Show 0 DARK AR HOLLOW 0 V by ANNA KATHARINE GREEN 1014 by dodd mend blead Com Corn puny miny 1 SYNOPSIS A curious crowd ot of neighbor neighbors invade the mysterious home of 0 judge ostrander Oat rander county rj judg judge and eccentric trac tr tc recluse following a veiled woman who has gained entrance through ilia th gates or t the high lan double barrier barriers surrounding ur rounding the place the woman lian hat disappeared but the judge jud 94 Is found in a cataleptic late state bela h hie in servant S appears PP I 1 in n a dying condition and prevents tr entrance to a secret door dla bela diell the judge aw awake akes ml talas week weeks ex explains hla ins to hi hin n what ha t has ha occurred during 11 ife secretly ecret ly dis decover dl cover coveri the il of the veiled woman she PM roves to be both the widow of 0 a man tried eford the judge jud it a and nd electrocuted for mur dr der years be before ore her daughter la is en tn fw to the judge son on from wh alom om he la Is estranged ett ranged but the murder ie Is between the lover lovers she plan plans to clear her hubana husbands memory and asks ask the judge judges aid alone in her room deborah scoville reads the newspaper clipping clippings telling the tory story of the murder 1 0 of algernon etheridge by john scoville in dark hollow twelve year years before CHAPTER VI continued ah ali judge julge 0 ostrander strander ehe bho exclaimed in a hasty but not ungraceful greeting you are very punctual I 1 was not looking for you yet then ae ehe be noted the gloom under which he was laboring she continued with real feeling indeed I 1 appreciate thia this sacrifice you have made to toy my wishes it was wag asking a great deal of you to come here but I 1 saw no other way of making my point clear come over here peggy and build me a little house out of these atones stones you don t mind the child do you judge she may offer a diversion it our retreat Is invaded the gesture of disavowal which he made inside wag c courteous but insincere he lie did mind the child but he could not explain why besides be lie must over come such folly now she continued as she rejoined bm him on the place where be he had taken hs his stand 1 rl rill ask you to go back with me to the hour when john scoville left the tavern on that fatal day I 1 am not now on oath but I 1 might as well be for any slip I 1 ahall shall make in the exact truth I 1 was mak ing pies in the kitchen when hen isome one came running in to cay ray that reu ther bad strayed away from the front yard and nd here I 1 found her sir air right in the heart of these ruins she nas visa playing with ith just as peggy dear Is doing now greatly rell relieved eved I 1 was taking her away when I 1 thought I 1 heard john calling stepping up to the edge close behind where you are stan standing dlug sir air yes there alere you I 1 et such a broad outlook up and down the ravine I 1 glanced in tn the direction from which aich I 1 had heard hie his call just wait a moment sit I 1 want to know the exact time stopping she pilled out her watch and looked at it while he faltering up to the verge which she had pointed out followed her movements with strange intensity as ehe she went en on to say in explanation of her act I 1 the time Is important on account of a certain demonstration I 1 am an anxious to make now if it ou will lean a little forward and look where I 1 am pointing you will ill notice at the turn of the stream a spot of ground more open than the rest please keep your ee elsion sion that spot for it was there I 1 saw at this very hour twelve yeara years ago ag 0 the shadow of an approaching fig ure ture and it Is in there you will presently see one ong similar if the boy I 1 have tried to interest in this experiment dies not fall me now now sir air I 1 ve a should eee see his shadow before wo we see him oh I 1 hope the un Oar brush and tree have not gron groin up too talc 1 I 1 tried to ju thin out today re you w watching at ching sir art lie ile seemed to be but she dared not turn to ook look doth both figures leaned intent and in another moment she had bad gripped his arm and clung there did you see seel she vib dont mind the boy its the shadow I 1 wanted you to notice did you ob ile berve rye anything marked about itt it she had drawn him back into the ruins they were standing in tn that one secluded corner under the ruin ous gable and she was gazing up at him very earnestly tell me judge she be entreated asche as he made no effort t io to answer with a hurried moistening of his lips be he wet met her look end and responded with a slight emphasis the boy held a stick I 1 should say that be was whittling it it ah I 1 her iter tone waa triumphant that was wha I 1 told him to do dd did you see anything else elief no I 1 do not understand this ex peri pert ment or what you hepe from it if 1 I will tell you the shadow which I 1 saw at a moment very like this twelve yeara years ago showed a man whittling a stick and wearing a cap with a decided peak in front fro nt my aly rustad rus rad wore such a cap capthi the only one I 1 know of in town what more wore did I 1 need as proof that it was his shadow I 1 aw saw and it I 1 judge ostrander I 1 never thought ris differently till after the trial ill after the earth closed over ml poor husbands