The Ordway new era., 1913-01-17
CHAPTER u.

Rifle Shots Echo In the Woods.
OF conveying even 1.-THE OF the hor-
ror ] experienced at Cameron's dis
closure l am nigh hopeless. The more
We discussed the occurrence the less
susceptible 1t seemed Of explanation.
And what is 80 terrifying as the In
applicable, or so dreadful as the In
tangible? Here. apparently, was an
enemy of calm and cunning malignity,
who chose to manifest his power in
manner almost ludicrously puerile-
save AZ 1t pointed with significant fin
ger to some dire and inevitable sequel
yet with such crafty secrecy as COM
pletely to mystify and dismay.
Cameron showed me the mutilated
portrait. He had taken 1t down al
most Immediately. and had hidden 1t
away in a closet Of the hall behind an
array of raincoats. The cutting had
been done, evidently. with an exceed
ingly keen blade. and very dexterous-
ly done. But that 1t should have been
accomplished in twelve minutes, while
Cameron sat in the room. not fifteen
fest distant, was beyond our compre-
hension. Absorption in his book was
the nearest We came to solution, and
that was scarcely tenable. For there
was the crowded top of 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 the foot Of child on the
shelf-top; and as for the ladder, it was
unthinkable. How could a ladder have
been carried in and out without Cam
eron being conscious of it? From
every possible angle we viewed the in
cident, making every conceivable con-
cessiOn. and no halfway plausible an
swer to the riddle presented itself.
And though our common-sense told us
that the time of miracles was long
past. that no Gyges' ring nor Abe
rich's cloak survived to this day to
make invisible their wearers. there
persisted, nevertheless, chill, uncan-
ny sense of the supernatural, quite
evident to me in Cameron's hushed
voice and furtive manner. and in my
own unwonted nervous disquietude.
We sat very late. I wished, II pos
sible, to learn If at any time in my
friends life he had done aught to en-
gender an enmity to which these
strange Developments could be traced
whether, for instance, in the hot
blood Of his youth in some far land he
had provoked the vengeance Of one
whose humor it is never to forget As
we talked came to know Cameron
better than had ever known him be.
fore. He barred to me much Of his
early career; he gave me a clearer
view Of his temperamental qualities;
and yet I 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 evaded rather than answered
Presently. we went back to the let
tiers and dissected them, coldly and
critically. sentence by sentence. and
while the weird influence which they
ing increased, stimulated possibly by
the incident of the portrait. still we
reached a certain practical, common
sense view as to their origin; for we
came to see in them what We be-
lieved to be the hand Of 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. 1t lent, indeed.
an added prick to the perturbation we
already experienced.
Nor did the absence Of specified
date for the second promised demon.
stration of power tend to relieve our
uneasiness. In this silence we found
the acme Of cunning cruelty. Any day.
at any hour, some other mystifying.
sou1torturing incident was liable to
occur.
tried to 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 a mere
continuation Of the original threat.
But my contention lacked the intrinsic
strength which carries conviction.
and, as Cameron put it, 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
implacabie and inevitable retribution.
from every line.
But, IN spite OF CamerOnS evident
an1iety-and in using that term am
very mildly stating his obvious condi-
ton of mind-he sternly refused to
consult either the police or the private
detectives.
You may not Know" he explained.
that am largely interested In a GER
tain line of industrial enterprises. the
shares of which are listed on the New
York Stock Exchange. Should the pub