Show I 1 DARK t-DARK 1 DARK HOLLOW i By ANNA J KATHARINE GREEN V VV V Author of The Leavenworth Case Cue The House of or the Whispering Pines Initial of Only Masterpieces o Mystery etc t Serial Serla rights of 01 this thU story co controlled by the tho McClure Newspaper Syndicate t. t v V V t. t V t- t VV Folly is oc elt fire I cried crie a US' US ho he cast dismayed eyes at my soy pallid f. f V and dripping figure f If f If you OU go to the thc thedoor door you can see itt But Dut I 2 told hurl him nothing more V Perhaps other boys bo s ot of ot my age fiSC can cani i 4 understand mv my silence 1 f V I j not only did aid not tell my 01 father hut hutt t V i I r told nobody oven even after niter the tho dil discovery i f. of charred bo body y in thc the V so 50 miraculously preserved With every everyday day dav a that pa passed passed- it harder t tok to t k part parl with this baleful secret I 1 felt it IV corroding my thoughts and destroying ing my Y spirits and yet rot I k kept pt still Only f JD my taste for or modelling was gone 1 L V have bave never touched clay since V. V I Claymore tavern did change hange owners When I i heard that hat a man tuan b.- b. the name t j of of- Scoville had bought it I r went overto over o to s sec Co Scoville He was the thc man Then 7 j. j L began to ask myself what I ought to tp f and the thc more I do with my knowledge more tl 1 1 asked myself lf this question queston and the themore V more I 1 brooded over o the matter the J JessI Jess ics I II I I Hid I feel Icel like not tho public put but m my any fat father cr into m my confidence 1 had bad never doubted his love c for Cor me mc t. t but I had always stood in great awe awo awer r r- t of ot his bis reproof and I IUd did not know I where here I was 5 to find courage to tell him all al all the details of this tins adventure V thiu I did however Ther is ono thing dp V I m made de certain inquiries s here and there them an and s soon on n satisfied m myself lf as to how Itow Sw V V Tille rille had been able abl to tc como into town commit this horrid deed eed and escape cape V without a any one ono but myself elf being tho the I wiper Spencer r and he lie had come from V tb tho V West st en t to Nc V lC v York ark with V out ont auy any intention of stopping off in inH H Shelby But once involved in play pIa jot got ot fo so o interested ted that when with with- l' l V. V i iu it a U 11 w il milc mile of the town j proposed that they should leave the thc t. t i tram and aDd finish h the game amo in his own j house Whether circumstances f t th them m m. m or Spencer took some e nar naT against bc being Dg recognized V will never nevor be bo known But cert t tain iri it it at ill ip UH t. he c escaped cd all alt l tion at the station arid and even cven upon ulon tb tho thor 1 ps road When Scoville returned alone r t f the st storm had bad reached such a height heigh V that bat the roads were d deserted and he be no HollI betag HollIn an n t entire hrc stranger cr hero at kat that time naturally natural attracted d no attention vv- vv and able to slip away on the thc next DeXt a train aiu with just judt the drawback o or of buying F ue a new ticket t. t I J a boy oJ of irs 5 trespassing where I did not belong was waif the tho only fl Ht Je s what ot of what had happened on thin of dreadful storm in the li ruin o W was J n now a 8 T 1 the es ot tl o V iu lt rh this pi put t 1 mo me but not V litO it ti j v Sro i. i ignorant th t v other hN brOat t. t than hi bib own ariu II tb secret c of of- of that tUt hour hom of or fierce ire t and Jl murder V scented arc danger lan anger anger- er and aud rejoiced without t l- l j ii in J his his' new ne acquisition What il 11 ht I 1 not ot down dOT V mJ might upon m. m my- my elf by bj b him in it at ait this thia late lare I s day l If It I i were wro going poing to do anything I should h have hare vc done don it at first so t o I rca and let Jet the matter slide 1 b became interested in school and stud study an and tho years cars passed an and I had almost forgot forgotten en the occurrence when suddenly sudden sudden- ly 1 the iu full remembrance cam came back upon mo me with a a- rush A t. man man- man my man man-m- my fathers father's a friend was friend was found m murdered in sight of this spot of oC ol time old timo horror a and tI S Scoville o lV Ira ivas S accused d of the act I was older now and saw aw my fault in all aJl its enorma enormity I was wa guilty of that or crime crime or so r T felt in In tho the first heat beat of my sorrow orrow nod and despair I J ma may even I have said i 8 so so-in so in dreams dreamt 0 of in s some mc of my self self- absorbed broodings Though I certainly had llad not lifted tho stick n against Mr dr Ir I had bad left the Ule hand han free which did Ail and this was Wa a sufficient occasion for remorse or remorse or so soI I truly felt I w was s so affected by r the tb that t V even on my father with his llis ow own owr weight of troubles noticed m my careworn fuce fue and asked mp me for an explanation on But I 1 bob bola hola him off until the too verdict was vms reached