, 1911-01-19

yunu.
LOOK a silong breath, closed the,
1901 from the trunkroom into tbeb aJf
-thank heaven ] did not lock it-and
pulling the mantel-door wide open. /
stepped into the chimney-room. 1 had
tune to get a hazy view of a small
portable safe, a common wooden table
and a chairAthen the Ihanteii door
swung to, and clicked behind me. I
stood quite still fora moment, in the
darkness, unable to comprehend what
had happened. Then ] turned and beat
furipusly at the door with my fists.
1t was closed and locked again. and
my fingers In the darkness slid owe 4
smooth wooden surface without a sign
OF q knob. sdJ ut. 6u-t,s. . f,.1I
was furiously angry-at myself, at
the manteldoor. at everything. I did
not fear s~uffocatfon;; before the
thought had come to me had already
seer q CLEAN of light from the two
small syentilating pipes in the roof.
Ihey supplied air. but nothing else.
The room Itself was. shrouded- In
blacknessst sf- 20 gs,s5bA5f yle as3rl
must have dozed of. 4 am sure
| did lot faint. I was never more
composed in my life. I remember
planning. II I we're not discovered.
who would have my things,,rI knew
Liddy would want my heliotrope pop
lin. and she's a fright in lavender.
Once or twice I heard mice in the mar
titions. and SO ] sat, ou7the table, with
myf feet on the chair. I Imagined I
could hear the search going on
through the house. and once some
n came into the trunkroom: / could
distinctly hear footsteps rH1sc sf,.
In the chimney! In the chimney
i called with all my might. and was
rewarded by a piercing shrek from
Liddy n the slam of the trtinkroom
door. zoe Gfosia n syR
felt easier after that. although the
room was foppressivelr hot and
~enervating. I had no doubt the search
for me would now come in the right
direction, and after a little, / dropped
into a doze. How long I slept ] do
not know. '" 2
1t must have been several hours,
for | had been tired from a busy day,
and I walked stir from my awkward
position. I could not remember
where | was for a few minutes, and
my head felt heavy and congested.
Gradually ]. reused to my surround
ings, and to the TACT that In spite OF
ventilators, the air was bad and grow
ing worse. 7 was breathing long.
gasping aspirations. and my face was
damp and elsmmy. I mpst have been
there a long time. and the searchers
were probably hunting outside the
house, .dredsinE1 the creek, or beating
the woodland. knew that another
hour 5or two would ind me uncon-
scious. and with my Inability to cry
out would go my only chance OF res
1t was the combination Of bad air
and heat Probably for some made.
Guate ventilation vas coming through
the pipes. q tried to retain my con
seriousness by walking the length of
Che room and back, over and over, but
l had not the strength to keep 1t up.
SO j sat down on the table again, my
back against the wall.
The house was very still. Once my
straining ears seemed to catch d foot
fall beneath me. possibly in my own
room. | CROPPED for the chair from
the table, and pounded with 1t frantic
ally on the floor. But nothing hap
pened; ! realized bitterly that If the
sound was heard at all, no doubt it
was classed with the other rappings
that had so alarmed us recently.
And them heard sounds, from be-,
low me. In the house. There was a
that I-feH rather than heard, much
like the pulsing beat of fire engines in
the city. For one awful moment I
thought the house was on fire, and
every drop of blood in my body gath
cred around my heart; then ] knew. II
was the engine of the automobile, and
Halsey, had come back. Hope sprang
up afresh. Halsey's clear head and
Gertrude's intuition might do what
Liddy's hysteria and three detectives
had failed in.
After a time I thought l had been
right. There was certainly something
going on down below; doors were
slamming, people were h%urrying
through the halls, and certain high
notes of excited voices penetrated to
me shrilly. l hoped they were coming
closer. but after a time the sounds
died away below, and I was left to the
silence and heat, to the weight Of the
darkness, to the oppression of walls
that seemed to close in on me and
stihe me.
The first warning Il had vas a
stealthy fumbling at the lock of the
mantel-door. With my mouth open
to scream, I stopped. Perhaps the sit
uation had rendered me acute. per-
haps IT was instructive. Whatever 1t
was. | sat without moving, and some
one outside, In absolute stiffness. a