South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1919-03-24
The Room,
A Mystery Story by Wads-
worth Camp.
CONTINUED
SYNOPSIS.


Bobby Blacxpurn - suspected OF the
h murder OF his grandfather. silss Black Black
Mole ~ the base Of his brain. In an
abandoned and locked room OF his home,
the Cedars Cireumstan.ial evi e n &C
able 10 establish an alibi as a result OF
loss OF memory after a night OF gay
life In New York. spent In company
OF Parades. from Panama. and Marie.
serted shack near the Cedars and goes
20 the house, where be meets his cousin.
Katherine. and Graham, q friend. All
agree that mystery surrounds the death
or the old man, who was one OF many
Blackburns 20 die in same manner.
Strange signs invariably mark tie occa-
sion Of a death In the room
The wind caught the fame OF tbs
candle, making 1t flicker. Tenuous
shadows commenced to dance across
the walls. He paused with a tight
ening throat. for the form on the
bed seemd moving. 100, with sly
and scarcely pe-cepuble gestures.
Then he understood 1t was the eff
feet of the shaking candle, and he
forced himself to 20 on. but a sense
of multiple cOmpa nionFhip accom-
paniedt him-a sense OF a shapeless
soundless partnership that pro-
jected an idea of n steady regard
There swept through his mind
aprocession of figures IN quaint dress
and with faces not unlike his own.
remembered from portraits and
family legends, men and women to
whom this room had cen familiar
within whose limits they had suffer-
ed cried out too-powerful agony
and, died. 1t seemed TO him that he
waited for voices to guide him, 10
urge him on as Katherine had
urged him, or TO drive him back
because he was an intruder in a COM
pany whose habit was strange and
terrifying
He forced his glance from the
shadows which seemed more active
along the walls. lie raised his
candle and stared at the dead man.
The cast was undoubtedly there.
The coat. stretched tightly across the
breast. outlined IL He stood at the
side of the bed. He had only TO
bend and place his hand in the
pocket which the cast filled awk-
wardly The wind aione, he saw.
wasn't responsible for the shaking
of the candle. His hand shook as
the shadows shook. as The thing on
the bed shook. The. sePse of loneli-
ness grew upon him until il became
complete. appalling. For the first
time he understood that loneliness
can possess a comfortable quality It
was, he felt. potent AMI active in the
room--a thing he couldn't under
stand or challenge, or overcome.
His hand frightened. He thought Of
Katherine guarding the corridor; of
Paroles and Doctor Groom, held
downstairs by Irahan; of the coun-
~ authorities hur;ying to seize this
evidence that wOGd convict him:
and he realized that his duty and his
excuse were clear. lie understood
that just now he had been captured
by a force un1efinable in terms of
the world he knew. For a moment
he eluded the stealtEy heshless
hands of its impalpable skirmishers.
He reached impulsively out 10 the
dead man. He was about to place his
fingers in the pocket, WI ich after all
was said and done. he'd his life.
In the light f the candle the face
seemed alive and more menacing
than it had ever done in life. About
the straight smile was wider, more
triumphant quality.
The candle l,.ckered sharply. II
expired. The conquering blackness
took his breath.
He told himself 1t was the draft
from the window which was strong.
| but the compromising of the night
was closer and more numerous. The
darkness wreathed itself into mock
ing and tortuous bodies whose faces
were hidden.
In an agony of revolt against
these incorporeal. these fanciful hor-
rors, he reached in the pocket
He sprang back with a choked.
inaudible cry, for the dead thing be-
meath his hand was stirring The
dead, cold thing with a languid and
impossible rebuka. moved beneath
his touch And the pocket he had
felt was empty. The coat. a mo-
ment ago bulging and awkward.
was fiat. There sprang to his mind
the mad thought that ;he detective.
malevolent i'm life, had long after
death snatched from his hand the
evidence. carefully gathered. on
which everything for him depended.