The Charles Mix new era. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1???-1911, 1910-07-08
CHAPTER II.
A Link Cuff-B Button.

~" iva az Az CAsaA AZ CT IAs u
dow In petrified amazement. Liddy
began to moan under her breath, and
In my excitement ! reached down and
shook her.
Stop It," / whispered. IT'S only a
woman-maybe a maid of the Arm
strongs'. Get up and help me find the
door" She groaned again. Very
WELL" | said, then I'll have t o leave
you here. I'm going
She moved at that, and, holding to
my sleeve. We felt our way, with nu-
merois collisions, TO the billiard-room,
and from there to the drawing-room.
The lights came on then, and, with
the long French windows unshuttered.
| mad a creepy feeling that each one
sheltered a peering face. In fact, in
the light OF what happened afterward,
am pretty certain We were under
surveillance during the entire ghostly
evening. We hurried owe the rest of
the l~ocking-up and got upstairs as
quickly as we could. ! left the lights
all on, and u footsteps echoed ca
vernously. Liddy had a stiff neck the
next morning, from looking back over
her shoulder, and she refused to go
to bed.
Let me stay In FOUR dressing room,
Miss Rachel she begged. IF you
don't Ill sit in the hall outside the
door. I'm not going to be murdered
with my eyes shut"
1t was II O'Clock when | finally pre-.
pared for bed. In spite of my assurnp-
ton of indifference, | locked the door
into the nall, and finding the tran
som did not catch. ! put a chair eau
tiously before the door-it was not
necessary to rouse ~Liddy-and climb
Ing up put on the ledge of the tran
som n small dressing mirror, so that
any movement of the frame would
send 1t crashing down. Then, secure
in my precautions | went to bed.
| did not go TO sleep at once. Liddy
disturbed me just AS | was growing
drowsy, by coming in and peering un-
der the bed. She was afraid TO speak,
however, because Of her previous
%snubbing, and went back, stopping In
lAAt " way W SiSu diDlIiGily-
Somewhere downstairs a clock
with a chime sang away the hours
eleyen-thirty, forty five, twelve. And
then the lights went out to stay. The
Casanova Electric Company shuts up
shop and goes home to bed at mid
night: when one has a party. | be-
lleve 1t Is customary TO fee the com
pany, which will drink hot coffee and
keep awake a couple of hours longer
But the lights were gone for good
that night. Liddy had gone to sleep,
as | knew she would. She was a very
unreliable person: always awake and
ready to talk when she wasn't wanted
and doing off to sleep when she was
| called her once or twice. the only re-
suit being an explosive snore that
threatened her very windpipe-then |
got up and lighted a bedroom candle.
My bedroom and dressing room
were above the big living room ON
the first floor. On the second floor a
long corridor rau the length of the
house. with rooms opening from both
sides. In the wings were small cor.
ridors crossing he main One-the
plan was simplicity itself. And just
as | got back into bed, | heard a
sound from the east wing. apparently,
that made me stop, frozen, with one
bedroom slipper half off, and listen. 1t
was a. rafting metallic sound, and 1t
reverberated along the empty halls
like the crash OF doom. 1t was for all
the world as II something heavy, per-
haps a piece Of steel, had rolled clat-
tering and jangling down the hard
wood stairs leading to the card-room.
In the silence that followed Liddy
stirred and snored again. | was ex-
asperated. first she kept me awake
by silly alarms. hen when she was
needed she slept like Joe Jefferson, or
Rip-they are always the anne to me.
her credit for being wide awake the
minute | spoke.
Get up" l said. " you don't want
TO be murdered in your bed"
Where? How" she yelled yocifer-
ousiy. and jumped up.
mere y somebody In the mousse, !
said. Get up. Well have to go TO
the telephone"
Not out In the hall" she gasped.
"Oh. Miss Rachel. not out in the
hall" trying to hold me back. Blu |
am a large woman and Liddy Is small
We got to the door. somehow, and
Liddy held a brass andiron, which il
was all she could do to lift, let alone
brain anybody with. l listened. and.
hearing nothing, opened the O T.
little and peered into the hall. II was
a black void, full OF terrible sugges-
ton. and my candle only emphasized
the gloom. liddy squealed and drew
me back again. and as the door
slammed. the mirror | had put on he
ransom came down and hit her on
the head. That completed our de-
moralization. 1t was some time before
| could persuade her she had not been