Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1909-08-14
CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER V.
"y yHATS thatT At the first
HT alarm the girl had caught
Wv convulsivcly Ut Kirkwood's
nrfO Now Nshnn An nonan

Nm habih ehN XIII ltu NdhSub
WV convulsivcly Ut Kirkwood's
arm Now, when n pause
came I'm the growing Of the knocker
she made him hear her voice, and it
was broken and vibrant with n threat
OF hysteria. "Oh. what can Il meanY"
II don't know" He laid hand re-
nssuringly over that which trcmblci
on his forearm. Tho police possibly"
''Policcp she iterated. agbast. what
makes you thing
"A man tried TO stop me at the door"
he answered quickly. 81 got I'm before
he couh. When he tried tho knockcr
bobby came along aud stopped him.
/ Tho Inter may have been Watching
the house since thcn IT'D be only his
duty Ia keep an eve on II. and heaven
knows we raised IA racket, coming
| head first down those stairs! Now we
arr up against IT," nc added brightly.
| But the girl was Juggling at his hand.
! Gomez" she begged breathlcssly
/ Come! There IL woyl Before they
/ break in
but this man1" Kirkwood hung
| back. troubled
"They-the polIcc-0re sure TO find
and care for him"
$50 they Will" he chuckled. And
/ serve him right! Hg'd have choked
me 90 death. with all Tho good will I'm
/ the worid"'
ooh, do hurry"
Turning, she sped light foo&od down
/ the staircase 10 the lower hau he Mt
her elbow. Here the uproar wna loud-
/ aat
! sounds might have been mnde by two
pairs Of flying foct Tor all that, they
/ fec on tlptoc. stcalthily, guilty shad-
/ ows I'm the night. ana at the newell post
swung back into the unbrollcn black
/ ness which shrnudcd the Businesses
/ backward Of the dwelling A sudden
access OF fury on the part of the
nlnrmist nt the knoCkcr Rpurrcd thcm
| on with qu0king heHrts In half n
dozen strides lockwood. guided only
/ by instinct and the fFou-frou of the
/ girls skirts 0s she ran invisible before
him, stumbled on the uppcrmost steps
or n steep staircase. Only hand rail
( saved him, and that Mt the Inst mo.
ment. He stopped short, shocked into
( caution. From below came coEtrltc
whisper: Tin so sorry! ! should'havc
warned you"
lie pulled himself together, giarfng
/ wildly ut nothing ITS all right"
/ you're not hurt. truly2 Oh. do
/ come quickly"
She waited for him at the bottom Of
| the nigh+ happily for him for he was
! III ~ son
"Ilcre-your hand lct me guido y-ou
| This darkness Is dreadful"
He found her hand somehow and
tucked his into IS conBdingly aud moi
/ without an uncertain thrill OF salts
faction
Come" she painted come! II
they break in"
Stincd 10y apprehension, her voice
failed heY
/ They went forward. now Less impct
uOusly. for It was very black and tho
! knocker had fnllcu still.
"No fear of thar" hc remarked after
time. They wouldn't dare break
in"
4 nutterinR whisper answered him:
~ don't know We dare risk moth
ing"
They seemed 90 explore. 10 pcnc-
trat". acres Of labyriuthlnc chambers
nud passages, delvuV deep into the
bowels Of the earth. Ike rabbits bur
rowing in n warren bounded by boa
giles
AboTo stairs tie hush continued un-
Lroscn. ps n tho dumb genius of the
place had cast epoll of silence on
tie lpocbor or else. outraged. had