The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1936-07-04

stairway to the bedroom directly
under the cupola. This was a large
room and had been Lyman Eos
dicks. EVERYTHING in it remained
as ne had left it.
YEARLY pulling off her riding
boots, the girl climbed up on the
high four-poSter bed and threw
herself down. Tired as she was,
the thought of the mysterious shot
that had found its mark in the
dog, still persisted, carrying with
it a subtle warning.
What was this unseen force
that seemed to be closing about
her? She stirred restlessly. Nick
Baum and his hold on her father.
These two young men whose path
had crossed hers so curiOusly.
What did she really know about
them, anyway? Pat had said the
dog was alive when they went
around to the barn-but was 1t
still alive when they came back
into the house? Susie and Eo.
And where did Dan Dallas mt into
the picture?
Clairc's mind swung back to
Pat Magyar, and she smiled IN the
darkness. Again came the remem-
brance of strong arms lifting her
in the darkness. Had it been Pat?
She hoped so. though she did not
ask herself why. A rOllicking,
care-frce newspaper man. with an
impiSh smile and Irish blue eyes
shaded by very black lashes -
well, what of it? Bob Steele had
blue eyes, too, very nice eyes, and
he had looked at her with the
same admiration that many men
had given her.
They were both very different
from Nick Baum. though Nick
was the handsOmeSt. His manner
was everything 4 woman could de-
sire. too.
Claire shivered little as the
GOODNESS of the mountains crept
about her. Resolutely she closed
her eyes and determined to go to
sleep.
But the next instant she was
bolt upright in bed, every nerve
straining to hear something-she
was not sure what. Had some
spirit of the long ago come into
the room? Or had it been merely
the sound of the night wind IN
the old pine tree? Could 1t he
that she had been aroused by
fancy of her own?
She listened intently and final
ly lay down again, feeling a little
foolish. Then it came again. This
time the tapping noise from the
wall near the head of her bed
could not be explained away.
Gently, regularly, the muffled
sound pierced the stiffness. Once
She caught herself num-
bering the beats as though she
we're counting a pulse. All power
of movement seemed drained
from her, except the ability to
mark the sounds.
With an effort she got out CT
bed and fumbled for the lamp:
Her fingers shaking, she touched
a light to the wick. The feeble
yellow CLEAN that cut an arc IN
the shadows brought feeling OF
relief. The noise had stopped now.
She pulled on her boots, Won
dering if after all there wasn'-
some commonplace explanation.
Anyway, she would look behind
the bed - that is, if she could
bulge it out from the wall. She
eyed it's majestic bulk doubtfully.
Putting her shoulder to the
nearest post, she eXerted all her
healthy young strength. After one
or two attempts, she managed to
widen, a space from the wall
through which to squeeze her
slender body. Carrying the lamp,
she carefully investigated every
thing within the circle of light.
The ornately figured paper was
less faded than on the other walls,
but there was no mark of any
kind or any sign that the wall was
not of the same solidity as the
rest of the room.
&
Feeling somewhat disappointed,
Claire backed out of the narrow
space and set the lamp on the
floor so that she could move the
bed back. The light fell on the
Dashboard and she saw a sign in
the shape of a broken arrow, a
facsimile of the carving on the
.mantel in the library. The arrow
pointed toward the hall outside
the room. Here a; narrow stairway
led to the cupola above. 1t must
mean those stairs, Claire reason
led, since nothing else broke the
.expanse of that wall except a
small bookcase. .'.t 49,
Excitedly she put on her coat,
and, lamp in hand, climbed the
creaky steps to the cold, drafty
eupola. 1t was a round, open
structure with conical roof,
boasting an imposing weather
vane. The eupola made a fine
lookout when the owner of the
House of Long Shadows had
wished to view the country
around. Claire had been up there
many times, and, even in the
darkness, had the sensation of
long vistas of far valleys and
roads, though she could not
actually see them now.
The wind whipped sharply
about her and bat swooped past
her in the darkness. With a .shiv-