Crawfordsville Weekly Journal, Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, 30 December 1898 — Page 7

What's the Matter With Kansas?

KAXSASOWXS (In round numoers) 900,000 homes and mules, 650,000 milch cows, 1,600,000 other cattle, 2,400,000 swine and 225.000 sheep. ITS FAltM PRODUCTS this year

Include 150,000,000 bushels of corn. 60,000,000 bushels of wheat, and millions upon millions of dollars in value of other grains, fruit, vegetables, etc. In debts alone it has a shortage.

Send for free copy of "What'sthe Matter With Kansas?"—a new book of 96 pages of facts.

J. W. TEDFORD,

General Agent,

Santa Pe Route. 108 N. Fourth Street, St. Louis. Mo.

Indiana,Decatur &Western

The Only Line Kunnini?

Reclining Chair Sleeping Oars —BETWEEN— Cincinnati, 0.&Springfield, III.

Without Change, Passing Through Indianap oils Koacbdale, lnd., and Decatur, 111. To and From Quincy, 111., Hannibal, Mo., and

Keokuk, la, without leaving tiie train. Through coach to iDdianapolis and Cincinnati via. Monon Route, leaving

Crawfordsville 1:16 p.m.

A. DIRECT AND SHORT LINE BETWEEN

INDIANAPOLIS AND ST. LOUIS

Through Sleeper and Parlor Car Service.

B. B. F. PElLtCE, JNO. S. LAZARDS, Gen'l Manager. Gen'l Pass. Agen Indianapolis, lnd.

TRAVEL VIA THE

Big Pour.

Wagner Sleeping Cars, Private Compartment Sleeping Cars,

Buffet Parlor Cars, Elegant Day Coaches

DINIING CARS.

Elegant Equipment. Superior Service.

E. 0. M'GORMICK, WARREN J. LKNCH

Pass. Traf. Mgr. Asst. Genl.Pass.&Tkt.Agt CINCIXXATT, OHIO.

LfiU

e)) p*nwjty ((9

TO CHICAGO, MICHIGAN CITY, AND THE NORTH.

Louisville

and

the South.

The Only Line to the Famous Health Resorts, West Baden —AND— French Lick Springs "The Carlsbad of Amerka."

TIME CARD. In Effect November 28, '97.

NOIITH

1

souTn

2:13 a. in Ni»rht Express 1:40 a. 1:15 p. Fast Mail :15 p. 3:05 p. Local Freight 8:45 a.

Frank J. Reed, G. P. A., Chicago,rIll.

And Best Service

—TO—

NASHVILLE, CHATTANOOGA, ATLANTA,

SAVANNAH, BRUNSWICK, JACKSONVILLE,

TAMPA, ST. AUGUSTINE

And all point6 on the Gulf Coast. For r'aps, rates and other informa' tion on or address,

F. P. JEFFRIES,

G. P. A.^E. &. T. H. R. Evansville, lnd.

Best and Cheapest Route

.TO'

New ork and PHiladelpHla.

Lehigh Valley Railroad

VIA

Niagara Falls.

Illustrated descriptive matter mailed free on request.

A. H. HERD, Western Passenger Agent,

BUFFALO, N. Y.

LOST MAN'S LANE.

By ANNA KATHARINE OREEN.

[Copyright, 1897. by Anna IC. Rohlfs.l

My footsteps were not dogged that morning as they hitherto had been in my movements about the house. I was allowed to go and come and even to stray into the second long corridor without any other let than my own discretion and good breeding. Lucetta joined me, to bo sure, after awhile, but only as guide and companion. She took me into rooms I forgot the next minute and into others I remember to this day as quaint memorials of a jias't ever and always interesting to me. Wo ransacked the house, yet after all was over and I sat down to rest in my own room two formidable questions rose in my mind that I found ir impossible to find satisfactory answers fur. Why, with so many moro or less attractive bod chambers at their ccmmaud, had they chosen to put mo in this hole, where the very flooring was unsafe and the outlook the most dismal that could be imagined, and why in all our peregrinations in and out of rooms had we always passed one door without entering? She had said that it was William's—a sufficient explanation if true, and I have no doubt it was—but the chango of countenance with which sho had passed it and the sudden lightening of her tread, so instinctive that she was totally unconscious of it, marked that door as one it would be my duty to enter if fate should yet give mo the opportunity. That it was the one in communication with the flowerparlor I felt satisfied, but in order to maKe assurance doublo sure I determined upon a tour through the shrubbery outside that 1 might compare the location of the window with the chipped blind with that of this room, which was, as well as 1 could calculate, the third room from the rear on that side.

