Barbour County index., 1910-11-02

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mantel and-found the panel.
Now the sounds below redoubled;
from the clatter and jarring 1 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 crash and evidently
tumbling somebody into the room, the
stealthy fingers beyond the mantel-
door gave the knob the proper i'm,
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 l
was not alone in the chimney room.
There was some one else in the dark
ness, some one who breathed hard,
and who was so close l could have
touched him with my hand.
l was in a paralysis of terror. Out
side there were excited voices 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 mantel-door
and listened. His pursuers were plain
ly baffled; 1 heard him draw a long
breath, and turn to grope his way
through the blackness. Then-he
touched my hand, cold, clammy, death
like.
A hand in an empty room! He drew
in his breath, the sharp intaking of
horror that fills lungs suddenly col
lapsed. Beyond jerking his hand away
instantly, he made no movement 1
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 1
do not think he breathed.
Then, with the relief of space be-
tween us, I screamed, ear-splittingly,
madly, and they heard me outside.
"In the chimney" 1 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; l heard him strike
the wall. That one time ! eluded
him; was across the room, and had
| got the chair. He stood for a second
listening, then-he made another rush
and 1 struck out with my weapon 1
think it stunned him, for 1 had a Sec
| ond's respite when l could hear him
breathing, and some one shouted out
side:
"We-can't-get-in How-does-it
| open?"
But the man in the room had
| changed his tactics. I knew he was
| creeping on me, inch by inch, and l
could not tell from where And then
he caught me. He held his hand
over my mouth, and 1 bit him. I was
| helpless, strangling-and some one
was trying to break in the mantel
from outside. 1t began to yield some
| where, for thin wedge of yellowish
light was reflected on the opposite
| wall. When he saw that, my assailant
| dropped me with curse; then-the
| opposite wall swung open noiselessly,
| closed again without sound, and
was alone. The intruder was gone
'In the next room!" l called wildly.
'The next room!" But the sound of
blows on the mantel drowned my
voice. By the time had made them
| understand, couple of minutes had
elapsed. The pursuit was taken UP
then, by all except Alex, who was de-
| termined to liberate me. When
! stepped out into the trunkroom a free
woman again I could hear the chase
| far below.
1 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
sey's room, Miss Innes," he said, "and
1 shall send one of the detectives to
guard it."
l hardly heard him. 1 wanted to
laugh and cry in the same breath
to crawl into bed and have a 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!
CTO BE CONTINUED)
WnrriAd f1uar Lie Hnnuea..