Evening star., 1917-08-19

I've got the formula she SAID. IL
you will bring him will hand 1t over
to him here"
Not a word of her adventure, nor so
much as one glance at Mr.. Van Brock
lyn, standing far back in the shadows.
Nor was she more communicative.
when. the formula restored and every
thing made right with Mr.. Spielhagen,
they all came together again In the
library for final word.
Il was frightened by the silence and
the darkness. and so cried out" she
explained in answer to their questions.
NO ghosts?" laughed Mr.. Cornell,
too happy in the return of his hopes
to be fully sensible of the feelings OF
those about him.
Nothing" returned Violet. showing
her dimples in full force now.
IF Miss Strange had any such ex,
periences-if she has anything to tell
worthy of so marked curiosity, she
will tell it now" came from the gen
tleman just alluded to. in tones SO
stern and strange that all show OF
frivolity ceased on the instant have
you anything to tell, Miss Strange?
Mr.. Van Broecklyn knows his own
house. and doubtless can relate its his
tories if he will.
She was near the threshold-she was
she felt two hands fall on her shoul-
der and turning, met the eyes OF Mr.
Van Broecklyn burning into her own
You saw" dropped in an almost in
The shiver which shook her answered
him better than any word
With an exclamation of despair ,he
withdrew his hands, and. facing the
others, now standing together in
startled group, he said, as soon as ne
could recover some of his self-posses-
sion:
81 must ask for another hour of your
COMPANY. l can no longer keep my
sorrow to myself a dividing line mas
Just been drawn across my me- anu i
must have the sympathy OF some nS onS
who knows my past, or 1 shall go mao
in my self-imposed solitude; oonle Din
back, Miss Strange. You of all others
have the prior right to hear
.'I shall have to begin, sad ne, When
they were all seated and ready TO
listen. by giving you some idea, nos
so much of the family tradition. as OF
the effect of this tradition upon an
who bore the name OF van broecEis ~
This is not the only house, even IN
America. which contains a room shut
away from intrusion.
IT know no more than you do why
some early ancestor laid his pan upol
this room But from my earliest years
| was given to understand that there
was one latch in the house which W Was
never to be lifted: that any fault woulc
be forgiven sooner than that' that .tit
honor of the whole family STOOD III the
yav of disobedience and that | was tt
preserve that honor to my dying Gay
You will say that all this IS Iahtastic
For me it possessed a power proper
tionate to my loneliness. l don thlii
there was ever more lonely child. MY
father and mother were so unhappy II
each others companionship .hat ON
or other of them was almost away
away. But / saw little OIL elther ever
home.
"As it was, l was thrown almost en-
tirely upon my own resources ior an
amusement This led me to a discovery
I made one day. In a far part OF th'
cellar behind some heavy casks l foun'
a little door. 1t was so low-so eXactl,
fitted to my small body, that l had TN
greatest desire to enter it. But coui'
not get around the casks AT last al
eynedient occurred to me- We had al
old servant who came nearer towns
me than any one else. one day Wheh
CHANGED to be alone in the cellar L tooi
out nv ball and began throwing |
about. Finally it landed behind th
casks, and l ran with a beseechlhs CT.
to Michael to move them.
ut was task requiring no Httl
strength and address. but he managed
after a few herculean efforts, to shl1
: them aside and I saw with delight m
way opened to that mysterious litti
| door. But I did not approach it then
, some instinct deferred me. Rut whel
the opportunity came for me TO ven
ture there alone l did so, In the mos
adventurous spirit. and began m!
opera atoms by sliding behind the cask
, and testing the handle of the littl
, door 1t turned, and after pun o
! two the door yielded With my near
: in my mouth I stopped and peered 1T
aA black
nothing more. Saying to myself that
was Robinson Crusoe exploring tn
, cave. ! crawled in, only to find that
had gained nothing. 1t was as dark IN
side as 1t had looked to be from with
out. ,,,o,
. back, and when 1 tried the eXperimen
again, it was with bit of candle in m.
!, What | saw when with a very trembini
, little hand I had lighted one OF TN
matches would have been diSa ppolnung Il
most boys but not to me. The hitter AM
old boa rds | saw in odd corners about m
were full Of possibilities while in the dlm
ness beyond ] seemed to perceive sort o
, staircase which might Lead do not thln
I made any attempt to answer that ques
, tion even in nv own mind. but when. afte
+ some hesitation and a sense of great OAR
!, ing I finally crept up those steps i re
member very well my sensation at fndln
myself in front of a narrow closed door
=
! fathers little room-the door in the walns
cote which we were never to open. ha
my first real trembling fit here and, a
once fascinated ana repelled by this oh
: struction. 1 stumbled and lost my candle
which, going out in the fall, left me j
total darkness and a very frightened stat
of mind. For my imagination. which ha'
5 been greatly stirred by my own vagu
thoughts of the forbidden room. imme
diately began to people the space abou
7 me with ghoulish figures. How should
escap pc them, how ever reach my own itti
room again undetected and in safety
But these terrors, deep as they were
were nothing to the real fright whicl
seized me when, the darkness finall.
brayed and the way found back into th'
bright, wide open halls of the house,
: became conscious of having dropped some
thing besides the candle. My match bo,
was gone-not my match box. but m!
!, grandfather's. 1t was no common box
, Made of gold and cherished for some spe
cial reason we'll known to himself, ha'
! often heard him say that some day
would appreciate its value and be glad t
own it, And | had left it in that hole an'
at any minute he might miss it-possibl,
ask for it !, The day was one of torment
! My mother was away or shut up in he
I room My father don't know just wha
? thoughts / had about him. He was not t
: be seen either, and the servants cas-
strange looks at me when l spoke hi
| name. ! had been given my usual Tendance