Show 17 1 D AR K HOLLOW I 1 by ANNA KATHARINE GREEN 1014 by dodd horid company Com parsy SYNOPSIS A curious crowd of invade t the I 1 home of eudse ostrander county judg 1 noll eccentric recluse following a ve veiled i led woman who has haa rained gained i thi tile the katea gates of the high double barriers barr lern surrounding the place the conlan liuo ling disopa 0 ared but the Judge la in round found in a cataleptic c state nt ite CHAPTER I 1 continued it was on an awful arid and a terrifying sight flight to little miss weeks and screaming loudly site she left her window and ran into judge presence and gazing wildly about wormed her way toward a heavily carved screen guarding a distant corner and cowered down behind it the gasping struggling men the frantic negro were in the next r room 0 in now s she he could catch the sound of lole the batters lat panting breath rising above the clamor of strange entreaties and excited cries with which the c er r was full then a quick hoarse shout of judge judge rose in the doorway and she became conscious of tile the presence of a headlong rushing force struck midway into silence as the frozen figure of his master hashed flashed upon the negros eyes then a growl of concentrated emotion Aitt uttered ered almost in her par ear and the screen which had bid been tier her refuge was violently thrust away from before her and in its place silo she beheld a terrible being standing landing is over tier her lit in whose eyes dilating under this fresh surprise silo she beheld her doom even while recognizing that it if she bile must suffer it would be simply as nit an obstacle to some goal at tier her back which lie he must roach reach now before he fell in his blood and died what was this goal As she felt herself lifted nay almost hurled aside site she turned to see and found it to be a door before which tile tho devoted dela bela had now thrown himself guarding it with every inch of his powerful but rapidly sinking body and chattering defiance le flance with ills his bloodless quivering alps alpa a figure terrible in anger sublime in purpose and piteous in its falling energies bacal all of youl you I 1 he cried and stopped clutching at the door casing on either cither aide to hold himself erect iti you cannot come me in here tula this Is ia tile judges not even ills his iron resolve or once unequaled physique could stand the sapping of the terrible gash which disfigured hla his forehead lie ile had been run over by nit automobile in a moment of blind abstraction and ills his hurt was mortal already his head hold held erect by the pat ision of his purpose was 3 al I 1 M 11 turning they beheld the judge upon hla his feet sinking on his breast already his glazing eyo eye was waa losing its power of concentration cent ration when han with a final rally of hta his decaying strength he started erect again and cried out in terrible appeal 1 I 1 have disobeyed the judge and as aa you doe it has haa killed him do not make me guilty of giving away his bis secret swear that you will leave this door swear that no ono one but his son abail ever turn this lock or I 1 will haunt you 1 I bela man by man till you sink in terror to your graves swear sw aw ills head bead be ad fell forward again and in that intense moment of complete at silence they could hear bear tho the splash of his lifeblood as aa it dropped from his forehead on to the polished boards beneath then he be threw up hla his arms and fell in a heap to the floor dead broke front from little miss weeks as she flung herself down tn in reckless abandonment at hig side bide she had never known an agitation beyond some fluttering womans comans hope she had bad stifled as binin bin in as born and now she knelt lu in blood A solemn hush bush then a mighty sigh of accumulated emotion swept from ram up lip to lip and the arod of later in already ar eaily abashed it if not terri tied fled by the unexpected spectacle of suspended animation which confronted them from tho judges chair shrank I 1 tumultuously back as little alias weeks advanced upon them holding out her meager arms in late defense of the secret to save which she had just seen a man die let us do as he be wished she ehe prayed 1 I feel myself much to blame blam e what right had we to come in ili here no one in authority was present no one representing the law not even a doctor only haphazard persons from the street and a few neighbors who had not been on social terms with the judge for years and never expected to be so again ills hla always a source of wonder to every inhabitant of shelby Sli elby but lifted now into a matter of vital importance by the events of the day and the tragic death of the mogro were they to rates miss its solution when only a door lay between it and thern them a door which they might not oven even have to ic unlocks unlock miss alias weeks was about to utter an impassioned appeal to their honor when the current of her and their thoughts was changed by a sudden sense of some strange new influence at work in the room and turning they beheld the judge upon his feet his mind awakened but his eyes still fixed an awesome figure some thought more awesome than before death was present with them he saw it not strangers were making havoc with his solitude he was as oblivious of their presence