The Olney Enterprise. (Olney, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 24, Ed. 1 Friday, October 1, 1920 Page: 3 of 16
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By CLIFFORD S. RAYMOND
Illustrated by IRWIN MYERS
8
CHAPTER XIII_Continued. I knew—passed into the dense black tried to preserve the normalities, taken
not deceived by little
ed by
and to<
mediea
relief. .
me abc
mud
Mrs. A. Steven-
son, Main and
7 }n Fourth Sts., Tay-
x.irill lor. Tex., says:
TJEk “I have used
M M\Lr Doan’s Kidney Pills
ffijfi for backache and
pains is the small
J have had good re-
vsuits: At one time
S 1 was greatly an-
4IN3H t nqyed with a per-
sistent backache. I used Doan's Kid-
ney Pills and they drove away the
aches and pains. They did me worlds
nf crnnH 19
,r,.
■ ' 'jf J
p MmA
THE OLNEY ENTERPRISE
CHAPTER XIII—Continued.
—U—
He was turning out the lights, but
Ae was reversing the reasonable pro-
cess. He went down the hall to the
light at the stairway leading to his
room and turned it out. Then he
came back, past the recess in which I
stood, turning out lights as he went,
and the last light he extinguished was
the one at the foot of Mr. Sidney s
stairs.
Now the hall was In complete dark-
ness and was quiet. Jed, like myself,
I guessed, was in hiding—but for what
’reason ?
\ Then I heard the faintest stirring
Jnear by. It came nearer. I tried to
keep from breathing audibly. I could
hear another person’s breathing. It
was Jed, beyond doubt. He came into
the recess where I stood. It was
only five or six feet deep but fully
twenty feet long. He was at one end,
as nearly as I could judge. I was at
the other.
The situation, a product of supercau-
tion, had grown ridiculous and also a
bit ghastly. Here were Jed and I,
standing in utter darkness in a small
recess in the hall, he not knowing of
my presence, I not knowing his pur-
pose.
I decided to make my escdpe. I had,
.as usual, my electric flash in my
pocket. If he heard me and challenged
me, I could throw the light on him,
challenge him, and say that I was
on my way to the telephone to con-
sult Doctor Brownell, and make him
explain. His position was the awk-
ward one. I had an idea that even
if he heard me he would not challenge.
I made my escape without noise—
or If I made any Jed did not inquire;
and I found the office door in the dark.
1 intended merely to use the flash, find
the telephone and do my errand in
th£ dark. But I had just flashed the
light once about the room when I
heard a person at the door. This waj
v -pot a stealthy person; the hand that
7 touched the doorknob was resolute. By
this time nothing rational seemed rea-
sonable. The house of mystery had
so asserted itseif that one, hear-
ing a noise, hid. Before me, revealed
in the single flash of light, was a
tall clock—and I was flattened against
the wall the farther side of that great
■clock before the person at the door
was in the room.
The person carried a candle—and it
was Mr. Sidney. He was completely
dressed and wore an overcoat and a
■cap which came down over his ears.
^SSs hands were gloved and he was
* well protected against more severe
'weather than that of this crisp Octo-
ber night.
His candle lighted the large room
but dimly, and I felt secure, seeing im-
mediately that he had a definite ob-
Vy‘\^ect. He went to the corner of the
room, took up a heavy cane which I
i fiad often seen standing there, and
with it in his hand went toward the
■door as if his business in the room*
were wholly done.
As he did so, I saw his face plainly
in the candle light. It was wholly
changed; it indicated ferocity, hate,
malevolence, a bitter sense of injury—
) * terrible face, hardly recognizable as
that of the gentle, courteous, jovial
Mr. Sidney. He closed the door and
was gone.
When Mr. Sidney had been gone a
moment, I heard him open the front
■door and heard him close it after him.
I should ~have followed him to the
J Saw His Face Plainly in the Candle
Light.
front door, but Jed was somewhere in
the hall. I waited at the half-open
door of the office. Presently I could
hear Jed coming down the hall, care-
lessly now. He also went to the front
door, and J. heard it opened and closed
again. i
I went to a window of the office
J which gave a view of the lawn. I
crrald see one figure slowly crossing
the open space toward the path lead-
ing down to the river. Jed was
ftanding just outside the shadow of
the house.
