Show what the ura deiy y house UN the mystery Mv story of a haunted mansion W N U service copyright by wyndham SA martyn by BS matyn A A k A L A A A A I 1 A A A A A THE STORY hilton hanby prosperous nw new N w york fork merchant has purchased a country place the orny gray house near pint pine plaint plains ailsa Se lenoa lenom a former tenant 0 of f th i garv house calls at t his office anil and warns him th that as t the h house 0 us e la ia under a cu curse ree further a larmi tig d details el are impressed upon adolf ilan hanaya byle secretary by a man who claims to have been cha chauffeur for sir stanford sey bey mour former form er occupant of the place the hanbys laugh oft off the warnings they have received both from afes and from ers acquaintance BB an some form of practical joke CHAPTER II 11 continued 3 who are you to butt in like thata that she demanded finally hanby come came into the room and she backed out forgot oil all about you Sin iucker ticker hanby admitted it was a birthday party ahat Is it 1 I 1 wish to see mrs hnnry too returned its a matter of life ond and death hanby saw that the fellow bad been drinking and that tile the undo custo ined stimulant had bad let down some of ers barriers of re nt tie he had bad always known that ills employee disapproved of him but he be was unprepared tor for tho the hate that glared from the red rimmed eyes it came as something of a shock mrs kIrs hanby Is busy he said also I 1 dout doul propose to inflict any business troubles on her I 1 may say ay that you behaved in very questionable taste in shouting what you lid did just now its none of your d d business whether I 1 have a few people in to dinner Is it if A matter of life and death dedith Si lter went on 1 I am wasting my time alarming my own wife and trending car fare all for your benefit and you insult me I 1 have expected it 11 I 1 its nothing to do with office bust bus ness then A matter of life and death mrs hanby must ti her ar jt it too hanby paused a moment alt all right I 1 IT it send for her von hanby bid bed long ugo ago known that in her be I 1 husband benl enl employed a disaffected and unpleasant sort of man site she bowed coldly to the intruder who found in her fresh fuel for his wrath lie he saw a lovely woman of forty who looked no more than thirty he hated her for that mrs airs was not dowered cowered with beauty he saw a splendidly dressed woman who held field herself regally up ip considered that at forty n woman should be plump and not concerned con berned about dress or complexion first of all she should he a good cook mrs hanby outraged his bis sense or of proportion she was slen der and graceful once in the office when tile the light had been poor he had find mistaken her for cella 1 I nm am the deaths head at the feast he bp sald pompously you have been imagining yourself the of a great mansion trian slon it Is a house of death benth nod and disa disaster sterl ob hill she cried what does he mean what the red faced man find and told him at an 0 hour or so earlier now wove into an intensely dramatic narrative M mrs ra hnnry listening emberty en Berty gerly learned that rhe house in which she and her children were to live had since its erection wore more than a hundred years before been the tomb of all young people who cited it IL there was a superstitious in her and er cot could lid see she grew brewi uneasy it ft irritated him film to see hanby immune from amir Is this true she asked her hus bus blind it her to see him film shuib una unaffected by the be dread gripped her she did nut not understand why lie he was concerned mainly with retting getting on flo accurate description of my mr sey sev mours chauffeur tr tir its kind of you to take tile alic trouble to lo come here sold said hon han by at lost last but youve been tl alvic the victim of a practical joker ive had one already and this Is the so second con d you think rui 1111 ISIng cried angrily no 1 think you were used merely as a tool and this Is your gratitude I 1 bit arness tr ness was in volve voice H Is ie only what I 1 might I 1 lave expected I 1 would have been wi wise se to note the unusual look of itter which passed across his employers employer e face 1 I 1 will have ft a called to take you to the subway it la Is ruining kalning ini obliged to you for comlus er you too kno you yoi were the victim of a ronn man trying to play a joep on in e while hanby well went to the tel telephone in it a booth outside Sti iucker turned on na mrs rs hanhy a n by he fie rl reveled meled in rier uneasiness it enve ga re him the biln er af pf if it a gratifying sense of a superior tty pance drink revel and oppress ohp th p tl ft W cju Illa may I 1 be sold to la corning when we intellectuals wilt will ue looked through the window which showed tile lie hudson what do you see there the river I 1 suppose sold said mra him hanhy puzzled it will be a river of blood some day from albany to the seat sea it will bo be reddened with the blood of corrupt politicians of the officer enste trained nt at west foint to enslave us it will be red with tile the blood of new york capitalists ills blood your blood ann looked tit nt him with eyes why lid did this flits 4 be quiet she said you disgust mel tive little creature hate a ronn man who bad kept him film on year after year through pity be quiet she said you disgust me roel 11 site she turned from him and met her husband coming in the taxis coming he sold said let me know tomorrow to what expense youve been put pul good night nigh till I 1 when had gone dinn put her hands on berg her husbands shout ders dear