The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1914-03-20
BOOK II.
CHAPTER Discontinued.


"Humph! Shouldn't think Flint
would have been that careless" was
his immediate conclusion. 1t did not
occur to him that somebody already
might be within, but contented himself
with the belief that the detective had
neglected to make fast the door after
his visit Sunday afternoon.
Settling the incident thus to his own
satisfaction, he entered and closed the
door behind him.
He glimpsed into the kitchen, and
promptly withdrew with shudder. Off
on one side huge range stood. red
with rust, and everywhere were cob
webs and layer upon layer of dirt. A
sleek rat darted into the denser shad-
ows, and the opening door disturbed
hundreds of enormous cockroaches.
Some scuttled away, but others re-
manned motionless and watched him
with malignant eyes that sparkled
weirdly In the half-light.
He shook off his feeling and ad-
vanced toward the stairs, which
doomed dimly before him. But thence
forward he moved with utmost circum-
spection. pausing frequently at some
imagined sound, or to determine the
nature Of some shape Unexpectedly
confronting him In darker corner
And scarcely had he arrived at the
first floor than his strained attentive
ness was rewarded by a sound that
was unmistakable-one that brought
him up short-a sound of human
voices. A distinctly unpleasant ting
ling sensation played over his scalp
and at the back of his neck The tenn
porary alarm, however, instantly ven
tshed, and instead he was filled with
wonder and curiosity at this unlocked
for exploration.
Who could have chosen a spot so
desolate and God-forsaken in which to
carry on a conversation?
He recalled the Unattached door:
manifestly whoever was inside with
him had entered by means OF a key.
precisely as he had been equipped to
do. and had neglected to fasten the
door after them. At any rate. the mat
ter was worth investigating; then. II
he saw that he was an intruder, he
would quietly Withdraw.
When they first startled him the
voices we're so low that he was unable
to determine anything about them
how many were talking, or in what
portion Of the house the speakers
we're. Then Of a sudden he received
"a fresh shock Of surprise. One of the
voices rose In a note of anger.
II was woman's-nay, a girls.
And now he was able to locate the
source of the sounds. They came from
somewhere In the second story and to-
ward the rear Of the house. With in
finite caution, he crept up the front
stairway to the upper hail.
The voices sounded necessarily, first
q mans, hoarse and rumbling, then
the girls, then sometimes both to-
gether. Van Vechten paused at real
zzation that the two were quarreling
and that the girls voice was quivering
with intense indignation.
He advanced more rapidly, and pres
emily came to a halt before a closed
door, on the farther side of which the
two disputants without doubt we're en-
gagged. And then perforce he became
ian eavesdropper.
60. go, gol" cried the feminine
voice, shrill with evaporation and
anger. II tell you, will not stand
this annoyance. Whatever In the
world possessed you to follow me I
cant imagine. Go-get out Of my
sight, don't want to hear word you
have to sayi"
At the next words Van vechten
started so violently that, had the un-
seen couple been less absorbed In