Rock Island Argus., 1913-10-10

Findlay strained his eyes through the
darkness OF the upper gallery and saw
gray formless shape drift slowly past
and disappear in the shadows at the |
end.
Dicks hand frightened on Findiay's |
elbow.
wow, skeptic. what do you say to
thatf' he breathed hoarsely.
Eindiay shook his head.
"She has me guessing" he admitted
ruefully.
Dick laughed. what did tell you,
old man? You may fiatter yourself
you are some ghost hunter. but the
Addison ghost has walked for 150
years. and the mystery has never boen
solved"
did your father ever see it," asked
Findlay thoughtfully.
"you forget that my father inherited
Roseland from a distant cousin, who
had quarreled with his few remaining
relatives and through some freakish
fancy chose my father as his heir.
That is why my experience with the
ghost dates back to three months ago.
when I came down to occupy the old
place"
And you have seen it how many
timesr
About once q week. I had quite
forgotten the old story of Dorothy Ad-
olson, who had told wicked lie and
so won the man she loved from her
lovely rival. It Is said that Dorothy
was very unhappy in her married life
and often bewailed her sin. Tradition
has it that the curse of unrest will not
be lifted from her poor spirit until
some Addison rights wrong or makes
some great sacrifice for another"
$50 your distant cousin did nothing
toward that end" mused Findlay. "Did
he leave any direct heirsT'
Dick Addison hesitated. "You know,
I was at college when father inherited
the place, and wasn't deeply inter
| ested, but / have since learned that
Cousin Amos left an adopted son, who
had married against my cousins wish
es and was therefore disinherited. But
father understood that the son was a
| rich man, had made a fortune in the
west, so that he really was not losing
much when the Addison home came to
my father. It's a tumbledown old
place, as you can see. and, except for
some good old furniture and the fam
lily portraits. isn't worth repairing"
why don't you hunt up this adopted
son of Amos Addison and see if he
doesn't need the placer
"Do you mean that, Sam"
"Yes. If investigation shows that
the adopted son and his family are
comfortably fixed, why, suppose. the
wished. but If r. He stopped and
laughed in an embarrf ssed way.
Yes" asked Dick eagerly. "If you
owned it what would you do. Sam?'
II would never close it up. There
are too many homeless wretches in the
world to justify that But am preach
ing now, Dick. / know it would be a
great sacrifice for you to give up the
ancient home of your family to q man
who was but an adopted son."
Sacrifice! If I should find him
Sam, perhaps that is the sacrifice that
is required to lay the ghost of pretty
Mistress Dorothyr'
Perhaps it is" FindIay was laugh
ing when he stopped short and point
ed to a little door. Where does
that lead to. DickT he demanded
sharply.
Dick stared for an instant. "Oh, the
door? Why, to some attic chamber,
believe. I've never found a key to ii
! t, and I'm not anxious to investigate
sny more dust holes, thank you"
The two young men returned aIons
he picture gallery and swung around
into the corridor from which the bed
rooms opened on either side. Findlay'
room was the first on the right hanC
side. and he bade his friend good nigh
and entered.
Sam Findlay went to the window
nearest the wall Of the picture gallery
. On the other side of that wall hun;
the pictures, and In this corner nea
his window was the little door tina
, had no key.
: He pulled open his closet door an
r held the candle high over his head
3 The closet was placed beneath a fiigh
3 Of stairs, for the ceiling slante1
3 sharply.
His closet ran underneath the spira
I stairway leading to the attic cham
bers. 1t was near the locked door tina
Q the apparition had vanished. II
+ smiled as he turned away.
at is a gentle ghost" he murmul
ed. Her little feet cannot disturb m
slumbers. no matter how many time
= they run up and down the stairsv
r At that moment there came SOUND
so slight that it was hardly more tina
q the rustic of leaf; then anothe
q sound, a little creak.
That was all Findlay tried TO PEI
suade himself that he had mistake
a scampering mouse for light foo
fall. but he knew that the sound wa
e nothing else but a footstep on the sp
It al stair. And the door that led
:. the spiral stair had no key!
}; He blew out the candle and went
o bed in the great carved four post,
y that Aunt Chloe had polished and rul
bed until the rineapples that So
mounted the posts shone as they hf
not done for many years.