as he had been unconscious of it before ills 1115 faculties and all his attention were absorbed by the thought which had tilled filled his brain when the cogs of that subtle mechanism had slipped and his faculties paused inert where Is the woman ho he cried it was a cry of fear not of mastery CHAPTER 11 II the veiled woman the tha intensity of the question the compelling self forgetful passion of the man had a startling effect upon the crowd of people huddled before him with ono one accord and without stopping to pick their way they made sor for the ilia open doorway knocking the smaller pieces of furniture about and creating havoc generally some fled the house others stopped to peer in again from behind tho the folds of the curtain which had been only partially torn from its fastenings miss alias weeks was the only one to stand her ground when the room was quite cleared and the noise abated it was a frightful experience to seo see how little the judge had been affected by all this hubbub of combined movement and sound she stepped within the line of ills his vision and lifted her feeble and ineffectual hand in an effort to attract ills his attention to herself hut but he did not notice her any more than lie ho had noticed the others still looking in the one direction ho he cried aloud in troubled tones she stood therel there 1 the woman stood there and I 1 saw herl her where Is she now she Is no longer in the house came in gentle reply from the only one lit in or out of the room courageous enough to speak she went out when she saw us coming we know knew that silo she had no right to be here that Is why we intruded ourselves sir air wo we did not liko like the looks of tier her and so followed her in to prevent misch mischief let 11 illow how dared youl how dared she shell then as his mind regained its full poise and how even it if you had the temerity to venture nit an entrance hero here did you manage to pass my gates they are never open dela bela sees to that As silo she watched stio she saw his bis eyes fixed up to now upon her face leave it and pass furtively and with many best lations from object to object toward that spelt behind him where lay the source of her great terror till finally with fatal precision they reached the point where chero the screen had bad stood and not finding it flow in terror to the door tt it was set there to conceal when therit something else huddled in oozing blood on tho the floor beneath bf neath drew them to itself with the Iffe slat ib leneas of grim reality and he bo forgot all else dead dela belat I 1 dead and lying in his blood tho the rest may have been no dream but this was surely one nr ir his eyes used to inner vi visions were playing him false grasping the table at his side to steady his falling failing limbs he pulled himself along by its curving edge till lie he came almost abreast of the helpless figure which for so many years had been tho the embodiment of faithful and unwearied service then and then only did the tha truth ot of hla his great misfortune burst upon his big bewildered soul and with a cry which tore the ears of all hearers and was wae never forgot forgotten tou by anyone there he flung himself down beside the dead negro and turning him hastily over gazed in his face and where was waa 1 I when all this happened he demanded in a voice made low by awo awe and dread of its own bound you you were seated here murmured the little woman pointing at the great chair you were not quite quite yourself she aho softly explained pla ined wondering at tier her own composure then quickly as she alie saw his thoughts revert to tho the dead friend at his feet bela was not hurt here ile he was downtown when it happened but he managed to struggle home colne and gain this place which lie he tried to hold against the men who followed him lie ile thought you were dead you sat there so rigid and so BO white and before he quite gave up ho he asked us all to promise not to let anyone enter this room till your son oliver came understanding partly but not yet quite clear in ili his mind the judge sighed and stooping again straightened the faithful negros limbs then with a sidelong look in her direction he felt in one of the pockets of the dead negros coat and drawing out a small mall key held it in one hand band while he tumbled rumbled in his hwn for another which found ho he became on the Ins instant his own man again miss alias weeks seeing the difference in him and seeing too that the doorway was now clear of the wondering awe struck group which had previously blocked it bowed her slight body and proceeded to withdraw but the judge staying her by a gesture she waited patiently near one of the look book iracks against which she had stumbled to hear what he be had bad to say 1 I must have had an attack of some kind he calmly remarked will you be good enough to explain exactly what occurred here that I 1 may more fully comprehend my arty own misfortune and the death of this faithful friend then she saw that his faculties were now fully restored and came a step forward but before she could begin her story he be added this searching question was it he who let you in you and the others I 1 think you said others was it he who unlocked my gates miss alias weeks sighed and betrayed fluster it was not easy