Show F 26 ap MM EM GEORGE ETHELBERT WALSH SYNOPSIS lost in a swamp with a storm approaching pro aching two strangers meet and although the man warns the girl away from her destination which Is sw swamp a mp hollow home ol of the wealthy ab abner ner longwood the jury ury of the storm causes thim them to seek shelter there the man introduces himself as jerry longwood nephew of the dead man they find the corpse of abner longwood in the living room the girl leads him to believe that she Is his cousin nancy on whose behalf she is acting As jerry searches the house the living figure of abner appears before nancy her screams bring jerry back CHAPTER V I 1 heard jerrys catlike cat like steps and saw the shadow of his form creep ing toward the door leading into the death room like one in a horrible dream I 1 saw and heard the door open the silence that followed was harder to endure than a babel of strange sounds bounds and as if to intensify it there came a lull in the wind outside and the blinds ceased to rattle all over the house a strange hush followed the branches of the trees no longer swayed or creaked and the scraping of a bare limb that had beat a steady tattoo against the side of the house stopped miraculously it was uncanny yet it would have been perfectly understandable if id stopped to reason out the cause but in a state of fear one forgets everything except what the imagination conjures up even the dropping of a pin would have shocked me the slamming of a door or window would have caused me to faint and im not the fainting kind far from it after what seemed an eternity of time I 1 heard jerry moving around in the next room round and round his steps seemed to circulate now near the door then past it and back again what could he be doing in the effort to find an answer to this question I 1 forgot some of my tear fear and I 1 listened intently to every footfall once or twice I 1 was tempted to call him but I 1 restrained myself I 1 caught myself counting his steps one two three four five I 1 counted up to fifty and then stopped the last round had brought him near the door again and this time they did not repeat as before in the endless circle he he was returning and a great weight was lifted from my mind when I 1 caught the shadow of his fo form rm silhouetted against the opposite wall by the flicker of the fire jerryl jerry 1 I 1 called faintly coming nancy he replied he did not come straight toward me but first made a circuit of the room stopping at each window to lift the shade and peer out I 1 watched him apprehensively then he came and dropped on his stool and stared blankly into the fire what was it jerry I 1 asked fearfully he looked at me for a moment and then shook his head it was uncle abner I 1 added inquiringly 1 I dont know I 1 cant say he muttered but its queer very queer queer I 1 demanded sharply pulling at his sleeve answer me jerryl jerry dont keep me waiting 1 I wish you come to this beastly place he blurted out half angrily its bewitched or something Haunt haunted edl I 1 exclaimed supplying the right word for him Haunt haunted edl he sneered theres no such thing as a haunted h lise house you cant make me belle believe v again that tantalizing break in a sentence what did you find I 1 asked almost fiercely tell mel me I 1 must know what did I 1 find he asked laughing in a way that grated on my nerves 1 I find anything nancy the room was empty empty you mean no one was in it except uncle abner no he replied almost brutally 1 I mean that he there either hes gone theres nothing left but the pool of blood in which he lay that was the supreme test of my nerves and I 1 should have cried out or fainted but strangely I 1 did neither I 1 was cold and shay shaky but my mind was clear I 1 was surprised at the calmness of my own voice if hes not there then where is he how should I 1 know came the irritable reply got up and walked away or flew awall away hanged if I 1 dont believe he had two lives he was dead before now hes the disappearance of uncle abner no he added raising his voice to a shout 1 I wont believe anything so silly he was dead and dead hell stay come on nancy weve lost too much time now well search for the dallas heart and get out of here before morning come where to I 1 gasped shrinking back where to everywhere upstairs sta irs d downstairs owns ta irs into the garret and into the cellar wherever theres a likely hiding place for the dallas heart well look come anything was preferable to sitting there listening to the wind and the creaking of floors and walls so common in an old house on a stormy night I 1 got up quickly any kind of action would help to keep my mind from brooding on the supernatural and the uncanny remember its half yours jerry continued taking my hand judge dallas left it to your mother and mine and uncle abner stole it he had no right to it but it was worth a fortune and he keep his hands off it how I 1 wished he would explain what the dallas heart really was I 1 was beginning to think it was some sort of priceless jewel but the name puzzled rne me I 1 like to betray my ignorance by asking you must remember jerry I 1 said that I 1 was young very young when mother left wildwood and ive never been back so nancy id forgotten poor girl im sorry tor for you with that he put an arm around my waist and drew me nearer in the dark well come we must begin the search he added but that there was a peculiar grating noise as it if some one were pushing aside sliding doors or dragging a heavy weight over the floor above jerry paused all his laughter gone it if uncle abner really dead he muttered we wont have much of a chance to find it how could he be dead it if he in the library I 1 asked tremulously it is a mystery he breathed softly 1 I dont know what to think of it but half angrily 1 I wont be frightened frighten edl dead or alive hes got to disgorge what I 1 came to swamp hollow for now well begin in his bedroom I 1 know where it is on the next floor he produced a flashlight and fl flashed as hed its rays ahead of us we were ere in the hall a big square old I 1 fashioned hall with the front door on one side and a winding stairway on the other it was so cold and drafty that I 1 shivered jerry was familiar with the place from childhood and he began ascending the steps with me close behind him awell well get away from that dining room he remarked trying to comfort me it was a bit gruesome with uncle dead on the floor but if hes gone I 1 whispered we may find him somewhere else in his bedroom maybe he paused again at this PI 1 I thought of that