The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1910-05-12
CHAPTER Ii.-continuet.


walled. oh. Miss Rachel. there's 60
ing to be q DEATH"
There will be-" said grimly. If
you don't keep quiet. Liddy Allen"
And so We sat there until morning.
wondering II the candle would last
until dawn, and arranging what trains
We could take back to town. II we had
Aly stuck to that decision and gone
NICK before 1t was too late!
The sun came finally. and from my
window l watched the trees along the
drive take shadowy form. gradually
lose their ghostlike appearance, be-
come gray and then green. The
Greenwood club showed itself . dab
Of white against the hill across the
valley. and an early robin or two
hoped around In the dew. Not un-
til the milk.boy and the sun came.
about the same time. did ! dare to
open the door into the hall and look
around. Everything was as we had
left it. Trunks we're heaped here and
there. ready for the trunk-room. and
through an end window Of stained
glass came streak of red and yei-
low daylight that was eminently
cheerful. The milk-boy was pound
ing somewhere below. and the day
had begun.
Thomas johnson came ambling up
the drive about half past six, and we
could hear him Gathering around on
the lower foor. opening shutters.
had to take Liddy to her room up
stairs. however-she was quite sure
she would fnd something uncanny. In
fact. when she did not, having now
the courage of daylight. she was actu.
ally disappointed.
Well. we did not 60 back to town
that day.
warned Liddy not to mention what
had happened to anybody. and tele-
phoned to town for servants. Then.
after \ breakfast which did more
credit to Thomas heart than his head,
I went on a short tour of investiga-
tteH. The sounds had come from the
wing, and not without some
qialms began there. At first I found
nothing. Since then l have developed
my powers Of observation. but at that
time l was novice. The small card
room seemed undistuEbed. looked for
footprints, which is, l believe. the con-
ventional thing to do. although my
experience has been that as clews
both footprints and thumb-marks are
more useful in fiction than in fact.
But the stairs in that wing offered
something.
At the top Of the flight had been
placed q tall wicker hamper, packed
with linen that had come from town.
1t stood at the edge of the top step,
almost barring passage, and ON the
step below it was a long, fresh
scratch. For three steps the scratch
was repeated, gradually diminishing,
as II some object had fallen, striking
each one. Then for four steps nothing.
On the nth step below was a round
dent in the hard wood. That was all,
and it seemed little enough, except
that was positive the marks had not
been there the day before.
1t bore out my theory of the sound,
which had been for oil the world like
the humping Of metallic object down
. fight Of steps. The four steps had
been skipped. 1 reasoned that an iron
bar. for instance, would do something
of the sort-strike two or three steps,
end down, then turn over, jumping q
(ft1 stairs. and landing with a thud.
MON bars. however, do not fall
downstairs In the middle of the night
alone. Coupled with the figure on the
verauda the agency by which 1t
climbed might be assumed. But-and
here was the thing that puzzled me
most-the doors were all fastened
that morning, the windows unmolest.
ed, and the particular door from the
card room to the veranda had a com.
bination lock Of which l held the key,
and which had not been tampered
with.
hxed on an attempt at burglary,
as the most natural explanation-an
attempt frustrated by the falling of
Sthe object, whatever it was, that had
Eroused me. Two things I could not
understand; how the intruder had es.
2caped with everything locked, and
|why he had left the small silver,
(which, in the absence Of butler, had
remained downstairs over night.
In the afternoon hack came up
$from Casanova, with fresh relay of
Eservants. The driver took them with
flourish to the servants entrance,
sand drove around to the front of the
house. where I was awaiting him.
Two dollars" he said in reply to
smy question. Il don't charge full
srates, because, bringin' 'em up all
asummer as l do. it pays to make
special price. When they got of the
3train I sez, seq 1: There's another
bunch for Sunnyside, cook, parlor
rnaid and ALL Yes'm-six summers,
Sand new lot never less than once a
maRth. They won't stand for the
tcoAhtry and the lonesomeness. I