Show to tu T u A R ff t fal 0 WL 4 aw 0 W by ANNA KATHARINE GREEN 1014 by doddi dodd mead company 40 ax SYNOPSIS IA I 1 A churlou crowd oi 0 neighbors invade the mysterious home of judge gontrand r fo bounty 0 anty judda alli eccentric recluse to following w ing a veiled woman who has gained iti tranee through tile kates gales of tile g h double barriers our surrounding rounding the th place 1 a c e the h woman has hb disappeared but tile the ju judda d 9 u I 1 to found und in avata a cataleptic leptic CHAPTER R I 1 continued it was ns an awful and ami a terrifying sight bight to little miss weeks and screaming loudly she lett left her bor window and ran into judge Ost randers presence pre Bence r mid bid gazing wildly about wormed her way toward a heavily carved screen guarding a distant corner arid cowered down behind it the gasping struggling men the frantic negro were in the next room now she could catch the he sound ot of the clatters Int lat panting breath rising above the clamor of strange entreaties and excited cries with which the theair air was full then a quick hoarse 9 shout of judet cudgel judger judge rose in the doorway and she became conscious of the pree ence of a headlong rushing force struck midway into silence as the fro zou xen figure of tits his master lashed flashed upon the he negros eyes then a growl of concentrated emotion uttered almost in her car and the screen which had been her refuge was violently thrust awny away from b before her and in its place she ehe beheld a terrible being ot anding over her in whose eyes dilating under this thid fresh surprise she elio beheld her doom even while recognizing that it if 8 aho he must suffer buffer it would be simply as s au an obstacle to some goal at her back which lie he must reach now before he fell in ills his blood and died what was this goal As she felt herself lifted nay almost hurled burled aside she turned to secand see and found it to bo be a ahe door before which the devoted hola bela had now thrown him hl self guarding it with every inch of his powerful but rapidly sinking body and chattering de defiance flance with its his bloodless quivering lips a figure terrible in anger sub limo lime in purple and piteous in its falling failing energies dack back all ot of youl he cried and stopped clutching tit at the door casing on either side to hold himself erect you cannot come in hire hero this Is Q we judges not even hla his iron resolve or once U unequaled physique could stand bland the sapping capping of the terrible gash which tits figured his forehead lie he had been run over by an automobile in a moment of blind abstraction and his bis hurt was mortal already his head held erect by the passion of his bis purpose was 51 t fill turning they beheld the judge upon hla his feet sinking inking on his hia breast already his glazing eye was losing its ita power of can concentration cent ration when with a final rally of hla his decaying strength he started erect again and aad a ad cried out in terrible appeal 1 I have disobeyed the judge and as you see it has killed him do not mako make me guilty of giving away hla his secret swear that you will leave this door swear that no one but his son shall ever turn this lock or I 1 will haunt you 1 I uela bela man by man till you sink to la terror to in your sour graves swear sw ow ills his head bead tell felt forward again and in that intense moment of complete el at lence they could hear bear the splash of his lifeblood as tt it dropped from his bis forehead on to the polished boards beneath then he be threw up his arms anil fell in a heap to the floor dead broke from little ants weeks as she flung herself down in reckless abandonment at his side she had never known an igi agitation tation beyond some come fluttering buttering womans comans hope she had bad stifled as soon eoon as born and now nov the she knelt in blood A solemn huth then a mighty sig i of accumulated emotion swept fron from alp to lip and the crowd of later in ia badere dere already abashed if not terri pd lad by tho the unexpected spectacle of suspended animation which confronted them from rom the judges chair shrank tumultuously back as little miss weeks advanced upon them holding out her meager arms in late defense of the secret to save which she eho had just seen a rian man die let us do as he wished she prayed 1 I 1 feel myself much to blame what right had wo we to come in here no one in authority was present no one representing the law not even a doctor only haphazard persons from the and a few neighbors who had not been on social terms with the judge for and never expected to be so again ills his secret I 1 always a source of wonder to every inhabitant of shelby but lifted now into a matter of vital importance by the events of the day and the tragic deuth death of the were they to 16 miss its solution when only a door lay lin tween it and them a door which they might not oven even have to unlock migs 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 game strange now new influence at work in the room and turning they beheld the judge upon tits his feet his mind