When, therefore, William called up to know if I was ready for my drive, I answered back that I was more tired than I expected and that I would be glad to exchange that pleasure for a visit to the stables.

This, as I expected, caused considerable comment and some disturbance. They wanted me to repeat my experience of the day before and spend two if not moro hours of the morning out of the house. But I did not mean to gratify them. Indeed I felt that my duty lay here and was so persistent in my wishes, or rather in my declaration of them, that all opposition had to give way, even in the stubborn William. "I thought you had a dread of dogs," was the final remark with which ho endeavored to turn me aside from my purpose.

!I

have three in the barn and

two in the stable, and they make a great fuss when I corno around, I assure you.'' "Then tlicv will have enough tn do without notimii: inc.paid I, with a brazen assumption of courage that would have astonished myself if I had bad any real intention of invading a place so guarded. But. I had not. 1 no more meant ro enter the stables than to jump off the house top. but irvasnccc::sary that I should start for them alio, make that start from the left wing oj, the house.

How I managed the intractable William and led him as I did from bush to bush and shrub to shrub, up and down the length of that interminablo facade of the left wing, would make an interesting story in itself. The curiosity 1 showed in plants, even such plants as had survived the neglect that had made a wilderness of this old time garden the indifference which, contrary to all my habits, I persisted in manifesting to every inconvenience I encountered in the way of straightforward walking to any object I sit my fancy upon examining the knowledge I exhibited, and the interest which 1 took it for granted he felt in all I discovered and all I imparted to him would form the basis cf a farce of no ordinary merit had it not had its birth in interests and intents bordering on tlso tragic, if not leading slowly up to it.

A row of bushes of various species ran along the wall and covered in some instances tin1 lower ledges of the fir row of windows. Toward a certain shrub which 1 had observed growing near what I supposed to be the casement from whose blind I had chipped a small sliver I was slowly moving, and when I reached it nothing would restrain my tnthusiasm or my evident desire to display my erudition. "Tbi«." iid I. "is. without suiv doubt at all, a stunted I lit undoubted specimen of that rare tree found seldoju north of tlvo thirtieth degree, the Magnolia grandifiora. I have never seen it but once before, and that was in the botanical gardens in Washington. Note its leaves. You have noted its flowers, smaller undoubtedly than they should be—but then you must acknowledge it has been in a measure neglected—are they not fine?"

Here I pulled a branch down which interfered with my view of the window. There was no chip out of the blinds thus discovered. Seeing this, I let the branch go. "But the oddest feature of this tree and one with which you are perhaps not acquainted" (I wonder if anybody is?) "is that it will not grow within 20 feet of any plant which scatters pollen. See for yourself. This next shrub bears no flower" (I was moving along the wall) "nor this." I drew down a branch as I spoke, caught sight of the mark I was looking for and let the branch spring back. Iliad found the window I wanted.

His grunts and groans during all this formed a running accompaniment which would have afforded me great secret amusement had my purpose been less serious. As it was, I could pay but little attention to him, especially after I had stepped back far enough to take a glance at the window over the one I had just located as that of the flower parlor. It was, as I expected, the third one from the rear corner, but it was not

this fact which gave me a thrill of feeling so strong that I have never had harder work to preserve my equanimity. It was the knot of black crape with which tho shutters were tied together.

CHAPTER XX.

QUESTIONS.

I kept tho promiso I had made to myself and did not go to the stables. Had I intended to go there, I could not have done so after the discovery I have just mentioned. It awakened too many thoughts and contradictory surmises. If this knot was a signal, for whom was this signal meant? If it was a mere acknowledgment of death, how reconcile tho sentimentality which prompted such an acknowledgment with the monstrous and diseased passions lying at tho base of the whole dreadful occurrence? Lastly, if it was tho result of pure carelessness, a bit of crapo having been caught up and used for a purpose for which any ordinary string would have answered, what a coincidence between it and my thoughts, what a wonderful coincidence, amounting almost to miracle!

