Graham guardian., 1911-08-18
The Gargoy|e
BedStead
1t Was a Valuable Heirloom.
BY CLARISSA MACKIE.
Copyright. 1910. by American Press
Association.
1t Was a Valuable Heirloom.
BY CLARIssA MACKIE.

II Copyright. 1910, by american fress ~
dAAAAAAaAAAAA ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Flora, here IL letter from Chesley,
your Uncle Williams lawyer, and no
has inclosed copy Of the viii.
did he leave 1t to met'
'Of course he did. Don't be foolish,
my dear. Listen:
81, William Gray. being OF sound mind.
etc, do give and bequeath to my grand
niece, Isabel Gray, her heirs and assigns
forever. my Sheraton sideboard and the
sum Of 5000: to my grandniece, Flora
Gray Winchester. her heirs and assigns.
the mahogany bedstead which stands In
my own chamber and which Is known as
the Gargoyle bedstead, together with the
sum of $1,000"
where shall we put II, Harry" in
terrupted Mrs. Winchester breathless-
~.
"Put 1t? You don't expect to get 1t
into this fiat?"
"We must have 1t here. wouldn't
examine 1t there with Isabel looking
on, and, besides. II Is such a Journey
down to Richmond. Anyway you can
not spare the time to so down now,
and we must examine It together. l
want to get 1t here as soon as possible.
Who knows but Isabel or some Of the
others might find the diary of Nancy
Gray and learn the secret? My in
heritance would be worthless! Mrs.
Winchesters voice trembled.
"Oh, all right" said Winchester tract
ably. "But how the deuce you expect
to get 1t Ia here don't quite see. It's
very large piece Of furniture, isn't
TT"
"Now, Harry dear" she cried. with
one plump hand over his lips. that
bed must be gotten into this fat some
how! First, l will finish my letter to
Mr.. Chesley and let Norah post 1t at
once. can hardly wait to see the bed
stead, Harry, and I don't dare dream
Of what will be ours when the secret
Of the bedstead is disclosed. Do you
think, dear, ! was wrong not to tell
Uncle William about the diary Of Nan
cy Gray found In the garrett"
swell, truthfully speaking, I'm afraid
1t wasn't treating the old gentleman
quite on the square"
Two weeks afterward. while Mr..
winchester was engaged In most I'M,
portant business transaction, he was
summoned to the telephone.
Eyes, this Is Winchester. What?
Oh. the bedstead there? can't posi-
bly, leave at PRESENT. can't help It
tell them to send II M tomorrow-l
know it's important the bed
stead, No. l didn't speak. Yes, will
come home early. Goodby:"
When he reached the Etruscap apart
ments that evening Winchester was
fortified with box af candy and
huge bunch Of violets. He stepped to
the elevator and pressed the button. A
faint tinkle responded from some
depth below.
Presently the Janitor emerged from
an obscure doorway and surveyed him
with an unpleasant eye.
ut amt a.runnin'," he said gruiliy.
"Poor management" commented
Winchester as he prepared to conquer
the eight flights that barred him from
home and dinner.
Huh" exploded the man. what
with the freight elevator outer order
and people breakin' windows moyln'
in big stun and them chumps a-tryin'
to put the feet board In my passenger
car and a-tearln' a lady's dress and
her the landlords sister-in-law"- He
glared wrathfully at the vanishing
form Of Winchester,
Opening the door Of his apartment,
rampant disorder met his eye, A huge,
dark form almost covered the floor Of
the tiny parlor, which In Its chaotic
disturbance looked strangely unfa-
miliar to the master Of the house.
In the library Flora reclined on
couch before the bright gas log. while
sympathetic Norah applied wet cloths
to her mistress aching head. Wreck
age from the parlor impeded progress
at every step.
"My dear girlr' he uttered.
She turned a woebegone face to his,
"Such time as they had trying to get
1t in the window! They were saucy
because the window was too small.
and one OF them pulled 1t In with jerk.
and It struck the chandelier-th pieces
OF glass fell on my Wedgwood vase.
and that Is broken. IL am quite dis.
couraged."
With restless glance toward the
parlor. where the gigantic bedstead lay
like some dark shadow on his little
home. and with an unpleasant recol-
lection Of the snorting janitor below
stairs and Of the generous tip 1t would
require to reduce him to his custom
airy state Of patronizing familiarity.
Winchester endeavorcd to soothe his
wife's shattered nerves, and together
they obeyed Norah's summons to be-
lated dinner.
At table Mrs. Winchester drew a
folded paper from her gown.
This Is the page copied from the
diary Of Nancy Gray, Harry" she
said, spreading II open before her. II
thought / would refresh my memory
az to the exact location of the secret
spring, =
Richmond, Va, April n. 1904"
read Mrs. winchester In solemn &C,
cents, 81 am greatly alarmed for the
safety Of Grandmother Binpah's dia-
monds. and have vainly tried to find
n hiding place for them. The Yankees
are digging up every inch of ground
on the adjacent plantations searching
for buried treasure. and am quite at
a loss to fnd safe place for our
heir)ooms.