The Washington times., 1913-04-25

4 our great coats the chill struck home te
Perhaps it wasn't only the cold tha,
made us shiver and set our teeth te
/ couldn't get Barton's story ou, OF
| my head. why his account of the ap-
| partition he had seen there when he
was rummaging amid Crows papers
had made SO little apparent impression
on jeffrey. I didn't know. think ]
am about the last man to believe In
| ghosts myself. But this was the second
4 ghost story. had heard myself in con-
nection with this affair-the other. you
remember, was the appar1tion that had
Paris-and both had a terrifying sound
Of reality to them.
| To get away from that morbid train
| Of thought I forced my mind to at
| tempt a solution Of Jefrey's latest
| enigma. What was the enormous sig
niflcance that he saw in the dimensions
| OF that Photographic plate? Crow had
said, remembered. that Claire had
her photograph taken in Paris by q
French photographer. Evidently that
| wasn't true. or It wouldn't have been
] taken on an American plate. An Amer
plate. well enough, but the other way
about-never.
But what did ii mean! Not necessarily
that Crow had lied. He might conceiv-
ABLY have Deen mfS1n1OfmSQ.
Puzzle; as might. / couldn't get any
clue as to that wide-eyed look-incredu-
lous, yet certain-that i had seen in
Jeffrey's face, nor to the urgency Of the
haste with which he had started US back
| to Beech HILL The urgency wasn't
abated. either.
jeffrey was standing beside the wheel,
peefing out ahead through the thinning
dark. every line Of his tense body q
mute appeal to the engineer to drive the
boat for all she was worth. We were
doing pretty well, too, as the big wave
that curied and broke around our bows
attested. She had q bone in her teeth.
rs the sailors say, that trfp.
The Beech Hill estate, as have said,
fs q peninsula with q blunt, broad head
J and q very narrow neck.
The general direction OF the river is.
Of course, southwark. Just above Beech
Hill 1t narrows between high. precipi-
tous banks. But Below. while the east
bank holds high and rigid with a ram
part Of undulating hills. the west bank
meets the situation by branching; one
branch curving around north and even
northeast and shading on into a marsh.
then circling widely southwest and
southeast until 1t Joins the main stream
again. The large area southwest from
Beech Hill would be lake II 1t were
not that low hill rising In the middle
of II made an island.
II was this island and the marsh that
forced the road north from Oldborough
INTO a wide detour westward and made
the river-route, as Jeffrey had pointed
out, much the shortest, and, II one COM
manded high-power motor-ooat, much
the quickest way Of getting from Old
borough to Beech Hill.
Already the river was widening. ana
presently we made out through the
dark the blunt end Of the island-iog
Island, think, is the local name OF II
projecting out into the midle OF 1t.
Jeffrey came aft and Joined Richards
and me. "Of course, the nearest way.
he said. 'is to the right. up the main
channel II time weren't such a factor
I'd take the other. The house COM
mands a pretty good view OF this chan
mel, and what with the daylight ana the
noise we're making. he'll have warming
We get there"
who'll have warningT said Rich
ards
Grow" said Jeffrey. ,,|
Grows" Richards exclaimed. Il
thought you wanted to warn Grow,
You saw Crow yourself?' he asked.
Sure" said Richards.
what was he doing?
Just what any man would be doins
whose house had Just been broken into
by a burglar. He'd got up and dressed
and was out looking for him with al
gun. met him when came ashore
after I heard the shot fired. He DIDN'T
seem particularly glad TO see me. but
men came UP, and said that the fellows
we were after had evidently got away
and taken an automobile with them"
He wasn't very keen on the capture.
it seems to me-" sail Jeffrey He didn't
offer you his own car to go back to Old
borough in. did he? You might have
caught him with that That little tin
pot you rented at the garage couldn't
go very fast"
lille there" said Richards.
"Oh, yes. he had" said jeffrey. He
certainly had the one he came out from
town in last night"
Probably never thought Of it, said
Richards.
by the way said Jeffrey, didn't
you offer to leave him one or two of
your men TO guard the place? You
couldn't be sure, Of course. that the
marauder had got away"
Yes. I did, said Richards, but he
thought II wouldn't be necessary. He
said he'd. go down and lock the park
gates"
Lock the mark gates.'" said Jeffrey.
II don't like that. There's something
hadn't thought Of"
ITS certainly The natural thing toI
do" said Richards. We'll, he said he
and the caretaker would be enough TO
protect the place. and he wouldn't need
our help. He said to let him know If W Il
got Barton"
Ibid you see the caretaker?' Jeffrey |
asked.
Richards shook his head. Come TO
think Of II. didn't"
ITS queer said Jeffrey, that the |
noise and the confusion and the shoot |
in i'd -crse him too
"Oh, don't know said Richards;
So 4. -. = sI,~p Ike the dead. But
it's queer that Grow didn't arouse him
himself"
Just then Kelly called rack to US from
the wheel There's something wrong |
with the dope" he said. We're missing
fire right along"
! hadn't noticed II before, but II was
obviously true. The river was still rush
ing by fast enough, but the current was
doing most Of that When I sighted a
tree on the bank for a landmark. 1
saw that we weren't much more than
keeping abreast Of Il