Sweeny had