Marveling at the whole affair and deciding nothing, I allowed myself to stroll down alono to tho gate, William having left mo at my peremptory refusal to drag my skirts any longer through the briers. Tho day being bright and the sunshine warming even the gloomy rcccsscs of tho forest before me, tho road, I thought, looked less ominous than usual, especially in tho direction of the village and Deacon Spear's cottage. Tho fact is that anything seemed better than the grim and lowering walls of tho house behind mo. If my home was there, so was my dread, and I welcomed perhaps more than I ought to tho sight of Mother Jane's heavy figure bent over her herbs at tho door of her hut, a few paces to my left, where the road turned.

Had she not been deaf, I believed I would have called her. As it was, Icontented myself with watching the awkward swayings of her body as sho pottered to and fro among her turnips and carrots. My eyes were still on her when I suddenly heard the clatter of horses' hoofs on the highway. Looking up, I encountered the trim figure of Mr. Trohm, bending to me from a fine sorrel. "Good morning, Miss Butterworth. It's a great relief to me to see you in such good health and spirits this morning, were the pleasant words with which ho endeavored, perhaps, to explain his presence in a spot more or less considered as under a ban.

It was certainly a surprise. What right had I to look for such attentions from a man whose acquaintance I had made only the day before? It touched me, little as I am in the habit of allowing myself to be ruled by trivial sentimentalities, and though I was discreet enough to avoid any further recognition of his kindness than was his due from a lady of great self respect he was evidently sufficiently gratified by my response to draw rem and pauso for a moment's conversation under the pine trees.

This for tho moment seemed so natural that I forgot that moro than one pair of eyes might bo watching me from the upper windows back of us—eves which might wonder at a meeting which to tho foolish 'understandings of the young might have the look of premeditation. But, pshaw I am speaking-qs if I were 20 instead of—let the family record say. I never could see that it was a weakness for a woiuan to keep certain secrets to herself. "How did you pass the night?" was Mr. Trohm's first question. "I. hope in all due peace and quiet." "Thank you," I returned, nor, seeing why I should increaso his anxiety in my regard. "I havo nothing to complain of. I had a dream, but dreams are to bo expected where one has to pass a half dozen inpty rooms to one's apartment."

Jie could not restrain his curiosity. "A dream!" he repeated. "I do not believe in sleep that is broken by dreams, unless they are of the most cheerful sort possible. And I judgo from what you say that yours was not cheerful."

I wanted to tell him. I felt that in a wav he had a riiiht to know what had happened to me or what I thought had happened to me under this roof. And yet I did not speak. What I could tell would sound so puerile in the broad sunshine that enveloped us. 1 merely remarked that cheerfulness was not to be expected in a domicile so given over to the ravages of time, and then with that, lightness and versatility which characterize me under certain exigences I introduced a topic we could discuss without any embarrassment to himself or me. "Do you see .Mother Jane there?" I asked. "I had some talk with her yesterday. She seems like a harmless imbecile. "Very harmless." said he "her only fault is greed that is insatiable. Yet it is not strong enough to lake her a quarter of a mile from this place. Nothing could do that, I think. She believes, you see, that her daughter Lizzie is still alive and will come back to the ^hut some day. She wouldn't be away then for all tho bank holds. I know, for

I havo tried to tempt her. It's very sad when you think that the girl's dead and has been dead nearly 40 years." "Why does sho harp on numbers?" said I. "I heard her mutter certain ones over and over." "That is a mystery none of us has solved," said ho. "Possibly she has no reason for it. Tlio vagaries of the witless are often quite unaccountable.

I felt him looking at me, not from any connection between what ho had just said and anything to bo observed in me, but from— Well, I was glad that I havo been carefully trained in my youth to pay the greatest attention to my morning toilets. Any woman can look ^%11 at night and many women in the flush of & bright afternoon, but the woman who looks well in the morning needs not always to be young to attract the appreciative gaze of a man of real penetration. Mr. Trohm was such

a man, and I did not begrudge him tho pleasure he showed in my noat gray silk and carefully adjusted collar. But he said nothing, and a short silence ensued, which was perhaps more of a compliment thau otherwise. Then ho uttered a short sigh and lifted the reins. "If only I was not debarred from entering," he smiled, with a short gesture toward the house.

I did not answer. Even I understand that on occasion the tongue plays but a sorry part in such interviews.

