Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-07-29

| cheese. And at that moment felt Mr..
Harbisons stolen watch slip out of my
girdle, slide greasily across my lap,
and clatter to the floor. Flanagan
stopped, but luckily it had gone under
the table. To have had it picked up,
to have had to explain how / got it, to
see them try to ignore my picture
pasted i'm it-oh, it was impossible! l
put my foot over it,
| Drop something?" Dallas asked per-
functorily, rising. Flanagan was still
half kneeling.
| "A fork" said, as easily as | could,
and the conversation went on. But
| Flanagan knew, and l knew he knew.
He watched my every movement like a
hawk after that, standing just behind
my chair. l dropped my useless nap
kin, to have it whirled up before 1t
reached the floor. said to Betty that
nv shoe buckle was loose, and actually
got the watch in my hand, only to let
it slip at the critical moment. Then
they all got up and went sadly back to
the library, and Flanagan and l faced
| each other.
| Flanagan was not a handsome man at
any time, though up to then he had at
least looked amiable. But now as
stood with my hand on the back of my
chair, his face grew suddenly menac-
| ing. The silence was absolute: | was
the guitiest wretch alive, and opposite
me the law lowered and glowered, and
held the yellow remnant of a pineap-
pie cheese! And in the silence that
wretched watch lay and licked and
| licked and licked. Then Flanagan
| creaked over and closed the door into
1T was not there this morning, SIR"
Flanagan insisted. TT has been made
during the day."
And it could not have been done
this afternoon" Mr.. HARRISON said
quietly. Il was fussing with the tele-
phone wire down here. I would have
heard the noise"
Something i'm his voice made me look
at him, and certainly his expression
was unusual He was watching us all
| intently while Dallas pointed out to
me the cause of the excitement. From
| the main floor of the furnace-room,
flight of stone steps surmounted by an
arch led into the coal cellar, beneath
the street. The coal cellar was of
brick, with cement floor, and in the
| left wall there gaped an opening about
| three feet by three, leading into
cavernous void, perfectly black-eVi-
dently a similar vault belonging to the
next house.
The whole place was ghostly, full of
shadows, shivery with possibilities. 1t
| was Mr.. HARRISON finally who took
Jim's candle and crawled through the
aperture. We waited in dead silence,
listening to his feet crunching over the
coal beyond, watching the faint yellow
light that came through the ragged
opening in the wall. Then he came
back and called through to us.
| place is locked, over here" he said
| Heavy oak door at the head OF the
steps. Whoever made that opening
has done a prodigious amount of labor
for nothing"
The weapon, a crowbar, lay on the
ground beside the bricks, and he pick
ed il up and balanced it on his hand.
Dallas forid face was almost comical
| i'm his bewilderment; as for Jimmy-he
slammed a piece of Stag at the furnace
and walked away. At the door he
turned around.
| why don't you accuse me OF IT.!
ne asked bitterly. Maybe you could
find a lump of coal in my pockets If
you searched me-"
He stalked up the stairs then and
left US Dallas and l went up togeth-
er, but we did not talk. There seemed
to be nothing to say. Not until mad
closed and locked the door of my room
did | venture to look at something that
| carried in the palm Of my hand. 1t
was a watch: not running-a gentle
mans flat gold watch, and it had been
hanging by it's fob to a nail in the
Tricks beside the aperture.
In the back of the watch were the
initials T. II. II. and the picture of
| girl. cut from a newspaper.
| 1t was my picture.
| TO be Continued.