The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1911-02-08

giI Association.
Despite the opposItoniof my pnrents
and certain head sbakIngsson the part
Of Intimate friends. persisted 10 my
engagement 10 EdyatdE ilisley. There
was something about him beyond
these warnings that made me uncom
Portable. He would make San engage
ment to be with me;during On, evening.
; break It and give no satisfactory e1:
plantations Alter he had done this
several times i5resolytd tie next time
to corner him by forcing him to tell
me where he had been. When that
snextlhme came round lie claimed that
between the hours ofss andIlshethad
beer at home. Without his knowledge
! asked his sister as TO bis where,
nboutsi on the evening in question. and
she told me that shtss had not been at
home. but said he hnd been with me.
This convinced me that be was de-
ceiyingt me. and II told him he must
either make a4clean; breast Of the mat
ter ortI would, break our engagement
he took a solemn oath thai; he never
left bis home between Q O'clock during
the evening he was supposed 10 be
with me and o. o'cIocktth next morn!
ing. Whent ! asked how that couidtbe
he. told ME that to tell would Involve,
Others whose acts he. had nc; right TO
diyulge. Il
Curiosity now BECAME mygdominant
motive. !; would haye broken .wttl>my;
fance hadftt not been that / believed
] could get bis secret b. Remaining en-.
gagged to him. whereas If 1 sent him
away I would never know Il. i pres
3tended to besyery much hurt lat9 bis
want Of confidence in me. md he:
seemed equallytput out that J. did not
feel assured his statement wasl true.
and because I should endeavor to
force him 10 reveal a secret which In
volvcd others. I
The result of a half hours probing
gave me the Impression that be was
connected with scveraftpersons ofl both,
sexes who were united by some secret
bond. but that this bond was Of any.
especial importance did not appear. II
did not In any way explain how Ed.
ward could have been 10 the house; for.
three hours one evening when be was
supposed to be visiting me. And what
had the events Of these three hours to
do with the persons whose secret, be
would betrdy bylmakihg an explanlat
ton? %
After long Yperlod Sof questioning
and waiting. questioning again and
waiting again.. j gave up trying to get
the secret. ]. however. applied one.
test before taking final action. Il asked
to be admitted To this coterie Of which,
Edward was supposed to: be a mem,
Der. He said that I must be elected.
and the number was complete: BY
this time ] knew That should 1get:no
satisfaction. and. since i was notimind:
ed to marry Il mar who bad a secret
from me. ! broke, the engagement.
All this was n few months before the
great earthquake when u city was
destroyed. Among those who did not
turn up after that dreadful caia nifty;
was my former fiance. His house was
one that fell at the first shock, and.
only n member OF the family had
had time to escape. This person said
that Edward fiisiey was not 10 the
house ut the time;of the quake. When
the debris was removed every body
was found except bis. This indicated
that be had probably been killed else
where. But, Enough his friends Kept
track of oil the bodies taken ont. his
was never found-at least not identif
fed.
Very naturally l connected his mys:
FERROUS disappearance with the reasons
for which I Ind broken my engage.
ment. If had been puzzled before i
was more puzzled now. 4 new devel-
opment was ttat one OF Edwards
most intimate friends was among the
missing. and his body was not found,
There were other persons not &c.
counted for. i,it the mat, mentioned
was the only one 1shappenedSto know
as, one of bis friends, This !deepened
tho mystery for me. though for me-
alone. for i meyer revealed what Ed
ward had told pe,. Or, rather, what he;
had not told me.
One morning Ittook up. a newspaper
and saw an explanation Of the mystery
that was hunting me 50 perslstently.
that I was beginning to break down,
under It. The paper contained an an.
nourcement that the lot on which r
knew had stood the Illsley house had
been purchased and the foundations,
taken out to make way for new ones.
"a space had .beentwalled up. evidently
by amateur masons, and covered with
IN arched brick roof. the, entrance to.
which was an ipon door. The dooribe.e
ing forced: its latch was found to have
been wedged by the earthquake So
mat It could not be opened. There had
been entrance from without through a
cellar door.