Show ONY lim WAT ALA E X X X X Z by ANNA mcclure servio Z copyright by W 0 chapman X SYNOPSIS on oil her way to a faculty position in loftland Lostia Lost land nd academy janet mercer meets prof arthur fleming also on his way to the academy at the school they are struck by an air of mystery pervading the place gordon haskell proprietor etor welcomes them wilton payne completes tho the academy faculty in a schoolroom janet finds a group which the teachers had supposed were scholars are wax figures Hasl cell eap exp explains laing unusual circumstances connected with the conduct of the academy among the pupils Is 19 berenice bracebridge daughter of tho late owner of the school the story of the tragedy of loftland Lost land academy Is that of two sisters and two brothers of berenice wh lost their lives in the water at the same moment some years ago the wax figures were modeled in the likenesses of the four children and doctor Brace bridges will provided that they must be preserved payne learns from berenice that the uncouth giant whom janet had seen with haskell Is named balder and Is a valuable servant from an old farmer jerry moore the only witness of the drowning of the children payne learns particulars of the tragedy he begins to take an increasing interest in berenice as fleming does in janet CHAPTER IV continued 14 not tonight dont forget to put out the lamps when you go to bed ill see to it janet said you wont come in sir payne asked he had bad noticed haskells Ua reluctance luc tance on other occasions to ling linger ger in that library no I 1 have work to do in my room berenice looked after him with a speculative half maternal air 1 I hope when im off his hands hell enjoy life a little must everything go on like this until you are twenty one or until I 1 marry if I 1 marry before I 1 am twenty one then the guardianship trusteeship passes to my husband until I 1 am twenty one then to me absolutely mrs airs denver laid down her knitting my child why dont you marry A nervous silence followed this remark payne put his hand over his eyes as if to shade them from the I 1 light ht and arthur and janet looked like people at a play just after tile the curtain has gone up mrs denver resumed her knitting berenice stirred tile the fire and great tongues of flame sou sought ht the black case of the chimney then feeling strangely juvenile together and as if skirting the dark wood of fate they drew around the fire tellin telling g stories then payne said someone must be delegated to get fud fudge ge ill go said berenice rising ill go with you no please payne waited gave her a little start I 1 then followed her at the foot of the staircase she turned not toward the kitchen but toward the room where the figures were kept kepl berenice his voice had a stern yet tender quality she started violently looked back oh why did you come because I 1 thought you might do this you watched the door too much 1 I was getting afraid again I 1 suppose the anniversary and mother marthas tolling the bell depressed me I 1 wanted to see their dear faces be kept from thinking they could ever harm harin me its a foolish fancy but it came and I 1 thought I 1 would look in there first before I 1 got the fudge 11 lie ile walked with her down the passage will you take one of the lamps from the brackets ile he lifted it down she turned the handle why its locked and theres a new lock ft he must give me the key hey he must dont iou think its just as well to have this room locked the figures fi are safe from prying eyes an and d meddling hands and I 1 am sure your guardian will give you a key ue he may not nol ile he is very firm at times maybe lie he thinks its better tor for your health and spirits not to 4 go t there h ere too much perhaps he is right and after all 11 now OW you will think me foolish again there was something else beside fear I 1 suppose ive been like a little girl wit will tier lier dolls who want them to be lonely or unhappy even though slie she knows they are not alive later in tile evening she showed him some old diaries kept by her father ive often thought they oil III to be published he put down so mauv many comments on current events as well as the academy news would you louk look oyer aver them for we me some time and tell me what you think could be done with them he promised her to look through them the four had played cards eaten tufte fudge chatted with mrs denver placidly knitting in the background they thou slit lit her quite adorable in her faculty of being with them without any of the middle aged 7 strictures on their impulses of the moment they had a common unspoken feeling of being in a play the wind sweep ing wildly from lile te mountains rattled the heavy window frames and swayed the maroon rep curtains softly they had a sense of empty rooms and hid den projects about them berenice forgot even that she lad had ever felt fear in the place though the ever present mystery was still sharply with her CHAPTER V when every one but himself had gone to bed payne sat down to read the diaries of the late dr jethro bracebridge but he had no intention of going back to the earlier years first arst on the track as he was of the situation in loftland Lost land academy just before the deaths of the four bracebridge children it was easily tr traced aced jill T ohl he must give me the chekey key he as the diaries ended abruptly on the twenty ninth of september of the year of the drowning on that fatal day doctor braced bracebridge ridge had ceased his records never to open them again he evidently had been a man of deep scholarship and of what is sometimes missing in conjunction with scholarship broad and deep sympathies in one place he had written the thinker Is sometimes more likely to go astray in his conclusions than the warmhearted warm hearted man of action education should never be carried beyond the point where it stultifies spontaneous and generous deeds life was meant to be loved out not thought out payne turned back to the approximate date of doctor 0 es second marriage and found entry mrs haskell Is 13 a dear woman most lovable I 1 would not be surprised if after our marriage berenice did grow to love her as her own mother the child Is only four the first mention of gordon haskell rather surprised wilton well he arrived at five to take up his new duties and I 1 must confess I 1 am disappointed in him though whether this first feeling will wear off and a heartier one take its place remains to be seen two weeks later jethro announced to me that he disliked gordon haskell askell II and did not intend to be his student I 1 remonstrated with him but the lad with all his fine qualities Is at times hotheaded and obstinate althea norman and isabel show this aversion to gordon apparently only little berenice likes the poor fellow she allowed him to take her on his knee yesterday and hear her say her letters poor babal education at present interests her but slightly six months later 1 I intend to appoint gordon with mrs bracebridge in case of my death over the five children I 1 shall of course provide for him too though thong b not in the measure I 1 do for the others I 1 am sorry the youngsters hate him so for it leads to a series of minor outbreaks between them privately I 1 think gordon a rather savage teacher some men are like that too impatient of a pupils limitations I 1 I 1 have asked him to be more gentle and more nonchalant with his scholars children as a rule respect and like people who are rather casual toward them the intense adult is their abhorrence perhaps they know better than we do that a rage for reshaping life Is not according to the sweet reasonableness of the divine policy gordon Is ambit ambitious lousi I 1 doubt greatly it if he cares to bury himself ion long at loftland Lost land academy so the children and their arch foe may be separated naturally in the last year gordon haskells Has kella name appeared very seldom doctor bracebridge evidently had bad other thin things to worry him bim an epidemic of measles in the school and a series of thefts particularly one large sum from the locked drawer of a desk in the library in another place was written 1 I am afraid it Is balder a sullen disa disagreeable fellow but as lie he does twice the work when he chooses of an ordinary man it seem right to dismiss him merely from prejudice or the suspicion of something we cant prove ive given up trying to reconcile my incomparable four and gordon that too I 1 Is s a temperamental matter and with such chemistry one does well not to meddle poor man it would have been better if you had meddled wilton reflected ted those boys and girls probably diagnosed haskells character better than you did TO BE BB CONTINUED |