Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-11-13

cigarette cases with 1eWeled mono
grams: and, weighed down by lump
OF gold chains, lay quantity Of bank
notes. ~
Behind the row Of wooden boxes was
a square hole. black as the heart of
night. Christopher's lantern showed
him that from the top Of this open
ing descended a narrow staircase.
winding round upon itself like a
corkscrew. He set his foot on the first
step, and 1t squeaked. Then he knew
what 1t was that had walked him every
night-a foot treading upon that
stair-perhaps other stairs below.
"Ill see what's at the bottom
thought Christopher; and was In the
act Of stepping over the low barrier
sound.
1t was faint. yet 1t made Christopher
pause. He drew his foot from the top
step Of the stairway, and, covering
| the light, lay on his side behind the
boxes, which would until person adj
vancing had risen to level higher
than the wooden lids. form a screen
to hide him.
The sound continued, growing grad
ually more distinct Someone was tip
toeing toward the stairs. Someone
was on the stairs. Someone was COM
ing up. There was q wavering glimmer
Of light, little light, like that Of a
candle
Christopher lay very still He hardly
even breathed.
The light was moving up the dark
hall, and throwing strange black
shadow, which might be the shadow
Of head. A stair creaked. Another
stair. That clock must have been
slow, or else the ghost was before
time. Now there was a long-drawn,
tired breath, like q sigh, and in the
advancing light gleammed something
white and small. For a moment 1t
hung in the midst Of shadow, then
1t descended on the lid Of the middle
box. 1t was a woman's hand.
Quick as thought Christopher seized
and held it tightly. at the same instant
rising up and flashing his lantern.
There was a stified gasp; the hand
struggled vainly; he pulled 1t toward
him, though its owner stumbled and
nearly fell. and Christopher found
himself face to face with Mrs. Morley
Chester.
Let me go!" she painted. "oh, I
implore you'll" me-
"I'll not let you co. said Christie
pher. in a. voice as low as hers. but
mercilessly determined This game is
up. You shall tell me everything or
swear I'll alarm the house. send for
the police, and have YOU arrested, you
and your husband!'
IF you wish to save him you know
what to do" the young man said.
You won't send us to prison If !
taIl x,o,, tho MI, 81 ctr
"I'll do my best for you, II you
make clean breast of it; but the con-
tents of these boxes must be restored
to their owners, for your cousins sake
II nothing else. / promise to shut my
eyes to your escaping with your hus-
band, before any public revelation is
made, provided I'm satisfied that you
tell me the whole truth now"
II will. oh, / will; You know, Nor
ley would have had this place II COM
mon justice had been done--if the en-
tail hadn't been broken"
"Ah, he is the heir Of whom Miss
Chester spoke!'
"Of course. who else could be. He's
the only one left in the male line. And
think what it was for him to find out
through an expert. whose word he
couldn't doubt, that there's coal
enough under the park to make him
an immensely rich man, II only he
hadn't been robbed Of his rights"
HE didn't tell Miss Chester Of this
discovery 2"
| Naturally not If she or her
mother gave up living here the es-
tate would come to him after all. He
hoped for that. And when he heard
of her plan to open, kind Of hotel
he helped her to get license and
offered to manage the business. That
was because he had an idea. which he
hoped he could work. His father, who
died when Morley was boy, was
a professor Of chemistry. and made
some clever inventions and discoveries,
but they never brought him In money.
There was one thing he found after
spending year In Persia for his
health. He discovered that out Of a
| plant there--a plant no one had ever
| thought of Importance before--an ex-
tract could be produced which would
make people unconscious, at the same
| time causing their muscles to remain
SO rigid that If they were standing
they would remain on their feet, or
would not drop what they might be
holding in their hands. When they
came to themselves again they would
not feel i'll, would not even know they
had lost consciousness for moment
.Moreleys father was much excited
about this preparation, and hoped i
would be as important as curare. II
not chloroform. He named the stuff
arenoform, as nearly as possible after
| the plant, and published his discovery
to the medical profession. But then
Fcame q dreadful blow. After many
experiments to change and improve
it, nothing could be done to prolong
Inconsistencies enough to make aren-
oform really useful to doctors and
4 surgeons. The effect wouldn't last
longer than five or six minutes and
the patients were terribly exhausted
next day, SO that the stuff would mot
do even for dentists in extracting
| teeth, as 1t was more depressing than
gas. One of the most wonderful
4 things about it was that lot of peo-
4 pie could be made unconscious al
once, even In a big room, by a spray
Of arenoform floating in the air. But
though that was curious and interest
!, ing, 1t was not of practical use, SC
arenoform was failure.
The disappointment was so great
that Morley's father was never the
same again. He always hoped that
some experiment would make The
thing q success, and. instead OF gain
| ing the fortune he expected. he spent
more money than he could spare from
his family in importing quantities OF
| the plant from Persia, and manufae-
turing the extract in his own labora-
tory. Then he died, and there were
hundreds and hundreds Of the bottles
| Ill the house, Of no use to anybody;
| but Morley had promised his dying
a. D-