The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1936-03-02
Chapter %
LOVELY LADY

VEi'f nice niue place you nave
here. Mr.. Askew." said Bobby
kindly and condescendingly. "Very
nice and snug"
Mr.. Askew expressed qualification.
"Merroway Court the only big
place in the ne:ghborhood"
well. there's the Grange. Mr..
Hawkins. Not that you'd call that
a place exactly. There's no family
living there M, it had been empty
for years until this American doctor
took it,"
IAN American doctor?"
That's it-NichOlson his name is.
And If you ask me, Mr.. Hawkins.
there are some very queer goings on
there"
rhe barmaid at this point re-
marked that Or Nicholson gave her
the shivers. he did.
"GOings on. Mr.. Askew" said
Bnbby. Now what do you mean by
goings on?"
Mr.. Askew shook his head darkly.
There's those ii ere that don't want
to be there. Put away by their rela.
tions. assure you. MIR. Hawkins.
the meanings and the shrieks and
the grOans that go on there you
wouldn't believe"
why don't the police lnterfere?'
"Oh. well. you see. it's supposed to
be ali right. Nerve cases. and such
like. LoOnies that aren't so very
bad. The gentlemans a doctor and
it's all all right. so to speak" Here
the landlord buried his face In
pint pot and emerged again to shake
his head in very doubtful fashion.
"Ak." sa::: lobby in a dark and
meaning way. IF We knew every
thing that went on in these
places -. And he too applied him.
self to a pewter pot.
The barmaid chimed in eagerly:
THAT'S what | say. Mr.. Hawkins.
What goes on there? Why. one night
a poor young creature escaped-in
her nightgOwn SHE was-and the
Doctor and a couple of nurses out
looking for her."
Somebody present said that there
was no knowing what went OF in
places And someone else said that
was right.
FINALLY the meeting broke up
L aud 81 bby announced his in
tention of going for a stroll before
turning in.
The Grange was. he knew. on the
other side of the village from Nero
way Court. so he turned his foot.
steps in that direction What he had
heard that evening seemed to him
worthy of attention.
A lot of Il could. of course. be dis
counted Villages are usually pre-
JUDGED against newcomers. and still
more so if the newcomer is Of diff
ferent nationality. II Nicholson ran
a place for curing drug-takers. there
would naturally be strange sounds
Issuing from it-groans and even
shrieks might be heard without any
sinister rearon for them.
But all the same the story OF the
escaping Cir struck Bobby unpIeas-
antly Supposing the Grange were
really a place where people were
kept agains. their will? A certain
number Of genuine cases might be
taken as camouflage.
At this point in his meditations
Bobby arrived at high wall with an
entrance of wrought-iron gates. He
stepped 'p % the gates and tried one
gently. 1t was locked. Well. after
all. why not2
And yet somehow the touch of that
locked gate gave him a family sin
lister feeling.
lie mOvcL little farther along the
road. measuring the wall with his
eye. Would it be possible to climb
over? The wall was smooth and high
and presented no accommodating
crannies. He shook his head Sud
denly he came upon a little door
Without much real hope he tried It.
To mis- surprise 1t yielded.
Bit OF an oversight here"
thought Bobby with a grin. He
slipped through. closing the door
softly behind him.
He found himself en- a path lead
Ing through a shrubbery He fol.
lowed the path. which twisted a
good deal. Suddenly without any
warning it gave a sharp turn and
emerged into an open space close to
the house. 1t was a moonlit night
and the space was bright. Bobby had
stepped full into the moonlight be-
fore he could stop himself.