Middletown transcript., 1915-01-16

with fatal precision, they reached the
point where the screen had stood, and
not finding 1t, few in open terror to
the door it was set there to conceal
when that something else, huddled in
oozing blood, on the floor beneath,
drew them to itself with the irresist
of grim reality, and he forgot
all else.
Deadl Bella! Dead! and lying in
his blood! The rest may have been
no dream, but this was surely one, or
his eyes, used to inner visions, were
playing him false.
Grasping the table at his side to
steady his failing limbs, he pulled him
self along by its curving edge till ne
came almost abreast of the helpless
figure which for so many years had
been the embodiment of faithful and
unwearied service.
Then and then only did the truth of
his great misfortune burst upon his
bewildered soul; and with a cry which
tore the ears of all hearers and was
never forgotten by anyone there, he
flung himself down beside the dead
negro, and, turning him hastily over,
gazed in his face.
"And where was l, when all this
happened?" he demanded in voice
made low by awe and dread of its own
sound.
you? You were seated here" MUIR
INJURED the little woman, pointing at
the great chair. you we're not
quite-quite yourself" she softly ex-
planned, wondering at her own COM
posure. Then quickly, as she saw his
thoughts revert to the dead friend at
his feet, bella was not hurt here. He
was downtown when 1t happened; but
he managed to struggle home and gain
this place. which he tried to hold
against the men who followed him
He thought you were dead, you sat
there so rigid and so white, and, be-
fore he quite gave up, he asked us all
to promise not to let anyone enter this
room till your son Oliver came"
Understanding partly. but not yet
quite clear in his mind, the Judge
sighed, and. STOPPING again, straight
ened the faithful negro's limbs. Then,
with a sidelong look in her direction,
he felt in one of the pockets of the
dead negro's coat and, drawing out a
small key, held 1t in one hand while
he fumbled in his own for another,
which found, he became on the instant
his own man again.
Miss Weeks, seeing the difference in
him, and seeing, too, that the doorway
was now clear of the wondering, awe
struck group which had previously
blocked it, bowed her slight body and
proceeded to withdraw; but the judge,
staying her by a gesture, she waited
patiently near one of the bookracks
against which she had stumbled, to
hear what he had to say.
81 must have had an attack Of some
kind" he calmly remarked. TWill you
be good enough to explain exactly
what occurred here that i may more
fully comprehend my own misfortune
and the death of this faithful friend"
Then she saw that his faculties were
now fully restored, and came step
forward. But before she could begin
her story he added this searching ques-
tion:
"Was it he who let you in-you and
the others-I think you said others
Was 1t he who unlocked my gates?
Miss Weeks sighed and betrayed
duster. 1t was not easy to relate her
story; besides 1t was woefully incom
plete. She knew nothing of what had
happened downtown, she could only
tell what had passed before her eyes
But there was one thing she could
make clear to him, and that was how
the seemingly impossible gates had
been made ready for the woman's en-
trance and afterwards taken such ad
vantage of by herself and others. A
pebble had done 1t ala pebble placed
in the gateway by Bela's hands.
AS she described this and insisted
upon the fact in face of the judges
almost frenzied disclaimer, she thought
she saw the hair move on his forehead
Bella a traitor, and in the interests oi
the woman who had fronted him from
the other end of the room at the mo
ment consciousness had left him! Evi
IDENTIFY this intrusive little body die
not know Bella or his story, or
Why should interruption come then
Why was he stopped, when in the pas
sion Of the moment he might have
let fall some word of enlightenment
which would have eased the agitatet
curiosity of the whole town! Miss
Weeks often asked herself this ques
tion and bewailed the sudden access
of sounds in the rooms without, which
proclaimed the entrance of the police
and put new strain upon the judges
faculty of self-control and attention
to the one matter in hand.
The commonplaces of an official in
quiry were about to supersede the play
of a startled spirit struggling with q
problem of whose complexities he had
received but a glimpse.
The library againl but how changed
Evening light now instead of blazing
sunshine; and evening light SO shaded
that the corners seemed far and the
many articles of furniture, cumberinl
the spaces between, larger for the
shadows in which they stood hidden
Perhaps the man who sat there iI
company with the judge would have
preferred to see more perfectly tnat