Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1926-8-18, Page 711 THE BRJSSELS POST The (Copyright) 7 LmiL// by DIARY ROBERTS IIINEITAItT Vialk "I have often wondered," elle mild, slowly, "whether you have ever eousidered your uncle's death aa— n usual." "You mean that you do?" "Personally," she said, leukin; ctly at ine, "I think 1n. was flight - :elect to death." She. hesitated. She ave hue the impression of venturing au ground which was unpleasant to reel, "Either that or---" Sheaban- doned that, and began again, lutrri•'d- ay. "My husband di:,)ikea the ',uh,j:•rt," elle said. "But I will tell you why I ,'Neve what I do, and you earl see what you can make of ft. You re-. member that Mrs. Porter was not wen when you both came out, the -lay he was found dears, and toward evening you took her home? Well, Annie Cochrane would not stay alone that night, and I stayed with her. It 1Vtt4 very--1UI'i0U8." "Just what do you mean by cur- hous?" "That there was somebody in the liouee that night, or something." "And you don't believ,. it was eomebody?" "I don't know what I believe," she, said, rather breathlessly, "I suppose eince you claim to be a cynic you will laugh. but 1 have to tell you just the eanle." Stripping her narrative to the skeleton, she had been skeptical be- fore, but that night the' House heti been strangely uncanny'. They sat n the kitchen with all the lights on, and at two o'clock in the horning .he distinctly heard somebody walk - tag in the hall overhead, an the sec- ond floor. Donee seemed to open and shut, and finally, on a crash from eomewhe•e in the dining room, "like a doubled fist striking the table," An- nie Cochrane had bolted outside and stayed there. At dawn she came back, and said she had distinctly seen a ball of light floating in the roost over the den shortly after she wont out. "And was the red lamp lighted while all this was going on?" "That's one of the curious things :about it. It was not when I nacre a round of that floor early in the eavening. But it was going at dawn.' There is, of course, one ,thing I can do. I can meet Mr, Bethel when he arrives and lay my cards on the table. It will take all my courage; I know how I should feel of I had taken a House, and at the moment of my arrival a wild-eyed owner came to turn me away, on the ground that his house is haunted. Or, we will say, subject to inexplicable nocturn- al visits..... Shall T take Halliday into' my con- fidence? I need a fresh brain on the matter, certainly. Someone who will see that the local connection of the murdered sheep with the reel lamp, and so wi 1, old Horace's death, is the absurdity it must be. July ath. A quiet Fourth, but in spite of all precautions more sheep were kill- ed last night, and in fear, of my life I have been expecting a visit from Greenough this morning. But per- haps old Morrison—it looked like the Morrison truck—did not recog- nize me last night. But to make things moN,unpleais- ant all around, the fellow this time did not leave his infernal chalk mark! One can imagine Greenough straight- ening from his investigation and de- ciding that his recent talk with me has put me on my guard., Heigh hot The neighborhood is ih n wild state of alarm. The failure of the detectives from town to stop the kill- ings has probably added to the super- stitious fears which seem mixed up in it. But the more intelligent far- mers haye got out their ].rifles and duck guns, and there will be, short shrjtt for the fellow if he is seen at Work. Public opinion appears to be div - Letterheads Envelopes Billheads And all kinds of Business Stationery printed at The Post Publishing House, We will do a job that will do Credit toyour business, Look over your stocic of Office Stationery and if it uspby, telephonenr3l1. call The Post Publishing iolSe WE»NESDAY, AL'GT'SI', 1?", 11126. idea between a demon iunl t denefer- eue lunatic at large., .. . •• Otherwise, I have recovered from last nights hysteria. The cl ening of the house for Mr. Bethel begin:, to -tiny, and 1 have decided to let it go on. If on hearing my story he de- e'•les not to remain no holm will be he'; if he stays, it is in order for hint, Jame said at breakfast: "Are you letting him come, William?" I shall tell him all I know, my is tr. After that it ds up to hint." ? Suppose eome tiring happeile lei him?" "What on earth could happen?" I inquired irritably. "Ile doesn't need to light that silly lamp. Anyhow, I'm going to destroy it. And as for the other matter, the sheep, the fellow le atickiug to sheep, thank God." Ilut I am not so certain, just now, its