awakened but his eyes still fixed an awo figure sonic thought more awesome than before death was present with them ho bo saw it not strangers were making havoc with his bis solitude he was as oblivious of their presence as ho he had been unconscious of at it before ills faculties and all ills his attention were absorbed by the thought which had filled tits his brain when the cogs of that subtle mechanism had slipped and tits 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 intensity of the question the compelling self belt forgetful passion of the ninn man had a startling effect upon the crowd of people huddled before him with one accord and without stopping to pick their way they made tor for the 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 the folds of the curtain which had been only partially torn from its fastenings miss weeks was the only one to stand her ground when the room was waa quite cleared and the noise abated it was a fright rightful experience to seo see how bow little the judge had bad been affected by all this his hubbub vf combined movement and sou sound nd she stepped within the line of hla his vision and lifted her tewy feel fIg and ineffectual hand in ili an effort to lo attract his attention to herself dut but he did not notice her any more thap than lie he had noticed tho the others still looking in the one direction ho be cried aloud in troubled tones she stood there I 1 tie th 0 woman stood there and I 1 saw herl her I 1 where Is she now sho she Is no longer in the ho house came in gentle reply from the only one in or out of the room courageous enough to speak she went out when she ehe saw us coming we know knew that she had no right to be here that Is why we intruded ourselves sir wo we did not like the looks of her wid so followed her in III to prevent mischief how dared youl ilow how dared shel she then as tits his mind regained its full poise and how even if you had the temerity to venturo venture an entrance hero here did you manago manage to pass ray my gates they are never open dela bela sew sees to that As she watched she saw his eyes fixed up to now upon her taco face leave it and pass furtively and with many hesitations from object to object toward that spot behind him where lay the source of her great terror till finally with fatal precision they reached thu the point where the screen had bad stood and not finding it rew flew in oper opec terror to the door it was wae set there to conceal when hint flint something else huddled in ili oozing blood on the floor to beneath neath drew them to itself with the Ir resist Irre alst Ible noss or grim reality and he be forgot all else belal dead and lying in ili his blood 1 the rest may have been no lie dream but this was surely one or r hla his eyes used to inner visions qs were playing him false grasping the table at hie side bide to teady steady his bis falling failing limbs he pulled him self elf along by its curving edge till tie lie came almost abreast of the helpless figure which for so many years had been the embodiment of faithful and service then and then only did the truth of his great misfortune burst upon hin bewildered soul and with a cry which tore the ears of all hearers and was never forgotten by anyone there lie he flung himself down beside the dead negro and turning him film hastily over gazed in his face and where was 1 I when all this happened he demanded in a voice made low by awe and dread of its own on sound it i you you were seated here muri aured th the eARtle little comai woman pointing at i the great chair you were not quite quite yourself she softly explained pla ined wondering nt at her own earn coin losure then quickly as aa she eho saw his thoughts revert to the dead friend at his hl feet bela was not hurt here lie he was downtown when it happened but he be managed to struggle homo home and gain this place which he tried to hold against the men who followed him lie thought you vase dead you sat there so BO rigid ani andvino W white and before he quite gave up he asked us all to promise not to let enter this ibis room till your son oliver came cama understanding partly but not yet quite clear in hla his mind the judge sighed and stooping again straightened the faithful negros limbs then with a sidelong look in her direction lie he felt in ili one of the pockets packets of the lie dead negros coat and drawing out a small ismall key held it in one hand while lie he fumbled in hla his own for another which found ho he became on the instant tits his own man again miss weeks seeing the difference in him and seeing too that tile 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 hor bar by a gesture she waited patiently near one of the bookracks book racks against which she had stumbled to hear what he had to say 1 I must have had an attack of some kind he calmly remarked will you ou be good enough to explain exactly what occurred here that I 1 may more fully comprehend my own misfortune and the death of this faithful friend then she saw baw that his fits faculties were now fully restored ind and came a step forward hut but before slid