The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1912-12-04

"Oh ""Hl W dldTm you, DuL
somehow | feel that these" and
shook the cracking, wax-like sheets.
that these cannot be utterly ignored"
But they are anonymous" he re-
torted, not unjustly. Anonymous
letters should be burned and forgot
ten"
There are anonymous letters and
anonymous letters" gave him back.
In turn. These are OF an unusually
convincing character. Besides, they
-" And then I paused wished to
tell him Of that elusive encompass
ment OF sinister portent which had 80
impressed me; of that malign forebod-
Ing beyond anything warranted by the
words; but stumbled pn the effort at
expression. Besides" started again,
and ended lamely, Il don't like the
look and the feel Of them"
And now he was as serious as I
could wish.
"Ah!" he cried, leaning forward
again and reaching for the letters.
You have experienced 1t, too! And
you can't explain 1t, any more than I?
1t is something that grips you when
you read. like an icy hand, hard as
steel, In . glove Of velvet. It's al
ways between the lines, reaching out,
/, and nothing you can do will stay 1t.
thought at first I imagined It, but
the oftener I have read, the more
have felt Its clutch. The letters Of
themselves are nothing. What do you
suppose I care for yelled threats of
that sort? I'm big enough to take
care OF myself, Clyde. I've met peril
IN about every possible guise, in every
part OF the world, and I've never real
ly known fear. But this--this is DIFF
ferent. And the worst Of it Is, don't
know why. l can't for the life of me
make out what 1t Is I'm afraid Of"
He had gone very pale, and his
strong, capable hands, which toyed
with the two letters, quivered and
twitched in excess Of nervous tension.
Then, with finger pointing to the
1nk-stain at the bottom OF one Of the
sheets, he asked:
What does that look like to your"
took the letter from him, and
scrutinizing the rude figure with con.
centrated attention for a moment, ven.
tured the suggestion that 1t somewhat
resembled boat.
"A one-masted vessel, square
rigged." he added, in elucidation,
Exactly"
"Now turn it upside down."
old so.
Nov what do you see?"
THE head OF a man wearing q hel.
met" The resemblance was very
marked.
"A straw helmet, apparently" he
amplified, such as Is worn In the
Orient. And yet the profile is not that
OF an Oriental. Now, look 1T your ves-
sci again." And once more reversed
the sheet of paper
Can 1t be Chinese junk?" asked.
ut might be sailing proa or ban
ca" he returned, "such as they use in
the South Pacific. But whatever It Is,
l can't understand what 1t has to do
with me or with It."
was still studying the black daub,
when he said:
"But you haven't told me about the
handwriting. What can you read Of
the character Of the writer?"
Nothing" answered. promptly.
1T Is curious penmanship, as you say
heavy and regular and upright, with
some strangely formed letters; es-
pecially the rs and the p's; but 1t
tells me nothing"
"But thought" he began.
THAT / boasted? SO did. When
one writes as one habitually writes it
Is very easy. These letters, however,
are not In the writer's ordinary hand.
The writing Is as artificial as though
you, for example. had printed a note
In Roman characters. Were they ad.
dressed in the same handw
Precisely"
What was the post.mark?"
They bore no post-mark. That Is
another strange circumstance. Yet
they were with my mail. How they
came there have been unable to as
certain. The people at the post Office
naturally deny that they delivered
anything unstamped, as these were;
and Barrie, the lad who fetches the
letters, has no recollection Of these.
Nor has Checkabeedy, who sorts the
mail here at the house. But each Of
them lay beside my plate at break.
fast-the first on the fourteenth Of
August; the second. this morning, the
fourteenth OF September"
And they were not delivered by
messenger"
$50 far as I can learn, no."
1T is very odd," commented, with
feeble banallty.
/ took the letters from his hands
once more, and held them In turn be-
fWQpp NV vtcfnn opd tho DondJa Nobk