Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1913-05-22

the upper halls If Your house. seeking
the ghost OF that British soldier, and |
| had Just discovered my loss when
heard you calling In returning it you
have conferred upon ne the greatest
| imaginable favor. have faith that
some time, somewhere. shall find the
owner of that slipper Would YOU not
| infer from its djmNulivr Size and the
| fine. suggestive delivacy of its outlines,
that the owner is Il person OF ariSto-
cratic lineage and Of breeding? | will
confess that nothing is nearer my
heart than the hope that one day
shall meet the young lady | ann sure
she must he young who wore that
slipper and dropped il aS il seemed,
| from the clouds at my feet there in
Sedatc Beacon street, ;hli most sol
emn of residential S&uctUarir>."
Mr.. AmcS," began Miss nolliSter in.
stantly, with an assumed severity that
her smile belird. Il cannot recall that
my niece He2ekiah ever visited in Bra.
con street, Vet | dare say that if she
had done 50 and young man Of your
| pleasing appearance had passed be-
meath her window one of her slippers
might very easily have become dc
tached from Hc2ckiah'S foot and fall
en- with 4 nice calculation directly in
| front of YOU. But now, Mr. AmcS, will
you kindly carry your candle into that
trunk room
The foundations of the world shook
as remembered the compact 10y which
HeZekiab wHS excluded from the house
and realized what her impending dis.
covery would mean To Cecilia her fa'
Their and the hayward Hezrkiah too,
But | was in for it. Miss Ortavia IL.
/ Dictated by nm imprriouS nod that was
/ to prccede her into the trunk ROOM aud
l strobe before her With my candle
held high
I But the SpriteS of mystery were still
abroad ut Hopehrld The room was
unoccupied save for the trunks rezc
lliah had vanished Instead Of sitting
there to await the coming of her aunt,
she had silently departed without leaV-
ing trace Miss HolliStcr glanced mp
at the trapdoor in the ceiling aud 50
did l. 1t was closed but did not
doubt that Hc2ckiah had rrawlcd
through it and taken herself to the
roof Miss Octavia would probably or
der me ut once to the hattlemcnts. hut
worse was to come,
mir. Ames," she said, will YOU kind
! Iy lift the lid of that largest trunk"
/ | had not thought Of this. and shud
dCred at the possibilities
She Indicated the trunk upon which
! HeZekiah had sat and nihhled her
cracker not more than ten minutes be-
/ fore. Could it be possible that when
| lifted the cover th%t golden head
would he found beneath: My life has
known no hlackCr moment than that In
which flung back the lid Of that trunk
/ | averted my eyes in dread of the i'm
pending disclosure and held the candle
/ close
! But the trunk WAS empty. incredibly
empty! My courage rose again. and
! glanced mt Miss Octaviu triumphantly
| even jcrErd ont the trays to alIay any
! lingering suspicion Why had | ever
doubted Hc2ekiah? who was she. tho
! golden haired daughter Of kings TO ht'
caught in n trunk: She had slipped up
! the ladder while | talked to her aunt
and was even now hiding ON the roof
but it was not for NE to make so trea-
sonable Ii suggestion, Miss Octav,a
might press the matter further If she
| liked, but | would not help her to trap
Hezekiah,
Miss HOLSTER did not, to my surprise
ana relief, suggest an inspection of the
roof. She nodded her head gravely
and passed out into the hall
"Mr. Amcs, if | implied a moment
ago that | doubted your story of the
dropping OF that tan pump from Il
Beacon street roof or window, l now
tender you my sincerest apologies"
She put out her hand, smiling charm
ingly.
Pray return to the occupations which
were engaging you when | interrupted
you. You have never stood higher in
my regard than Mt this moment. To-
morrow YOU may tell me all you please
of the ghost and the mysteries of this
house, and | dare say we shall find the
| bones OF that British soldier some
where beneath the foundations. AS
for that trihing bit Of leather you hold
, i'll your hand. it's rather passe for
Beacon street The next time you tell
that story ! suggest that You play your
game Of drop the slipper from win
dow of Kittcnhousc square. Philadcl-
phia"
HeZckiah on the roof was safe for
time. Miss OCtayia' : gentle rejection
of my Beacon street ancrdote and her
intimation that fIeZekiah had been IN
unbiIled participant Of the comedy Of
the ghost had been diSquieting, and in
my relief Of her abandonment of the
search | loitered on downstairs with
my hostess. | wished to impress her
with the idea that | was without ur-
! Opnt buSinpSG HpZal.iah yVouId hayoul