The Cairo bulletin., 1909-09-19
MY
LADY RUTLEDGE
Original

The man stared. Nobody goes to
Rutledge Hall these days" he pro-
tested.
Somebody's going there today,
however," | returned. And so 1t
proved, for little later we were on
our way. while my companion. the
stage driver, was informing me tnat,
In his opinion. the present owner
of the Hall. Percy Dalton. must be
wild sort of chap, trottin' all over
the globe. yet in all these years
since old Stephen Rutledge had died
and left the property TO his nephew,
the man had not once been near the
place He also added the informa-
ton that not even the caretaker was
living at the hall now. In all OF
this / was more or less interested,
for / myself was Percy Dalton, and
was there for the express purpose OF
looking over my inheritance. The
fact that the carstaker was gone was
news and not altogether pleasant,
and further inquiry brought out the
SUI dSSGA kAOA bbAI LAG AA6A& A~esA
been frightened away. They say
there's a lady seen walkin' bout the
house" my informant went on. "one
that was dead and buried years ago"
he added.
do they give her a manner"
asked.
! 1.-THE young wife O. old Thomas
Rutledge," was the answer. She
died sudden"
/ l knew that my grandfather's
second wife had died soon after their
marriage, but that there was any
thing suspicious in the fact had
never heard and did not now believe
My reason for coming to tho hall
was to find K my hope OF givins a
house party there seemed feasible.
A massive and imposing pile ! found
| the house to be, but ruin aud neg.
| lect was wri, ten all about It, ] had
brought the keys and at length found
| myself in one of the front rooms
and a fire roaring up the broad Chin
ney There was no way of lighting
| the place, but it was moonlight, and
after drawing out an old couch on
which proposed to sleep | sat look
ing out into the vine-tangled garden.
| Suddenly shadow fell across the
| pathway and q moment later wo-
| man appeared. slight and girlish,
| and enveloped In long garment OF
| gray. Slowly the form advanced,
paused as If looking over the old
garden, then. turning. disappeared.
my lady of Rutledge Hall!' /
exclaimed under my breath.
determined that on the following
/ day would make thorough exam
nation of the house both within and
without, and began bright and early
1t was nearly noon, however, be-
fore anything unusual happened
Then. while In chamber, / glanced
into a long mirror rejecting the
part of the room toward which my
i back was turned. A crimson cur
| tain hung there as I looked last,
| now--like a portrait Enclosed by the
mirrors frame-stood girl whose
| right hand held the curtain aside,
| her red lips slightly parted and
| startled look In her brown eyes.
| turned to confront the original. She
was gone! Pulling aside the drapery
| | found a door closed and locked.
Had I been tricked by too vivid
| Imagination? I did not believe It.
Neither could bring myself to fancy
anything supernatural in the myster-
GUS figure, she had too much the look
of flesh and blood. Presently | re-
| newed nay search, with greater eager
! ness than ever, but 1t was several
hours later before l entered that
| part of the house previously occu-
pied by the caretaker. Then | ap-
preached from the outside; but
what was this? Was he here after
all? There we're signs of life.
Puzzled, l knocked at the door.
It opened, and for the second time
found myself looking into pair Of
startled brown eyes. Yes, had
| found the mysterious lady, and after
introducing myself found her name
| to be Aryilla French and learned
| how she came to be here. Her
father was not living, her mothers
health required summer In quiet
| place. Miss French had been at
tracted by the romantic neglect OF
Rutledge Hall, and coming across
the man who had cared for the place,
learned that she might occupy a
few of the back rooms gratuitously
for the sake of there being someone
about the house,
We soon found that we had sew
eral acquaintance in common, and
a happy thought occurred to me.
Miss French" began, II am con-
vinced that you are just the person
to help me decide the matter that
brought me down here. Do you
think 1t possible that this old house
can be made to accommodate q
house party within two or three
months7"
i She looked thoughtful. There
are great possibilities" she admit.
| ed SLOWLY then more decisivelv.