The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1913-03-06
CHAPTER H.

RITE Shots Echo In the Woods
or conveying oven tI'ho OF the hor
rnr Experienced NJ Camugnra dis.
closure . ,m uInh hopeless The more
We discussed 'ho ocaurrnun. no." less
Susceptible r. seemed Of explanation
And what Ie 30 terrifying a. 'no IN.
eNpI'Da".'. or so dreadful n# Oh" IN
tanrhl" Here. apparently vas an
enemy az calm and cunning ma'iguity
who chose % manifest his power IN a
manner almost mdinroualv punrilo--
save as 70 pointed with significant fin
ger 10 ..., dire and inevitable sequel
yet W.T.. such .rafty socro.y as com
pl"t"iF ~ myHUfy and diemay
Cameron showed ne tH" mu'iIatcd
por'rn.. ~, had taken +, down ul
most Immediately. and had hidden f.
nwuy la close, Of the hall behind an
array NJ raluroa's III" cutting had
been done. evidently, with an exceed.
inrly keen blade. and very dcNtor1us-
ly done. But that 90 should has, boon
accomplished IN twelve minutes. while
Cameron sat In tho room. not fifteen
feet distant was beyond our rumurc-
hcnsIon Absorption IN his book was
the nearest $50 came TO q solution. and
that was scarcely tonahlc. For there
was the crowded top cf the book.
shelves To cut the canvas. the van.
dal must either have stood upon that
or have reared ladder There was
not room for N" foot of child ON the
shelf top, and as for the ladder. 8, was
uuthiNEblr. How could a ladder have
been carried IN and cut without Cam.
eron being conscious OF i'o From
every possible angle We viewed the in.
cldcnt making every conceivable con.
session, and no halfway plausible an.
swer TO tho riddle presented itself.
And though our cummon-Rcusc told us
TINT the time OF miracles vas long
past, that no GyCcs' ring nor Abe.
rich's cloak survived to this day to
max" invisible their wcarnrg, there
persisted, nevertheless, a chill. uncan.
ny sense OF the supernatural. quite
evident TO me In Camcron's hushed
voice and furtye manner, and in my
own unwontcd nervous disquiotudc
We sat very late wished, II DOS
sible to learn II at any time in my
friends life he had done uught 10 en-
gender an cnmity to which these
strange developments could be traced
whether. for instance. In tho hot
blood OF his youth In some far land he
had provoked the vengeance OF one
whose humor 1t Is never to forget. As
we talked | came 10 know Cameron
better than | had ever known him be.
fore. lie barred 10 me much OF his
early career; he gave me clearer
view OF his temperameutal qualities;
and yet ! could not but feel that he
left the vital point untouched, that be.
meath HIS seeming frankness there lay
hidden, shielded, some one episode,
perhaps, which might let the light In
upon our darkness. For my question
was Cvaded rather than answered.
Presently We went back to the let.
ters and dissectod them, coldly and
critically, sentence by sentence. and
while the weird influence which they
had cXcrted upon me at the first read |
ing Increased stimulated possibly by
the incident Of the portrait, stin we
reached certain practical, common.
sense view as to their origin; for we
came to see in them what we be.
nevcd TO be the hand of n religious
fanatic. Certain expressions, we con.
cluded. were quotations. II they were |
not Biblical, they were certainly OF |
sacred genesis. And the discovery |
was not reassuring. II lent. indeed, |
an added prick to the perturbation we |
already experienced.
Nor did the absence Of specified |
date for the second promised demon. |
etration Of power tend to relieve our |
uneaslness. In this silence We found |
the acme OF cunning cruelty. Any day.
at any hour, some other mystifyIng.
soul.torturing incident was liable to
occur
tried 10 argue that the seventh day |
was implied, inasmuch as the second
note was received on the same day Of /
the month as the first, and was q mere
continuation Of the original threat.
But my contention lacked the intrinsic
strength which carries conviction.
and, as Cameron put II, we could only
watch and watt" for the communi-
cations offered no alternative. They
made no demand which being com.
piled with would avert penalty. Only
and inevitable retribution.
calm. patient. and determined effused
from every line.
But, in spite OF Cameron's evident
In using that term am
very mildly stating his obvious condi-
ton Of mInd-he sternly refused to
either the police or the private
You may not know" he explained.
that am largely interested In n GER
ain line Of Industrial enterprises. the
Ihafus of which are Lated on the New
Fed usock Exchange. Should the pub.