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Show The Mjsteiryof Hartley HMse I $ By CLIFFORD S. RAYMOND ft m-traled L, IRWIN MYERS Copyright by Goorje H. Do ran Co. I don't want It ever to look extraordinary." extraor-dinary." "Who was killed there?" I asked. "You'll learn the story soon enough," said tin? driver, "If you're going to stay In this house. You'll learn It better than I can tell you." At the great couch entrance of the old house I puld the driver and let him go. He was anxious to be gone. It was growing dark. Then I began ringing ring-ing the bell. At the third ringing there was n response, re-sponse, hi the form of a servant, a man, butler or doorman, past middle age. He was crusty. "What do you want?" he asked. I explained that I was Dr. Michel-son Michel-son and wanted nothing that I was not wanted for. I did not like his manner and was' not Inclined to Ignore it or to propitiate him as ordinarily one would. lie had, at first sight, an ex-fraordinary.power ex-fraordinary.power of exasperation. At the time I did not understand my weakness, hut afterward I did. The man was abnormal as an Irritant. Thus my appearance at Hartley house was so unfortunate that if the servant's contumacy and my resentment resent-ment had had another moment, the door would have been slammed In my face and I should have been walking back to Hartley station. At that hesitant hesi-tant moment in my fortunes, a woman's wom-an's voice intervened. "Jed," It said, "who's there?" The servant opened the door wider, and I saw a lady, a South American, I thought. "I am Dr. Michelson," I said. "Yes, doctor," she replied, "we have been expecting you. I am Mrs. Sidney. Where Is your baggage?" "I have only a handbag with me here." I said. "Come in," she said, "Jed will take it." He did, but made me see the ill nature na-ture of his- reception of me and of his duty. He had also, at the direction of Mrs. Sidney, to show me to my quarters. "Jed," I said, In my room, "we have not made the best start for two people During my spare time I walked about the grounds. A part of the estate, es-tate, about thirty acres, which seemed to be architecturally intimate and related re-lated to the house, was completely Inclosed In-closed by a twelve-foot brick wall surmounted sur-mounted by sharp spikes. It was built beyond the river's edge, and was continued con-tinued out into the water In a heavily buttressed fashion. Only a good swimmer swim-mer could have rounded It and come Into the place. It looked like a carefully care-fully but strangely designed protection. In the dog kennels were mastiffs and a number of Airedales. I said to Jed that it seemed as if precautions had been taken against a perceived danger. He had been affable during the day, but his face clouded Instantly. "The wall was here when Mr. Sidney Sid-ney bought the place, bnt we are In a way Isolated," he said shortly. "It Is reasonable to take precautions. It will be a precaution for you not to go roaming roam-ing the grounds at night. The dogs are not friendly then." His surliness was easily passed over. I was good humored and wished to prove It. "I have heard of the haunted bay," I said. "What Is Its story?" "Every fool in and about the place talks of that," be said. "You'll get too much of the story only too soon. But that isn't why we have the dogs. We don't take any stock In ghosts In this house." He was offended and went away. At three o'clock I saw my patient again, and he wanted me to read to him. I read to him for an hour. Then he look a nap. I had been told that any time I wanted to go to town I might tell one of the chauffeurs to take me. I needed a thin file for the bolt on my door. It annoyed me. I did not ask that whoever who-ever threw It at night should know that it was gone. It suited my purposes pur-poses better that it should be gone and the person who used it should think it was- still there. Therefore, after reading to Mr. Sidney I went to town for a thin file. I got my file, and for greater sociability so-ciability on the return trip I took the seat beside Charles, the driver. As we passed the pool, Charles referred re-ferred to it. "What Is it?" I asked. "What's the story?" 'A man killed his brother there," said Charles. "He Is now In the penitentiary pen-itentiary at Alwick for life. Ills brother's ghost, they say, comes back. I've never seen it, but some people say they have." "Who were the brothers?" I asked. "They were the sons of the people who used to own this place the Dobsons." He did not say anything more of it and I did not question him. I used the file on my bolt, leaving one end of it in the socket. It could be thrown, but it could not bar the door. Love at Brat sight. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Q MYSTERY I A fine old isolated country place, with a murder story, a haunted pool and a general atmosphere at-mosphere of the unusual; a rich old American owner, with a Spanish wife and a beautiful daughter; a young resident physician secretly in lore with the girl that's material enough for a first-class mystery story. But when the mother asks her daughter and the doctor to become be-come "nominally engaged' to discourage the advances of the family butler why, you get a hint of the unusual qualities qual-ities of this story of mystery. 