to. destroying the lamp. Thi., is th,e result of a c'onvcrsatien with An- nie Cochrane, as I admitted here:arut- ed' with broom and pail, to the house this morning. She represents, I imagine, the low- est grade of local intelligence, and I daresay she is responsible for much of the superstitious fear of the lamp. But after all, her attitude reprpeenis that of a part of the community, and if I destroy the lamp I shall undoub- tedly be held responsible for any loc- al tragedies for the next lifetime or • two. In a word, Annie Cochrane not on- ly believes that the lamp hou.se•c a demon; elle believes that to smash the lamp will liberate that demon in perpetuity. Incredible? Yet who am I to laugh at this, who went a -running to Lear with a double -exposure photo- graph, and have been secretly an- noyed that little Pettingill has never asked me to one of his table -tipping seances? Or who have, in defertnce to Annie Cochrane and her kind, most carefully locked away the red lamp in an attic closet of the other house, there to contain its devil nnrelensed. O.r who am, at this moment, some- what oppressed. by a so-called spirit message 1 have just received( for- warded to oro by Cameron's secre- tary. - It is a difference of degree, not of kind.. This is my first letter from 'the spirit world, and it conies from Sal- em, Ohio! I have had a curious mes- sage or two, witness the unknown correspondent who for several years at intervals sent one a playing caul in an envelope, so that it wine noth- ing unusual for me to receive the deuce of spades with my bacon and eggs, or the knave of diamonds for tea. nut this one stands in a class by itself. It has, in Mr. Cameron's absence, been .forwarded to me by his secre- tary. "My clear Mr. Porter: "In Mr. Cameron's absence on his Vacation I am forwarding the stn- closed message at the request of the writer, who appears to have consider- able faith in our ability to locate the person for whom it is intended! "We have had no previous c orres- pondence with the young lady. At least I can find none in our files. But I know you will not mind nay saying in Mr. • Cameron's absence, that be has always regarded these ouija board communications as purely sub- cohnSciotis in origin; in other words, as unconscious fraud." The enclosed note is very long, and fully detailed. Even the arrange- ment of the furnitm•e in the room is described and the lighting of it. How she came to omit a red lamp 1 cannot tell; 1 have somehow grown to expect ones But no amount of light handling of the matter on my part can alter the 'fact that 1 am not as comfortable about the thing as I might be, The damnable accuracy of it is in itself disconcerting. The name is right, oven to my initial; ant 1 ant living in a lodge, which even my own subconscious mind could hardly have anticipated a few days ago. And T am warned of dangce, on a morn- ing when I feel that danger is, as Edith would say, my middle name, According to the writer, she and the other slitter, who site naively ex- plains was her flame, received twice the name, William A, Porter. Assur- eel then that they had it correctly, the "control" spelled out as follows:. "Advise you and Jane to go else' where. Lodge dangocous." It sounds, I admit, like a telegraph is message, with one word to spare. One rather looks for the word glove" so often added to get full value :for one's money. But it is a defleite warning, ter all that. So the Lodge is dangerous, anti Sane and I advised to go elsewhere; Heaven knows I'd like nothing het- ter, Our love story goes on, and I ant s helpless there is In other dine: - ions; Edith proffering herself sinnply and eweetly, in a thousand smell coq- uetries and as many unstudied allure- uentc, and young 111,11iday gravely adoring. her, and holding beck. To -day, along with the zest of inn ;tnnnmr colony, they made a pilgrim- eire the car to the scenes 0 the various meadow tragedies, ending up with the stone altar, and I suspect nutters came very nearly to a head between them, for Edith was very talkative on their return, and Hladli- elay very quiet and a trifle pale. And to -night, sitting on the ver- andah of the boat -house while the boy set off Roman candles and sky- rockets over the water, Edith asked me how I thought she could earn some money. "Ilarn money " i said. "What on earth for? I've never known you to think about money before," "Well, I'm thinking about it now," she said briefly, and relapsed into sil- ence, from which she rou:eel in a moment or so to state that money was a pest, and if she were making a world she'd have none in it I found