The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-01-22

1Sn0d we Ill JO1ISu LII Liz SVHOEd1
laugh, Lord Arrowood's guffaw boom
ing out trife boisterous1y, when Miss
Octavia quietly rose and excused her
self. About five minutes later, when the
company had plunged into another Sc
ries of anecdotes, I suddenly became
conscious that the fireplace, near which
L sat, had all at once begun to act
strangely. Much in the manner Of its
performance thes previous night, it alb
ruptly gasped and choked, the smoke
ballooned in a great swirl and then
poured out into the room.
After my examination Of the hues in
the morning I had dismissed them
from my mind, and this extra ordinary
behavior of the library fireplace as
founded me. 1t is not In reason that
a perfectly normal fireplace, built in
the most approved fashion and with
chimneys that rise into as clear an
ether as October can bestow could act
so monstrously without the interven-
ton of some malign agency. We had
discussed all the possibilities the pre-
viouS night, and I was not anxious to
hear further lay opinions. The Chin
ney's conduct was annoying, the more
so that to my professional sense it
was inexplicable.
Lord Arrowood had retreated dis
creetly toward the door, and the others
had risen and stood close behind Ce-
ella, whose gaze was bent rather ac-
cusingly upon me.
A dark thought had crossed my mind
AS our eyes met 1 felt that she had
read my suspicious and did not wholly
reject them. Henderson was vaIiantly
poking the logs, while one of two of
fbc n 71n Of
their advice. 1 crossed the hall to the
drawing room, but no one was there.
1 went back to the billiard room, but
saw nothing of Miss Octavia. Cecilia
had rung for the footman, and passed
him in the hall on his way to answer
her summons. I stopped him with an
inquiry on my lips, but could not ask
the question. Even in my perplexity
as to the cause of the chimney's re-
markabIe performances I did not so
far forget myself as to communicate
my suspicion to a servant.
? Nothing, Thomas" I said, and the
man passed on
1t was possible, of course, that Miss
Octavia knew more than she cared to
tell about the erratic ways of the Ii
brary chimney, or she might indeed be
the cause of its vagaries. Sufficient
time had elapsed after retirement from
the library to allow her to gain the
roof and clap a stopper on the chin
ney pot. This did not, however, ac-
count for the fact that on the previous
/ evening she had been present in the
library when the same chimney had
manifested a similar sulkiness- 1 was
still bordering these things when 1
heard loud laughter from the library
and on returning found the logs again
blazing in the fireplace, from which the
smoke rose demurely in the due.
''This fireplace is like a geyser, Mr..
Ames,'' said Cecilia, land spurts smoke
at regular intervals. AS I remember,
the clock on the stair was striking 9
last night when the smoke poured out,
and there-it is striking noW!'
She tossed her head slightly, and this
was, I thought, in disdain of the sus-
picion that must still have shown itself
| a little stubbornly in my face.
withdrew again in a few minutes
and followed the great chimney's
course upward. Miss Octavia's apart
ments were at the front of the house,
her sitting room windows looking out
upon the italian garden. Her doors
were closed, but knew from my ex-
animation in the morning that the hue
Of her fireplace tapped the chimney
that rose from the drawing room and
haG nothing whatever to do with the
library chimney.
| From the fourth floor gained the
roof by the route followed on my In
spection of the house in the morning.
The smoke from the library chimney
was rising in the crisp, still air blithe-
". I leaned upon the crenelations
and looked off across the hills, enjoy
ing the loneliness of the sky, in which
the planets throbbed superbIy. There
was nothing to be learned here, and I
crept back to the trap door through
which 1 had come, made it fast and
continued on down to the library.
There somewhat to my surprise 1
| found that in my absence all but
Hume had taken their departure. As
I paused unseen in the doorway I
caught words that were clearly not in
tended for my ear.
Cecilia sat by the long table near the
! fireplace. Hume stood before Ter, his
arms folded.
"You are kind. You do me great
honor, Professor Hume, but under no
| circumstances can I become your
wife,
| 1 retreated hastily to the billiard
room, where 1 took a cue from the
rack and amused myself for perhaps
| fifteen minutes, when, hearing the
/ outer door close and knowing that
| Hume had departed with his congee,
I returned to the library.
Cecilia sat where 1 had left her. and
at first glance I thought she was read
| ing. But she turned quickly as I
crossed the room. She held in her
hand an oblong silver trinket not larg-
| er than a card case. A short pencil
similar to those affixed to dance cards
was attached to it by slight cord.
/ and she had, I inferred, been making