The log cabin Democrat., 1909-04-21
THE MASTER
 MOVE
Copyright, by shortstory Pub. Co)
By GEORGE E. GARDNER.

light as day, while the faint, sweet odor of the flowers, and the cheery .ipple of brook near by. made the very idea of ghosts ridiculous. concluded that the whole affair was q joke of Smiths, and as the dwell- ing was lighted by electricity from private plant, l turned on every lamp, that no trick might be played under the cover of darkness. Then l went up to my room and was soon 'leep in certain figures. Perhaps an iour had passed, when, to my intense surprise, l suddenly found myself saying, Come in.' knew that there had been no knock; yet I seemed to have heard one. Then 1 remembered that l had locked tue door. l rose, turned the key, and was about to open it, when the knob was turned deliberately, and the door swung slowly open. But there was no one th l confess 1t made me shiyer a bit, for the motion was plainly caused by something, though there was nothing to be seen. For there was no wind at all. But some- how l knew 1t couldn't have been that.
 "The movement ceased; then as certainly and deliberately as before, the door closed. Curiosity got the better of alarm-indeed, after a mo- ment l felt assured that there was no cause for disquiet, inexplicable though the affair seemed-and l opened the door, to see if it would shut again. But 1t remained mo- tionless Evidently my guest had entered. l looked intentIy about, but the glare of three incandescent lamps disclosed nothing. Not quite that, though. In one corner stood a small chess table. On this 1 now saw that the pieces were arranged in readiness for play. Yet they had lain ill a heap when 1 entered the room; of that l was certain. l ap- preached the table and dropped into a chair. Why 1t was 1 don't pretend to say, but l put out my hand and made a move. l was more than startled when, in a moment, a piece on the other side was played by Something. But though kept up pretty lively thinking about the mys- tery all the time, yet l retained my chess faculty and played as l had never done before. My invisible op- ponent evidently thought well of me, for he, or she, or 1t, used great de- liberation, and the moves were those of master.
 'EOnce, when my opponents piece was about to move, to see the effect placed my finger upon it. The movement at once ceased. Then l heard-though aware there was no sound-a voice say courteously, 'EX- cuse me, sir; 1 thought it was my turn
 "'So it is,' l blurted out. I beg your pardon.' Then looked at the empty chair opposite, and felt bit queer again. But the game was growing intensely interesting, and after time l became so much ab- sorbed in it that I pretty much ceased 10 think of the uncanny char acter of my opponent. Little by lit- tie I appeared to be getting the upper hand, and at last l saw that the pieces lay exactly as they had lain in a game l had once played with Tschigorin, and with sigh of satisfaction I made the very play by which the great Russian had de- feated me, and which he had pro. nounced unanswerable. l had won and I gazed exuItantly at the de, spondent space opposite. There was no move for a long time. Give il up, my friend?' l asked lightly There was no response. But pres ently there came play that puzzled me, a second that stunned me, g third that defeated me. Upon my word, nothing in the whole strange performance affected me as those moves did, they were so utterly un' natural, so beyond the power of man