The farther figure—Mr. Sidney, as
I knew—passed into me uense mack
of the thickets by the path. Then
Jed stepped forth and went quickly
across the open. I went to the front
entrance and stood on the porch.
The hunter’s moon was at full, and
the place was luminous in a soft, misty
yellow light.
I had tremors, frankly—felt the pres-
ence of tangible dangers, unseen, and
of intangible terrors. I never felt such
oppression, doubt, distress and dismay
in my life. My patient w&s on a
strange errand far beyond any
strength I ever knew him to have; and
Jed, whom I always dreaded, was fol-
lowing him.
It may be wondered why I was not
insta/itly in chase and why I stood
worried and indecisive. The only ex-
planation is that I knew, as surely as
one could know anything by reason
and conjecture, that whatever was
happening that night had happened
this same night for a number of years
in the past, and that whatever It
was. It had direct connection with the
secret of the place which Mrs. Sidney
so earnestly desired me not to pos-
sess. For these reasons, or upon this
Instinct, I acted as I did and stood
on the porch listening to the unnatu-
rally late whippoorwill and looking
out toward the dark woods and thick-
ets which stood at the edge of the
yellow moonlight.
The tension was so great that I got
a distinct shock when out of this wall
of darkness came a figure running
into and across the moonlit space to-
ward the house. I knew it must he
Jed, and I waited where I stood as
he approached. He barely had come
into the shadow of the house when an-
other figure came out of the dark wall
of the thickets and came slowly across
the moonlit space.
Jed, running up the steps, saw me
and gasped with astonishment, but re-
covered himself with wonderful
promptness.
"Inside, man, inside, and act natu-
ral,” he cried. "Come”—taking my
arm—“in the office.”
He was so certain and so command-
ing that I did just what I was told.
"Into the office, man,” he said, still
clutching me. “What are you doing
abroad? This night of all nights! But
no matter. Into the office, and turn on
the lights. Turn on the lights in the
hall—not all of them, but some of
them.”
He ran to do it himself and was all
flutter and activity. Then he or-
dered :
“Into the office now, and act natu-
ral. You’re a man of genius; think of
something we could naturally be do-
ing at this time. Think quick man;
it’s beyond me. What are you doing
here? Good Lord, what are you do-
ing here? I could have managed it
without you. Why did you have to be
on the scene? And I can think of
nothing!”
“You have severe cramps in the
stomach,” I said. “It’s not to be won-
dered at, considering the way you
abuse your stomach. I may say you
are the only human being I ever was
glad to see drinking himself to death.
You have now some premonitory symp-
toms of gastritis. You have got me
up. If I do not have a collar and tie
on it will look more natural—”
I tossed these articles and my coat
behind a couch.
“And possibly If you were less clad
It would help the illusion.”
Jed rid himself of collar, tie and
coat and disposed of them in the same
fashios.
‘‘Now, I Imagine,” I said, “we are
reasonably convincing as physician
and sinner. What are your symp-
toms?”
“You’re a man of genius!” Jed ex-
claimed. “Wait a minute.”
He ran to the window, concealing
himself behind a curtain.
“He’s almost here,” he said, as he
looked out on the ghastly white lawn.
Then he came running back.
“The door had better be opened,”
he said, and he threw the door to
the office open. Then he sat in one. of
the chairs and began to whine loudly.
“It’s an acute shooting pain, doc-
tor,” he said loudly and then he whis-
pered: “What ought it to be?”
I heard the front door open and
shut.
“I have often told you,” I said with
loud professional dignity, “that there
is a penalty attached to such habits
as yours. Have you any nausea?”
“Sick as I can be with pain,” said
Jed, groaning tremulously.
“I don’t mind at all being aroused,
Jed,” I said, just loud enough to carry
to the person approaching and to
sound to him as if it were a normal
tone to Jed with me in the office.
“That is a part of my business here.”
I knew Mr. Sidney was standing in
the doorway. So did Jed. Neither of
us betrayed our knowledge until the
strange apparition which we knew to
be there said;
“Up so late, doctor? Up so late,
Jed?”
“Why, Mr. Sidney!” I exclaimed.
