Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1910-12-15

planning, if were not discovered,
who would have my things. knew
Liddy would want my heliotrope pop
lin. and she's fright in lavender.
Once or twice heard mice in the par
titions, and so I sat on the table, with
my feet on the chair. / imagined ]
could hear the search going OH
through the house, and once some
one came into the trunkroom; could
distinctly hear footsteps.
''In the chimney! In the chimney"
/ called with all my might. and was
rewarded by piercing Shrek from
Liddy and the SLAM of the trunkroom
door.
/ felt easier after that, although the
room was oppressively hot and
enervating had no doubt the search
for me would now come in the right
direction, and after little, dropped
into a doze How long l slept do
not know.
1t must have been several hours,
for had been tired from a busy day,
and ] walked stiff from my awkward
position. could not remember
where ] was for few minutes, and
my head felt heavy and congested.
Gradually | reused to my surround
ings, and to the fact that in spite Of
ventilators, the air was bad and grow
ing worse I was breathing long,
gasping respirations, and my face was
| damp and clammy. | must have been
there a long time, and the searchers
were probably hunting outside the
house, dredging the creek, or beating
| the woodland. / knew that another
| hour or two would find me uncon-
| scious, and with my inability to cry
| out would go my only chance of res
cue. 1t was the combination of bad air
and heat, probably, for some made
| uuate ventilation was coming through
the pipes. l tried to retain my con
seriousness by walking the length o1
| the room and back over and over, but
l had not the strength to keep it up
so / sat down on the table again, my
| back against the wall.
| The house was very still. Once my
straining ears seemed to catch foot
fall beneath me, possibly in my OWL
room | CROPPED for the chair iron
the table, and pounded with it frantic
/ ally on the floor. But nothing hap
pened; I realized bitterly that if the
sound was heard at all, no doubt i
was classed with the other rapping'
that had so alarmed us recently.
And them heard sounds from be
low me, in the house. There was ;
peculiar throbbiLg, vibrating nois
that / felt rather than heard, mncl
like the pulsing beat of fire engines il
the city. For one awful moment
thought the house was on fire, an
every drop of blood in my body gatf
cred around my heart; then I knew.
/ was the engine of the automobile, an
Halsey had come back. Hope spran
| up afresh. Halsey's clear head an
j Gertrude's intuition might do wha
Liddy's hysteria and three detective
, had failed in.
r After time l thought ! had bee
! right. There was certainly somethin
e going on down below; doors wer
t slamming, people were hurryin
lIIOuSu lut CSl IdiA LIS
!. notes of excited voices penetrated
d me shrilly. hoped they were comm
a closer, but after a time the SOUND
n died away below, and was left to tt
silence and heat, to the weight of tt
t darkness, to the oppression of wal
d that seemed to close in on me al
e stihe me.
11pcf 1iY1t
o stealthy fumbling at the lock of tt
f. manifold door With my mouth OPT
e. to scream, / stopped. Perhaps the S
n uation had rendered me acute, pc
haps it was instructive. Whatever
e was, / sat without moving, and sor
,el one outside, in absolute stiffness, II
sr his fingers over the carving of t
y |