Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1912-08-16
A Mysterious
Message
It Came Over Wire, bat
Was Doubtless Wireless
BY WILLARD B. CHURCH
Copyright by american Press Assoc
citation. 1911.
BY WILLARD B. CHURCH

The first blizzard of the season came
In November, an early date for Win
ter storm, and, what was more un-
usual still, it was the most severe Of
the season. Farmer Hardwick, sitting
beside the stove in his living room,
listened to the bowling wind thrash
ing the leafiess branches of the trees
ana hurting the snow like sand blast
against his window panes. 4 tele-
graph pole stood on the roadside in
front OF and very near to his house,
and it seemed to him that the sounds
made by the rushing currents of-air
were the walls OF lost spirits.
Hardwick, like most farmers Of the
present day, was connected by te!e-
phone with his neighbors. The III
strument was placed in an addition 10
his house used for everything pertain
ing to q farm. from matches 10 fire
wood, from gimlet to I q a!ston".
from jug OF vinegar 10 Il >;ss q
cider. There were openings through
to this universal "catchall,' and. the
doors between standing open. Hard
wiIk heard some one calling up
number Of Il telephone subscriber. The
voice was Il mans, but didn't sound
like that Of any Of the men on tie
farm. AS soon as the speaker WAS
connected with the number he Ind
asked for he spoke one sentence quick
llv. but Hardwick could not hear what
he said
Only few moments had elapsed
between the call and the communic&-
ton when UaGdwick got mp from MS
chair and went through the rooms -
where the telephone was located to
see who WAS using ii. TO his SUI
prise, no one was there. The receiver
hung in its place, and there was no
!indication that any one had been
near it. Hardwick ran to the only
door leading out into the yard and
pulled it open, but no one was II
sight.
That's queerr' he muttered to him.
self and, going back to his seat by
the stove, sat down to think about It.
At the time Farmer Hardwick heard
the voice at his telephone Clcily
Boardman. who was upstairs in her
own home sewing III preparation for
her coming wedding with Harvey
Brown, heard above the storm ring
on the floor below. Going down, she
took up the receiver and, having spo'
ken the usual "WellY heard her low
er's voice say to her:
Its in the northeast corner OF tie
smokehouse."
There was q click, followed by ST.
lence. She called again and again,
but, receiving no answer, concluded
that Harvey had been shut of in the
midst Of what he was saying, and,
hanging up the receiver, she went
back to her work.
But since she could both work and.
think at the same time she pondered
on what her lover had tried to con-
municate. There was nothing inte!-
Hgible to her in the message she h;!i
received, and had not the voice been
Enthusiastically her lovers she would
have assumed that, using party wire,
she had heard that which had been
intended for some one else. But Har-
vey's deep tones were too ramlllar 10
her to be mistaken for those Of ally
other man. The message was so in
explicable that she began to feel
dread, though Of what she did not
know.
+. The next morning Cicily took up the
work on her wedding garment with
singular dependency, mentally repeat
ing the words IAN impending calam-
!ity." Presently she heard some one
without kicking off the snow. the front
door open and heavy step. Then fdl
lowed muffled voices below. Cicily
listened, her heart sinking like LEAD
within her. A little later when her
mother came into the room with dread
on her face Cicily moaned:
"You don't need to tell me. mother;
Harvey is dead
The mother put her arms about her
uduSulCl, NV q "oiN-
Harvey Brown had started during
the storm to walk from his home to
that Of his fiancee, distance Of two
miles. The road led past Farmer
IHardwick's house, and Browns body
was found buried in a drift under one
Of the telegraph poles not far from
Hardwick's. Whether he had sunk
down confused and benumbed by that
interminabIe whirling of snow or
whether his efforts to get on had
brought on some sort Of a stroke was
not evident. The night had been very
cold, and it was thought that, bewil-
dered and exhausted. he had stopped
to rest and had been frozen.
Cicily and her mother were in strait
Iened circumstances. Harvey Brown
not only owned the house in which he
lived, but had inherited a fortune in
vested in stocks and bonds. Cicily's
approaching marriage with him had
been looked forward to by her as
great relief Harvey had suggested
hastening the wedding that she might
be his legal heir. The next of kin 20
him was the son Of his fathers broth
er, a ne'er- do-well, whom Harvey be-
lieved would stoop to any chicanery to
get possession Of the property at Har-
vey's death. to which, without will
or a wedding. he would be the lawful
heir. This man, Peter Brown. might
secure and destroy will, but he could