He sighed again and uttered some short encouragement to his horse, which started that animal up and sent him slowly pacing down tho road toward tho cheerful clearing toward which my own eyes wore looking with what I was determined should not be construed even by the most .sanguine into a glance of anything like wistfnlncss. As lie went Mr. Trohm gave me a bow I have never seen surpassed in my own pari rain Gramercv park, and upon my bestowing upon him a short return glanced up at tho house with an in'entness which seemed to increaso as some object invisible to mo from where I stood caught his eve. As that eye was directed toward tho left wing and lifted as far as tho second row of windows I could not help asking myself if he had seen the knot of crape which had produced upon me so lugubrious an impression. Before I could make sure ho had passed from sight and tho highway fell again into shadow—why, I hardly know, for tho buh certainly had been shining a few minutes before.

CHAPTER XXI.

MOTHER ANE.

"Well, well, what did Trohm want here this morning?" cricd a harsh voico from amid tho tangled walks behind me. "Seems to me he finds this place pretty interesting all of a sudden.''

I turned upon the intruder with a look that should have daunted him. I had recognized William's courteous tones and was in no mood to endure a questioning so unbecoming in one of his age to one of mine. But as I met his eye, which had something in it besides anger and suspicion, something that was quizzical if not impertinent, I changed my intention and Jsestowed upon him a conciliatory smile, which I hope escaped the eye of the good angel who records against man all his small hypocrisies and petty deceits. "Mr. Trohm rides for his health," said I. "Seeing me looking up the road at Mother Jane, he stopped to tell me some of the idiosyncrasies of that old woman. A very harmless courtesy, Mr. Knollys.'' "Very," ho echoed, not without a touch of sarcasm. "I only hope that is all," he muttered, with a sidelong look back at tho house. "Lucetta hasn't a particle of belief in that, man's friendship, or, rather, sho believes ho never goes anywhere without a particular in tention, and I do believe she's right or why should lf'-ome spying around her just these two days when"—ho caught himself up with almost a look of terror —"when—when you are here?" he completed lamely. "I do not think," I retorted, more angrily than the occasion perhaps warranted, "that the word spying applies to Mr. Trohm. But if it did, what is there to gain from a pause at the gate and. a, word to such a new acquaintance as I am?" "I don't know," ho still persisted suspiciously. "Trohm's a sharp fellow. If there was anything to see, he would see it even from his place down there. But there isn't. You don't know of anything wrong here, do you, which such a man as that, hand in glovo with the police as we kuow him to be, might consider himself to be interested in?"

Astonished both at this blundering committal of himself and at tho certain sort of anxious confidence lie showed in me, I hesitated for a moment, but only for a moment, since if half my suspicions wero true this man, above all others, must not know that my perspicacity was more to be feared than ever Mr. Trohm's was. "If Mr. Trohm is interested in this house," said I, with a heroic defiance of ridiculo which I hope Mr. Gryco has duly appreciated, "and since a period of two days. I bet leave to call your attention to the fact that on yesterday morning he oume to deliver a letter addressed to mo which had inadvertently been left at his house, and that this morning he called to inquire how I hud spent tho night, which, in consideration of tho ghosts which are said to haunt this house and tho strange and uncanny apparitions which only three nights ago made tho entrance to tbi.-j lane hideous tn one pair of eyes at least, should not cause a gentle-man's son iiko you any astonishment. It does not me, I assure you."

He laughed. I meant lie should, and, losing almost instantly his air of doubt and suspicion, turned toward the gate from which I had just moved away, muttering: "Well, it's a small matter to me anyway. It's only the girls that are afraid of Mr. Trohm. I am not afraid of anything but losing Saracen, who has pined like the deuce at his long confinement in the court. Hear him now just hear him."

And I could hear tho low and unhappy moaning of the hound distinctly. It was not a pleasant sound, and I was almost tempted to tell him to unloose the dog, but. I thought better of it. "By the way," said he, "speaking of Mother Jane, I havo an errand from the girls to her. You will excuse mo if I speak to tho poc voman."

Alarmed by his politeness moro than I ever have been by his roughness and inconsiderate sarcasms, I looked at him inquiringly as he left the gato and did not know whether to stand my ground or retreat to tho house. I decided to stand my ground, an errand to this wornfln tO 2120 lUllttcr of

SCZHQ

interest. I was glad I did, for after somo five minutes' absence, during which ho had followed her into the house, I saw him

come back again in a statoof sullen displeasure, which disappeared as ho came upon me still standing by tho gate. "Ah, Miss Butterworth, you can do me a favor. The old creature is in one of her stubborn fits today and won't give me a hearing. She may not bo so deaf to you sho isn't apt to bo to women. Will you cross tho road then and speak to her? I will go with you. You needn't bo afraid."

