Baxter Springs news., 1915-03-04

with Judge ostrander, Mrs. Yardley-
keep house for him, myself and daugh-
ter. His man is dead and he feels
very helpless. hope that shall be
able to make him comfortable"
Mrs. Yardley's face was a study. In
all her life she had never heard news
that surprised her more. In another
moment she had accepted the situa-
ton, like the very sensible woman she
was, and Mrs. Scoville had the salts
faction Of seeing the promise OF real
friendly support in the smile with
which Mrs. Yardley remarked:
ITS a good thing for you and q
very good thing for the Judge. 1t may
shake him out OF his habit OF seclu'
sion. II 1t does, you will be the city's
benefactor. Good luck to you, madam.
And you have daughter. you say?"
After Mrs. Yardley's departure
Mrs. Scoville. as she now expected
herself to be called, sat for long
time brooding. There was one thing
more to be accomplished. She set
about 1t that evening.
Yelled, but in black now. she went
into town. Getting down at the cor
ner OF Colburn avenue and Perry
street, she walked a short distance on
Perry, then rang the bell Of an at
tractive.looking house Of moderate d.
mensions. Being admitted, she asked
to see Mr.. Black, and for an hour sat
in close conversation with him. Then
she took a trolley car which carried
her into the suburbs. When she
alighted, It was unusually late for a
woman to be out alone; but she had
very little physical fear, and walked
on steadily enough for a block or two
till she came to O corner, where high
fence loomed forbiddingly between her
and a house so dark that 1t was i'm
possible to distinguish between It's
chimneys and the encompassing trees.
Was she quite alone in the SEEM
ingly quiet street? She could hear no
one, see no one. A lamp burned in
front of Miss Weeks small house, but
the road 1t illumined, the one running
down to the ravine, showed only dark
ened houses.
She had left the corner and was
passing the gate Of the Ostrander
homestead, when she heard, coming
from some distant point within, low
and peculiar sound which held her i'm
movable for a moment, then sent her
on shuddering.
II was the sound of hammering.
Hearing this sound and locating II
where she did, she remembered, with
a quick inner disturbance, that the
Judges house held a secret; a secret
of such import to its owner that the
dying Bella had sought to preserve 1t
at the cost Of his life.
Oh, she had heard all about that!
The gossip at Claymore inn had been
great, and nothing had been spared
her curiosity. There was something
in this house which 1t behooved the
Judge to secrete from sight yet more
completely before her own and Reu'
theirs entrance, and he was at work
upon it now, hammering with his own
hand while other persons slept! No
wonder she edged her way along the
fence with a shrinking, yet persistent.
step. She was circling her future
home and that house held q mystery.
AS she groped her way along. she
had ample opportunity to hear again
the intermittent sounds Of the ham,
mer, and to note that they reached
their maximum at a point where the
ell of the judges study approached the
fences.
Rat.tat.tat; rat.tat-tat. She hated
the sound even while she whispered to
herself:
1T is just some household matter
he is at work upon-rehanging pic
lures or putting up shelves. 1t can be
nothing else"
Yet on laying her ear to the fence
she felt her sinister fears return;
and, with shrinking glances into a
darkness which told her nothing. she
added in fearful murmur to herself:
What am / taking Reuther into?
l wish knew. / wish knew"
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