my position slightly dell - cute, but I ventured to suggest that no man worth his salt would care to have hie wife support him. She ignored that completely, however, and said she was thinking of writing a book. A book, she said, would bring in e. great deal of money, and "nobody would need to worry about anything." "And you could get it published, Father William," she said. "Every- body knows who you are. And you could correct the spelling couldn't you? That's the only thin: gnat s coaly worrying me." And I honesty believe the child is trying it Her light is still going to- night as I can see under her door. Jute 5th. The Sheriff has offered a thousand dollars reward for the apprehension and conviction of the sheep -killer. A notice to that effect i, neatly tack"d reg a post outside our gates, and it roust rather appeal to Greenough's sense of humor, if he has any. 1 un- derstand Livingstone is privately of- fering another five hundred. Mr. Bethel and his secretary arrive to -morrow, and the house is about ready for them, in spite of the fact that Annie Cochrane moves about it, unoccupied as it is, like a scared rab- bit. I shall see him at once on his arrival. Halliday will finish the float to- day, and I understand 'intends then to start on the sloop. He has found a way to address me, instead of the formal "sir" of the first clay or tivo and now calls me skipper. He is visibly more cheerful since yesterday. However hopeles the fut- ure'Woks, he must, during that "show down" yesterday, as Edith would un- doubtedly call it, have been fairly as- sured of her love for him. To -day I overheard a conversation between him and Clara. "Well, I must be getting on," he maid. "It's nay wash clay." "Wash day, is it?" she commented sceptically "I'd like to see yo11'. clothes after you wash them." "Who said a thing about clothes?' lie demanded. "It's nay dish -washing day. I always do them every Mon- day morning." n I watched him go clown the drive, his head virtuously erect and Jock, who adores him, bidding him a re- luctant good-bye. He will not fol- low hint in that direction. The boy wheedles Clara out of food, too, while Jane stand, by and smiles, Passing the pantry window yesterday I saw him stop abruptly, and stare at the table inside. "I beg your pardon, Clara," he said, "but are those custard pies?" "They are. And you needn't be thinking—"' "Real, honest-to-goochness custard pies?" "That's what the cook -book calls then," "Would you mind if I carne a little closer, Clara?" he inquired. "I have heard of therm, but it is so long since I have seen one, let alone tasted it—" "They're too fresh to cut," said Clara, weakening, one could sec, by inches. "But 1 could come back," he said, gently, "I could go and sit in •my lonely boat -house, surrounded by the cans I live out of, and think about them. And later I could come back, you know." And although he dict not cone back, a half hour later T saw Clara carrying 000 downs to flim, neatly covered with a napkin. • a To -day, for the first time, I have taken shim fully into my eotfldence. T had been half way debating it, but the matter of the dressing gown de- cided it. Motet I find that to the original Journal I made no mention of this incident The facts are as follows): At Jane's suggestion I proceeded . to the 11111111 house, to remove such of. Ilncic I'Iorace's clothing as rennriined The "ua tseayy of 'Moto en1" gaiys— Waternian's Ink adds to the efficiency of Water - man's Fountain Pens and Waterman's Pen adds to the"efflciency of Waterman's Ink, To perfectly function, foun- tain pen ink must be free from sediment, it must flow freely and never clog. Water - man's Ink will do this. it's packed in neat boxes, so that you may keep one bottle at the office and one at home. We recommend Waterman's Ink for use in any fountain Peo Jeweler Wroxeter in the closets and so on, to a trunk i't the attic.. Since the night of her ex- perience: in the gantry she had not entered the house. Armed with a package of moth-preventitive, I was on my way when 1 met Iialliday, ofd he returned with me. We worked quietly, for there is something depressing in the emptiness of such garments, and in their mute reminder that sooner or later we must all shed the clothing that we Coll the flesh. I said sometaire of 1.e end aim boy gave the rather a twitted smile. "It can't be so bad," he said. "Not worse than things are here sometimes anyhow. And as Burroughs said-- wasn't it Burroughs".