Show by MARY R P HATCH author of the bank tragedy copyright 1892 bj lee and shepard prefatory no e there needs but little explanation of the following pages except that the strange incidents are the true ones and the details most open to conjecture have a basis in scientific tact as set forth in the records of the societies for psychical research MARY R P haach CHAPTER 1 A mysterious journey it Is the middle of may 1879 like a living creature the ent lent earth Is pulsing with the rush of vitality so long withheld by the reluctant season the buds are ready to burst the grass Is unsheathed while white limbed birches and brown skinned maples are lo 10 ing their distinctive aryan and se mitic types under the green robes may Is weaving for all contradictory ele ments are abroad this morning in the weather at all events here in grove dale new hampshire there is a stiff northwest wind a low reaching tog with the sun struggling to look through it and a sky that looks like rain it the sun comes out it will not be directly and it is nearly time for the seven clock train whistle after abat a half hour and then mr haell ton must go it he go at all this morn ing meanwhile his wife is trying to con tince him that he would better wait until to morrow it looks so much like rain A fair handsome couple not yet middle aged they stand at the win dow of the dining room looking out rather than at each other A packed valise rests on a chair and the break fast table is let to the children a boy and a girl mr hamilton carries a light overcoat on his arm his hat and gloves in his hand and yet his wife declines to see that he Is ready to go but talks idly about the weather he answers in the same way though it is evident to both that underneath their words there Is deeper meaning which neither wishes to make apparent must you when it looks so much like rain she asks negligently re tying the ribbon which confines her morning dress and picking out the bows before looking up like rain constance why who ever knew it to rain with the wind in the northwest 9 that Is the way it conies lately it has been remarked vane by a great many people and it you should get wet you would get cold and with your weak lungs pshaw constance my lungs are as strong as a horse and so am I 1 but your mother died with con very true but it isn t going to rain mark my words the sun will be out in less than an hour and it it should rain I 1 am neither sugar nor salt to dissolve with the first drop oh you may depend I 1 shall be all right but you are not as well as usual you are more nervous you talk in your sleep and your appetite has tall ed lately the more reason why I 1 need a change the fact Is my business is too much for me this debilitating spring weather I 1 suspect I 1 am a little bilious and since mr henderson and your uncle have chosen to leave the mill business so much to me that with my duties at the bank has worn me down they will have to take the reins in my absence and tony will do ery well at the bank for the two weeks I 1 am away always two weeks murmured his wife yes and I 1 am sure it seems like a year then why do you goa because I 1 must you would not un der stand it Is best that I 1 do not ex plain at present there goes the whistle what shall I 1 bring you claire going to his little girl s side and stooping to kiss her A small face framed in golden hair with big dark eyes looking out from under bangs was raised to his as she sprang to her feet oh a ring papa a gold ring all right I 1 won t forget and you A writing beoh it you please mine is all written through very well kissing the boy as he had his sister and what shall I 1 bring you con he asked returning to his wife s side just hourselt vours elt and let it be soon looking eagerly and earnestly into his face I 1 shall be back soon never fear constance you are more beautiful than you ever were and I 1 love you better he whispered I 1 wish I 1 were at home again I 1 will be soon and kissing her hastily he took his valise after putting on his hat gloves and overcoat and left the house his wife stood by the window watching him until he was out of sight when a thrill of superstitious fear shot through her she had watched h m out ot sight away back in her childhood a maid en relative had so strongly impressed her mind with the malevolent influx ances of such an act that she could never despite her common sense get rid of the belief but she was cheered the next moment by recollecting her tower she sped quickly upstairs then along the corridor and to another flight this brought her to the toot of the tower which was built at one side of the house and rose fifteen feet above it there were windows in it on all sides and it gave a commanding view of the country romantic and unusual for the house itself was built on high ground constance went straight to the win dow overlooking the street which led to the station far there was a spot where her husband would cross the street unless he had crossed it already to go to the train fronting the crossing was a hotel known as the esex house she might see him she thought at this point it so she would just take one look to counteract the malignant effect of having watch ed him out of sight V ith expectant eyes