The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1910-01-07
CHAPTER VII-Continued.

"Kind of you madam,-very. 1t mus
have been an interesting moment to you.
Every interesting! Too interesting!
own that ! am not made entirely of steel
sir. and the shock he received at finding
dead man awaiting him, instead OF {
live one, was more or less communicated tt
me Yet | stood my ground.
"Admirable could have done no bet
ter myself. And so this man who had az
appointment with Mr.. Adams was shocked
really shocked, at finding him lying there
under a cross, dead?"
eyes, there was no doubling that
Shocked, surprised, terrified, and some
thing more 1t is that something more
which has proved my perplexity. ! can,
not make it out, not even in thinking It
over. Was it the fascination which all
horrible sights exert on the morbid, or
was it sudden realization of some danger
he had escaped, or of some difficulty yet
awaiting him? Hard to say, Mr.. Gryce,
hard to say; but you may take my word
for it that there was more to him In tins
meeting than an unexpected stumbling
upon dead man where he expected to find
a live one Yet he made no sound after
that first cry, and hardly any movement.
He Just stared at the figure on the floor;
then at his face, which he seemed to de-
your, at first with curiosity, then with
hate then with terror, and lastly-how
can express myself? -with sort of hell
ish humor that in another moment might
have broken into something like a laugh,
if the bird, which | had failed to observe
up to this moment, had not walked in its
high cage, and, thrusting its beak between
the bars, shrilled out in the most alarm
ing of tones: Remember Evelyn! That
startled the old man even more than the
IL hol Ho I'm
round, and | saw his fist rise as if against
some menacing intruder, but it quickly fell
again as his eyes encountered the picture
which hung before him. and with cringe
painful to see in one of his years, he sided
back till he reached the doorway. Here
he paused a minute to give another look
at the man outstretched at his feet, and |
heard him say:
"Tt is Amos's son, not Amos Is it
fatality, or did he plan this meeting, think
ing
in the antechamber beyond, and resumlng
in an instant his former debonair manner,
he bowed very low and opened his lips as
if about to ask question. But he evil
IDENTIFY thought better of it, for he strobe
by me and made his way to the front door
without word Being an intruder myself,
did not like to stop him. But am sorry |
now for the consideration I showed him;
for Just before he stepped out, his emotion |
the special character of which, | own to |
you, | find impossible to understand-cul-
minated in burst of raucous laughter
which added the final horror to this amaz-
ing adventure. Then he went out, and in
the last glimpse | had of him before the
door shut he wore the same look of easy
dissatisfaction with which he had entered
this place of death some fifteen minutes
before"
Remarkable Some secret history
there! That man must be found. He can
throw light upon Mr.. Adams's past.
Amoss son. he called him? Who is
Amos? Mr.. Adams's name was Felix. Fee
Iix, the son of Amos. Perhaps this con-
nection of names may lead to something.
1t is not a common one, and if given to {
The papers, may result in our receiving a
,lew to a mystery which seems impene-
.rable. Your stay in Mr.. Adams's house 4
vas quite productive. ma'am. Did you I
,rolong it after the departure of this old Z
NAM" If
mo, sir, had had my fill of the mystic S
ious, and left Immediately after him. la