remains that was why I 1 STA tn his defense could say noth ing why I 1 did not 1 aleto bim when he ab that be bad u left ills stick be him when hl ran up the bluff after nut later when it was abo of his irben all over death and the necessity of seeking home eke where w drove ins into ben waw arv M ing the tavern and all its effects I 1 found something which changed my mind in this regard and made me confident that I 1 had bad done my hui hus band a great injustice you found what do you mean by that what could you have found his ills peaked cap lying in a corner comer 0 of f the garret he lie had bad not worn it that day for when he be came back to be hustled off again by the crowd ue tie was without hat of any kind and he lie never returned nuala to bia his home you knot that judge I 1 hal been seen the shadow of some otar man approach ing dark hollow whose I 1 am in this town toan now to fled end out judge ostrander was as a man ot of keen perception quick to grasp an idea quick to torra form an opinion dut nut his mind acted eflowly ly tonight deto rah scoville wondered at the blank begs of his gaze and the slow way in which be he seemed to take in thie this astounding act fact at last he found olce and with it gave gome some evidence of his usual acu men A madam ladam a shadow Is an uncertain foundation on which to build such an edifice as you plan A dozen men might have come down don that path with or without sticks before mr air etheridge reached the bridge and fell a victim to the assault which laid him low 1 I thought the time was clearly settled by the hour he left your house the eun sun bad had not set met when hen he turned our corner on hie hill way uny home so several people said who saw him Des ldes yes there la Is a besides I 1 in m sure of it 1 I saw the tall figure of a man whom I 1 after afterwards ards made sure was mr air atheridge coming down town factory road on his way may to the bridge when I 1 turned about to get rot Ze leuther uther all of which you suppressed eup pressed at the trial 1 I was as not questioned on this point sir madam adam he was standing very near to her now hemming her as ll 11 were into that decaying corner comer I 1 should have a very much higher ion of your candor if it you tild tid me the whole hole story 1 I I have sir or ilia ills hands rose one to the r hand wall the other to the left and remained there with their palms reel rest ing heavily against the detling plas ter she was more than ever hemmed in fit but though she felt a trifle fright ened at his appelt which certainly was as not usual she faced him without shrinking and in tn very evident surprise it seems too slight a fact to men lion and indeed I 1 had forgotten tor gotten it till you pressed me but after we had pas d the gates and were well out on the highway I 1 found that had left her little pall behind her here and we came back and got it did you ou mean that girl air 1 I meant nothing but I 1 felt sure you had not told all you could about that fatal ten minutes you came back it is batte a walk from the road the raw man whoop shadow you saw must hare reached the bridge by this time alv what it at did you see then othear or hear nothing absolutely nothing judge I 1 was as intent on finding anding the baby a pall and having found it I 1 hurried back home all the faster and tragedy was going on or was just completed in ili plain sight eight from this capt 1 11 I have no doubt sir air and if it I 1 had looked possibly john might have been saved the silence following this was broken by a crash and a little cry peggye peggys house bad had tumbled down the mall small incident was a relief cotil assumed more natural postures so the shadow Is your great and only pow remarked the judge 1 I shall not desist judge der you are going to pursue this jack blantern olan tern 1 I 1 am determined to if you deny me aid and advice I 1 shall seek another counselor john johns name must be via dilated he lie gave ber her a look turned and glanced down at its child piling g stone on stone and whimpering jut just a R I attle talt when they fell watch that baby babir for a while be remarked and land you will learn the les tea son BOO of most human endeavor madam I 1 have a proposition to make you you cannot wish to remain at the inn nor can you be long happy separated from your daughter I 1 have lost dela bela I 1 do not know bow how nor would I 1 be willing to replace him bf another sery servant ant I 1 need a housekeeper ome some one devoted to M my y interests and who will not ask me to change my habits too materially will you accept the position it I 1 add as an inducement my degina to cave bave ne idaer also as an camit ti of my home thi this does not mean that I 1 cou countenance nten ance or in any anticipate her union with roy my son may ay I 1 do not but any other advantage advantages she may desire she ball shall have I 1 will bot tot be strict with her deborah scoville was never more taken back k in ber her life the recluse opening his hi doors to two the man of mystery flinging aside the reticence ot of year yes to harbor barbor au a into fr M M cence which he refused to let weigh against the claims of a son be bad had seen fit to banish from his heart and hornet bomel you may take time to think of 0 it be he continued as he be watched