The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-01-16

This morning it's dug out. and there's
plaster on the cooks trunk. Miss
Rachel. you can get a dozen detec-
tiyes and put one on every stair In
the house. and you'n never catch any
thing, There's some things you can't
handcEfSs."
Liddy was right. AS soon as !
could. / went up to the trunk-room,
which was directly over my bedroom
The plan of the upper story of the
house was like that of the second
floor, in the main. one end. how
ever over the east wing, had been
left only roughly finished, the lnten-
ton having been to convert II into
ballroom at some future time. The
maids rooms. trunk room. and va
rious store-rooms. including a large
airy linen room, opened from a long
corridor. Ike that on the second
floor And in the trunk room. as
Iiddy had said, was a fresh break in
the plaster.
Not only in the plaster. but through
the lathing, the aperture extended.
reached into the opening, and three
feet away, perhaps, I could touch the
bricks of the partition wall For some
reason, the architect, in building the
struck me- even in the surprise of
the discovery, as an excellent place
for q Conhagration to gain Roadway.
You are sure the hole was not
here Yesterday" asked Liddy,
whose expression was a mixture OF
satisfaction and alarm, In answer
she pointed to the now cooks trunk
-- that necessary adjunct of the mi
gratory domestic The top was COW
yt.ht T,la
the floor. But there We're no large
pieces ~ mortar lying around no
bits Of lathinR. When ! mentioned
/ this to Liddy she merely raised her
eyebrows Being quite confident that
/ the gap was of unholv origin, she did
not concern herself with such trties
as a bit of mortar and lath. No
! doubt they were even then heaped
/ neatly on a Rravostone in the Casa
! nnxa~rtt1lrct4I-9 1t .-
| / brought Mr. Jameson up TO see
! the hole in the wall, directly after
/ breakfast. His expression was very
odd when he looked at it, and the
! first thing he did was to try to dis
cover what object, IL any such q hole
could have. He got piece of candle.
! and by enlRrginR the aperture lit
tie was able to examine what lay be
yond. The result was nil. The trunk
=
like the rest of the house, boosted
of Il fireplace and mantel as we'll. The
! opening had been made between the
f1ue and the outer wall Of the house.
There was revealed, however. on m
spection. only the brick chimney on
one side and the outer wall Of the
house on the other; in depth the space
extended only To the flooring The
hr ZACH had been made about four
81, =
all the missing bits Of plaster. II
had been a meth odical ghost.
It was very much If a. isaPpaint-
I mcnt. | had expected a secret room
at tn very least. and l think even
/ Mr.. Jameson had fancied ne might
at last. have a clue to the mystery
There was evidently nothing more to
be discovered. 1Iddy reported that
/ everything was serene among the ser
wants and that none OF them had
been disturbed by the noise The
i:nnaalening thing. however. was that
! the nightly visitor had evidently
more than one way of gaining access
to the house, and We made arrange
ments to redouble our vigilance as to
windows and doors that night
Halsey was inclined to pooh pooh
the whole affair lie said break in
the plaster might have occurred
:
that the dust ftati probably been stir
red up the day before. After all, we
had TO let ii go at that, but we put in
an uncomfortable Sunday. Gertrude
went to church. and Halsey took a
/ long walk in the morning Louise
was able To sit up, and she allowed
/ Halsey and Liddy to assist her down
stairs late in the afternoon. The east
! yeranda was shady, green with vines
oh F,41 81 ~
and loungng chairs. We put Louise
In a steamer chair. and she sat there
passiycly enough. her hands clasped
in her lap.
/ We were very silent Halsev sat
on the rail with a pipe. openly watch
I ing Louise, as she looked broodingly
across the valley to the hills There
was something battling in the girls
eyes; and gradually Halseys boyish
! features lost their glow at seeing her
about again. and settled into grim
lines. He was like his father jus,
| then. .....s.,.. ..u- -....-......- ....-,
We sat until late afternoon. Hal
sey growing more and more moody
Shortly before 6. he got up and went
into the house. and In few minutes
he came out and called me to the tel
ephone. 1t was Anna Whitcomb. ir
town. and she kept me for twenty
minutes. telling me the children had
had the measles, and how Madame
Sweeny had botched her new gown.
| When | finished I-iddy was behind
me: ~fler- month a thin line,
II wish you would try TO look
! cheerful Iiddy" l groaned. your
I face would sour milk" But I4iddy
| seldom replied to my gibes. She fold
ed her lips little tighter.
HE called her up" she said orac-
| ularly, "he called her up. and asked
her to keep you at the telephone, SO
| he could talk to Miss Louise. A
thankless child Is sharper than ser
/ penis tooth"
Nonsense" I said bruskly 81
might have known enough TO leave
them. Its a long time since you and
! l1Aa... I IAN. far