antI and then I told him I ha hanot hadnot had hadnot not liked his looka for time they seemed to convoy convey doubt o othe of the the justice of this mans man's sentence an anI and andi I felt lt that if ho ht had such ouch doubts the they might be he cased b by this certainty inh of Scoville's mur murderous l tendencies and unquestionable greed And they but as Seoville was already doomed we wo decided that it was unnecessarY nr to make public his past off offenses However Cr with ith an eye eve upon future contin contingencies m my father er exacted ended from me inc in writing this full account of nJ my in adventure which with all nU the tho solemn solemnity t. t of an oath I 1 here declare de le cZars clare to be tho the truo true stor story of what be be- bei V i fell feU me mo in the thc h house called Spencers Spencer's Folly 1 on the night of 1 awful u September clo 1893 OLIVER R Witnesses s to above signature ARCHIBALD D OSTRANDER RJ nI- nI nII BELV I A JEFFERSON Shelby November 7 1595 What Do You Think of ot Him Thai Now This WAS W the document and theo thoo bo be i words t which Deborah widow of or the thc theman man thus doubly denounced had been I J given cn to read by bv the father of tho writer writ writ- er Cr in fl the tho darkened dark room which had ben been and still was to fo her an abo abode c of or brooding thought and unfathomable I j mystery I No wonder that during its reading V more marc than on ono one exclamation of or terror and nd escaped her as tho the onca once rehabilitated form of the dead and L gone started into dreadful life again before be be- fore her e eyes es There were so reasons for or believing this record to bean bean be bean an absolute relation of the truth Incoherent rent phrases which had bad fallen from those tho long Ion closed lip laps took on new nevi meaning with this unveiling Jing of on nn an- an n known past for which she could not n account count in iii thO those O old days she the now saw c explained Ho lie would woul never noV nev er or even in passing give a look at the tue ruin on the bIll bluff BO so attractive to to every eye ce but his own As for entering its gates gates she she had never Dover dared so 80 much aj ns to ask him to do O so lIe He had bad never expressed ed his antipathy f for r the place paco but ho had mado made her foci 1 it She doubled doubted now if ho he would have climbed d to it tho tire ravine oven Q to save have vo his child from falling over ita itu verge Vergo indeed In Indeed In in- deed she sho saw nT tho r reason now DOW why ho could not c explain the tho reason renson for lor tho the apathy he hI showed in his hunt bunt for Beu- Beu tIler on that fatal day da and his Ins so 80 marked avoidance of tho llio hei height h where she waa as found Then the watch Deborah knew well wen that watch She ho had bad often asked askell him by bi what bat stroke of luck Juck ho had got sot s so eQ fine funo a timepiece But ho he had lund never ne told toM her Later it had been from him and as ho 10 had a mania for watches that was wh why perhaps perhaps- Godl was waft her mind veering cering hack to her old idea as to his r responsibility lor for forthe the crime committed in in Dark Dad Ho Hollow i low T f TYes Yes she could not help it Denial Dental from a monster like this a this this-aman a man man V who with such BUch memories and aud s such ch spoil could return home to wife and child with some gay gar and confused story or ot ora ota oi oia a great stroke in hi speculation which had hat brought him in th tho price of the tho tavern it had Jon long Jong b been bren cn his hu ambition t to own own own- what hat was denial from front such ups lips worth though emphasized by the tho most sacred of oaths and uttered under the shadow of death The judge was right Oliver whose ingenuous story had restored to her mind with some sonic of its old graces graces had had been the victim of circumstances cir circumstances and aDd not nor John Scoville Henceforth she would see him as such and nd when she had bad recovered a from froJD tho effect of at this su sudden insight into the revolting past sho she would would- Her leI thoughts had bad reached this stage and her hand in obedience to the thc new mood WiltS was lightly ruffling up p the page pages before her ber when she felt a light ht touch on her shoulder and turne turned with a start Tho The judge was at her bel back How now lon long V h he had hail stood to d there she did not know nor did he be pa say pay The muttered exclamations t which had escaped her tho the irrepressible irre irre- I cr cry cr crof of despair sho she had ad given en when she sho first reco recognized the identity of the tho U stranger ma may have hae reached him him where he sat eat nt at the thc other end of ot tho the room and drawn n him insensibly forward for ward till ho could overlook her shoulder as she read and taste with her the horror hor of these revelations which yet ct were w working so SoO beneficent a r result sult for him thin and Rud his It ma may have been so and it may have ha been that be ho had not made j his hig move mo