the con fused emotions change from moment to moment the character ot of her me bile features 1 I shall not hae bale rny my affairs adjusted for such a change before a week if 11 you accept I 1 shall bo be very grateful if it sou decline I 1 shall close up my two rear gates and go into solitary seclusion cluelon ec I 1 can caa cook a meal it I 1 have t to and she saw that he v would do it saw and wondered still nore 1 I 1 shall have to write to reuther she murmured how soon do you want my decision decla lonT in four days daye 1 I am too dist disturbed imbed to thank vou judge should hould we bave lave to keep the gates locked I 1 no dut but you would have to keep out unwelcome intruders and the rights of my library will ill have to be respected in all other regard regards I 1 should wish under these new circum ances fi to live as other people live I 1 have been very lonely ulusc past twelve ears I 1 will think bout it and you may make note of these theme two olivers name Is not to be mentioned la in my hearing and you and reuther are to bo be known by your real names you would yes madam no secrecy ie in to be maintained in future as an to your identity or my reasons for desiring iou ou in my house I 1 need a housekeeper ud and vou ou please roe me that ou au have a past to forget and reuther euther ll a disappoint ment to overcome gives additional point to the arrangement her answer was as 1 I cannot take baric what nhat I 1 have said about my determined purpose 11 in repeating this she looked up at him askance he lie smiled she remembered that smile long after thu interview waa as 0 er end and only its membry remained 0 0 0 0 dearent dearest mother inhere here could we vie go that disgrace boull not ot follow ua us let I 1 us then accept tho ho offer I 1 BIT am the more inclined to do thi this became because ot of the possible hone that ome some day ho he may foma come to car i ti me rrie and allu allow rn tn to make life a s brighter for him I 1 to fact that tor for in a gerlous reason he rule himself cut off fron from all intercourse Inter Loune with till hi non on liay y 6 a bond ot of sympathy ym pathy between us u I 1 too am cut ot off from all companionship with oliver between us u alo also a wall wait ie is raised do not mano that tear drop mamma it Is I 1 the lael last hisses 1 for my comforter come oon nn over this letter deborah scoville a i for two hours thin n she rang for mrs airs yardley the maid who ta answered sered her sum inona mons surveyed her bet in amazement it ai if you deny me I 1 shall seek adoth er counsellor was the first time that she the had seen her uncovered face mr airs yardley was not long in corn com ing up mr lira sh shet began in tv 4 kind of fluster as she the met her st strai ige guesta guests quiet eye dut but she got oo 00 further that guest had a correction to make my aty name 6 bot tot averill the she protested you mast must excuse the be tern tem horary dec deception option it la Is scoville I 1 once your present position in ahto hoube mrs yardley had heard til all about tho Scoy liles and while alle a flush rose to her cheeks her eye eyes napped with sudden interest Inte resL came in quick quiet elci isia tion followed however howater by aa an apologetic cough and sad the somewhat forced add corly ent loual remark you find the th place change chang pd DO no doubt T very much eo to and for the atter mr yardley then with a waight w forward of ala abers eye he buletty added 1 11 a golnik to 0 o live o with judge ostrander tire yardley keep bouse house for him myself and daugh ter ill ills a in man a n I 1 la a de dead 3 d all and d h he 0 f boele 0 el 6 iery cry helpless I 1 hope that I 1 hall shall bo be able to make him comfortable mr airs Yard leyB face an a study in nil her life shi she had never heard new news surprised her more in another moment she be bad had accepted the alatua tion like the very sensible woman shi was as and biro scoville bad had the batts faction of teeing the he promise of real friendly support in the smile with which lira yardley remarked it a a good thing tor for you and a very good thing for the judge it may shako shake him out of his habit of secle elon ston it it does you ill be the city 0 benefactor good luck to you madam and you have a daughter you say after mrs mra Yard leye departure dep artur mrs scoville aa as she now expected herself tu be called sat for a long time brooding there was one aling more to be accomplished she set about it that evening veiled but in black now tho the went into town getting down at the cor cot ncr ver of colburn avenue and perry street she walked a abort short distance dia tance oo 00 perry then rang the bell of an at looking bouee bouse of moderate dt dl men mansions delg admitted she asked to dee ce mr billack and for an hour sat in tn close conversation ith him theis she took a troll trolley my car cat which carried her into the suburbs when she the alighted it was uns unusually late for 1 woman oman to be out alone but shu abo had very little physical fear and walked on steadily enough for a block or tac till she camo came to a corner hero where a high fence loomed forbiddingly between hei bet and a house iko dark that it was lm im possible to distinguish between its chimneys and tho the encompassing trees was ehe she cito |