New Britain herald., 1916-12-06
G-hy Was Mrs. Allis on the Stairs ill
 the Middle of the Nightc

stealthy figures which crept out of the
 little bungalow adjoining the Cosgrove
 farmhouse at. the signal which so
 cleverly initiated the persistent call of
 the screech owl
 7u If it had not been for the shadows
 which their figures had made against > the lamp they hurriedly crossed
 before it when the call sounded I
 would have had no idea who the mid
 night providers were. But the shadows gave me a starewd idea that the three ! people hurrying through the dark ness in the direction of the bird call
 were MT. and Mrs. Cosgrove and one
 of their twin sons.
 I fancied that heard the sound of h convulsive sobbing in the distance, but I was not quite sure.
 H My brain whirled with the mystery of it all. I gripped the window sill as ] J mentally ran over the queer things had observed since the night before when Dicky and had arrived at the Cosgrove farmhouse
 Mrs. Cosgrove's evident terror at my assertion that I could tell her twin boys apart-something which no one else in the house professed to be able
 to 6o-the possession by the family
 of a collection of pictures painted by
 Mrs. Cosgroves brother, which THsky
 had recognized and pronounced to be
 worth $50, ,000 and the queer, furtive
 behavior of Mrs. Allis, our fellow
 boarder, when she discovered that
 Iveeky was an artist and had an eS-
 pert's knowledge of the pictures-all \ rushed through my mind with kalei- doscopic rapidity.
 
 BS The Creaking Board I recalled the sudden wild shriek of . 3joy from Mrs. Cosgrove at Dickys valuation of the pictures: ''Is it really true? Think what it will mean to Robert and the not of warning in her husbands voice when he an- swered: We know what it will mean to Roberts sister to have these paintings so honored." r From the way in which both Dicky
 and the Cosgroves had spoken of Robert Savarin, had thought that he
 was dead, but the emory of Mrs
 Cosgrove's hysterical exclamation
 made me wonder if he were not per
 haps alive, and if there was not some reason for keeping his existence secret.
 Dicky had been so tired and sleepy when we came up to our room that had had no opportunity to ask him about the history of the pictures and the artist who painted them I re- solved to find out everything he knew about them as soon as he awOke in the morning.
 It was not all curiosity that made me wish to find out the farm house mystery, although the happenings of the night were enough to stir any womans interest. But I had a queer indefinable conviction that Mrs. Allis meant harm to the collection of pie ftTes in the farmhouse parlor while D the memory of Mrs. Cosgrove's tor tured eyes convinced me that she needed aid of some sort. But watching at the window I de- cided was of no use. As moved away from it my ear caught the faint est of sounds as of @ door opening on the opposite side of the ball. A minute later a board of the staircase E creaked. The person who was de- seending the stairs must be we'll f trained to stealthy fittings, for I heard no footsteps until the creak of q the staircase.
 What She Said. With lightning flash of intuition I E knew that the prow1er wah Mrs. Allis. Had sch too watched the departure of 3 the Cosgrove family, and resolved to aeize the opportunity to accomplish the nefarious purpose which I be- lieved had brought her to the farm house?
 q I heard Dicky's snores coming from the other room, and knew that it would be very difficult to awaken him. He would not miss me were gone for hours.
 with a quick resolve I threw over my nightdress a silk petticoat and kimona, drew on my feet pair of } high fur-trimmed slippers, took from under my pillow the electric f1ashlight l always have with me, and stole into the hall. On the bottom steps, in an attitude of listening, stood Mrs. Allis. N The light from my fashlight gleamed d l on something round and black held against her dress For moment I thought she had a revolver in her
 hand, and shrank back in unreasoning terror against my door. Then with a mental execration at my own cow ardice I looked again and saw that the supposed revolver was only an- other fashlight like my own. With the utmost nonchalance Mrs All1s glanced up at me as the glean
 of my pocket lamp struck her eyes Did you hear a noise too?" she
 asked? Her tone held only casual
 friend dliness. "I was sure I heard
 something queer, and at once
 thought of what your brother said o1 | the enormous value of those paintin gs
 Y~u see, when the rooms in the house
 are full, as they are now, the famil,
 sleeps in the bungalow outside so
 knew there was no one in the house Il to look after the paintings, and