she said youve always been very good to me youve given nie aie everything that I 1 wanted and much more than I 1 deserved I 1 want to ask a favor it Is grunted 11 he replied even unto the half bait of my lands und and forests my takes lakes and lordly manor houses and the small change I 1 have in ay my pocket get rid of that man the first thing tomorrow he iseril Is evil and hates bates you all right salome said ald hanby ills his head will be on a charger for you any time you care to call for it after ten tomorrow morning As site she went bark back to her guests site she asked hlin him why he be laughed at ers story because reggie brophy aud and bill 11 elliam have put up a joke un on me ind Is mad as a hornet because this cuts out our wednesday and sunday foursome pel ham raid bald hela hed pre prevent vent me from going there by hook book or brouk it if that clial clegge feed ing old Si with that house stuff ill drink the lake inke dryll dry I 1 it might be reggie she admit ted it would he just like ilke him hani what about bill Vel belham ham bill Is selina the patron saint ut ul aek and toy uste listen to t the he story of hilss Selet Se lencs ios who hates hater und and despises men inen particularly nie me bill Is 18 about the best actor in our crowd and he made up pretty well well enough to fool roe me for a lime dine 11 but would they do it she asked it will be a loreg wet drink for roe me it if im wrong he laughed wanted tin on the long distance sir said mary sloan ask ash junior to go sold said lits his futher 11 1 nant ant to io tell fell the rest about and bill he captained to ills bid wife before tie he could commence life his re junior usually impassive to the th point of irritation burst in its ita from the at pine plains lie cried dad your cure care at the file 0 rny house has been mur tl ered 0 0 0 0 0 0 lillton came back to it cy ble guests after ten ou minutes at the telephone A very unfortunate thing lie he told them A wan named kerr whom I 1 engaged through my cay lawyers only yesterday has been killed I 1 must murt go up tip tomorrow and see about it ill RO 0 with you dad junior lunior said promptly tell us its the det detully tills there tire bione tione kerr was an on married ninn of good character cb armiter a ve of the hie spanish american nr who tin til been living at kingston I 1 wonted wanted a enre toker because we shant he be living there for a time lime and ive lioen warned that hat thieves ilovea tl ninke n of new plumbing fixtures it if theres nobody to guard but you had time to gaull iu uny ill n dina taits the mysterious part of it there eq nothing to steal kerr moved it bed tind anti a few household belongings into a arouni noor floor and the have not heen been disturbed aa was he killed inside the house cella demanded no outside ills body was found in the luisa hamby shot a nul k took look at ills his wife ns its he said this flits from tile the little frown slie she gave he be saw that tile the ory orv of what Si had bad suld tin with her and assumed ird a new importance at flits tragedy was vos lie he drowned dina asked no his hund hend wai was buttered battered to in with tile handle vt of a pick why they throw him in the lake I 1 cant lu imagine lagine they did it to conceal the body suggested junior tile the weights welp lita probably slipped of oft and the corpse carve came to the surface again lakes are always drag dragged gea han by replied it seems a silly mean ingless tn glees crime theres always motivation it if you know where to look for it junior answered wisely on the whole its rather fortunate that im going up with you tomorrow tile pollee police will be delighted his father said hanby was annoyed to think that this flits crime hud had obtruded itself on ills his birthday it was a bad beginning for his ownership of the gray house the police I 1 sneered junior what do the police know of 0 the psychology cholody of crime rity pity theitis dont chide them cella celia mucked mocked toor policemen they been to and new haven cherest Th erest probably a whole tot lot more in fit this than you think junior went on unshaken on oil the he fuce face of it its a crazy motiveless crime we may run into all sorts of amazing things wheels within wheels kerr muy not have been a caretaker lie he may have been sent abere to apy on us then who killed hm fearby snapped lie could see that nat dina was disturbed more albun he be liked and why eliat wa we shall find out replied junior when first you aeve of lie he gra oray house I 1 thought there was something oni ethIng mysterious shout about it ft why did it stand stan empty so long lang haunt ed probably ob these things liap flap pen pent I 1 in your generation they scoffed sion cd but bul we ore are wiser in my psycho ogy agy class t vell tell me about it tomorrow tn in his father cume on peo pie lets dance I 1 title to la my birth day awny away with gloom I 1 he seized dina and they beann elaborate jo borate ou on a tox fox trot motif you dont think theres anything in it do you binti alna asked hini him 1 I 1 lean anything to do with mith what that awful little man inan say saying of course not he answered we shall find at the inquest that some roving tramp killed kerr to steal ills his endings envin gs tramps pst I 1 site she said site she was waa city bred and ami distrusted remote claeps there are always tramps arent there they wont worry uil ua we shall have baa e a house tilled filled with people und therell be gardeners and orbera also this Is my great surprise im taking a year olt off from business I 1 can afford it TO HE CONTINUED H M |