The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1912-12-27

:uny, I presumeT was mg query as
returned the sheets to the table
More than carefully" ne answered
But you shall see them, II you like
| found no trace Of any identifying
mark"
Thus far he had made no further
plention Of the "puzziIng happening"
which followed the receipt Of the first
letter, and in the interest provoked by
the letters themselves ] had f~oreborne
to question him; but now as the words
seventh day hence" fell again under
my eye, standing out. ag It were. from
the rest Of the script which lay up
turned on the table before me. was
conscious of a stimulated concern, and
so made inquiry.
Il wish you would tell me, first,
whether anything really did occur on
the seventh day"
II was coming to that" he replied;
but It seemed to me that prompt
though his response was. there was i
shade of reluctance in his manner
Then he rose, abruptly, and saying:
Suppose we go into my study, clyde
led the way from the dining room
across the great, imposing, grained
and fretted hall to that comparatively
small mahogany and green symphony
wherein he was wont to spend most
OF HIS indoor hours. 1t was always a
rather gloomy room at night, with It's
high dark ceiling. its heavy and Voi'
luminous olive tapestry hanEirGs'
wholly out OF keeping, 1t seemed TO
me, with the season-and Its shaded
lights confined to the vicinity OF the
massive polished. and gilt-Ornamented
writing table of the period Of the First
Empire. And 1t impressed me now
in conjunction with Cameron's prom
ised revelation, as more than ever
grim and awesoTe.
remember helping myself to q
cigar from the humidOr which stood
on the antique cabinet in the corner
| near the door. | was in the act OF
lighting It when Cameron spoke,
II want you to sit in this chair he
said, indicating one Of sumptuoua up
holstery which stood beside the writ
ing table, facing the low. long book.
cases lining the opposite wall.
did as no babe me, while he re
manned standing.
DO you. by any chance" he asked,
remember a portrait which hunG
above the book-shelves?"
remembered 1t very well. 1t was a
painting of himself. done some years
back. But now my gaze sought 1t IN
vain.
Certainly" answered. 1T hung
there" pointing.
Quite right. Now I want you to OBJ
serve the shelf.top. You see how
crowded it Is"
1t was indeed crowded. Bronze
busts and ]statuettes; yachting and
golf trophies In silver; framed photo
| graphs; a score Of odds and ends, sou.
venirs gathered the world over. There
was scarcely an inch Of space unoc
| cupied. | had frequently observed this
| plethora Of ornament and resented 1t,
1t gave to that part Of the room tho
semblance Of a curiosity shop. When
| had nodded my assent, he went on;
On the afternoon Of Friday, August
twenty-fret, seven days after the re-
ceipt of that first letter, | was sitting
whore you are sitting now, | was
reading, and deeply interested. | mad
put the letter, as | told you, entirely
| out Of my mind. | had forgotten it,
| absolutely. That seventh.day buslnest
I had r~egarded-if | regarded It at ali
as idle yuporing. That this was the
| afternoon of the seventh day did not
| occur to me until afterwards, ! recall
that | paused in reading to ponder q
| paragraph that was not quite clear tC
me, and that while in contemplation !
/ fixed my eyes upon that portrait, ! re-
member that, because 1t struck me,
| thon, that the flesh tints Of the face
had grown muddy and that the thing
would be better for 4 cleaning. | re-
| call. too. that at that moment, the lit.
| tie clock, yonder, struck three. | re.
sumed my reading; bnt presently, an
other statement demanding cogitation
lowered my book, and once more my
eyes rested on the portrait, But not
on the muddy flesh tints, because"
he paused and leaned forward, towards
me, speaking with impressive empha'
sis. Because" he repeated, there
were no flesh tintB there. Because
there was no head nor face there!"
| sat up suddenly, open-mouthed,
speechlesa. Only my wide eyes made
question.
Cut from the canvas" he went on,
In lowered voice, clean and sharp
| from crown to collar. And the hands
Of the clock pointed to twelve min
utes past three"
(TO BE COSTINUED)
~Ssa D" \ -=z@5ySgEgGS