Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1925-07-09
CHAPTER xIII-continued

thing. 1t was evidence of the care
takers belief that no one would quick
iy return TO note his delinquencies.
Otherwise the house might have been
untouched from the moment when, in
a spirit Of pursued flight, Brena had
shut the doors for the last time. A
novel had been put upon table in
the upper hail. its pages spread down
ward where a reader had left it in
Brena's own chamber the tray upon
the dressing table still contained scat
tered pins and a railroad conductors
receipt for a cash fare. In the bath
room towel hung over the edge of
the tub as IL a bather had Just come
from the morning plunge and only the
stripped beds spoke of the vacancy of
the understanding rooms. To Peter.
the whole house except for that part
which she had occupied, seemed to be
filled with unpleasant ghosts of the
personalities that had lived in 1t. He
opened no door without the feeling
that one of these invisible beings had
gust stepped out of the chamber from
another exit. The stairs up which he
had climbed were complaining gently,
as If feet were following his; some
where there sounded the 1uttering of
soft wings-a startling noise, but ex-
planned by the dead chimney swallow
that lay below the sill of one of the
darkened windows-a tiny inert sym
Dol of tragic Imprisonment and death
Peter had found nothing in his sur
vey of the house that could contribute
to his purpose; he had looked without
more reason for looking than a desire
to see where Brena had lived and to
confirm his belief that except in the
library that had been used by Parma
lee nothing could be found of any sig
niicance. 1t was not probable, he
thought, that he would open some door
to find the cotton brokers' whitening
corpse stretched out with the handle
of a murderer's knife still sticking up
from the collapsed ribs. He was about
to return to the lower floor when he
saw in front of him upon the bare
dusty vanished boards a distinct print
of human foot 1t was small, we'll
formed foot that had made this print
and the next beyond and the next
until they stopped where the stair car
pet began.
There sprang into his mind the glib
bering reference of Parmalee to foot
prints, followed Immediately by the
thought that these might be the record
of Brena's own steps and then as
quickly by the thought that Brena had
left long before this layer Of dust had
accumulated. He found himself listen
ing now, the victim for the moment of
fear, as If suddenly the contagion had
reached him. At last he laughed. The
prints were not those of a man: they
might be those Of a woman but the
chances were Overwhelmingly in favor
of their being made by the caretaker's
young barefoot boy. Peter smiled again
and went down the stairs.
At the bottom of this flight above
the hall stand was an old carved Chi
nese frame holding a dusty mirror.
Peter glanced at this mirror, saw him.
self, stopped. The expression on his
own face alarmed him. He imagined
that he was less rudy, more gray of
skin, that he had caught himself in
the unconscious pose of man who in
voluntarily has begun to walk softly
and look about alertly, that upon the
face reflected in the glass was the
first faint expression of terror written
not as it Is written upon the face of
a man who is a coward before known
dangers, for Peter whatever he might
be could never wear that look, but the
dim suggestion of fear of unknown
dangers and of subtle influences, that
may some day be engraved without re-
gard to the courage or will of the in
dividual upon any sensitive human
countenance.
Peter had an unpleasant idea; 1t
was that his subconscious self was en-
deavoring to transmit to his conscious
self some message Of warning. For
the first time he felt the need to sum-
mon to his aid his clearest thought, his
most alert state Of mind, his keenest
observations.
Fortunately, perhaps, this moment Of
realization came to him as he opened
the door Of Parmalee's study. 1t com
manded him to squeeze out Of his first
visit to that square chamber, lined with
books to the ceiling in the style of old
fashioned Libraries, the most that or
derby investigation could disclose.
That many things had been dis
turbed since the moment when Parma
lee had walked out into oblivion was
evident. The correspondence on the
large desk in the center of the room
had been gathered into a neat pile and
tied with string; the papers once held
by a waste basket, now empty, had
been poured into the open fireplace
and most Of them burned. The chairs
had been covered with newspapers by
some one without sense of values
sufficient to suggest covering also rare
books, their pages exposed now TO in
sects and some of their splendid bind
ings to mildew and dry rot The study
had the air of having been cleaned and
Strengthened.
Peter tried the drawers of the desk.
Some Of them had swollen with the
damp, but none were locked; they were
filed with catalogues, pamphlets and
with clippings in envelopes arranged
in alphabetical order. A deep drawer
at the bottom contained several ac.