The way he said this, tho confidence ho expected to inspire, had almost a ghastly effect upon me. Did ho know or suspect that the only thing I feared in this lane was lie? Evidently not, for he met my eye quite confidently.

It would not do to shake his faith at such a moment as this, so ("ailing upon Providence to sen mo safely through this adventure I stepped into tho highway and went with him into Mother Jane's cottage.

Had 1 had any other companion I would have been glad of this opportunity. As it was, 1 found myself ignoring any possible danger 1 might be running into in my interest in the remarkablo interior to which I was thus introduced.

Having been told that Mother Jane was poor, ]. had expected to confront, squalor and possibly tilth, but I never havo entered a cleaner place or one in which order made tho poorest belongings look decent. Tho four walls were unfinished, and so wero tho rafters which formed tho ceiling, but the floor, neatly laid in brick, was spotless, and tho fireplace, also of brick, was as deftly swept as one«could expect from the little scrub I saw hanging by its side. Crouched within this fireplaco sat the old woman we had como to interview. Her back was to us, and sho looked helplessly and hopelessly deaf. "Ask her," said William, pointing at her with a rude gesture, "if she will come to the houso at sunset. My sisters have somo work for her to do. They will pay her well.

Going toward her, I passed a rocking chair, in tho cushion of which a dozen patches met my eye. This drew my eyes toward a bed, over which a counterpane was drawn made up of 1,000 pieces at least of colored calico, and noticing their varied shapes and the intricacy with which they wero put together I wondered whether sho ever counted them. The next moment I was at her back. "Seventy, burst from her lips as leaned over her shoulder and showed her the coin which I had taken pains to havo in my hand. "Yours," said I, pointing in the direction of the house, "if you will do somo work for Miss Knollys tonight."

Slowly sho shook her head before burying it deeper in the shawl sho wore wrapped about her shoulders. Listening a minute, I thought I heard her mutter: "Twenty-eight, seven, but no more. I can count no more. Go away!"

But I'm nothing if not persistent. Feeling for her hands, which were hidden away somewhere under her shawl. I touched tiifiu with tho coin and cricd again: "This and more for a small piece of work tonight. Come, you are strong earu it." "What kind of work' is it?" I asked innocently, or it must havo appeared innocently, of Mr. Knollys, wiio was standing at my back.

He frowned, all the black devils in his heart coming into his look at

once.

"How do 1 know! Ask Loreen she's the one who sent me. 1 don't take account of what goes on in the kitchen."

I begged his pardon,- somewhat sarcastically I own, and made another attempt to attract the attention of the old crone, who had remained perfectly callous to my allurements. "I thought you liked money, 1 said. "For Lizzie, you know, for Lizzie."

Dut she only muttered in lower and lower guttera'ls, "lean count no more," and, disgusted at this failure before William, being one who accounts failure as little short of disgrace, I drew back and made my way toward the door. "She's in a different i:i. od from what she was yesterday when he, snatched a quarter from me at the first intimatiuj it was hers. I don't think yon can get her to do any work tonight, innocents take these 1'rea):-.. Isn't there some civ. else you can ci.U i-i:

The scowl tii.-.t disfigured his in no too handsome features was a lining p.'clude to his words.

You lalk," said b". "as if we had tho whole village a How did you succeed ith t!o loci.smith -D'rday? Can^. didn't be'Well, that's what wo havo to expect whenever wo want any hoi p.

OIK1

Whirling on his heel, he led the way out of the hut, whither I would have immediately followed if I had not stop ped to take another look at tho room, which struck me, even upon a second scrutiny as one of the best ordered and best kept I had ever entered. Even {lie strings and strings of dried fruits and vegetables which hung in festoons from every beam of the roof wero free from dust and cobwebs, and though the dishes were few and the pans scarce they were bright and speeklcss, giving to thu j-helf along which they wero ranged a semblance of ornament. "Wise enough to keep her house in order," thought I, and actually found it hard to leave, so attractive in my eyes are absolute neatness and order.

William was pushing at his own gate when I joined him. He looked as if hu wished I had spent tho morning with Mother Jane and was barely civil in our walk up to the house. I was not therefore surprised when he burst into a volley of oaths at the doorway and turned upon me almost as if he would forbid mo the house, for rat, tap, tap, from

somo distant quarter came a distinct

sound like that of nails being driven into a plank.

