The Red Cloud chief., 1920-08-05
CHAPTER !.

Rain had been falling for five days
when l first saw Hartley house. The
place had so much local distinction
that a village not far from the estate
was named Hartley. for 1t.
Even when drenched and dripping
In n storm which had lasted for five
days In late May, the spot was beau
tiful and charming; 1t had antiquity,
that rare thing In a new land. Its two
thousand acres, handsomely arranged
for decorative and agricultural pur-
poses, lay along the river bank, with
an indented and interesting llttOral
where the river was two miles wide.
had been an inferno In st. Julian's
hospital, and mt the close Of my last
year DR.. Brownell had asked me II my
arrangements would make II possible
for me to undertake n case which he
thought might be profitable and In
teresting to a young physician. 1t was
that Of Mr.. Homer Sidney, the owner
Of Hartley house.
81 never saw so strange q will to
i've" said the doctor when he dis
cussed the circumstances with me.
'The old man Is indomltable. Fol- that
eas he Is interesting. He lives be-
cause he Wills to live. for some ire
mendOus reason Of which I know moth
Ing. 1t Is enormous. You may live to
see him die; l am afraid I shall not
and he Is seventy and I am fifty"
decided to accept. 1t may have
ksen professional weakness. but in ad-
dition to the financial certainty offered
there was a professional interest
aroused. II DR.. Brownell were at
tracted by a human beings will to
live there certainly was something SUI
perhumanly interesting about that hui
man being.
The recollection Of Hartley as I
first saw 1t remains as an enduring
impression. The long downpour Of
rain had given the place a spiritual ac-
cent. One felt as II the soul were
saturated.
1t Is only occasionally IN a normal
mind that weather works a spiritual
effect. I thought my mind was nor
nal, but ! felt the spiritual depres-
sion.
The way from the station for three
miles was through ordinary American
small farm land. Then 1t changed abb
ruptly. Antiquity began to show. The
driver said we were In the Hartley
grounds.
was so depressed by the rain, by
my own uncertainty, by thinking over
the decision ! had made and seemed
about to regret, by the dismal pros
pects-Or vt least the uncertain pros
pects-that l should have been glad
for any sustaining human association.
At the end Of my journey I soon found
such association and was thereafter
happy In it. but approaching the place
l was app-ehensive. My driver had
been, II not unapproachable, ut least
stupid and dismal.
1t somewhat ~astonished me when
suddenly he began to talk. We were
then about q half mile from the house.
IL wish you had come an hour
earlier" he said.
"Why?" l asked.
"I'm not a coward" said the driver,
at least, no more than usual, but I
don't like to be In here alone, aud
I've got to go home alone"
In a fashion he expressed mat
might ha We been my mood II I had
known more of tie place. / could
sympathize with him. The rain had
done this for me.
"What have you to be afraid Oft"
! asked. us something haunted
around hereT II seemed as II so
beautiful a spot ought to have this In
terest. He stopped his horse.
"T'm going back out Of here like a
scared pig" he said, that is, If the
old horse can stand Il. But you're go
ing to i've here fOI a while, and I'll
stop a minute to show you where they
say the ghost walks"
He pointed to where the river had
eaten a substantial bit out Of the balk,
making a pool or tiny bay. The road.
swervjng toward the river here, was
within thirty feet Of 1t.
1T tsn't natural for q man to XIII
his brother" said my driver, "and
something unnatural comes Of 1t. A
man killed his brother there, and some
thing unnatural has come of II. That's
why I'll be Just as well satisfied to
get you to the house and myself back
out of here before dark"
sect along. then" I said. ut looks
IKE an ordinary place to me-"
'To me too" said my driver. "And