He was, Indeed, an extraordinary
looking being. He had controlled his
voice and his manner. Discipline was
fixed In his soul. But he had not con-
trolled his expression. It was of the
| wildest excitement. And yet how he
as he was in such strange circum-
stances !
“Mr. Sidney!” I exclaimed again,
and my wonder was not simulated.
"You abroad tonight at such an hour!”
He made a violent effort to keep his
composure and succeeded.
“I felt so well, doctor,” he said, “and
I see so little of the place I love so
much, that I took the only chance I
had—this wonderful October moon and
my faithful physician asleep and off
guard, as I thought—to steal out a
moment. But Jed—”
Here purpose took hold of him again
and defied concealment; he became ex-
cited , and caused me to have double
dread of his tomorrow. “Jed, call the
penitentiary,” he commanded. “There’s
a convict escaped. I met him as I
walked down the lane toward the
river. Call the penitentiary instantly.
He ran when he saw me, but I recog-
nized him. It was the old fellow I
saw working in the library at the
prison. Call quickly.”
Jed took up the telephone.
“Tell them he ran east^toward the
main road,” said Mr. Sidney in great
"Sick as I Can Be With Pain,” Said
Jed.
agitation. “He saw me and ran. But
I recognized him. There could not be
any doubt.”
Jed had the penitentiary on the tele-
phone. Yes, a convict, long trusted,
had walked out of the prison gates.
It was the old man in the library.
“They were hunting for him—had been
for three hours in several different
parties—not because they feared to
have him escape, but because he would
be so miserable and unhappy in the
open all night, and, liking him, they
hoped to find him and bring him back
to shelter. He had no use for liberty;
it would only torment and torture him,
but some whim—anyway, the old man
was loose.
“He’s on my place,” Mr. Sidney
cried to Jed—in a voice I never would
have recognized as his. “We can’t
have convicts running about the
place.”
They would have him in a few min-
utes, said the man at the penitentiary,
now that they had him located, and
he would be as glad to get back as
they would be to get him.
That closed the conversation, and
Mr. Sidney, with one flash of spirit
showing in his eyes, gently and softly
collapsed in his chair with a moan.
Jed and I, in alarm, got him to bed.
CHAPTER XIV.
Dr. Brownell came in the morning
and found Mr, Sidney, as ^as expect-
ed, in extreme exhaustion. I explained
that our patient had been, as usual
the night prior to his alarming col-
lapses, very animated and that after
midnight he had stolen out of the
house for a walk about the grounds,
had encountered a convict escaped
from the. penitentiary and had come
back in great excitement.
Restoratives were given Mr. Sid-
ney, but Dr. Brownell said he respond-
ed with more difficulty and more slow-
ly than in other occasions. For sev-
eral days he lay quite passive, as
nearly inanimate as a living person
could be. His immobile features, as
he lay unconscious, were set; and the
expression, it seemed to me, was one
of hate, indomitable, steady, enduring
hate.
Dr. Brownell came once every three
days for two weeks, during which time
Mr. Sidney’s recovery was painfully
slow. His mind cleared and became
active long before any strength came
back to his body. As soon as his mind
did clear, he was, in disposition, his
former -self. I thought that , if such a
thing were possible in so gentle a man,
he was even gentler than ordinary.
I am not exaggerating when I say that
the benignity of the man was seraphic.
I thought I saw a change of mood
in him. There was, If I was right, a
less insistent claim upon life. There
was a yielding, an appearance of phys-
ical and spiritual acceptance of the
law of three score and ten. If I were
rami
ana impressive
signs I noted, Mr. Sidney was substi-
tuting complacently the will to die for
the will to live which had been in him
conspicuously indomitable
On Dr. Brownell’s last visit, he con*
firmed what was in truth a fear.
“Has Mr. Sidney, to your knowI>
edge,” he asked, “recently found a su-
preme satisfaction in any event?”
‘None that I know of,” I said.
“Why?”
“He’s changing. He is different now
from anything I ever knew him to be.
I always have believed that his case
was out of our province, and that life
and death, for him, depended upon
resolve and that the resolve had a
purpose. You have not found things
wholly normal here, have you?”
“No, I haven't.”
“There Is something here.” saia Dr.
Brownell. “I don’t know what it is.
