The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1923-03-02

Miss Potter gasped and asked the
butler in great establishment, 'But,
Robert, how can you say that! You
know Miss Ruth was not at home last
evening. She spent the night at Sara
toga. She has not returned yet"
For a second no one spoke. Bart
ley's eyes went from the butler to the
woman and back again. We all won
dered what his next question would
be- but we never found out. Sud-
denly, from above us, girlish voice
called, 'Who is talking about me-"
Astonished, we all turned and
looked in the direction from which
the voice had come. On the top Of
the stairway young girl of nineteen
years stood looking down at us.
For several seconds Miss Potter
seemed unable to believe her eyes,
then she half gasped, ''Why, Ruth"
The girl, surprised at the effect her
simple question had made, clutched
her blue silk dressing gown closer
about her and started down the stairs.
1t was plain that she had just gotten
out of bed and had not yet had time
to dress. Her eyes went from one
person to another questioningly. Who
were we, and what were we doing
here?
AS she came slowly down the steps
we watched her in silence. She was
handsome girl with beautiful red
hair and the creamy white skin that
goes with 1t. When she reached her
aunt's side, Miss Potter was still too
astonished to speak and the girl gave
Roche an appealing look. She was
beginning to realize that something
was wrong.
"Have the burglars been here
again?" she asked.
Not trusting herself to speak, Miss
Potter shook her head. The girl knew
nothing Of the tragedy that had taken
place, evidently, or she would not
have been so carefree She waited,
and as her aunt did not seem able to
tell her what had happened she turned
again to Roche After swallowing
hard for a moment or two the chief
stammered out, "Why, Miss Ruth, you
see, we-that is-well, Mr.. Slyke has
been killed"
The laughing look in her eyes
faded and one of surprise, blended
with horror, took its place. For sec
ond, that to me seemed an hour, she
waited, steadying herself by her hand
on the table. Then she asked slowly,
almost spelling out each word, Dead
-dead-why-how?"
Again silence. No one wanted to
tell her what had taken place. Her
eyes sought each one of us in turn
and then rested on BARLEY, as if she
recognized that he was in charge. A
glance passed between the two, then
he told her what we had found.
Though the girl had been startled,
I noticed that she was not over
whelmed with grief. Neither had the
older woman been. In fact we had
vet to hear any word of regret that
Slyke was dead. That the girls as
constituent at Bartley's story had
been genuine there was no doubt; still
the buffers assertion that he had seen
her go into her room when she was
supposed to have been away from the
house had to be explained. Her I'M
expected presence here this morning
seemed to add color to his statement.
A glance at her dressing gown with
her nightdress peeping beneath it
showed that she had just come from
her bed. Yet her aunt's surprise at
her appearance had also seemed genu-
inc.
"Your aunt told u.s." BARLEY said
to her, shat you were away, spending
the night with friend; but the but
Ter says he saw you early this morn
ing going into your own ROOM"
The girl flushed, as if she realized
the gravity of her position, and sank
into a chair before she answered, II
did intend to spend the night with a
friend in Saratoga. On our way home
from a dance at the lake our machine
lost a tire and 1t took so long to re-
place it that, as we were near the
house l decided to come home. Not
wishing to go through the woods
alone at that hour. got Uncle Rich
ard to come with me-"
Seeing that we were puzzled by the
mention of her uncle, she explained
that he was really cousin Of her
stepfather whom she called uncle. He
was a retired clergyman who, during
the summer, lived on the estate in a
little cottage facing the main road
near the entrance to the driveway to
the house. When asked If her uncle
had come into the house with her sht
replied that he had not; that he had
only waited long enough for her to
unlock the front door. She herself had
gone directly to her own room, pass
ing the door OF. her stepfather's room,
which had been closed. She had seen
no one and heard nothing. She had
slept until our voices had awakened
her.