0 c CHAPTER I. Itain hail been falling for five days ivhen I first saw Hartley house. The place had so much local distinction that a village not far from the estate was named Hartley, for It. Even when drenched and dripping In a slonn which had lasted for five Mays in late May, the spot was beautiful beau-tiful and charming; It had antiquity, that rare thing in a new land. Its two thousand acres, handsomely arranged for decorative and agricultural pur-puses, pur-puses, lay along the river bank, with an indented and Interesting till oral where Ihe river was two miles wide. I bad been an Interne In St. Julian's hospital, and a I lit; close of my last year 1 r. Urowncll had asked me If my arrangements would make It possible for me to undertake a case which he thought might be profitable and Interesting In-teresting to a young physician. It was that of Mr. Homer Sidney, the owner of Hartley house. "I never saw so strange a will to live," said the doctor when be discussed dis-cussed the circumstances with me. "The old man Is indomitable. For that reason he Is interesting, lie lives' because be-cause he wills to live, for some tremendous tre-mendous reason of which I know nothing. noth-ing. It Is enormous. You may live to see him die; I am afraid I shall not and be is seventy and I am fifty." I decided to accept. It may have en professional weakness', but in addition ad-dition to the financial certainty offered there was a professional Interest aroused. If Dr. Brownell were attracted at-tracted by a human being's will to live t-here certainly was something su-perhumanly su-perhumanly interesting about that human hu-man being. The recollection of Hartley as I first saw It remains as an enduring Impression. The long downpour of rain had given the place a spiritual accent. ac-cent. One felt as if the soul were saturated. It Is only occasionally In a normal mind that weather works a spiritual effect. I thought my mind was normal, nor-mal, but I felt the spiritual depression. depres-sion. The way from the station for three miles was through ordinary American small farm land. Then It changed abruptly. ab-ruptly. Antiquity began to show. The driver said we wore In the Hartley grounds. I was so depressed by the rain, by my own uncertainty, by thl:iklng over the decision I had made and seemed about to regret, by the dismal prospects pros-pects or at least the uncertain prospects' pros-pects' that 1 should have been glad for any sustaining human association. At the end of my journey I soon found such association and was thereafter happy in It, but approaching the place 1 was apprehensive. My driver had been, if not unapproachable, at least stupid and dismal. It somewhat astonished me wheu suddenly he began to talk. We were then about a half mile from the house. "I wish you had come an hour earlier," he said. "Why?" I asked. "I'm not a coward," said the driver, " at least, no more than usual, but I don't like to be In here alone, and I've got to go home alone." In a fashion . he expressed what might have been my mood if I had known more of the place. I could sympathize with him. The rain had done this for me. "What have you to be afraid of?" r asked. "Is something haunted around here?" It seemed as if so beautiful a spot ought to have this interest. in-terest. He stopped his horse. "I'm going back out of here like a scared pig." he said, " that is, if the old horse can stand it. But you're going go-ing to live here for a while, and I'll stop a minute to show you where they say the ghost walks." lie pointed to where the river had eaten a substantial bit out of the bank, making a pool or tiny bay. The road, swerving toward the river here, was within thirty feet of it. "It is-n't natural for a man to kill his brother," said my driver, "and something unnatural comes of it. A man killed his brother there, aud some- j thing unnatural lias come of it. That's j why I'll be just as well satisfied to j get you to the kmise and myself back ,ut of here before dark." "(let along, then." I said. "It looks like an ordinary place to me." -To me too." s;ud my driver. "And very beautiful and that now she was very unhappy. Seeing her again, I retained my first Impressions. Jed preceded me through corridors i to my door aud left me surlily. As he closed the door I thought I heard an-! an-! other sound than that of the clicking of the latch. I had. It was the throwing throw-ing of a bolt on the outside: Jed had locked me In. I made sure of this by trying the door. It could not be opened. Here was an astonishing situation sit-uation for a first night in a place. My Impulse was to make a noise and ask for an explanation, but on second thought I did not. My room was on the second floor, and I saw, looking out of the window, that It would not be Impossible to make a descent on the outside In an emergency. I decided de-cided not to begin my stay with a pro test against any habits of the house or occurrences In it. In the night I was awakened out of a sound sleep with an idea that I had been disturbed by noises, but nothing I couid hear sustained It, and I went to sleep again. I was up early, dressed and found that my door had been uubolted. I examined the outside of It for a bolt and had difficulty in finding one, so Ingeniously had it been concealed. The knob seemed a part of the decoration of the panel, and the bolt was of thin steel. I found It only by finding the socket into which it could be shot. The rain had stopped, and although the