Perth Amboy evening news., 1911-05-17

whatf My lips refused to ask, my
limbs refused to move, and If !
breathed at all I did so with such
~1erceness of restraint that her eyes
lever turned my way, not even when
she had reached the lowest step and
paused for a moment there, oscillat-
ing In pain or uncertainty. Her face
was turned more fully toward me,
and 1 had Just begun to discern
something in 1t besides its tragic
beauty when she made a quick move
and blew out the candle she held.
Then there came a crash. followed
by the sound Of flying feet. She had
flung the eandlestiek out of her hand
and WIS hurried1y crossing the hall
I thought she was coming my way
and instinctively drew back against
the wall. But she stopped far short
of me, and / heard her cropping about,
then give a sudden spring toward
the front door. 1t opened. and the
wind soughed In. l felt the chill of
snow upon my face and realized the
tempest. Then all was quiet and
dark again. She had slid quickly out,
and the door had swung to behind
her.
Another instant and I heard the
click of the key as 1t turned In the
lock, heard 1t and made no outcry.
such the spell. such the bewilderment,
of my facultiesl Then 1 felt all lesser
emotions give way to IN anxiety
which demanded immediate action. for
the girl had gone out without wraps
or covering for her head, and my ex-
p~erience of the evening bad told me
how cold it was. / must follow and
find her and rescue her If possible
from the snow.
Throwing myself against the door. l
shook it violently. 1t was immovable.
Then I few to the windows. Their
~fastenings yielded readily enough, but
not the windows themselves. One had
a broken cord. another seemed glued
to its frame, and | was still struggling
with the latter when l heard a sound
which lifted the hair on my head
and turned my whole attention back
to what lay behind and above me.
To find. Carmel Cumberland alone in
this desolation was a mystifying dis
covery to which / had found 1t hard
enough to reconcile myself. But Car
mel here In company with an IN
known another at the very moment
when l had expected the fruition OF
my own toy-ah, that WAS to open
helfs door In my breast, a possibility
too intolerable to remain unsettled
for an instant.
Leaving the window. I CROPPED my
way along the wall until l reached
the rack where the mans coat and
hat had hung. Nothing now hung
from the rack. The wall was free
from end to end. She had taken
these articles of male apparel with
her; she had not gone forth into the
driving snow unprotected. but
l did not know what to think. The
cropping she had done had been In
this direction. She was searching for
this hat and coat "a mans hat, a
derby. as l had been careful to as
sure myself at the first handling), and
in them she had gone home as she
had probably come, and there was no
man In the case. or II there were
The doubt drove me to the staircase.
/ began my wary ascent. l had not
the slightest fear. 1 was too full Of
cold rage for that.
The arrangement of rooms OF the
second floor was well known to me.
I understood every nook and corner
and could find my way about the
whole place without a light. l took
but one p%recaution, that Of slipping off
my shoes at the foot Of the stairs. 1
wished to surprise the intruder. l vas
willing to resort to any expedient to
accomplish this. The matches l car
ried In my pocket would make this
possible II nee L heard him breathing.
I held my own breath as ! stole softly
up and waited for an instant at the
top Of the stairs to listen. There was
an awesome silence everywhere, and
I was h~esitattng whether to attack the
front rooms first or to follow up a
certain narrow ball leading to a rear
staircase when l remembered the thin
line of smoke which. rising from n
of the chimneys, had first attracted
my attention to the house. In that
was my clew.
I knew that there was but n room
on this floor where a fire could be lit
It lay a few feet beyond me down the
narrow hall l have just mentioned
Why had l trusted everything to my
ears when my nose would have been
a better guide? AS l took the few
steps necessary a slight smell of smoke
became very perceptible, and, no longer
in doubt of my course, l pushed boldly
on and, entering the half open door,
struck a match and peered a~nxfously
about.
Emptiness here Just as everywhere
else, a few chairs. a d~resser-it was
a ladies' dressing room-some smolder-
ing ashes on the hearth, a lounge piled
I'D with cushions, but no person. The
sound l had heard had not issued from
this room, yet something withheld me
from seeking further. I paused Just In
side the door and when the match
went out In my hand remained SILVER
ing there In the darkness, q prey to
sensations more nearly approaching