The Nevada County picayune. (Prescott, Ark.) 190?-current, 1910-10-21
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mantel and-found the panel.
Now the sounds below redoubled;
from the clatter and Earring | knew
that several people were running up
the stairs, and as the sounds ap-
preached, | could even hear what they
said.
Watch the end staircases," jamie
son shouted. "Damnation--there's no
light here" And then a second later.
All together now. One = two =
three
The door into the trunkroom had
been locked from the inside. At the
second that it gave. opening against
the wall with a crash and evidently
tumbling somebody into the room, the
stealthy fingers beyond the mantei-
door gave the knob the proper in
petus, and--the door swung open, and
closed again, Only-and Liddy al
ways screams and puts her fingers In
her ears at this point-only now
was not alone in ihe chimney room.
There was some ons else in the dark
ness, some one whc breathed hard,
| and who was so clCss l could have
touched him with my bs0d.
l was in a paralysis q terror. Out
side there were excited vices and in
credulous oaths. The trunks were
| being jerked around in a frantic
search, the windows were thrown
open only to show a sheer drop of 40
feet. And the man in the room with
me leaned against the manteldoor
and listened His pursuers were plain
ly baffed; | heard him draw long
breath, and turn to grope his way
| through the blackners. Then-he
touched my hand, cold, clammy, death
| like.
A hand in an empty room He drew
| in his breath, the sharp intaking 1s
horror that fills lungs suddenly col
| lapsed. Beyond jerking his hand awey
instantly, he made no movement
think absolute terror had him by the
throat. Then he stepped back. with
| out turning, retreating foot By foot
from The Dread in the corner, and l
do not think he breathed.
Then. with the relief of space be.
tween us. | screamed, ear-splittingly,
madly, and they heard me, outside.
I'm the chimney" | shrieked. BE
hind the mantel, The mantel,"
With an oath the figure hurled itself
across the room at me, and |
screamed again. In his blind fury he
had missed me; / heard him strike
the wall That one time | eluded
him; was across the room, and Lad
got the chair He stood for a second,
listening. then-he made another rush
and | struck out with my weapon.
think it stunned hie,, FOR | mad a sec
ond's respite when I could hear him
breathing, and some one shouted out
side:
We-cant-get-in. How-does-it
open?"
But the man IN the room had
changed his tactics knew he was
creeping on me, inch by inch, and !
could not tell from where. And then
he caught me. He held his hand
over my mouth and bit him. was
helpless, stranglng-and some one
was trying to break in the mantel
where, for thin wedge of yellowish
light was reflected on the opposite
wall. When he saw that, my assailant
dropped me with curse; tEo1-the
opposite wall swung open noiselessly
closed again without a sound, and /
was alone The intruder was gone.
I'm the next room" | called wildly
7 .ssrbn payt put tho cnnnd pf
blows on the mantel drowned my
voice, BY the time | had made them
understand, a couple of minutes had
elapsed The pursuit was taken up
then, by all except Alex, who was de-
termined to liberate me. When I
stepped out into the trunkroom a free
woman again | could hear the chase
far below.
| must say, for all Alexis anxiety to
set me free. he paid little enough at
tention to my plight He jumped
through the opening into the secret
room and picked up the portable safe
Il am going to put this in Mr. Hal
seys room, Miss Innes," he said. and
| shall send one OF the detectives tc
guard it
hardly heard him. | wanted to
laugh and cry in the same breath
to crawl into bed and have cup OF
tea, and scold Liddy. and do any OF
the thousand natural things that | had
never expected to do again. And the
air, The touch of the cool night air
on my face.
GRO BE CONTINUED