and halt parted lips she eagerly watched the turn in the street which he might or might rot have passed ah there he was just as he left her walking briskly with a sign of relief constance was about to turn away when a woman topped out from the hotel door and coming quickly down the steps ap preached her husband what could she want of him she a stranger 9 or was it some one else down the street she was coming to greeta no it was mr hamilton constance was breath less now with interest and curiosity the woman was evidently a stranger in grovedale Grov edale oung and pretty it the di tance did not lend undue en chant ment and she greeted her bus band as it she knew him well better it Is best that 1 do not explain at present than her husband knew her tor he stepped back a pace or two as though surprised or not well pleased there appeared to be but few words between them and then the woman with slower step returned to the hotel and mr hamilton turned the corner but not until his wife remembering her object in coming to the tower shrank back until he was out of sight the fulfillment fulfilment of her design did not seem to have given mrs hamilton un mitigated satisfaction for she sank into a seat beside the telescope while her thoughts flew backward to the be ginning of her married 1 fe slowly re viewing the years until now years of astery every one of them its en city impresses her at this moment as never before eight years ago when a girl of awen tytko she married vane hamilton how well she recollected the first time she met him she the niece of the wealthy m 11 owner mr carter who had but lately come to grovedale Grov edale he soon to have an interest in the same business though he did not know it then in a year from their first meeting they were married vane s mysterious journeys began the spring after their marriage and they took place always in may how well she recollected her own chagrin at not being invited to accompany him she almost a bride to be left while he went alone on his worst of all he never told her where he was going nor his object in going and from that time until now it had been a matery among the townspeople they were looked upon as business bt siness trips to boston but she her self knew that he went elsewhere and he stayed from home two weeks once he left her quite though out of danger the physician assured him another time she asked him to take ht with him and he refused always there was an air of secrecy a grave abstract on an intangible difference in his manner as it called about an irksome business meanwhile clare and perley were added to their home and they had been happy through the eight years of their married 1 te despite the mys tery of his yearly trips for she trusted him she was sure that he loved her but each time as the middle of may approached she grew nervous and in various indirect ways tried to hinder his going just at that moment the sun bust bu st out the most unbelieving could not call the weather into question but s ill the do id sat on mrs hamilton s brow some omen she wintered tor she was quite alone would sus hect their husbands of wrong doing to go away as vane does every year so mysteriously and then she went slowly downstairs to her own room pausing on a stair to listen to the children s cices in the dining room I 1 have them at all events she thought going straight to her mirror she faed long at her own reflection not ing the cleir colorless complexion the dark lum eyes the rich brown hair with its gleams of gold the tall graceful figure and the in tangible charm which blent them all together into a charming personality her own she loved her husband deeply and was not insensible to the compliment he paid her when going away why did he go i he did not wish toa surely business did not de mand his absence he had no rela thes he did not go for his health besides his trips a ere yearly A wave of color sped over her face and she clutched her lands nervously just then the children came rushing in and perley said clasping her hand I 1 am glad you are pretty mamma I 1 should hate to have a homely one ou clarea 1 I should get used to it in time I 1 presume said the precise little maid en mrs hamilton tools them both in her arms and hugged them tightly for a moment then she made them tidy for school but instead of letting them go off alone she put on a street dress and went with them I 1 will go with you a little way she said 0 mamma will you how fara asked perley perhaps as far as the essex house I 1 want to see mrs fry she is at work in the laundry this week I 1 hear I 1 must see her in regard to our wash ing but most of all she wished to learn something about the woman who had spoken to her husband how she wished she had looked at her through the field glass she had in the tower but it had not occurred to her at the time As it was she had only a rather vague idea that the woman was young and pretty and the buncom fordable for table conviction of jealousy on her own part which she must try to rid hedelt of speedily what better way than to learn something about the oman and her object in speaking to her husbands 7 she would not ask foolish questions but it the desired information came to her well and good to be continued |