The House of the Whispering Pines

o the

ave our naked

in exposure,

his most blood

er. Fears and sc

nd of God I sta

ndivulg’d pre

sonous

cb

I was in a state of stupor now, and if my body shook, as it did from time to time, it was not from cold, nor do I think from any special horror of mind or soul (I felt too dull for that), but in response to the shudderin

ld not have happened more apropos to the event. From the complaints which had already reached my ears from the two policemen, I was quite aware that even as early as their first arrival, they had found a clean page where possibly a few minutes before the whole secret of this tragedy may have been

e conjecture passed incessantly through my brain, but it passed idly also and was not answered even in thought. Indeed, I seemed incapable of sustaining any line of thought for more than

lantern down on the mantel and turned to face me, I perceived, with a sort of sluggish hope, that he was Dr. Perry, once a practising p

t descended to me and, for the mom

rn if your detention here is warranted. You are the president of this club, and the lady whose violent

at down and something in his manner which was not wholly without sympathy, heartened me

that I owe you this consideration. At all events, I am disposed to show it. This is no common case of violence and the parties to it are not of the common order. Miss Cumberland’s vir

directly in the eye. “

it to you at this crisis I must strike at the root of th

cret tragedy of heart-struggle and jealous passion underlay this open one of foul and murderous death. “I am in no position to conceal anything from you. I did love Miss Cumbe

she returned

guilty flush? She had loved me only too well, too

the s

Why not the whole town! A danger which up to this moment I had heard whispered only by the pines, was opening in a gulf beneath our feet. Its imminence steadied me. I

k that either of us would be apt to forg

ot for attack. His manner changed and showed distrust and I

sked, showing me a morsel of paper wh

y undoing! Then doubt came. Fate could not juggle thus with human souls and purposes. I had simply imagined myself to have recognised the words lengthening and losing themselves in a blur be

g?” my watchful in

. Were they the first ones or the last? It would make a difference in the reading, or rather, in the conclusions to be drawn from what r

” Coroner Perry aske

was peculiar and quite unmistakable.

t I cannot be sure in this light. May I ask wha

for the last question I think you

replaced the scrap of p

eing conscious of it. The scrap had been plucked out of the chimney. She had tried to burn it. I remembered the fire and the smouldering bits of paper which crumbled

Clarke discovered this invaluable bit of evidence. It was just before I burst in upon t

it. He cannot

r the exact words which had composed this note. They were few ——

g, my life. She will forgive when all is done. Hesitation will only undo u

y mind and found no expression on paper. I could not be sure, any more than I could be positive from the half glimpse I got of these lines, which portion had been burned off,— the top in which the word train occurred, or the final words, emphasising a tim

unted girl had made the irreparable mistake of letting this note of mine fly unconsumed up the chimney, and she might have made others equally incriminating. It would be hard to find a

ful feeling that this man’s eye could read them there. I remember that under the compelling power of this fancy, my hand rose to my brow outspread and concealing, as if to interpose a barrier between him and th

u will see the depth of my love for you

ould

s se

t had come to me. Had Carmel been discov

even of that which made the present a nightmare from which I should yet wake to old c

r movement of mine had escaped the conside

tell your story without interruption. If so, I beg you to be as explicit as p

to throw discretion to the winds; to confide to him what men usually hold sacred; to risk my reputation as a gentleman, rather than incur a suspicion which might inv

acter to call for open explanation, yet it was unmistakable to one on the watch as I was, and betokened a day of speedy reckoning for which I was little prepared. I know what the manly course would have been, but I preferred to skulk. I acknowledge it now; it is the only retribution I have to offer for a past I am ashamed of. Without losing one particle of my intention, I governed more carefully my looks and actions, and thought I had succeeded in blinding Adelaide to my real feelings and purpose. Whether I did or not, I cannot say. I have no means of knowing now. She has not been her natural self for these last few days, but she had other causes for worry, and I have been willing enough to think that these were the occasion of her restless ways and short, sharp speech and the blankness with which she met all my attempts to soothe and encourage

ords with which she bade me good evening. I could not forget that look. I continued to see those pinched features and burning eyes all the way home where I went to get my grip-sack, and I saw them all the way to the station, though my thoughts were with her sister and the joys I had planned for myself. Man’s egotism, Dr. Perry. I neither knew Adelaide nor did I know the girl whose love I had so over-estimated. She failed me, Dr. Perry. I was met at the station not by herself, but by a letter — a few hurried lines given me by an unknown man — in which she stated that I had asked too much of her, that she could not so wrong her sister who had brought her up and done everything for her since her mother died. I have not that

hat I drove this way instead of straight out by Marshall Avenue. I had no intention of stopping here; the club-house was formally closed yesterday, as you may know, and I did not even have the keys wi

orry to interrupt you, but

e lowe

owing at t

clouds rushed upon the moon. I co

of whose very existence I was unaware. I was not even able to conjecture by what chance or at whose suggestion the police had raided the place and discovered the tragedy which had given point to that raid. No one had told me, and I had met with no encouragement to ask. I fe

ntruder. As I did not wish to attract attention to myself, I took off my shoes. I went through the lower rooms, and then I came upstairs. It was some time before I reached the — the room where a fire had been lit; but when I did I knew — not,” I hastily corrected, as I caught his quick concentrated glance, “what had happened

he replie

Carmel or the terrible conclusions which her presence there had awakened — my conscience was in a state of perturbation which added greatly to my confusion. For a moment I did not know where I stood, and I am afraid I betrayed a sense of my posi

he pillows heaped high and too regularly for chance along a lounge ordinarily holding only two, I tore them off. I saw a foot, a hand, a tress of bright hair. Even then I did

n! Go

I to say more? How account for what must be ever unaccountable to him, to the world, to my own self, if in obedience to th

since; as I looked at the police when they came — as I look at you now. But I know nothing. It is all a phantasmagoria to me — with no more meaning than a nightmare. S