Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-12-15
CHAPTER VII.
THE TRAGEDY.

The wall was masked on the other
side by a dense growth of shrubbery,
and struggling through this, found
myself on the gravelled path where L
had seen Marjorie Vaughan. Before
me, along his path, sped a shadow
which i knew to be Godfrey, and /
followed at top speed. AT the end of a
moment. / caught a flash OF light
among the treet, and knew that we
were nearing the house; but l saw no
sign of Swain.
We came to the stretch of ope lawn.
crossed it. and. guided by the light,
found ourselves at the end OF a short
avenue of trees. At the other end. a
stream of light poured from an open
door, and against that light a running
figure was silhouetted. Even as saw
it, it bounded through the opel door
and vanished.
ITS Swami" gasped Godfrey. and
then we, too, were at that open door.
For an instant, ] thought the room
was empty. Then. from behind the
table in the centre, a demonlae, blood
stained figure rose into view, holdlng
in it's arms a white robed woman. WIN
a sort of nervous shock. l saw that the
man was Swain. and the woman Mar
iorie Vaughan. a thrill of fear ran
through me as j saw how her head fell
backwards against her shoulder, how
her arms hung limp.
without so much as a glance In
our direction. he laid her gently on a
couch, fell to his knees beside 1T, ana
began to chafe her wrists.
1t was Godfrey who mastered himself
first. and who stepped forward to
SWANS side.
rs she dead he asked.
Swain shook his head impatiently,
without looking up.
.How is she hurt?" Godfrey persist
=: rIo.A~ obnya tho J1nnnn-
scious girl.
Swain shot him one red glance.
"She's not hurt!' he said, hoarsely.
"She has fainted-that's all. Go away.
But Cooley did not go away. After
one burning look at SWANS lowering
face, he bent again above the stlll ng-
ure on the couch. and touched his fin
gers to the temples. What he saw or
felt seemed to reassure him, for his
voice was more composed when he
spoke again.
Il think you're right, Swain" he said.
"Fut we'd better call someone"
Cali away snarled Swain.
You mean there's no one here:
Surely her father. .
He stopped; for at h words Swain
had burst into a hoarse laugh.
Her fatheri" he cried. ooh. yes:
he's here! Call him He's over there
He made a wild gesture toward a
high packed easy ciidlI oesiue ny
HE. his eyes cleaning with an almost
fiendish excitement: then CLEAN
faded. and he turned back to the girl.
Godfrey cast n ~astonished glance
at him and strobe to the chair. l saw
his face culver with sudden horror,
saw him catch at the table for support
and for an instant he stood staring
down. Then he turned stiffly toward
me and motioned me to approach.
In the chair a man sat huddled for
ward-a gray haired man, clad in Il
white robe. His hands were gripping
the chair arms as though in agony.
His head hung down lmost upon his
knees.
Silently Godfrey reached down and
raised the head. And a cry of horror
burst from both of us.
The face was purple with congested
blood. the tongue swollen n horribly
protruding. the eyes suffused and
starting from their sockets. And then,
M n motion from Godfrey'S finger, /
saw that about his neck a cord was
tightly knotted. The man had been
strangled.
Godfrey. after a breathless moment
in which he made sure that the man
was quite dead. let the head fall for
ward again. 1t turned me sick to see
how low it sagged, how limp it hung.
And l saw that the collar of the white
robe was spotted with blood.
do not know was in GOdfrey's
mind, but by. IA common impulse, We
turned and looked at Swain. He was
still on his knees beside the couch. APP
parently he had forgotten our pres
ence.
IT'S plain enough" said Godfrey, his
voice thick with emotion. She came
in and found the body. No wonder
she screamed like that! Blu where are
the servants? Where ID everybody ~
The arae Thought was IN. my own