till ho he saw her attitude change e and h r head bead ead droop disconsolately i at the reading of tho last line She lId did not ask as I have said nor did ik he tell teU her hut but when upon feeling his hand upon her shoulder er she turned ho he was there and whilo while his lips failed to speak his were eloquent and their question single and imperative What V What do you oU think of him hint now the they to ask and rising to her ber feet she met hip him width ith a. a a smile ghastly Uy perhaps with the lividness Ji of hf the shadows shad mss ms's through u h which she had been gro grop in ing but encouraging in withal and soot sooth soothing in ing beyond measure to his lits anxious and hara harassed sed soul V Oliver is innocent sho declared turning once more to Is lay her ber hana hand upon the thc sheets containing hi his na naive nae e conf confession U The Tho Tho dastard who could shoot his host for plunder is capable of ofa a a. second crime holding out a sin similar ar in Nothing now flOW will ever make maka mo roo connect Oliver with the tho crime crimA at atthe atthe V the tho bridge As A's you Oll said ho be was vas simply sim sima ply near enough the hollow bollow to toss into it the th stick ho had bad been wh whittling on OD his Tiis is way from th the oak tree 1 I am his advocate from this minute Her eyes eys were still resting mechanically V cally upon that last page o lying spread out put before her and arid sho she did not observe in its Us full fuU glory tho first gleam am of triumphant trio tri jo joy which in al all probability Judge Ostrander's countenance had shown hown in years oars Nor did h he aeo eo in Jn the tho i i glad cad conf confusion sion of oC the moment nt the I quick shudder hu with which she sho lifted Jilted ho her trembling hand baud a aa away a from thoo papers pa pa- papers pers and looked up squarely at last into h b hs s transfigured ia visage c Oh she J she L-she murmured burst bursting in ing into a torrent of tears teaTS U HDTV how you must have haye suffered to feel so great a a relief Then Thon sho was still ery very still and waited for him hint to speak I I suffered buffered d he presently ded to state because of or tho the knowledge e which had como to mo ma of the scandal with which circumstances threatened u us Oliver Olivcr had confided to me after the trial mind not before the unfortunate fact of hi his having ha been in possession pos pos possession session of oC tho stick during those few odd minutes preceding the tho murder He bad had also alo told me me 4 how ho he h had d boasted once and in a bs bur crowd too of his intention to do Etheridge Ho lie had bail meant mant nothing by Jy tho phrase beyond biond what anybody means who mingles bonstin boastin with temper but it was a anasty nasty t point of corroborative i e evidence an and heart breaking a as it was f for r mo inc to part with V th him I 1 1 felt that hi his future career cS would be bo furthered by a fresh start in in another town If You You see ho he continued a 3 faint blush dyeing his hilt old cheek old olti in sorrow Borrow not in years I am ant revealing revealing- mysteries mysteries mys mys- teries of my past pat life ire which I have hl hitherto kept strictly within iii my own breast I cannot annat do this thir without shame because while whilo in in the man many serious conversations con con- we lr havo bavo 2 had bad on on this subject I havo have always insisted upon John Scoville's Seo- Seo I villes ville's I bare havo guilt never allowed my myself myself self to admit tho the least fact which would in any wa way compromise compromiso Oliver A cowardly attitude o for bra fora a judge von vou will wm say and you are am right bu hut but for a father father Ir Mrs Scoville I love lovo o e m my bo boy bos' I I What What's that thaU I IThe The front doorbell was trail rin ringing In a 3 flash De Deborah was wag out of or the ther r room om It was as if hc be ha had flown lown with unnecessary en eagerness to answer a bid bid- dine which after alter all Beuther could easily have atten attended d to It struck hima him a aghast bast for or the tho instant then he lie he began n slowly 1 to gather up the papers before him and carry carr them bae barC i into the theother theother other room Had he instead made I straight for the tho doorway leading to the I front of the tho house he would havo have come upon tho the figure of ot Deborah standing alone and with her face pressed in anguish h and anti unspeakable despair against the lintel Something had haul struck her ber heart an and darkened her hor sou soul since that exalted moment in in in- which sho cried Henceforth I 1 will be Olivers Oliver's cate When the iud judge c at last Jast camo came forth it tt was WM at Reuther bidding A gentleman wished to see him bum in in the i parlor j I This his was tras so o Teven een ln of at I j Ilat lat late when tho ladies fl lid did l rt receive hc sonic callers caners that he lie stopped short aft after r his Ims first i instinctive step to ask her if iC the I gentleman had given gien his name ero To be continued tomorrow I |