You don’t know what it is, but de-
pend on it, something of importance
to Sidney has happened. It may not
have satisfied his life’s resolve, but
I think it has. For the present, he
does not need me—possibly never
again.”
Jed observed the change in Mr. Sid-
ney. Afterward I knew that he was
a much more acute observer than I,
for the good enough reason that his
observation had a background of
knowledge which I lacked. There was,,
no doubt directly as the consequence
of this, an unbelievable change in
.Ted. He w?as very fond of Mr. Sidney.
In our unhappy experiences with him.
we had overlooked this fact and had
failed to use it as we could have. His
affection for Mr. Sidney was the one
thing greater than his cupidity and
self-love, with their attendant train
of malevolence, violence, surliness,
brutality and treachery.
He was convinced that Mr. Sidney
was about to die, and the thought
affected him tremendously. He be-
came gentle; he abandoned his rasp-
ing manner—which, indeed, he never
had carried into Mr. Sidney’s room,
but which was an intermittent provo-
cation elsewhere. He was more than
ever with Mr. Sidney, and each eve-
ning, after the others had gone, thdy
had a bottle of wine which Jed drank;
but be did not go singing £own the
halls afterward. He was quiet A>»d
considerate, courteous to Mrs. Sidney
and thoroughly friendly to me.
October went and the brown momfh
of November took even the white-oak
leaves, and the woods stood in mono-
chrome. Isobel and I rode every
morning, and just before the early sun-
down we usually took a short walk,
to rustle the brown leaves underfoot
and enjoy the sweetness of crisp air
filled with the odors of a seemly de-
cay underfoot. Soon after sunset we
were in Mr. Sidney’s room. He great-
ly enjoyed to have the family about
him, not engaged in entertaining him
or waiting on him, but occupied in
any amusement or work that could be
undertaken by his fire.
•Ted had a cot moved in and spent
the night with him. He did not want
the nux*ses to have this office, and as
he was perfectly competent, I con-
sented.
It was an intensely happy and in
tensely unhappy experience for me.
Mr. Sidney, I was convinced, would
not live to the hepatica season. Iso-
bel had permitted him to follow the
changing seasons from spring to win-
ter by bringing him flowers, and his
delight at seeing the first hepatica
had been as great as hers in bringing
it to him.
Isobel could not realize that her fa
ther was dying. No one would have
been so brutal as to tell her—or would
it have been brutal? But Mrs. Sid-
ney knew, I knew, Jed knew and Mr.
Sidney knew—and was happy.
The day before CliMstmas came with
a driving snow which set in with an
east wind early in the morning. It
was a real Christmas snowstorm,
heavy, persistent and driving, but not
unkindly.
In the afternoon' Morgan of the
Metropolitan agency came, driving
^ ith difficulty through the drifted
banks of snow in the roads, to see
me again. I was full of apprehension
as I told Jed to show him in. His
mood was different from what it had
been before, when he almost raged out
of the house. It seemed to me every-
body’s mood was changing.
Nevertheless a child’s fancy came
into my mind. Outside was the stonn
through which traveled fierce animals
of northern forest, and here, out of
the storm, came the werewolf.
“Doctor,” said Morgan, “we have
done a great deal of work since 1
saw you. I told you we would, be
cause the case interested me. Wt
have traced Mr. Sidney through every
known operation and act—so long as
we can find him as Mr. Sidney. Every
act is honorable; many of them are
acts of astonishing charity and kind-
ness. That is so far as Mr. Sidney
exists.”
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
Frolicsome Birds and Fishes.
The crane will amuse Itself some-
times by running round in circles and
throwing small pebbles and bits of
wood into the air. Other water-birds
can any time be observed at their
frolics, cleaving the water or diving
after each other.
A TITLE DISDAINED.
“I wish,” said Senator Sorghum,
“that you would not refgr to me as ‘s
sphinx.’ ”
“What’s the objection?”
“The only sphinx I ever saw In m>
travels had Its nose badly oat of joint
and was unable to assemble an audi-
ence large enough to justify any re-
marks.”
The Troublesome Experts.
“Know anything about an automo-
idle?”
“Not a thing.”
“Just the man I want. Tell me
what you think might be the matter
with my car. The experts that have
come along have all guessed wrong,
and I thought perhaps you might be
able to guess right.”
