| Show THE MILL ansTEUY jjn 1177 Sly MY FATIirII V J Vi L h1 > ii pprr d a I 1 U A V r > nrsl rlou ly what iSM A V It hid beoifi of him I 1 wh h hA I nrrrr returned to 1 I I hi laving wlf and I only oem WAI tho mystify and KOMIP of our little lllg f or y 0 < 1 rs H wns In tho 1 opting when In left uln Ihe spring when the river roared past our home swollen by rains and mrltlng snow I vim tour ymca old hot spring sisi I mlllht have forgotten forgot-ten hew lie looked had not mother kept his face Creek In my n mefy by frequently fre-quently showing me his pletur One as we wr looking through Ike Ibum I r m mbr that I otol1 hr it the picture nt lowbrowed hand same man with a dark drooping mustache mus-tache and 1 slrady almost deadly i 7CC Who 10 I that molhorr I ukI I fancied sue shlverrd a bit an site reo MM MMThat That li my cousin Hlbert Uke your falhrr he disappeared rather myiler lously or mort correctly he w Mil way some lime brfor your falh r I < llsappraranrf and he hot never rr turned What haa tirmm of him I ds i not know NI do not like him I declared lie ha a tad tier mother I hope he will not cute tack at all Until the day ef my vlilonuntll she lirard the story from my llpsmy mother Irmly trllrvM father would tm day return and explain why hue had drsrrtrd us thus Hut what I saw In the old mill crushed the lad hop from tier breast Kor years tho mill had not teen In steal It was hndonid even before the lrang departure of my father A optIng frrshrt had swept away the dim and no attempt was over mad to rebuild re-build It Th mill waa fast falling Into dotoy Kumilhlng about Ihe old mill fascl suited me and I used to play titer a great deal for all 1 that mother did not like II and often told site to krrp away J TIIIN IT llottl AN Iiit I remember the great uare opining III the UIIr floor oft how I uied lo look down at the awlrllnit water far bit < tntore I fill ailiep but sleep I event law I sometimes wonder If I were to fall how long I wcmM live after sinkIng the mrtaco ot ho natir Homillmfa I would fall asleep III some nook or cranny of thee old milt I wni en odd boy and I did not four the Place although It woe dntrted nnd lonely and more than ono nt the village folks had hinted that It n 11 haunted One day In the prlniillme when the swollen river rushed past the nil mill mid lulled me with Ita murmuring marI mar-I lay on the aawduit and fell to thinking think-ing about my father I nmomlnreil how he had lift ua exactly seven > eara ego that very day and boy Ihouih I woo began to feel that mnlhiri hope of Ma that riturn waa a vain and foollth one onI know not how long I lay thinking uilly did I awoke whIt n start a great feeling of horror upon me although I am urI ur-I had not Ion dreaming Pltllng up 1 woo startled beyond mraiure In behold be-hold two men facing lath oilier tnt a abort distance from me Ont et them was speaking exclttdly while the oth r llstrned a scornful smile on lite face I o I could tie the features of bold tuien w them dlsllnctl A great cry rose In I my lips but something held U Kick and I stared and slarid There could be no daubl one nf the man woe my own father Ihe Utliir who had lift us yearn before iiia Ups of lime hd net seiuml to cluIng Mm In the least lie 10011 Jut the MIIH as he did In tlw hotogiaph mother sliontd me to often And the olhrII was my mothers cousin I reoognlied lita l n broned darkmustaehed man with the i1adly l eyes and now those eyes ac nid motor deadly than they lkN In I Ihs picture 1 ao much disliked III wu speaking fiercely snttlll I jl I Ho you married her almost I as aoon aa I went away and left I you toajttlii lloracct h rrlid shaking a rllnohnl Mat In yh father fare You knew I 10fd hrrou knew I knew she did not line ynu Klbort turned my father still 1 smiling scornfully scorn-fully She feared iou und aim was lad wh n > OU went lxiii What dhl I evi ii I 10 mike bir fear tone 1 I toyed her imdl It wns your tote shun feared JJut > OUOU wet false to loot Yu buue f my I > nnl sit I > u mirrh d h r ni en tie l > asuhiu 1 I afi r I hurt lffI fall li pr In what way I was fait W r wrrr nrrr wrtliuliir frlrndii Slat you rrmalntd I should have won hIt h-It I could You should not have powtwed herr hmilnl tM darklyhindMrm man tote featum working with iMMfefl Hr the eternal skls I woald bar kilted > on first I I My father laugh aloud and that laugh ccwmneml lo turn the other Into a rltnil for ht snarlxl Ill kill you now Then they grappled and before my staring a IrrrlMe Imllle took pluee I watched them straining swaying Itagxerlng panting foulIng on and on I would have flown to my father1 aid oormthlng bolt mime ehln l and silent I could see It all but I aIn powtrleis a-In Interfere At length I caught a glampw tit mine thing brlghtomithlng that gllltirel In a deadly way It was i > knife and It waa grasped by the hand of my father fath-er antagonist for 014 brief moment Ihe blade was bright and glittering Then It rae aol fell and when It rim again II was dripping drip-ping darkly A great groan broke from the lips of my father and ha sunk limply In thermo the-rmo of his shyer who lowered him to the stwduMeuverid floor I saw my falhira iigua move and I heard him faintly murmur You haY kllM me IllHrtl Thin he lay while and motionless wllh Ihe dark stain spreading and spreading about him For some moments Ihe victor Mood over his I victim his shaking hand clutching the terrible knife his deadly eyes now full of horror At last he sprang away to the squire hole In the floor and down Into the surging walir far bilQW he fiercely flung Ihe bloody blade Kor a mimint he aeemed r ady In My from the mill but he tIlt not Just thin Hlmly he came back to where my falhir lay I stooping lo ior Into Ids pale far Yes he la I dadl were the words Ihot earn hoarsely from the murderers lips Thin wllh a sud tin Imputte he clutched the tnxly and dragged It to tho bloat hole Down Into the mutter 1 whore the knife had been thrown went my father and wllh n wild cry tlw as sissln rled htidlong from the old mill I know not how I reached my home and told tho story lo mother I can remember re-member telling It In n 1 broken manner and I know she fainted then arcing her to white ant still at lilY feet I ran to neighbor for aid When mother was rrstored aho Insisted In-sisted on going to the old mill with the haItI that Ind gathered Hut nnth Iou could Induce me to oceomi 00 > them They returned after sonic lime mind I know time lllag tulip sloiamt noun and examined me clnaily asking me many questions lie ended by writing n proscription pro-scription for moNo mo-No ilgn of n Druggie had they foiim In the old mill not one true of blood was there on the sitwdusteovered floor Borne of Iho nelghobrs Insisted I hai dreamed It all some suggested haunts some shook their heads soberly sob-erly and said nothing Many tlmia my mother made me loll Ihe story of what I had seen omit I know that from that day she gave up all hop that fathir would over relurn to us IIWhftl What dhl I see 1 That question 1 cannot mustIer JlI Is possible I dr amei II all but If sn I lnllee I drnmo how my fathir died seven year bifor that day When I teame oldir rnd dared vIsit lh old 1 mill ngnlii I reaviluel at low water III the pool Unenlh the mill UM from th sand I brought up n knife wllh th litters It D curved on hue hnndl Tim Initials were thow of my moth era handsome darkfaced cousin Kl tart Diucy |