woods were dripping, there was a glorious, radiant sunlight. The effect was exhilarating. It worked a spiritual change. Man, said the morning, was made to be happy. Exulting in pleasant emotions, I let myself out of the main door and rejoiced re-joiced in the beauty of the place and the moment. I took a short walk across the lawn towurd the woods. A gardener asked me if I were the new doctor and said if I had leisure during the day he wished I would come to, the cottage beyond the gardens. His Infant had a cough. The house was astir when I reentered. re-entered. Jed was the first person I saw, and to my astonishment he was not only civil but pleasant and candid. "Did you have a fair night, doctor?" lie asked. "Sometimes a first night in a new place Is disturbed, and I owe you apologies. We have had here occasion oc-casion at times for locking doors on the outside as well as on the inside, and last night I forgot myself and threw the bolt of your door. I am occasionally oc-casionally in liquor, and last night I had a touch too much." I smiled at his candor and said something jokingly in comment. "A servant can't be blamed, doctor, for that," he said, "if his master leads him into it. W'e have coffee before breakfast. I'll serve you anywhere. The morning papers are in the library. There's a porch off it with a good view. It's my favorite spot of a morning. morn-ing. I recommend that you have your coffee there." His friendliness was amusing, but I found his suggestion good, and being fond of coffee, enjoyed it with a half hour of magnificent view and a cigarette. cigar-ette. The morning was odorous after the rain. The house was a charming structural struc-tural disorder of L's and wings, porches and balconies. It was very old, and one could see where different generations had contributed to its growth. The walls were backgrounds for hollyhocks or support for climbing roses or ivy. It had plenty of sunlight, sun-light, but dense white oak woods came close up. I held myself In readiness to attend my patient at his convenience, but It was ten o'clock before I was summoned. sum-moned. Mr. Sidney was pleasant and animated. "We must arrive at a schedule," I suggested. "This Is a little too late In the day to satisfy Dr. Brownell's Ideas of what my duties are." "But, my dear doctor," he said, "I do not wake until nine. I need my sleep. I do not go to sleep until one." "I should advise early hours," I said. "Of course you would, but you must remember that you are dealing with a man, at the end of his life, trying to make the most of It. I like to remain awake late." "Then you must," I said. "I shall consider it settled to see you at ten." "And, I hope, sometimes to sit up with me until one. Do you like chess?" "I never played." "Luckily, Jed does, just well enough to interest me and have me beat him. Do you like wine?" "A young doctor does not drink." "Luckily, Jed does. It is a great satisfaction to have some one whom you can beat at chess and whom you can see enjoying wine. Doctor. I have yielded to my friend Brownell's demand de-mand for constant attention, but as you can see. there will not be a great deal for a physician to do. I eat well, I sleep well, aud so long as my sensations sensa-tions are pleasant. I want to live. They are not always pleasant, but mostly they are so. I'd like to have you as a new friend in the house. I like to be talked to. I like to be read to. Will you relax and he just a friend?" "With pleasure." I said, "so long as nothing interferes with the physician." ""'hat'-' a bargain." h- said. "At throe e'cleek ;Ms afternoon you shall "A Dollar Won't Make You Welcome," He Said, and Left Me Looking at the Coin in My Hand. who may have to live together for some time." I offered him a dollar as a peace offering. "Are you going to stay here?" he asked. "I am supposed to," I said. "A dollar won't make you welcome," he said, and left me looking at the coin in my hand. I was called to dinner and had it alone iu a large dining room. When I had finished a maid told nie that Mr. Sidney would be glad to see me if it were convenient for me that he did not need me professionally, but that socially he would be delighted If I could come to him. He was sitting In a large arm chair in a great room with a great fireplace. fire-place. Later I perceived the fascinating fascinat-ing details of the room, but just then Mr. Sidney had all my attention. Dr. Brownell had told me of the remarkable re-markable will to live which I should find. It was instantly apparent. The old man was wonderfully alive. He was abrupt but smilingly and charmingly charm-ingly courteous. We talked for a quarter quar-ter of an hour, casually. Then he said : "I know you are tired, doctor." "Not at all," I said, interested to see more of him if I might. j "That's your good nature." he said. ; "And we certainly do not want to wear , you out in one day. We only wanted ', to see you. We shall get better ae- ! quainted, and we hope you'll like us ; and be comfortable and happy here. We have a fashion of trying to be happy. We are going to say good night and allow you to settle yourself to ; new surroundings in privacy. It is the kindest tiling we can do. Jed will show you to your room. Jed. tak'e care of Dr. Michelson. Good night, doctor." Mrs. Sidney stood beside Mr. Sidney as he was speaking. I had though' at first seeing her that she had be-Mi |