The Washington herald., 1910-07-01
CHAPTER XXI.

Late that evening Betty Mercer and
Dallas were writing verses OF coincidence
to be signed by all Of us and put under
the door into Jims room when Bella
came running down the stairs.
Dial was reading the first verse when
she came Listen to this. Bella" be
said triumphantly;
There was fat artist named Jas
Who cruelty called his friends
When ath0' shut uI5 tight
He bFoke out night
With a rash that is maddening. be clas
Then he caught sight Of Bella's face
as she stood in the doorway. and stopped.
Jim is delirious!" she announced
tragically. You shut him in there all
alone and now he's delirious. III never
forgive any OF you.
"Delirious" everybody exclaimed.
He was sane enough when I took him
his chicken BROTH Mr. HARRISON said
He was almost fluent"
He is stark. staring crazy" Bella in
sisted Historically. IL locked the door
carefully when l went down to my din
ner. and when came up it-it was I'M
locked, and Jim was babbling on the
bed. with a sheet over mis- face. He-he
says the house is haunted and he wants
all the men to come up and sit in the
room with him"
Not on yo's l;fe," Max said II am
young. and career has only begun.
don't inten 90 be cut of in the flower
Of my youth. But I'll tell you what
viii do; I'll take him drink. 1 can
tie it TO a pole or something"
NJ TIarl,Feor af4
was thoughtful for a minute. Then:
Il don't believe he is delirious," he
said quietly, and I wouldn't be sur
prised II he has happened on something
that-will be Of general interest. I think
/ viii stay with him tonight"
After that, OF course, none of the 9TH
ers would confess that he was afraid.
so with the South American leading, they
all went upstairs. The women of the
party sat on the lower steps and listen
ed. but everything was quiet Now and
then we could hear the sound of voices,
and after a while there was a rapid
slamming of doors and the sound of some
one running down 10 the second floor.
| Then quiet again.
None of us felt laxative Bella had
followed the men Up and had been put
out, and sat shifting by herself in the
jig-saw puzzle in the library. and declar-
ing that some of it must be lost. Anne
and Leila Mercer were embroidering. and
Betty and l sat idle, our hands In our
laps. The whole atmosphere of the house
was mysterious. AIne told over again
of the strange noises the night her neck
lace was stolen. Betty asked me about
the time when the comfort slipped from
under my fingers. And when, In the
midst of the story, the telephone rang,
we all Jumped and shrieked.
In an hour or so they sent for Flanni-
gan, and he went upstairs. He came
down again soon, however, and returned
with something over his arm that looked
like a rope. 1t seemed to be made of all
kinds of things tied together, trunk
straps, clothesline. bed sheets. and some
thing that Flanagan pointed TO with
rage and said he hadn't been able to
keep his clothes on all day. He refused
to explain further, however, and trailed
the nondescript article up the stairs. We
could only gaze after him and wonder
what 1t all meant.
The conclave lasted far into the night
The feminine contingent went to bed but
not TO sleep. Some time after midnight
Mr.. HARRISON and Max went downstairs
and I could hear them rafting around
testing windows and burglar alarms. But
finally every one settled down and the
rest of the night was quiet.
Betty Mercer came into my room the
next morning. Sunday. and said Anne
Brown wanted me. I went over at once,
and Anne was sitting up In bed, crying
Dali had slipped out of the room at day
light. she said. and hadn't come back.
He had thought she was asleep, but she
wasn't. and she knew he was dead for
nothing ever made Dial get up on Sun
day before noon.
There was no one moving in the house.
and / hardly knew what to do. 1t was
Betty who said she would go up and
rouse MIR HARRISON and Max, who had
taken Jim's place in the studio. She
started out bravely enough. but in
minute we heard her flying back Anne
grew perfectly white.