—'the dead do not lie in the grave, lamenting there is no immortality.' ' "Then you don't believe in immor- tality?" "I don't know what I believe," he replied, "I know it isn't any Ise telling us we're going to be happy in the next world, to make up for our being darned miserable in th:s , It was shortly after this that I located the dressing gown which poor old Horace was wearing when be was found and discovered that there were blood -stains on it near the hem. "I'm going to ask you something," 1. said to Halliday. "A man dies of heart failure, and as he falls strikes his head, so that it bleeds. He lies there, from some time in the evening hntil seven •o'clock in the morning. There wouldn't be much blood, would thele?" "Hardly any, I should say." "And none in this location, I im- agine." I showed it to hien and he looked at me curiously. "I'm afraid T don't get it, Skip- per," he said. "You mean, he moved afterwards?" "If you want to know exactly what I mean, I believe the poor old chap was knocked clown, that he got up and managed to dispose of something he had in his hand, something he didn't want seen, and that after that his heart failed." He picked up the dressing gown and carried it to the window. "Tell me about it," he said quietly. As neither of us knows anything abqut the heart, or 'what occurs when a fatal seizure attacks it, it is possi- ble • Halliday is right. That ds, that feeling ill lie got up, crumpled the letter 10 his hand, turned out the desk light and then fell. But that he recovered himself and managed to drag himself to his feet again, when the full force of the seizure came, and he fell 07100 more, not to rise, "There is no real reason to"bolieve that he was not alone," lie said. "Nor even that he 'saw something' as Mrs. Livingstone intimates." But the letter I had found in the drawer interests hila. He has made a copy of it, and taken it Roue to study, "I appeal to you to consider tate enormity of the idea. Your fnlluu'c: to comprehend my own attitude to it, however, makes me believe that you may be tempted to go et with it. In that case I shall feel it my duty, not only to vo to the police but to wat'n society in general. "1 reali'zo fully the unpleesantnes: of toy own situation; even, if yon are consistent, its clanger, But---" "But—what?" said Halliday, "'Bat I shall ego what I have threat- ened, if you go on with it.' " 17e glanced up at :me. "It, doevt't sound like shcop-killing, does it?" "No," i was obliged to admit, "It does mot." Joky lith. T am to a fah' way to g0 10 ,jail if things keep on as they have bee•11, 'eoing1 And not only for sh•x'p-lcill- ing. If we have not had a tragedy her , certainly to -day there is every indention of it. And with the fatal- ity whirls ]tats attenLdeme for the oat. wei,k or so, I have roam:;,•d to eft myself involved in it. Last night a 70111,11 nameil Caere - way, .worn in by Starr a few duy ago as deputy eonstable, was fe$i 11 - ed the highroad behind our property nt hit beat. Hes was armed ageing the sheep -killer with a 30-Y,0 Win- chester, which was found this mon,- lei in the hedge not far from our grapes, Nothing ie known of ni., marc - tilefits from nine o'clock, wh'-u L went on duty, until a few mmuti 'rater midnight, when "hce appeared breathless on the town sip, m nu.; 1,1 1111e, and jumping into 11 meter launch moored at the. float, started off into the bay. Peter. Geiss, an old fisherman, was smoking his pipe on the slip at the time, but Petr is deaf, and although E'arrowaly shouted something the old man did not hear it. Thera i , how- ever, an intermediate clue here, for on his way Carroway had run into the Bennett House, and tolyl the night clerk there to awaken Greee- ough and get him to our float; that the sheep -killer had taken a boat there and was somewhere out on the wetter Tho deputy's idea was probably to drive the fugitive hack to the shore, and as there are, due to the marehe but fc'w landing photos there, he seems so far as I can make out to have figured that the unknown would be forced back to our slip. Greenough appears to have reit no time. He threw an overcoat over his pajamas, took his revolver, and com- mandeering a car in the street, was 011 our pier before Carroway had been on the water ten minutes. And here, with that fatality which has re- cently permed me. he fount m , rc • turning from Lite float! There are times when misfortune apparently picks up some hapless in- dividual as her victim and, perhaps. for the good of his soul, hammers him on this side and on that until he begins to think he has deserved it. He is guilty of something; he knows not what. guiltyfacedi was a man as I faced Greeriouglr1 Ann yet the ;gene mint 111,1 ,! a,l its .