Perth Amboy evening news., 1911-05-17

800 ~ III ANO OkLCl
building stood with a half mile in any
direction.
l felt the isolation as l stepped from
the edge of the trees and prepared to
cross the few feet of open space lead
ing to the main door. In some moods
/ should have paused and thought
twice before attempting the door, be-
hind which In the dark lurked the un-
known with It's naturally accompany
ing suggestion of peril. But rage and
disappointment, working holly within
me, had left no space for fear. Rather
rejoicing in the doubtfulness of the
adventure. I pushed my way over the
snow until my feet struck the steps.
Here instinct caused me to stop and
glance quickly up and down the build
ing either way. Not a CLEAN of light
met my eye from the smallest scintil-
lating pane. Was the house as sound.
less as it was dark
l listened, but heard nothing. I listen
ed again and still heard nothing. Then
l proceeded boldly up the steps and
laid my hand on the door.
It was Unmatched and yielded to my
touch. Light or no light. sound or no
sound, there was some one within.
The fire which bad sent its attenuated
streak of smoke up into the moonlit
air was burning yet on one of the
many hearths within. I proceeded to
enter and close the door carefully be-
hind me-. AS / did so l cast an invoI-
untary glance without. The sky was
'nky, and a few wandering fakes Of
the now rapidly advancing storm
came whirling In. biting my cheeks
and singing my forehead.
Once inside l stopped short, possibly
to listen again, possibly to assure my
self as to what l had lest do next
The silence was profound. Not a
sound disturbed the great, empty build
ing. My own football Is | stirred
seemed to wake extraordinary echoes.
l had moved but a few steps, yet to
my heightened senses the noise seemed
loud enough to wake the dead. In
stinctively / stopped and stood stock
still. There was no answering cessa-
tjoh VI ~ btooy oAAS'~S
everywhere. Yet not quite absolute
darkness. AS my eyes grew accustom-
ed to the place / found 1t possible to
discern the outlines of the windows
and locate the stairs and the arches
where the side halls opened. l was
even able to pick out the exact spot
where the great ant!ers spread them
selves above the hat rack, and present
ly the rack itself came into view. with
Its row of empty pegs, yesterday so
full, today quite empty. That rack
interested me, l hardly knew why, and
regardless Of the noise I made l cross
ed we to it and ran my hand along
the wall underneath. The result was
startling. A mans coat and hat hung
from mi OF the pegs.
Would this hat and coat identify
the intruderf l would strike a light
and see. But this involved difficulties.
The gas had been turned of that very
morning. and 1 had no matches In my
pocket But I remembered where they
could be found. l had seen them
when l passed through the kitchen
earlier In the day.
i began to move that way and pres
emily came creeping back with a match
box half full Of matches In my hand.
But / did not strike one then / had
Just made a move to do so when the
unmistakable sound of a door opening
somewhere In the house made me
draw back into as quiet and dark a
place as I could find. This lay In the
rear and at the right of the staircase,
and as the sound had appeared to
come from above 1t was the most nat
ural retreat that offered. And a good
one 1 found 1t.
I had hardly taken up my stand
when the darkness above gave way to
q faint glimmer and a step became
| audible coming from some n of the
many small rooms in the second story.
but slowly and with evident hesita-
ton.
The light steadily increased with
each tagging but surely advancing
step. Then the uncertain step paused,
and a sob came family to my ears,
wrung from lips stiff with human
anguish. The sound of the sigh
struck shudderingly on my ear. fol
lowed by the renewal Of the step and
the almost immediate appearance on
the stairs Of a beautiful young girl OF
seventeen holding a candle In n
hand and shielding her left cheek
with the other.
Nothing could have prepared me
for an encounter with this woman
anywhere that night after what had