well gr grimly aly if hes dead he cant hurt N y a AM t I 1 if IR na then suddenly the picture quivered and with a little scream I 1 drew baak us and if hes alive hes still an old feeble man I 1 dont think we need to worry nevertheless he was constantly watchful and oh his guard as if expecting to meet someone on the upper landing he stopped long enough to look around him his light flashed on a mammoth oil painting at one sided side and when he saw me watching it he explained pla ined its uncle annerl you remember it jerry relates his story no I 1 remember it but the face was one not easily to be forgotten it was that of a middle aged man with dark brooding eyes a high forehead thick lips and a square chin greed was stamped on every feature it was a hard face and I 1 could imagine the heart of flint which went with it that was painted before he stole the dallas fortune jerry went on he was halfway half halt way decent up to that time after that he was a devil he broke my mothers heart and drove yours away into exile of course it was all untrue nancy about your father being a thief but uncle abner made the story sound so plausible that everybody believed it he would have been lodged in jail if he fled with your mother taking you with them nancys ignorance of the real trouble was made clear to me now she told me all the history of the family feud because her mother had withheld it from her out of a sense of pride or reticence and aunt betty I 1 breathed in a whisper jerrys face grew as hard and flinty as that of the oil portrait before us you know about that dont you he said in a troubled voice or were you too young di 1 I was too young to understand jerry I 1 ventured hoping to get the details from him then ill tell you so that even if I 1 did come here with murder in my heart know I 1 had some justification he paused holding his breath while we both stared at the painting on the wall he ruined my mothers life by false scandal he said in a hard voice oh he was a past master at that he could scheme and plan and then at the right moment strike mother was high spirited and she accused him of lying and betraying her to the scandal mongers bongers of the village but what did he care he mocked and laughed at her I 1 pressed his hand gently in sympathy when he paused poor dear aunt bettyl betty I 1 murmured he sighed and then went on she demanded her share of the estate she wanted to leave wildwood forever but he would give her nothing everything was in his hands even the dallas heart yes and she get that I 1 encouraged A smile of triumph came into the upturned face yes she got it out of his safe and fled with it it belonged to her or half of it did it stealing she fled through the swamp with me and and he e stopped again to wipe from his forehead the perspiration which unpleasant memories had caused to settle there 1 I was only a kid then he added in a whisper 1 I know what it was all about I 1 got my first unpleasant impression of uncle aner abner that day he discovered the loss of the dallas heart before mother could get out of the swamp he pursued and overtook us near the pool where I 1 found you he accused mother of the theft and she was too proud to deny it then then they struggled and uncle abner got it away from her I 1 sighed in sympathy for the boy and mother of long ago as well as for the man by my side after that he resumed gently lost heart because of the scandal uncle had started in wildwood she would never go out she brooded blooded at swamp hollow or wandered around alone in the swamp sometimes she took me with her and again she would go alone As I 1 recall it now she was a brokenhearted broken hearted woman and then one day one day she was missing I 1 caught his arm shivering slightly he was quiet for so long that I 1 wondered if he had forgotten that his story was left unfinished you found her I 1 asked askea yes her body floating in the pool where we met oh I 1 gasped drawing back and shuddering dear mother he continued speaking more to himself than to me nobody ever knew whether it was an accident or the act of a brokenhearted broken hearted discouraged woman let us think it was an accident jerry I 1 said gently nsf X yes ive always tried to thinly so I 1 wont think anything elsel else mother was proud and high spirited and not a coward she would never have taken her life she had me to live for I 1 nodded gravely and then asked and you jerry did you continue to live on at swamp hollow yes and for a time uncle abner was kind to me mothers death upset him I 1 fancy and he tried to make amends by treating me decently but it last As he grew older he changed he followed me around browbeat me treated me as if I 1 were something alien and in the end I 1 learned to hate him it lasted for years and then when I 1 was old enough I 1 ran away the rest he added addea grimly is another story but hara as life was to me it was pleasanter plea santer than it would have been living here picture appears to move when he stopped we stood side by side looking up at the picture jerry with brooding eyes and I 1 with strange absorption and curiosity looking down at us as if he had been listening to our conversation uncle abner of the portrait seemed alive and conscious of our presence As in all oil paintings the eyes seemed to follow us with a lifelike life like stare that was disquieting then suddenly the picture quivered and with a little scream I 1 drew back jerry started and looked at me with alarm in his eyes and when he saw how white and frightened I 1 was he took my hand what is it nancy he asked gently did the story upset you I 1 have told you such a gruesome tale on a night like this nol no no I 1 cried it was the picture the picture pic oh uncle eyes frightened you he smiled grimly and added well it be the first time they had frightened a person but I 1 caught his hand in both of mine it moved jerry I 1 cried shivering the picture moved I 1 saw it he started up and glanced up at the oil portrait flashed the elect rit torch up and down it and theft the t halt half pityingly turned to me whatever uncle malignant power may have been in real life nancy he said smilingly 1 I dont think he could make his picture move youre excited and andun un nerved well go and not look at it any more his words seemed reassuring and I 1 tried to mike make myself believe I 1 had been deceived it might have been the wind that had agitated the canvas the frame itself was ot of massive size and was set in the wall as a permanent fixture that certainly could not have been moved by the wind TO fie CONTINUED |