Sweet Innocence.
“Don’t you know there is a rumor
/hat the racing in which your husband
is interested is crooked?”
“Not a bit of truth in it,” said
young Mrs. Torkins. “They can’t be
crooked. Charley showed me the
track and it’s a perfect oval.”
All Incentive Gone.
“So you are going back to the old
country, my man?”
“Sure I am. Who wants to live’ In
ti country that’s got nothing left with
a kick in it but an army mule?”
High Toned.
First Moth—Is your brother in so-
ciety?
Second Moth—I should say so; he
won’t eat anything but evening
clothes after 6 P. M.
Wetmore: Gee! I stopped Just
In time to avoid smashing that bot-
tle.
His Wife: It would have been too
bad if we had cut a new tire.
Wetmore: Tire! I wasn’t think-
ing of the tire. But there might be
something in the bottle.
Nothing to Talk About.
If all who hate would love us
And all our friends were true—
Good gracious! kindly tell us
What would the gossips do?
Literally.
“Is that consequential-look'uig star
tetor supported by his wife on his
tour?”
“I don’t know how he feeds three
times a day if he isn’t.”
Contradictory Puzzle.
“There is one thing which has al-
ways puzzled me in military matters.”
“What is that?”
“How a standing army can be kept
In good running order.”
The Progress.
“He went to court and sued her for
her love.”
“Well?”
“Then she went to court and suei
him for breach of promise.”
Natural Conclusion.
“What are you in here for?” in-
luired the visitor of the convict.
“For the simple reason,” replied the
convict, “that I can’t get out.”
Another Way of It.
“Well, I’ve got to go today and
/ace the music.”
“Why, are you in trouble?”
“No; I conduct a band.”
that
A New Discovery.
“Some one has discovered
snakes have sentiment.”
.*■ “Well, they certainly do have a way
of winding themselves around one.”
Easily Hidden.
“We are afraid young Mr. Sillib -y
js losing his mind.”
“Just keep it quiet and nobody will
ever know the difference.”
The New Days.
“Do you think Snifkins intends to
taake an energetic campaign for elec-
tion in his district?”
“Does he? He’s getting bids on the
lowest wholesale prices for boxes o)
chocolates and vanity bags.”
A Moment's Relaxation.
“I understand you always make
money on a falling market.”
“Well,” replied Mr. Dustin Stax,
with a sly, self-appreciative chuckle,
“I manage to get a bear living out
of it.”
SIX MONTHS 1 ~
COULD NOT WORK
Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable
Compound Made Me Strong and
Able to Work-^-I Recommend
It To All My Friends.
Bayonne, N. J. — “I had pains in back
’ ’ so that I could not stand caused
by ' '
female trouble.
I felt so tired all the
time, had bad head-
aches, and for six
months J. could not
I was treat-
a physician
other re-
but got no
A friend told
Lydia E.
Vege-
Uompound and
has helped mo
and strong and
now able to do my work. I cannot
thank you enough and _ I recommend
your medicine to my friends who are
sick.'”—Mrs. Susie Sacatansky, 25
East 17th St., Bayonne, N. J.
It must be admitted by every fair-
minded, intelligent person, that a medi-
cine could not live and grow in popular-
ity for over forty years, and today hold
a record for such wonderful success
as does Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable
Compound without possessing great
virtue ana actual worth. Such med-
icines must be looked upon and termed
both standard and dependable by every
thinking person
More Work, Less Talk.
Some foolish person says that what
we need in this country is more ac-
tive brains. A little more activity In
the muscles would be infinitely bet-
iter.—Toledo Blade.
j _
Important to Mothers
Examine carefully every bottle of
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Bears the
Signature ofj
In Use for Over 30 Years.
Children Cry for Fletchers Castoria
If you can shine yourself, wipe
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Find the Cause!
It isn’t right to drag along feeling
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one time
greatly an-
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Get Doan’s at Any Store, 60c a Box
DOAN’S “JSSV
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“I had sour stomach ever since I had
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W, N. U., DALLAS, NO. 40-1920.
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Shuffler, R. The Olney Enterprise. (Olney, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 24, Ed. 1 Friday, October 1, 1920, newspaper, October 1, 1920; Olney, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1113801/m1/3/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Olney Community Library.