Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1913-01-24

A Mysterious
Message
II Came Over a Wire, bat
Was Doubtless Wireless
BY WILLARD B. CHURCH .
Copyright by American Press Asso- .
citation, 1911.
BY WILLARD B. CHURCH

! The first blizzard Of the season came
In November, an early date for win
ter storm, and, what was more un-
usual still, it was the most severe OF
the season. Farmer Hardwick, sitting
beside the stove in his living room,
listened to the bowling wind thrash
ing the leafiess branches Of the trees
and hurting the snow like q sand blast
against his window panes. A tele-
graph pole stood on the roadside In
front Of and very near to his house,
and it seemed to him that the sounds
made by the rushing currents OF air
were the walls of lost spirits.
Ha,dwick, like most farmers Of the
present day, was connected by tele-
phone with his neighbors. The In
strument was placed in an addition to
his house used for everything pertain
ing to q farm, from matches to fire.
wood, from q gimlet to O grindstone,
from a jug of vinegar to a cask or
cider. There were openings through
to this universal "catchall,' and, the
doors between standing open, Hard
wick heard some one calling up a
number of. q telephone subscriber. The
voice was q mans, but didn't sound
like that Of any Of the men on the
farm. AS soon as the speaker was
connected with the number he had
asked for he spoke one sentence quick
ly, but Hardwick could not hear what
he said.
Only a few moments had elapsed
between the call and the communica-
ton when Hardwick got up from his
chair and went through the rooms to
where the telephone was located to
see who was using it. To his sur
prise, no one was there. The receiver
hung in It's place, and there was no
indication that any one had been
near 1t. Hardwick ran to the only
door leading out into the yard and
pulled it open, but no one was In
sight
That's queerw he muttered to him
self and, going back to his seat by
the stove, sat down to think about 1t.
At the time Farmer Hardwick heard
the voice at his telephone Cicily
Boardman, who was upstairs in her
own home sewing in preparation for
her coming wedding with Harvey
Brown, heard above the storm a ring
on the floor below. Going down. she
took up the receiver and, having spo-
ken the usual "Well?" heard her low
er's voice say to her:
"It's In the northeast corner OF tie
smokehouse."
There was a click, followed by 81
lence. She called again and again,
but, receiving no answer, concluded
that Harvey had been shut off in the
midst Of what he was saying, and,
hanging up the receiver, she went
back to her work.
But since she could both work and
think at the same time she pondered
on what her lover had tried to CON-
,municate. There was nothing intel
ugible to her in the message she had
received, and had not the voice been
Enthusiastically her lovers she would
have assumed that, using party wire,
she had heard that which had been
intended for some one else. But Har-
vey's deep tones were too familiar to
her to be mistaken for those of any
other man. The message was so In
explicable that she began to feel
dread, though of what she did not
know.
The next morning Cicily took up the
work on her wedding garment with a
singular dependency, mentally repeat
ing the words "an impending calam-
ity." Presently she heard some one
without kicking off the snow, the front
door open and q heavy step. Then fol-
lowed mufled voices below. Cicily
listened, her heart sinking like lead
within her. A little later when her
mother came into the room with dread
on her face Cicily mOaned:
"You don't need to tell me, mother;
Harvey is dead"
The mother put her arms about her
daughter, saying not word.
Harvey Brown had started during
the storm to walk from his home to
that of hts fiancee, distance OF two
miles. The road led past Farmer
Hardwick's house, and Browns body
was found buried in a drift under one
of the telegraph poles not far from
HardWicks Whether he had sunk
down confused and benumbed by that
dnterminable whirling of snow or
whether his efforts to get on had
brought on some sort Of stroke was
not evident. The night had been very
cold, and 1t was thought that, bewil-
dered and exhausted. he had stopped
20 rest and had been frozen.
Cicily and her mother were in strait
ened circumstances. Harvey Brown
not only owned the house In which he
lived, but had inherited a fortune in
vested in stocks and bonds. Cicily's
approaching marriage with him had
been looked forward to by her as
great relief Harvey had suggested
fastening the wedding that she might
be his legal heir. The next of kin to
him was the son Of his fathers broth
er, a ne'er-do-well. whom Harvey be-
lieved would stoop to any chicanery to
get possession Of the property at Har'
vey's death. to which, without will