The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1917-07-20
His Legacy
1t Was Not
Property
By AGNES c. ERoGAN


Ing to close when John Gordon de
cided suddenly to 60 out to the house
All day the sun had been shining, but
now coming shadows warned him thai
ne had not much time to spare He
had postponed the ordeal as long as he
could, for surely It would be an ordea
to spend precious time plugging along
on suburban trolley, transferring al
some wayside country station and then
maybe, If no vehicle could be obtained
walking the rest Of the way uphill.
This much he knew: The house was
situated upon the top Of the hill, the
village struggling at its foot. But why
James Laidlaw, deceased, had seen fl
to leave the house with its belongings
not understand. That the eccentric
old man had been youthful friend
he had often heard, and now that his
mother had also passed into the great
beyond John Gordon must accept the
property as the next Of kin and in
cidentally go out to look it over.
The trolley was late, of course, and
he restlessly strobe up and down the
platform. This trip was a nuisance
and no doubt the property scarce worth
the trouble. Time was when John Cor
don had not been so Indifferent to
country homes or legacies.
He was weary of superficiality, alb
sorbed and buried in business. The
second wait, at the tiny cross country
station, was doubly annoying, and, his
destination finally reached, no vehicle
was obtainable In fact, John Gordon
was the only passenger to leave the
train at Elmhurst. The station agent
laconically directed him "hillward,"
and, turning up his sgreatcOat collar.
he bent his face to the wind.
He had not gone dozen yards when
the sudden storm was on him. Snow,
heavy, yet as thick as down. fell in
swirling clouds. But the key was In
his pocket. He had come thus far on
his troublesome journey, and he would
not turn back. A few moments before
the storm had descended he had
glimpsed the house, high and solitary
upon Its hill. 1t seemed place not to
be lightly despised. He muttered an
imprecation as the wind of the height
battled him back; but, after all. the
distance was not SO great as it seemed,
and re stood breathless upon the de-
serted front porch.
He laughed little at the incongrui-
ty of the situation as he fitted the key
into the lock. The heavy snow had
changed the daylight to cleaning, and
he determined to go through the house
as quickly as possible, returning to
town by the next train. With difficulty
the unused door gratingly opened, and
Gordon found himself in wide, silent.
ghostly hall, ghostly because of the
white draped furniture. Evidently
nothing had been disturbed, awaiting
his coming and delayed settlement of
the estate. He shivcred even I'm his
greatcoat as he hastily inspected the
rooms upon either side of the hall, then
ran upstairs. Here the almost impene-
trable darkness caused him to grope
to the window, vainly trying to peer
through the pane. The snowstorm had
turned into blizzard. hiding the lights
Of the village below. To start back
now would be folly; to stay In this
deadly vault Of house, worse.
The telephone, of course, was discon-
nected, but even II available what per-
son would venture to come to his as
sistance up through this binding, cut
ting storm? John Gordon sank back
upon damp couch to smoke and think
things over; useless In this darkness to
continue b. : Investigation Of the house
A drowsiness came over him, and In
real terror lest he should sleep I'm the
freezing atmosphere he moved eau
tiously toward the hall. Here another
stairway confronted him. There had
been a tower room, he remembered
Perhaps from there he might be able
to see the direction of the lights below
Numbed with cold, he reached the
upper landing, then paused, blinking
his eyes at spark of light which, like
a FREELY, came for a moment but to
disappear. Surely this was an after
noon Of uncanny adventure. Again the
spark shone high upon the wall.
w no Is there! Culleu JONI GOfUOn
aud Immediately smiled at the nervous
folly of his own question. With cold
ly shaking fingers he lighted and
steadied q match, then another.
"Jovev he exclaimed and stood gap
ing into the darkness. High upon the
opposite wall, on a ledge of what SEEM
ed to be a bookcase, dangled the hide
Of white polar bear. 1t took a third
match to satisfy him that the beasts
gaping jaws and glazing eyes were
artificial. Then directly from behind
the white shaggy head small electric
torch was leveled ut him.
"Ohv' breathed relieved feminine
voice You are the real estate agent.
of course. did have such scare"
John Gordon was still too astonished
to speak.
"You have Matches continued the
girlish voice. please. will you light
the gasY
"GasT queried the man stupidity.
Certainly" Her tone was impa-
tient. II know you suggested bringing
matches along when you phoned the
meter was in. but ] forgot. Please
hurry"
Mechanically John Gordon sought
and found chandelier. The tower