Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1909-07-16

INDOORS Nlrkwouu faced unhanpiy
the enigma of fortuity. wonder
Ing IL this by any possibility were
L No. ..
The key had fitted. the bolts had
been drawn on the inside. and. while
the key had been one OF ordinary pat
tern and would no doubt have proved
efcctual with any one of a hundred
common locks. the finger of probability
seemed to Indicate that his luck had
brought him back to No. d.
In spite Of all this. he was sensible
Of little confidence. Though this were
truly No. o. hls freedom still lay on
the knees of the gods: his very life. he
like. was poised. tottcrlng on pima
Gle of chance.
In the end. taking heart OF dcspcra.
| ton. he stopped and removed his
shoes. a precautlon which later ap
pealcd to his sense OF the ridiculous
| In view of the racket he had raised In
entering. but which ut the moment
seemed most natural and In accord.
ancc with common sense. Then. rls.
Ing. he held his breath. staring and
| listening About him the pitch dark
ness was punctuated with fading
points Of FIRE. and In his ears was n
noise of strange whlspcrings.
lie went forward gingerly. feeling
his way like blind man on strange
ground. Ere long he stumbled over
doorsill and found that .thc walls of
/ the passage had fallen away. lie had
entered "A room. black cavern Of
indctcrmlnate dimensions. Thence
progressing over complaining floors
through what may have been the scry.
ants hall. large room with a table
In the middle aud n number OF pro
mlscuous chairs twitncss his tortured
shins,. he finally Numbered into the
basement hallway.
by now n little calmer. he felt u.s.
sured that this was really No. D
| Frognall street -nd little happier
about II all. though not even momcn.
tarily forgetful OF the potential police
and night Waterman. However, he
mounted the steps to the ground floor
without adventure and found himself
ut last In the same dim and ghostly
hall which he had entered some six
hours before. The mockery Of dusk
admitted by the fanllght was just
strong enough TO enable him to iden.
tify the general lay OF the land and
arrangement OF furniture.
More confidently with each uncon.
tested step he continued his quest.
Elation was stirring his spirit when
he gained the first floor and moved
toward the foot OF the second fiight.
approaching the spot whercat he was
to- begin the search for the missing
purse. The knowledge that he lacked
means of obtaining Illumination de-
TERED him nothing. He had some
hope of finding matches In one Of the
adjacent rooms, but. failing that. was
prepared to ascend the stairs on nll
fours. feeling every inch Of their sur
face IL 1t took hours.
And thus It fell out that. at the IT,
slant he was thinking It time 10 begin
to crawl and hunt his stocklngcd feet
came into contact with something
heavy, yielding. warm-somethlng that
moved, moancd and caused his hair t.
bristle and his flesh to creep.
We will make allowances for him
Al along he had gone on the assump
zion that his antagonist of the DARK
stairway would have recovered and
made OF with all expedition In tn,
course Of ten or twenty minutes al
mast from the time of his accident
To find him still there was something
entirely outside Of KIrkwood's reckon
Ing He would rs soon have thought
TO encounter say. Calendar woult
have preferred the latter. indeed
"Poor devil" murinurcd the yodDt
, min. "IIe must be IN pretty bat
. way for surer' lie kncit. compassion
lgentling his heart, and pun one hand Il
, the insentient face. A warm swea
molstencd his fingers. His palm wa
, famed by steady respiration,
Q UNNECESSARILY pcrplcSed. the Amcri
. can rose. slipped on his shoes aud but
y toned them. thinking hard the while
2 What ought he to do? obviously iilgh
Z suggested itsclf-incontlneut Hight. an
r ticipatlng the mans recovery. on tn
other hand. indubltably the latter ha'
|. sustained such injury that conscious
v ness. when II came TO him. would hard
q ly be re-enforced by much aggrcssly
a power Moreover. II was to be ~
d membered that the one was In tina
u house with quite rs much warrant II
The other unless klrkwood had draw
rash inference from the incident q
r. the ragged sentry. The two of thel
& were mutual II antagonistlc trespasi
Is ers. Neither would dare bring abot