The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1909-07-14
HARRY'S FIRST CASE.
ax EpMuNp 5. sPLNNEY.

| copyright, 1909, by American Press Assoc
clatlon,l
Harry" said the chief, i've case
for you to begin on. There's an old
house up ia Barton county where a
ghost appears once In ten years-an
old woman jlngling a bunch Of keys,
She appears tonight They suspect
she is flesh and blood"
/ expected an important case for
starter and made no comment.
reached the house just before dinner
was invited to dine with the family
and 10 every way made at home. The
Oldest daughter was about twenty and
as pretty as a little red apple. Her
smile and her eyes were full Of mis-
chief, and it occurred to me that she
would be quite capable Of playing the
part Of a ghost. made up my mind
to be prepared for such q result.
Elsie that was her name-Elsie Ed
son and spent the evening chatting
and playing checkers and baekgam-
mon. / was but twenty-five and anne.
nable to the attractions of Q pretty girl.
She had read detective stories and
seemed to look upon me as a marvel
OF ingenuity. or course since l was
detective must be ingenious.
didn't tell her that this was my FIRST
case. put on all the mystery / could
summon IN order to impress her with
the depth Of my methods. At 10
o'clock she was ordered to bed. and
her mother took me TO the room where
the ghost was expected TO appear. 1t
was a chamber between front and q
rear room, a ball leading past It from
one TO the other Some sandwiches
and bottle OF beer were placed on a
table beside me.
bad all a young mans appetite for
eating and sleeping and was very fond
Of beer, especially about bedtime. i
put OF my supper as long as could
about fifteen minutes-then ate up all
the sandwiches, drank the beer and liz
a cigar. / would better have had cof-
fee. The beer. followed BY the cigar
and my posltionI was stretched on
nge-contributed to put me to
sleep II occurred to me that a de-
tective should be very careful not to
be caught mapping, and I tried hard to
keep awake, should have got up
and walked the floor, but-weil, / was
very comfortable where l was. or
course / fell asleep
! dreamed Dreams are singular
things Sometimes they have all tile
appearance Of reality. Ny dream was,
to use paradoxical expression, a
pleasant nightmare. dreamed that
was lying just where was; that
Elsie walked by the open door, looked |
IN at me. came and stood BY me, delft
~ drew my handkerchief from my
outside coat pocket--one corner was
exposed-then, bending lower and
lower. lightly touched my forehead I
with her lips. This done, she tiptoed
to the door. stood for moment look
ing at me with all the merriment Of
prank player, then passed out.
How much time elapsed between my /
dream and my awakening | don't /
know When / awoke It was from
hearing a Jingling Of keys. had the
presence Of mind to lie perfectly still.
I felt sure elsie was near, and was
not surprised to see out Of the corner
Of my ere an old woman pass the
door with a bunch Of keys IN her
hand / waited. and the figure re.
turned aud this time looked in as she
passed. / snored on. Once more re-
turning, tho figure stood ID the door
way aud iingIed her keys, evidently to
awaken me. This failing. she came to
tho lounge and was looking at me
when I sprang up and caught her IN
my arms. or course she was Elsie.
"0h. good graciousw she exclaimed.
II am sorry. Miss Edison" I said,
ito have caught you IN the act My
chief win require an exact report.
trust your family VIII not consider
your playing ghost reprehensible?
"But they will I'm not the ghost,
never played the ghost before.
saw you were asleep and thought I'd
play a prank on you, ] didn't know
detectives ever slept"
It was my turn to vince. How
would It look to my chief II I were
reported sleeping on watch? ''This
girl is easily managed said to my
self "I'n blum her just for fun"
II confess to you" / replied, that /
felt very dull and appeared to b
asleep. / was not. TO prove it win
tell you something. A certain young
lady came into the room and kissed
me-"
She started and blushed
"Ah, hag' / thought. NY dream
was real.s
you say you were awake, she said
presently.
"0f course
She pulled my handkerchief out Of
her sleeve Then why did you let me
take thisT"
changed my braggadocio afr to
humble one.
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