The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1915-04-09
CHAPTER J..
The House of Mystery.

ia came construction! What IS
n this to rouse a whole neigh
s - and collect before it a group
y spe eager, anxious, hesitating people?
al, is Judge Ostrander's place, and
.ons who knows Shelby or the Cos
n d its suburbs knows that this
s y Of his has not opened its doors
4 any outsider man or woman for
dozen years; nor have his gates
~ ~, seen in all that time to cape at
srono,s instance or to stand Enclosed
= rnblic intrusion. The seclusion
.rgbt was absolute. The men and
ssTen who passed and reDassed this
.,,nor many times a day were as igno-
.,,t az the townspeople in general Of
vbat lay behind the gray, monotonous
sytarior of the weatherbeaten boards
nav 30 frequently brushed against.
M bouse was there, of course-they
II Knew the house, or did once-but
hare we're rumors of another fence,
..,ord barrier, standing a few feet in
sids the first and similar to it in all
,s,npcts even to the gates which cor
rssDonded exactly with these outer
,rd visible ones and probably were
hi as fully provided with bolts and
bars
Ind nowl in the freshness of this
simmer morning, without warning or
sy seeming reason for the change,
ne strict habit of years has been
inben into and this gate of gates is
nj only standing unlocked before
thsr eyes, but a woman-a stranger
d the town as her very act shows
tss been seen to enter thereto en-.
h. but not come out; which means
that she must still be inside, and pos
sibIy in the very presence of the
Judge
Where is Bella? Why does he allow
BIZ eraads-But it was Bella, or so
they have been told, who left this
gate ajar he, the awe and
tsror Of the town, the enormous, re-
dodbtable, cIose-mouthed negro, trust
ed as man is seldom trusted, and
faithful to his trust, yes, up to this
very hour, as all must acknowledge,
b spite Of every temptation land they
had been many and alluring) to dis
close the secret of this home Of which
be was not the least interesting fac
tlr What has made him thus sud
denly careless, he who has never been
careless before? Money? A bride
ifum the woman who had entered
hse'
What else was there to believe?
There stood the gate with the pebble
holding 1t away from the post; and
here stood half the neighborhood, in
= fascination which had for it's motif
the knowledge that they, themselves,
hey had courage enough, might go
q just as this woman had gone in,
ana see-why, what she is seeing
AoE-the unknown, unguessed reason
lVf all these mysteries-the hidden
treasure or the hidden sorrow which
you'd explain why he, their first citi-
gen the respected, even revered Judge
eItheir highest court, should make use
such precautions and show such un.
aryilg determination to bar out all
saIaeFs from the place he called his
home
I lad not always been SO. Within
ae memory Of many there It had been
"a
y abode Of cheer and good fellowship.
~ 2 lev Of the men and women now
asslsatlng before its portals could
1oaa o. meals taken at the Judges
saple board. and Of evenings spent in
ANIMATED conversation In the great
suol where he kept his hooks and d;d
lis writing, ' anu u'O
7a mat was before his son left him
unaccountable a manner; be.
-yea, all were agreed on this
J. that other bitter ordeal
Y middle age, the trial and con.
aaaslOn Of the man who had way.
aug murdered his best friend.
though the effect of these combined
'ogs had not seemed to be immedi.
,0ne month had seen bothl.
y 3 half-year had elapsed before
V ability was lost in extreme self.
suoa, and full one before he
sils a uoWn the picket fence which had
$3.50 O been considered a sufficient
' 3 to his simple grounds. and
49, Y neae boards which had so COM
4. ''y Isolated him from the rest Of
4. , solla' It was evident enough to
'lepas who recalled his look and
a 6 ae walked the streets with A..
,,, ~ htneridge on one side and HE
IN. eyer-successful son on the
+ - II 'nat the change now Observable
y was due to the violent sunder.
'aeae two ties. Grief slowly
~ speed Of Electricity.
!. Y hardly enters into the matter
uarsmission of a telegraphic
@ me click is heard as quickly