•lenxdzis of humor. 1, rather .:htk,, air, my whir tittho night •oy teeth rattling, rani flu: ghost- ly fi ogre 5uddl'lrly appettri - 011 the t la v:ay above me .omit 'tain'ne• m_r •{ n to watt r; a terror which only h tn. eta in quality reign this wheat uy.tluet,rl m,• to pa lip my hairdo. But I knew the voice, and I pian. weed as dehonair a manner a: vats {easible tntd,'r the. l °."'um t nee.:. "Nothing in them but t flash. light," I said. ''However, if youin- t , 11 seemed to hesitate. Then he ' fit .heel a little, not too pleasantly, td ealitr' down the run -way to me. " "Out rather lata, aren't you, Mr. Pon•tcr?" h„ asked. I!. wa.,. my turn to hesitate. "1 1Ume down to pull the, eilloe trp onto the float," I saki finally. "Mrs. Porter thought the sea w•as rising." "Sounds quiet enough to me," he retorted and turning on hit lash, be run it over the surface of the wit 1, which was as still as a mill -pond, and onto thy• canoe which lay bottom-up and still dripping, on the floret. It ie indicative of the wh',l'• situ- ation, I think, that he lighted the flash. He was no longer lurkicg- in the dark, witting for the motor boat to drive the marauder ashore. That marauder, in the shape of a shiverigg professor of Engkiah literature, ,li'_ht ly unbalanced mentally, was before him. Thi -n he seemed to he Betendng, and knowing the story this morning, I daresay he was listening, foe th beat of the motor engine. There was no sound, and this I imagined weed- ed him, as it is puzzling the entire community to -day. I am myself not particularly observant, and any testi- mony I might give would, under the circumstances, be diseredited in ad- vance. But my own impression that there was the sell nrl of ..n ee- fl•on, ,Omeveht "„ e:; :1' b1 as I crossed the lawn, and that it hal ceased before I reached the water's edge, Greenough was frankly puzzled. He had, one perceives, a problem on his hands. He wanted Carroway to come in and identify 100, for with- out that identification he was help- less. And somewhere out on that water was Carroway, possibly with 11 stalled engine. He put his hand Ma his mouth and culled: "Hi! Bob!" he yelled '1/oh." But 111110 W11S 111) aln'uwt,1', exempt that Halliday carte running out llrtel RAM what the trouble was. Greek- oueh who thoroughly irritator; h+a tepee,' )oto a sulky, watchful silence, land offered no objection wheu 1 41ve ugly ; up•ge',ted that 1 ge back to m a y b i. 1 L'i't them both there, ffallid tv preparing' to r ,w out and locate the launch if possible, and eatlle back 0 the Lodge. (To Be Continued). isINE S CARDS Industrial mortgage and Savings Company, of Sarnia Ontario, fire prepared to advance money 00 Mortltagee en good len n,,. l artiee desiring swney on term nmi tteaios wail 1.h ase 110 1,19 40 Jruneee own!, seaforth On 1,, who will far nfeh rates and other purto...ham. The Industrial Mortgage and Savings Company AGENT FOR Fire, Automobile and Wind los. ;COMPANIES For Brussels and vicinity Phone 647 „TAMES M' FADZEAN Agent Hawick Mutual Fire Insurance Company Also Hartford W ndstnrm and Tornado Insurance Phone 52 Box 1 Turuberry Street. Brussels JNO, SUTHERLAND 4 SON p aY1�eLLII!M�IT�EEDM l'l,ly S dac+BravW C�'v WN.Ifrd'dl' L XIIttad0 D. M. SCOTT PRICES MODERATE R H'er re+fernnrr}. consult amp person who.e safest I have natmiaa•d fit. Phoee Y08a T. T. M' RAE M. B., M. C.P., ®S. O. M. O. H., Village of Brussels, Physlolan, Surgeon, Aeconchenr Offisent residence,lliam opposite Me1V 111e Chnrob, Wistreet. T .:Jz. effavagaz BARRISTER, SOLICITOR. CONVEYANCER, NOTARY PUBLIC LECKIE BLOCK - °BRUSSELS 3).3%11r11.011:611. ear Modern methods and appliances have set a new standard for a day's work. Time is one big factor. This is true in the factory, on the farm, in the home or what not. Time is money to -day. And anything that mul- tiplies the value of an hour is increasingly valuable. .-u. , bn-:, 'P 1t 3±, Jh ':0v P}"3-✓Y..,.d: .14`Aµ.'i "-^..?.'.m'7 Advertising is an annihilator of time. It pro- vides a short cut between a manufacturer or mer- chant and you. It makes it possible to tell in a few minutes all you want to know about the services or articles you need. A quick glance through !THE BRUSSELS POST en- ables you to sift the things that interest you, and in a min- ute you OSLO know ,just where and when to go for what you want. Figure out how much valuable time advertising sa.yos you if ,you use it properly, Think how much needless walk- ing and talking it,saves you and your noighbors,j Yes, Advertising; has a -pig Value to You—Don't Fail to Read It THE BRAS <r. gutta As1`!?.CP1'� ?�d11P J119a.42w