she could begin her story he added this searching ques tion was wan it he who let you in you ou and the other 1 I think you said others was it he be who unlocked my gates miss 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 hat had passed before her eyes dut but there was ono one thing ehe ebb could make clear to him and that wis was how the seemingly impassable gates bad been made ready for the womans comans entrance and afterwards taken such ad vantage tit by herself and others A pebble had done it all a pebble placed in the gateway by delas baias hands As she described this and insisted upon the fact in face of the judges almost frenzied disclaimer she thought she alic saw the hair move on his forehead bela a traitor and in the hAe interests reste of at the woman who had bad fronted him from the other end of the room at the mo anent had teh felt halml evidently this 1 little body did pot not know bela or hla his star story or why should interruption come e then wily why vias pe he slapped when in uie he pas joll of tile tho momet moment he eslit have let fall some word of enlightenment which would have eased the agitated curiosity of the whole town miss weeks often asked herself this question and be bewailed walled the sudden access of sounds in ili tho the copins rooms WITH which tho the nince of the police and put a now new strain upon the judges faculty of self belt control and attention to the ono one matter in h hand and tile the commonplaces of an official in aulry about to supersede the play of at a startled spirit struggling with a problem M f w whose hose complexities ho had received but a glimpse glimp so 4 ar the library but how chan changed gedl evening light now instead of blazing suns sunshiny hint and evening light no BO shaded that the corners seemed far arid and the many articles of furniture cumbering cambering cum bering the spaces between larger for tho abu shadows in ili which they stood hidden perhaps the man who sat there in company with the judge would have preferred to see more perfectly that portion of the he room where oela bela had taken his stand and finally fallon fallen but from the place where be sat there was no getting any possible view of that part of the wall or of anything con can necked with it and so with every up pea pearalee pe aranco ranee of satisfaction at being at a lowed in tile the room at all sergeant doolittle from headquarters drank tho the judges wine and listened for the judges commands sergeant I 1 have lost a faithful servant under circumstances which have called an unfortunate attention to my house I 1 should like to have bave this place guarded carefully guarded you understand from any and all indru alons till I 1 can call look about me and so cure protection or of my own may 1 I rely tho the police to do this begin ing tonight at an early hour thero are loiter loiterers ers already nt at the corn corar r and in front of the two gates I 1 am all not accustomed to these attentions and ask aak to have my fence cleared two men are already detailed for the job your honor I 1 hoard heard the order given just as I 1 left headquarters tho the judge showed small satisfaction two ment meal I 1 have three one tor for each gate and one to patrol the tha fence separating these grounds from the adjoining lot it if two trien men arts ar not enough to in sure you ou a quiet sleep deep you shall have I 1 ij three or four or oven even more mor judge Os tr ander do you want one 0 of them to stay inside that might do the business buBl nesa better than a dozen out no while dela bela ilea above ground wo we want no third here when lie he Is burled buried I 1 may call upon you for a special to watch my room door dut but lla its of outside protection were talking now only who is to protect mg in against your men what do you mean by that your dour honor they ire are human are ara they not nott they have instincts of curiosity like the rest resi of us how can I 1 be made sure adre that they wont yield to the temptation of their position and climb the fences they are detailed to guar guard M T and would this be so eo fatal to your peace judge A smile tem tempted temp pred ired the tha suggestion it would be a breach of trust which would greatly disturb me I 1 want nobody on my grounds nobody at all ilas has not my long life of solitude within wiehl these walls walla sufficiently proved this I 1 want to feel that these men of yours would no ing tnora Is climb my fence I 1 than they wound terrt lUf Bt into my house without a valta nt 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 quietly as any man can who has met with a great loi lo io 1 i I 1 shall always suffer from regret aliat liat I 1 was not in a condition A if II 11 who Is I 1 to protect me against your men to receive delas belas last sigh lie he was waa a man in a thousand one seldom sees his like among white or black ho was a very powerfully built in man an it took a sixty horsepower racing machine going at a high rate of speed to kill him A ol of grief or unavailing regret crossed tile the judges jud gett face as ills his head bead sank back again |