Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1924-07-26
THE SHADOW ON THE GLASS
By CHARLES J. BUTTON

, fell with a little clicking sound
pleasant to hear. He turned to me:
''All the money Is not here. I
judge that man took what he wish
ed, placing 1t in his pocket. You
heard it jingle as you hit him. No
| doubt he figured that il was safe
| enough in the ashes and he could
get Ii at any time"
do you think" l ventured, 1T
might have been Maxson?"
Instead of answering he turned
and looked at the box. bending over
as IL to count the money. When he
raised up he replied:
THAT lead medal he said he plac-
ed in here is not in the box. AS for
Maxson, don't know. You say the
man seemed heavier than yourself
and stronger. Maxson is not as
| heavy as you and BY no means as
| strong. OF course the darkness and
| the fact that you were struggling
| may have caused you to be mis-
taken regarding the persons weight
| and strength
This was true. I realized that the
! excitement of the struggle and my
| thoughts at the time could have
! caused me to be mistaken regarding
the person l was fighting with.
| Still I was pretty sure the man had
been heavier than myself, and /
| knew by the pressure of his arms
that he was strong. II that was SO,
! it did not seem possible it could
| have been the young man. Yet, of
| course, l did not know. l said SO.
Barley listened, agreeing with ME.
| He was feeling rather pleased over
finding the money and smiled several
times as he glanced at the box.
! When | had finished talking, he
simply said that we might as well
| go back to the hotel. Taking the
| box under his arm. he went from
! the cellar and l followed him up
stairs. We reached the living room
| just in time to hear a terrific pound
ing on the door.
| / looked at him in amaZement and
even his eyes were filled with sur
| prise. Who could be at the door?
| The pounding was incessant, as il
| the person on the veranda was de-
! termined to get in. l realized that
| the lights being on would lead any
one to think the house was occupied.
| So after BARLEY gave me a glance,
| went into the big hall and opened
the door. There as l flung it open
stood q policeman and Maxson.
I The policeman gave me just a
look and half yelled, What are
| youse doing in this house?" Bart
| ley's voice answered from behind
me and in a moment we were all in
the living room.
The young mans face was a
| study, Tor We must have been the
last persons that he expected to see.
His eyes kept coming back to us
and then suddenly they grew big.
His glance had fallen on the box
which BARLEY still held under his
| arm. He said nothing, however,
letting the policeman and BARLEY
do ali the talking.
The officer told US that he had
| been given orders to keep his eyes
! on the house as every zone was
| away. AS he came round the bend
of the road covering his beat. he had
! noticed that the main floor was
lighted. He started to run toward
the house and in front of it he came
upon MaXson, who was standing be-
fore the door, looking at the house.
| The young man had told him who
he was and together they had come
| to the door.
1t struck me rather odd that
| MaXson should have been in front
of the house at that time. More so,
when l remembered that the missing
gold pieces had just been found and
BARLEY had suggested that whoever
hid them knew the furnace was not
in use in the summer. But he told
US a rather feasible story and did
not seem to be hiding anything.
| He had been in town as we knew.
The chief, he said, had kept him a
long while questioning him, finally
| letting him go on promise to report
| the next day. 1t was late then
| He had dinner and decided to wait
( for the 9:45 train from New York.
He had the idea some Of the family
might return. AT the station the
only person he knew that came off
the train was the secretary. He
spoke to her, startling her because
. she thought he had been drowned.
Then they rode down to the Hill
in the little car his uncle had given
| her. She wished to take him to his
! hotel, but it was late and he had in
sisted that she leave him when she
reached her own. AS we knew. the
hotel was on the river bank about
mile from the Hill. He had
| walked down after leaving her, COM
| ing round by the house. AS he came
! in sight of it he saw the lights and
| wondered what they could mean.
| Just as he reached the front of the
house and stood trying to make up
his mind what to do. the policeman
had come running up.
1t seemed a perfectly logical story
and l stole a glance at Barley to
| discover how he was taking 1t. His
fine face was expressionless and
could not tell. But l noticed that
though the youth stole several
glances at the box. BARLEY said
nothing about our finding it,
The policeman had not seen any
person running away from the
house, nor had he noticed anyone
| about the house in the times he had
passed by on his beat. Maxsofi
insisted that he saw nothing when
he came down the road. Whoever
the person was that had gotten out
of the window he must have been
! far away by this time.
There was little else that we
could do until morning. and we left
after telling the policeman to call
up the town and have another man
guard the house during the night.
BARLEY carried the box under his
arm, but he said nothing to either
the boy or the officer of finding il.
The street lights flashed on Just
as we reached the road. The night
was cool and the wind had increas-
ed. Clouds hid the face OF the moon
and only once in while could one
see star. We walked slowly, Bart
! ley and l side by side. Maxson
stumbling along a few feet behind
US. Reaching the car we all climb
ed in. For while nothing was said.
l was running over the events of the
night, trying to find some solution
for them all when Maxson suddenly