The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1911-08-17

| row.
Indeed, my teeth were chattering as
CROPPED my way to the light, turned it
on, and looked at my watch. 1t was
nearly / o'clock. The night was clear
and pleasant, with faint breeze
stirring. There was no moon, but the
stars were shining so brightly that one
looked for it instinctively.
! knew 1t was not use to return to
PED until my nerves were quieter; and,
indeed, that vision had banished all
desire for sleep; so / filled my pipe,
lighted 1t, drew up a chair and sat
down by the open window. The street
below was deserted; and for an in
slant l found my self wondering that
It was not thronged with people, reused
py the scream which had awakened
me. Then / remembered that there
had been no scream, that had simply
dreamed it.
But had only to close my eyes to
see again that ligh. ed window and the
shadows on the blind. 1t seemed even
clearer to me than II had been in the
cream; l could see every detail of the
abruptly 80 that might escape the
END. There was something supernatural
| ABOUT 1t; had never dreamed a dream
nike that before-a dream which, wax
ing, could rehearse at pleasure. Per-
haps It was not wholly vision; per-
/ ..e~PS ~ Aiuu SoiHc IOunOdtlOn III real
lty, some telephathic origin had read
OF such things, sceptically; but some
OF the phenomena of thought trans
ference had. knew, been accepted, re-
iuctantly enough, even by the scien-
tific world.
Was it not possible that Marcia
Lawrence had been lured to the King
don cottage or taken there against her
Will? Who could say how that old
injury done the Endicotts would
| flower and fruit? Who could say what
hatred. what desire for vengeance,
ranked in the hearts Of the Kingdoms :?
l remembered how the face of the
race OF the maid had darkened with
malice, how her eyes had blazed with
internal JOY. as she stood there in the
door of the library, thinking herself
unseen. Her sister knew nothing of.
but II they resembled each other as
! sisters usually do, could well believe
| them capable Of any cruelty Was It
not possible that Marcia Lawrence
was in their hands? was II not nos
sible that my dream possessed a basis
| OF reality? had been thinking of her
| all the evening; ! had gone to sleep
with the problem of her disappearance
still on my mind; had been studying
her Photograph was, in a word, in
spiritual touch with her, responsive to
any suggestion emanating from her
we were tuned to the same pitch Such,
l fancied was the explanation Of the
| phenomena which a telepathist would
give. She had sent that cry into the
night, and I, being en- rapport with
| her, had heard it-had witnessed the
| tragedy which called 1t forth. Perhaps
| the struggle was not yet ended. per-
| haps. even at this moment
sprang to my feet, hurried into my
Clothes caught up my hat opened
| my door and ran noiselessly down the
stair. ! would solve this problem to-
night, II it could be solved. l had
been wrong IN turning away from the
Kingdom cottage the evening before; /
should, at least, have made an effort
TO discover If Marcia Lawrence were
really there. But II had not occurred
| to me then that she could be in any
danger. | had thought too much of
what Curtiss would wish me to do;
toe little of what the necessities of
the case required. We'll, I would not
| make that mistake a second time.
AS / look back upon my frame of
mind at that moment and consider the
| impulse which sent me forth from
my room at that hour Of the night.
l realize how overwrought l was. At
distance, in cold blood, II seems an
absurd thing to have done; yet I'M
der the same conditions, I should no
doubt behave again in much the same
way. And even admitting it's absurd
ity, am not prepared to say. in view
Of the event, that there was not back
Of 1t some instinct worth following
There are forces In nature not yet ex-
planned or recognized and l am still
inclined TO think that ii was one Of
these which drew me forth upon that
midnight errand.
In very fever of impotence, I hur-
ried along the street, under the trees.
meeting no one except a patrolman. !
q q RI a - 4
knew that he was looking back after
me, but l kept on without pausing,
and heard him finally start on again.
In minute more reached the Law
renee place, and stopped in the
shadow Of a tree for a look around.
ness grim and gloomy, with no light
| showing anywhere. leaped the fence,
assured that / was unseen. and pushed
my way forward through the grove
toward the path which led to the
cottage.
Beneath the trees, the darkness was
absolute and l could go forward but
slowly; yet, starting from the library
steps, l found the path without diff
ficulty, and felt my way cautiously.
along it, until I came to the hedge
which marked the limits of the King
don place, I examined the house with
care, but there was fronting me no
lighted window upon which a tragedy
could be pictured. Indeed. saw no
vestige of a light and was about to
conclude that my midnight pilgrim
age had been in vain, when my eve
was caught by a faint glimmer near
the ground. At first. ! was not sure
II was a light at all: then decided
that 1t was a reflection of some sort.
or perhaps a phosphorescent glow But
as / stared at it, with eyes contracted,
II suddenly took shape in the dark
ness and l saw that the light pro-
ceeded from a small ventilator set in
the foundation Of the house
Trembling with excitement, I softly
opened the gate and entered the
grounds. Here, with nothing be-
tween me and the stars, l suddenly
found myself in what seemed a
veritable blaze of light. was
seized with panic lest ! be seen and
scurried into the shadow of the house,
then dropped beside the ventiator and
examined 1t.
1t was of the ordinary type-a plate
Of iron some six or eight inches square,
perforated with holes perhaps half an
inch in diameter, and set in the founda-
ton about six inches from the ground.
/ applied an eye to one of the holes
and endeavored to see what lay beyond.
For a moment / saw absolutely moth
ing; then l perceived in front of me
a stretch of CLAW which ended ahruntly