to relate her story besides it was woefully incomplete she knew nothing of what had happened downtown she could only tell what had passed before her eyes dut but there was one thing she could make clear to him and that was how the seemingly impassable gates had been made ready for the womans comans entrance and afterwards taken such advantage of by herself and others A pebble had bad done it all a pebble placed in ili the gateway by belas hands As she described this and insisted upon the fact in face of the judges almost frenzied disclaimer she thought lit she saw the hair move on his forehead uela belac a traitor and in the interests of tile the woman fronted him from the other end of the room at the moment consciousness had left himl him evl dently this intrusive little body did not know dela bela or his story or why should interruption come then why was he sapped when in the passion of the moment he might have let fall some word of enlightenment which would have eased tile the agitated curiosity of the whole town miss alias weeks often asked herself this question and be bewailed walled the sudden access of sounds in the rooms without which proclaimed the entrance of the police and put pat a new strain upon the judges faculty of self control and attention to the one matter in hand the commonplaces of an official inquiry were about to supersede the play of a startled spirit struggling with t a problem of whose complexities he be il had a d received but a glimpse 0 0 the library again I 1 but how bow changed I 1 evening light now instead of blazing sunshine 1 and evening light so BO shaded that the corners seemed far and the many articles of furniture cumbering cambering cum bering the spaces between larger tor for tho the shadows in which they stood hidden perhaps the man who sat there in company with the judge would have preferred to see more perfectly that portion coolon of the room where bola bela had taken his stand and finally fallen but from ithe the place where ho he sat there was no getting any possible view of that part ot of the wall or of anything connected with it and so with every appearance pe arance of satisfaction at being allowed in the room at alt all sergeant doolittle from bead headquarters quarters drank the judges wino wine and listened for the judges commands sergeant I 1 have lost a faithful servant under circumstances which havo have called an unfortunate attention to my house I 1 should like to havo have this place guarded carefully guarded you understand from froin any and all intrusions till 1111 I 1 can look about me and secure protection of my own may I 1 rely upon the police to do this begin ing tonight at an early hour there art ara loiterers loiter ers already nt at the corver corner and in front of the two gates I 1 am not accustomed to these attentions and ask to have my fence cleared two men are already detailed tor for tho the lob job your honor I 1 heard the order given just as I 1 left headquarters tho the judge showed small satisfaction two ment men I 1 I 1 have three one tor for each gate and one to patrol tho the fence separating these grounds from the adjoining adlo luins lot ill 11 two men are not lot enough to ln in sure you a quiet sleep deep you shall have i I 1 three or four or even more judge ostrander tr do you want one of 0 then them to stay inside that might do the business better than a dozen out lio fio while uela bela lies above ground we want no third here when lie ile Is ie burled buried I 1 may call upon you for a special to watch my room door dut but its ot of outside protection were talking now only who Is to protect me against your men what do you mean by that your honor they are human are they not they have instincts of curiosity like the rest of us how can I 1 be made sure that they wont yield to the temptation of their position and climb the fences they are detailed to guard and would this bo be so fatal to your peace judge A smile tempered the suggestion it would be a breach of trust which would greatly disturb tu b in me want nobody on my grounds roV lids nobody at a pi al 1 11 I 1 lias las abt my long life 0 6 solitude T e with in these walls sufficiently proved this I 1 1 want to feel that these men of yours would no more climb my fence than they would burst into my house without a warrant judge I 1 will be one of the men you can trust me thank you sergeant I 1 appreciate the favor I 1 shall rest now as aa quietly ns 9 any man can who has met with a great great loss I 1 shall always suffer from regret that I 1 was not in a condition N N jill III 1 I who Is to protect me against your men to receive uelas belas last ile he was a man in a thousand one seldom sees ills his like among white or black ile he was a very powerfully built man mail it took a sixty horsepower racing machine going at a high rate of speed to kill hill him A spasm of grief or unavailing regret crossed the judges face as his head sank back again against the high back of his chair 11 1 I should like to ask a question lie ho finally observed you were not at the inquiry this afternoon and may not know that just as bela and the crowd about him turned this corner they ran into a woman leading a small child who stopped the whole throng in order to address him I 1 saw that woman myself earlier she was in |