The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1919-06-15
CHAPTER v. (continued).
Not in the Daytime, Madam!


in at night after this, Mary.
Or, better still, after Robbie is
sound asleep, let me come into your
bedroom. You can make me up
some sort of a bed then, and we
will help watch over Robbie am
sure it is just a dream of his-the
woman with red hair bending over
him-and / am sure, too, that the
closing door, and the gown, and
the footstep were the result Of a
nervous and excited imagination.
You had been walked suddenly out
Of sound Sleep"
Il was broad awake, ma'am,"
said Mary in the voice Of one who
would like to be convinced.
] sat there cold in the warm sun,
thinking of that woman with long,
red hair who visited Robbie. That
1t might be myself, prompted by
some ghouIish influence Of sleep
and night, made my very heart
sick.
May" l asked pitifully enough,
didn't Robbie ever see the woman
with red hair before came to The
Pines?"
UnwiIlingly she shook her head.
But he was afraid of red-haired
women before, Mary, because as
soon as / took of my hat down
stairs in the drawing room the
afternoon | arrived, he pointed at
me and cried, It's her hair!
els that so. miss?" said Mary,
much impressed.
Surely Robbie could tell you
something that would explain the
whole thing" said irritably.
Haven't you questioned him."
Mary flung up her hands.
Haven't 1? As long as / dared,
Miss Gale, it's as much as his lie
is worth. Dr.. Haverstock has for
hidden it absolutely"
That's strange, l think, for /
know that the first way to be rid
Of some nervous terror is to con-
fess its cause"
Eyes, miss" Mary was evil
IDENTIFY impressed by my knowl-
edge. "And that's just what DR..
Haverstock said himself. But he
says it has got to be drawn out Of
Robbie by what he calls the indi-
rect method. He has asked Mr..
Dabney to win the child's conf
dence, that is, it was Mr.. Dabney's
own suggestion, l believe"
did he ask Robbie about the
red-headed woman yesterday, be-
cause that may have brought on
the nightmare last night"
81 don't know, miss l wasn't in
earshot of them. Mr.. Dabney, he
always coaxes Robbie a bit away
from the bench where l set and
sew out here"
81 think we had better try the
plan of watching closely over
Robbie before we say anything to
alarm Mrs. Brane," l said. ut
would distress her very much to
move Robbie out of his nursery,
and she has been very tired and Ian
guild lately. She has been doing too
much, | think This new woman,
Sara Lorrence, is a terror for
housekeeping and she's urged Mrs.
Brane to let her give the old part of
the house a thorough cleaning. Mrs.
Brane simply wont keep away. She
works almost as hard as Sara, and
goes into every crack and Granny
and digs out old understanding
more exhausting."
Eyes, ma'am," Mary agreed, she's
sure a wonder at cleaning, that
Sara. She Strengthened out our kit
chen closet somethin' wonderful,
miss"
"She has?" | wondered if Sara,
too, had discovered that queer open
ing in the back of the closet. had
almost forgotten it, but now l de-
cided, absurd as such action prob
ably was, TO investigate the black
hC lie into which / had fallen when l
tired to move the lawn roller.
I chose a time when Sara LOr-
renee was out of the kitchen, cut
ting lettuce in the kitchen garden.
For several minutes / watched her
broad, well-corseted body at it's
task. then, singing softly to myself
for some reason | had a feeling
that | was in danger walked
across the clean board floor and
stepped into the closet to which my
attention had first been drawn by
Mary. II was indeed a renovated
spot, sweet and garnished like the
abode of devils in the parable; pots
secured and arranged on shelves,
rubbish cleared out, the lawn
mower removed, the roller taken to
some mere appropriate place. But
il was, in its farther recesses, as
dark as ever.
I moved in, bending down my
head and feeling before me with my
hand. My fingers presently came
against a wall. ! felt about, in
front, on either side, up and down;
there was no break anywhere.
Either / had imagined an opening
or the hole had been boarded up.
| went out, lighted a candle and
returned. The closet was entirely
normal-just a kitchen closet with
a sloping roOf-it lay under the back
stairs, one small narrow wall and
three high wide ones. The low mar
row wall stood where | had imag-