Nogales international. [volume] (Nogales, Ariz.) 1926-1979, 1931-12-23

the day which had ended in Arth,
Weiss death. Already potenti
housebreaker, / avoided policeme
! and the very jingling of the keys
my pocket sounded loud and incrimir
ating to my ears.
I do not like deserted houses. Eve
in daylight they have sinister effe'
on me. They seem, in their empt
e spaces, to have held and recorded a
: that has happened in the dusty pas
S The Wells house that night, loomin
c before me, silent and mysteriou
S seemed the embodiment Of all the d.
] serted houses | had known. It's empt
E and unshuttered windows were lik
blind eyes, gazing in, not out.
Nevertheless, now that the time had
come, certain amount Of courage
came with it. I am not ashamed to
confess that certain part of it came
from the anticipation of the Neigh
borhood Clubs plaudits. For Herbert
to have made such an investigation,
or even Sperry, with his height and
his iron muscles, would not have sur
prised the club. But I was aware
that while they expected intelligence
and even humor of a sort, from me,
they did not anticipate any particular
bravery.
The flash was working, but rather
feebly. l found the nail where the
door-key had formerly hung, but the
key, as I had expected, was gone. |
was less than FIVE minutes, / fancy,
in finding a key from my collection
that would fit. The bolt slid back with
click, and the door opened.
Once inside the house, the door to
the outside closed, and facing two
alternatives, to go on with it or to
cut and run, l found sort of des-
perate courage, clenched my teeth,
and felt for the nearest. light switch:
The electric light had been cut Oft !!
I should have expected it, but |
had not. | remember standing in the
back hall and debating whether to go
on or to get out. / was not only in
a. highly nervous state, but | was also
badly handicapped. However, as the
moments wore on and | stood there,
with the quiet unbroken by no n1yster--
ious sounds, l gained certain con-
fdence. After a short period OF re-
adjustment, therefore, | felt my way
to the library door, and into the room.
Once there, used the flash to dis
cover that the windows were shut
tered, and proceeded to take Oft my
hat and coat, which placed on a
chair near the door. 1t was at this
time that I discovered that the bat
terry of my lamp was very weak, ana
finding a candle in a tall brass stick
on the mantlepiece, lighted it.
Then looked about. The house had
evidently been hastily closed. Some
of the furniture was covered with
sheets, while part of it stood unpro-
tected. The rug had been folded into
the center of the room, and covered
with heavy brown papers, and was
extremely startled to hear the papers
rustling. A mouse, however. proved
to be the source of the sound, and l
pulled myself together with a jerk:
It is to be remembered that | had
left my hat and overcoat on a chair
near the door. There could be no
mistake, as the chair was a light. one,
and the weight of my overcoat threw
it back against the wall.
Candle in hand, I stepped out into
the hall, and was Immediately met by
a crash which reverberated through
the house. In my alarm my teeth
closed on the end of my tongue, with
agonizing results, but the sound died
away, and I concluded that an upper
window had been left open, and that
the rising wind had slammed a door.
But my morale, as we say since the
war. had been shaken, and I reck- !