The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-07-09
HOUSE OE SHADOWS N. s:s '. :::: :::::::s:

CIaife afniled ak horsslf as she thought of gusie's plump figure, and then noticed how little space had been wasted in the cupboard. She must have been mistaken. Sue sic couldn't have come down into the root cellar. after all. Perhaps it just looked from Q distance as though she Mad. Claire blew out the lamp and put it back on the shelf then hurried upstairs to the open air.
 The girl circled c huge woodpile expecting to see the housekeeper but there was no one in sight. She walked out to the big barn that now served as garage and store house. This also was empty. Claire looked about in bewilderment. Had lack of sleep begun to play havoc with her nerves? She was starting for the house when, to her surprise, she saw Susie come up the root cel- lar steps. This time the tray was empty and the lantern gone.
 Claire's first impulse was to call to the women, but, on second thought, she stepped back into the barn and let her 60 into the house, unaware that she had been seen. Then Claire ran to the cellar steps and descended. A minute examina- ton of every inch of the place re- vealed nothing. Where had Susie been and why? Was there some se- cret place under the house that its present owners knew nothing about2 Claire stood, puzsling over the problem. If Pat would only come sine could tell him about 1t. Perhaps he could find Q clew that she had missed in the seemingly colId cel- lar walls.
 At last the girl went up to the open again and walked into SuSie's Kitchen.
 "oh, here you arel I've been lock- ing for you" she began. Where were you just Ilow7"
 T was up in the linen closet, Claire, sorting over some sheets" Susie glanced up sideways and then went on with her work.
 For on instant Claire was tempted to demand the truth. Then the thought came to her that 1t would be better not to put Susie on her guard. So she asked, in Q natter of-fact tone, "fIas MT. Magan come in yet?"
 II ain't seen him since the doctor left" answered Susie.
 Claire went into the library. Her growing uneasiness about Pats ab- sence, and now Susie's deliberate falsehood was beginning to fray her nerves. She distinctly diStrusted the baby-faced housekeeper. Could she depend on Dan Dallas? How must did the tall, scar-faced man know about what was going on2
 Claire stood before the Tl1antel, looking at the cryptic broken ar- row. What could 1t inean2 Was her uncle trying, in vain, to point out from beyond the grave? And why had he gone to such weird lengths to conceal this message of the House of Long Shadows? AL LHUSU WS OLlOuBH tRlh hLlbWeE LlhU been spoken, came the thought of Susie, and her sly, inquisitve search Ing.
 Claire moved to the bookcase and again took down the red volume of poems in which her uncle had writ ten the four lines of verse. "Wedded pines above me lie." She laid the book down on the radiator. Why, the great pine tree by the house was two trees grown togetherl Could Lyman Fosdick have been thinking of that? The girl walked to the window and looked ct the majestic spreading branches. Per- haps the tree held the secret of the hidden jewel.
 Suddenly her attention waS caught by another sound. She held her breath and listened. Regularly and at even intervals came the same tapping noise that had startled her In Lyman Fosdlck'S bedroom. The room was directly above the library.
 (T0 Be COntlnued)