The Huttig news., 1910-07-02


 gate again. I, drew long breath of relief, followed by another, equally long, of dismay. For I had found the hitching strap and there was no1hins at the end of it. In lull al the wind seemed to hear, far off. the eager l thud of stable-bound feet So for the second time I climbed the slope to the Laurels and on the way I thought of many things to say.
 l I struck the house at a new angle. l for l found a veranda, destitute Of chairs and furnishings. but dry and | evidently roofed. It was better than i the terrace and so, by groping along i the wall, l tried to make my way to 1 Hotchkiss. That was how I found the open window. had passed perhaps six, all closed, and to have my hand grope for the next one and to find in- stead the soft drapery of an inner curtain was startling, to say the least.
 l found Hotchkiss at last around an angle of the stone wall. and told him i that the horse was gone. He was disconcerted, but not abased main i taiBing that it was new kind of knot that couldn't slip and that the horse must have chewed the halter through! He was less enthusiastic than l had expected about the window.
 Tt look. uncemmonly like trap" he said .HI tell you there was some one in the park below when we were coming up. Man has a sixth sense that scientists ignore-a sense of the nearness of things. And all the time you have been gone, some one has been watching me"
 Couldn't see you" I maintained T can't see you now. And your sense of contiguity didn't tell you about that l flower crock
 In the end, of course, he consented to go with me He was very lame. and I helped him aroun- to the open win- dow He was full of moral courage, the little man: it was only the phys ical in him that quailed. And as we groped along, he insisted on going through the window first.
 If it is a trap" he whispered, 'I have two arms to your one, and. be- sides. as I said before, life holds much for you. AS for me. the government would merely lose an indifferent em- ploye.''
 When he found I was going first he was rather hurt, but I did not wait 1 for his protests. 1 swung my feet over the sill and dropped I made a clutch at the window frame with my good hand when 1 found no floor un- der my feet, but I was too late. dropped probably ten feet and landed with crash that seemed to split my eardrums. I was thoroughly shaken, but in some miraculous way the band aged arm had escaped injury.
 For heavens sake" Hotchkiss was calling from above, have you broken your back?''
 No l returned, as steadily as I could, merely driven 1t up through my skull. This is a staircase. I'm com ing up to open another window t was eerie work, but I accom- plisbed it finally, discovering not with out mishap, a room filled with more tables than l had ever dreamed Of, tables that seemed to waylay and strike at me. When 1 had got win dow open, Hotchkiss crawled through, and we were at last under shelter
 Our first thought was for light. The same laborious investigation that had landed us where we were re- vealed that the house was lighted by electricity, and shat the plant was not in operation. By accident l stumbled across tabouret with smoking ma terials and found a half dozen match es. The first one showed us the mag nitude of the room we stood in, and revealed also brass candle-stick by the open fireplace. a candle-stick al most four feet high. supporting a can dle Of similar colossal proportions. It was Hotchkiss who discovered that 1t had been recently lighted He held the match to it and peered at it over his glasses.
 Within ten minutes" he announced iinpressively this candle has been burning Look at the wax! And the wick Both soft"
 Perhaps it's the damp weather" l ventured, moving little nearer to the circle of light A gust of wind came | Tn JuSI then, ana the name turned over on it's side and threatened demise. There was something almost ridicu- lous in the haste with which we put down the window and nursed the flicker to life.
 The peculiarly ghost-like appearance of the room added to the uncanniness of the situation. The furniture was swathed in white covers for the win ter; even the pictures wore shrouds. And in niche between two windows bust on pedestal similarly wrapped, one arm extended under it's winding sheet, made most life-like ghost, if any ghost can be life-like.
 Tn the light of the candle we sur veyed each other. and we were ob- jeets for mirth. Hotchkiss was taking i off his sodden shoes and preparing to make himself comfortable. while 1 hung my muddy raincoat over the ghost in the corner. Thus hahited, he presented rakish but distinctly more