Show lil EllI Ell-I Mrs Todds Three = j Plights = Front + By Richard B Shelton BJ Copyright by Sliortstory Pub COI Mrs Todds lodging house was a model of its kind It was on a quiet street yet convenient to the cars its rooms wore commodious and well healed and Mrs Todd was the soul of cleanliness Iho lodgers too woe in keeping with the honseII married couple a retired school lonelier one or two working women and several pleasantspoken young young men who made little unnecessary unneces-sary noise and paid their rent promptly prompt-ly I All In all fortune had mulled on Mrs Todd since in early widowhood she had taken this lodging house as a moans of livelihood Yet there was one grain of anxiety in her cup of happiness Thrcc lfghts front at the top of the house was to all appearances a most desirable room All day long tho sun shone Into It and its windows gave a pleasant outlook across the chimney pots of tho houses opposite It had a new carpet and very tidy curtains cur-tains but despite these attractions threofllghtsfront was seldom occupied occu-pied for any length of time Various young men had rented It and once a young woman had stayed In It for nearly three weeks In each case however tho lodger bad decided to change quarters rather suddenly and had ought out Mrs Todd and more or less haltingly and shamefacedly shame-facedly had given his reason for leaving leav-ing Tho landlady was sure from their actions that they preferred to keep the real reason to themselves though what It might bo she was unable un-able to surmise Many times when the room was vacant she herself had occupied It for a night but nothing occurred to disturb her In the least After tho ninth occupant had paid his rent In tho middle of tho week and departed bag and baggage she decided to sift tho matter thoroughly To this end she moved up to the front room at the top of the house prepared to meet ghost or demon or whatever It was that was depriving an honest woman of tho rent of a good room Ono morning two weeks later she moved down again rather white and shaken I shall never sleep In that room again she said to Jane her mnld of all work and as she would not discuss dis-cuss the matter further It was dropped Thereafter when prospective lodgers lodg-ers applied to herIf no other room was vacant Mrs Todd would say I have one thrcefllghtsfront but really I dont believe you want It and generally this was Biifllclcnt to send them away One day there came a brisk young man and as the Illstarred room was the only one she had Mrs Todd made her usual response to his Inquiry The young man happened to be of the persistent typo lIe Inquired the price And other particulars and ended by asking to see the room He seemed quite satisfied with It In fact he so expressed himself in no uncertain terms lUrs Todd hesitated Before you take Itsho said I must tell you theres something well queer about it Ghost sold tho young man cheerr fully If thats it Id like to meet himMrs Mrs Todd shook her head Not exactly that she said Still something decidedly unpleasant Pshaw said he theres nothing unpleasant about thfs room and he handed out a weeks rent In this way John Knox medical student began his occupancy of Mrs Todds three tlightsfront A week two weeks went past and nothing unusual occurred Tuesday of the third week Knox rapped on tho parlor door Mrs Todds face wore ananx ious expression as he entered Ive found it ho said laconically What exclaimed Mrs Todd not thethe Noise Yes answered Knox tersely as usual gas globe Well I declare said tho landlady land-lady I never could locate It How often 1 have you heard It Twice he replied First time I heard it was night before last It started up that Infernal drone about ten Hunted all round before I could place It Cant account for It Can you youMrs Mrs Todd shook her head help lessly I At It again last night Knox continued con-tinued I shut off tho gas and stuffed the globe with absorbent cotton That stopped it Then 1 got curious and took It out Every time I unloaded the cotton off It would go IIko the whine of a cello Sometimes It swelled and sometimes it sank Deuced if I could liml out what made it Im not n bit superstitious but Ill tell you frankly I somehow dont enjoy It Again Mrs Todd shook her head She half expected him to pay his rent and leave as the most had done Hut Knox was of n different caliber and said Ill buy another globe and see if it makes any tHUarouca Mrs Todd brightened up The next day Knox brought up a similar globe and placed It over tho gas burnor A few days later ho ngain < knocked at tile parlor door I J Same Old tune said he and Mrs Todd thought ho looked a trifle pale Somehow this thing gets hold of me Cant reason It out you know Funny thing too 1 dont seem to want to Biuash those globes Theres some sort of fascination listening to that whine I know how It Is said Mrs Todd and she shivered Is It all the time No Seems to take its own sweet will Its liable to tune up any hour of the day or night Mr Knox Mrs Todd spoke with great effort theres a story that once before I took this house a musician had hat loom He went Insane In that very room They say hed play the keynote of a requiem and every now and then hed stop and listen for an echo and laugh to himself It mn > be exaggerated Its rot said Knox shortly and turning on his heel he went up stairs Yet when the globe started up its drone early that evening he felt cold chills running up and down his spine What a timid ass youre getting to be my boy ho said to himself nVho rose and lighted a pipe with n hand that was a trllle unsteady Played the keynote ho said musingly Rather n morbid fancy that Played the ko notoUr George lie stopped and laid aside the pipe Suddenly he whipped off the globe and donning his hat and overcoat he rushed downstairs down-stairs carrying tho troublesome globe under his arm It was n frosty evening eve-ning and the wlud was blowing briskly brisk-ly Ho hurried to a store on the avenue ave-nue and asked for gas globes A number num-ber of the ordinary shape were laid before him Ho took a pencil from his pocket and sounded first his own globe and then the others Presently 1 eG l ella a I I 2 I Have It Said He he found one which rang a full note lower than his own This he purchased pur-chased and with It hastened back to the house Ho placed tho original globe overtime over-time burner In a moment it sent out a low whine Then he tried his purchase pur-chase It was silent Ho went downstairs down-stairs and called Mrs Todd I have It said he and displayed f the two globes Then another Inspiration In-spiration panic to him Wheres the skylight ho asked Mr Todd took him Into a hall 1 closet and showed him a ladder running run-ning upwards This he ascended and went out on the roof Presently he was hack with n sigh of relief Our ghostly musician said he is i a lot of wires running across the roof Theres a standard holding them Just overhead When Its windy they begin to hum and one of them drones the keynote of the gas globo here and the vibrations carried along tho wall set the globe going That first globe I bought rang tho same note as the oilglnnl one so you see thats why it 1 tuned up also This ono is somewhat lower most of them I found were pitched lIk the firm onennd thats why it doesnt sing Glad I know what it Is So am I said Mrs Todd fervently They were silent for a moment Then Knox spoke Must have been creepy to see him do that though Iwonder K I he really did |