Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1920-04-28
The
Abandoned
Room
BY WADSWOR CAMP
AUTHOR OF
.rHE HOUSE OF FEAR"
WARS DARK FRAME" ETC.
CHAPTER ~.

SnAi AHhN 49,
Graham touched his arm with an
i'd reluctance.
"sitting here for SO long I've been
linking. | have always been ma
r,aiistic. too. Tell me seriously
pctor. do you believe there Is any
sychic force capable OF Killing Two
ZEN in this incisive fashion,!
mo one" the doctor answered.
Fan say what psychic force is ca
able of doing. Some scientists nave
karted to explore, but 1t Is sui I'M
harted country. From certain places
i dare say you've noticed it-one
ets an impression of peace and con-
ent; from others a depression
ense OF suffering. I think we nave
experienced psychic force 10 that
ktent. Remember that this room mas
history of intense and rebeiiious
t,ffering. Some of it l have seen
nth my own eyes. Your fathers
ght for life, Katherine, was hor-
hble for those of us who knew ne
lad no chance. AS watched beside
Inn I used to wonder II such violent
gony could ever drift wholly INTO
Hence, and when we had to tell MIN
knally that the fight was lost, IL
was beyond bearing"
sIf these men had been found dead
tthout marks of violence" Graham
aid. 81 might consider such a posi-
ility, irrational as IT seems
.Irrational," Doctor Groom an
wered. must not be confused with
mposslDie. The marks OF a phys
cal violence, far from proving that
he attack was physical. strengthens
he case of the supernatural. Ger
ainly YOU have heard and read OF
ictures~ being dashed from walls by
Invisible hands, of objects moved
bout empty rooms, OF cases where
human beings have been attacked by
nantmate things-heayy things
kurtling thru the air. Some sclen-
lists recognize such Irrational pos
ibilities. Policemen don't"
.'yery WELL" Graham said stub
Iornly. TIL follow you that far, but
Fou must show me in this room the
harp object with which these men
we're attacked, no matter what the
orce behind It."
The doctor spread his hands. His
Infused eyes nearly closed.
sSThat l can't do. At any rate,
robert. this isn't wholly tragic to
Fou. 1 don't see how any one could
ccuse you of aphasia tonight.
you've not forgotten" Bobby said
lowly, that you spoke Of a recur-
(ent aphasia."
'aThat's the trouble" Graham put
r under his breath. He has no
more alibi now than he had when
his grandfather was murdered
Bobby told OF mis- heavy sleep, of
he delay in Katherines arousing
him.
The doctors gruff voice was dis
Approving.
you shouldn't have drunk that
medicine. 1t had stood too long. 1t
would only have Appropriated Its in
tended effect"
You mean" Bobby asked, that
wasn't sleeping as soundly as !
thought?"
probably not, but you're by no
means a satisfactory victim. Men
do unaccountable things in a SOM
nambulistic state, but asleep they
haven't wings any more than they
have awake. You've got to show us
how you entered this room without
disturbing the locks. Now, Mr.. Ora
ham, we must comply with the law.
Call in the police"
There's nothing else to do" Bobby
agreed.
So they went along the dingy cor
ridor and downstaip. From the
depths Of the easy chair in which
Paroles lounged smoke curled with
a lazy indifference. The Panaman-
ian didn't move.
While Graham and the doctor
walked TO the back OF the hall to
telephone. Katherine, an anxious
figure, a secretive one, beckoned
Bobby to the library He went with
her. wondering what she could want.
1t was quite dark in the library.
AS Bobby fumbled with the lamp
and prepared to strike a match he
was aware of the girls provocatively
near presence. He resisted a warm
hand. He desired to tell her all that
| was in his heart of the division that
had increased between them the last
few months. Yet to follow that i'm
pulse would, he realized, place a por-
TTion OF his burden on her shoulders;
would also, In a sense, be disloyal to
IsGraham, for he no longer questioned
-. the twn had reached . definite t:n.t
il0entimental understanding. So he
Esaghed and struck the match. Even
before the lamp was lighted Kath-
crime was speaking with a feverish
haste: ....
Before the police come-you've a
Reliance, Bobby-the last chance. You
must do before the police arrive
whatever 10 to be done"
He replaced the shade and glanced
r4t her, astonished by her intensity
Se1 the forceful gesture with which
phe grasped his arm For the first
E5time since Silas Blackburn's murder
[sall of her vitality had come back to
her.
What do you mean?"
Es She pointed to the door of the pri-
y4te staircase.
I'm ssJust what Howells told you be-
Tore he went lip there to his DEATH"
Bobby understood, He reacted ex-
Sitediy to her attitude Of eonspira-
4or. --s-
He said" she went on, that the
criminal had nothing to lose, That
lt would be to his advantage to have
him out Of the way, to destroy tina,
evidence."
s.T thought Of It." Bobby answered
Just before / went to sleep"
NDOn't you see 2" she said. "If Vol,