CHAPTER XXII. THE THIRD NIGHT.

bear changing, I took occasion to spend some time with Hannah in the kitchen, giving her during mv visit some hints iu regard to household affairs wlrioli if followed would mako considerable difference in the comfort of thoso concerned. Sho received them patiently, but I have seen no chango in her management of tho kitchen that I feel justified iu attributing to my influence. But I know human nature well enough not to havo expected it. Had tho kitchen been farther from the door of tho flower parlor I might not havo thrown away so much energy.

I did not effect ail entrance into tho flower parlor, however, nor did I succeed in seeing any one else enter it. Neither did I succeed iu making Hannah talk on any other topic than ordinary domestic concerns, but 1 saw cer-' tain things.

I had formed a plan for the niirht that required some courage, lleer.lling Lnccttu's expression of tho moriiing. that I m&ht exnect a renetn ion «.C th, e: norienee which, if a dream, had had the appearance of a most formidable reality, I prepared t. profit by the warning in a way she had ct.viainly nev meant that I should. SJ.:t:s2c:l tli.it if there wan any t~ in ivy suspicions there would be an act performed in this house tonight which, if r-et by me, would forever settle tlie question that was agitating the whole countryside, I made up mv mind that no locked door should interfere with my opportunity of doing so. How I efTec'ted this result I will relate iu a few minutes. y-k

After an evening more solemn than' tho day, but characterized, as the two previous ones had not been, by a long talk with tho two girls together, 1 went to my room iu a state of seeming fatigue that evidently met with the approbation of Lucrtta, who had accompanied mo to my door with a lighted caudle. "I hear you had somo trouble with matches last night, "said she. "You will find them all right now. Hannah must be blamed for somo of this carelessness. Then as I began some reassuring reply she turned upon mo with a look that was almost fond, and, throwing out her arms, cried entreatiugly: "Won't you give me a little kiss, Miss Butterworth? Wo havo uot given you the best of welcomes, but you are my mother's old friend, and sometimes I feel a little lonely."

I could easily believe that, and yet I found it hard to embraco her. Too many shadows swam between Althea's children and myself. Sho saw my hesitancy (a kenitaucy 1 could not but havo shown even at the risk of losing her confidence), and, paling slightly, dropped her hands with a pitiful smile. "You don't like me, she said. "I do not wonder, but I was in hopes you would for my mother's sake. I have no claims myself. That you must bo suro I am thoroughly convinced of." "You arc an interesting girl, and you have, what your mother had not, a serious side to your nature that is anything but displeasing to me. But my Kisses, Lucetta. are as rare as my tears. I had rather give yon good advice, and that is a fact. Perhaps it is as strong a proof of affection as any ordinary caress might be." "Perhaps," she murmured, but sho did not encourage me to give it to her notwithstanding. Instead of that she drew back and bid mo a gentle good night, which for some reason made mo sadder than I wished to be at a crisin demanding so much nerve. Then shu walked quickly away, and I was left tn face the night alono.

Knowing that I should bo rather weakened than helped by tho omission of any of the. little acts of preparation with which I am accustomed to call my spirits for the night I went through them all with just as much precision as if I had expected to spend the ensuing hours in rest. When all was done and only my cup of tea remained to hu quaffed, 1 had a littlo struggle with myself which ended in my not drinking it at all. Nothing, not even this comfortable solace for an unsatisfactory day, should stand in the way of my being tin? complete mistress of my wits I his night. Had I known that this tea contained a soporific in tho shape of a little harmless morphine I would havo found ti.-'sact of self denial mucli easier.

It Wc. now 11. Confident that nothing would lie done while my light was hu-.ni:ig, I blew it out, and, taking a candle at 1 matches in my baud, softly op :ied jy door and after a moment of in as- listening stepped out and closed

cur nrnid. I it carefully behind me. Nothing could be :?ller than the house or darker than tho corridor. "Am I watched or am I not watched?" thought. I, and for an instant stood mulct idd. Then, seeing nothing and hearing nothing, 1 slipped down the hall to the, door beyond miuo and, opening it with all the care possible, stepped inside.

I knew the room. I had taken especial note of it, in my vi-it of the morning. I knew that it was nearly empty and tliat there was a key in the lock which 1 could turn. I therefore felt more or less safe iu it, espccial.lv as its window was undarkencd by the branches that bung so thickly across my own casement, shutting me in, or seeming to shut me m, mail all communication with the outside world and the unknown guardian \hic1il had bn as cired constantly attended i:-

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