Hedding College - Orange Yearbook (Abingdon, IL)

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Mg Q,-'gn 9 We 't Uhr ilmgaterg nf Bvath Olliif 01215112 Above the noise of the howling wind and the driving rain rose a long wail, three times repeated. The younger of the two men seated in the paneled library of Death Cliff Castle shivered and drew his chair nearer the fire. He glanced apprehensively toward the rear of the room, but there, all was velvety blackness. He looked furtively at his host, who had throughout the evening maintained a stolid and immobile countenance. But now, his lips were twitching and his Hngers moving nervously, or, was it a trick of the firelight? The young man sat tense, waiting, expectant, but the wails were not repeated. All was silence, save for the ticking of the great clock. The host drew out his watch with shaking fingers and held it near the Hre. Well, Mr. Leith, it's- He started, smiled feebly, and sank back into his chair. The sound of his deep voice caused the echoes to reverberate from every corner of the room. The host sat huddled in his chair, Mr. Leith was rigid. As the last echo died away, both men tried to laugh, but the smiles froze on their faces, for again sounded the long, mournful cry, this time from the wall not six feet away. The host, muttering something under his breath, leaped from his chair and started toward the panel, but the chiming of the old clock stopped him. The men started to count the strokes, although they knew it was midnight. As the last sound died away, a peal of thunder that seemed to rend the heavens, shook the old castle, the partition split from floor to ceiling, and a flash of lightning illuminated the face and figure of a woman-a woman upon whose beau- tiful, although ernaciated countenance was a mingled look of hatred, agony, and pleading. She seemed to start forward, the host shrank back into his chair, gasping: there was a grating sound in the direction of the big clock, a rustling in a far corner of the room, a sudden gust of wind rattled the shutters, a door slammed, and the next flash of lightning showed only a crack in the wall. Leith sat petrified with fear, the host was gasping and trembling. As soon as he had partially controlled himself, he started out of the room without a word. As they reached the door Leith looked back. The storm had abated, and the moon, shin- ing through a rift in the clouds, cast a gleam on the old clock. YVith a start the young man saw that it was twenty minutes past eleven. Could he have been dreaming? He turned and followed his host up the long, winding stairway, through a dark hall, and to a large room, dimly lighted by a small candle. YVith a muttered Good- night the host stumbled down the hall. The echo of his footsteps gradually died away, and all was still again in Death Cliff Castle. Leith locked the door, picked up the candle, and inspected the room. The old- fashioned furniture contrasted sharply with the small, low bed. Suddenly he blew out the candle, sat down on the deep window seat, and pulled the heavy curtain about him. He could not sleep, for the memory of the woman's face haunted him. Could she have been the woman whom, as tradition had it, his host had plastered in the wall when he built a new section of the house? Whom he had thus tortured because she alone knew that he visited a certain room at a certain time? Hitherto Leith had put no faith in the stories that he had heard. People said that there was one room of the get afirgefxze f Q- e.-. 2113- -. et'ff'e ffl, YT7 ATX One Hundred Seventeen

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1 W' Y ,N 1 I .U A EIKTL- - ?27'1?27?li22i21Ei3iiZ3?i5f2f5?fE1-ji? fi me Orange Cl2T?fZ7l?5E' 53 ,-ifi-7254 l 'Q Q ' ff 14 l. il, board, and smiling softly to herself over her victory. Her husband was game but li incredulous. Three months later, VVayne Patterson was seated on the veranda of the Green- ill! way Country Club, deep in a discussion with his friend, Holmes. jj X, llf No he said, as he azed somberl over the olf links I scarcelv ever see mv c px, A 2 , gl Y g 1 . . ., W wife any more. She s a changed woman. She never goes to the matinee, she's given up bridge, I doubt if she can even dance any more. She and her friends do nothing ill but play chess. It's enough to make a fellow sick. Is it any wonder that I've taken ,lug up golf?,' Jlf VVayne Patterson bit angrily on his cold cigar, but his friend Holmes grinned LZ Q, and murmured something under his breath which sounded like,- pr Women seldom do things by halves, but often by doubles ! l, if BIIRIAM BICOMISIER M IT' 'XV wa Il ' w'l M li! S: ff if Q 95 s 3 N5 lil ' Ghaprl ' . L l VVhile in my chapel seat I sit by And hear the songs upon the air, I like to gaze around a bit, 3 Ui And at the faculty I stare. 'wil A .9 U Upon the right the solemn stand L , And frown, the whole song through. 'Q if' But they upon the other hand, Do grin, or nod a head or two. 4 lvl, ffl Then comes the long and weighty spell y 3 When the announcements are at stake, lj Of great events we hear them tell, Hifi And choking breaths we hear them take. if ,RU L., . fl 0 ' ' Sometimes we have some college pep iff And give a yell or sing a song. ll. Those are the times that make us step, L, gil Nor do we care if chapel's long. X. 1 j - , . VVhen chapel ends, we meet our fate xl And march out, two by two, lil' To classes never are we late, If as the music bids, we do. i ual '-fl But as we go we cannot fail To feel the staring glances cast A I il V By hanging martyrs, weak and frail, XVho speak to us of days gone past. f.- ci. in R. A. ill 'il xlwlr 'if-C3g' f3-?faQ?g31,.jLe,1:5237? ?7ffT7:i f Qieiitgifigfiffjc,2liE,fE?5Si1?lfg5LT'7i?ii1 X One Hundred Sixteen

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i 1 W, i ii 1' W KJ in v . Xl k i r 7- .Rl I4 KT2. '2'f5i1i33?,. My Ofgfz mi. sefezeaszfzeaizirrzzf :gg it ' T W A A i y My ' castle out of which no man had ever come, they had said that only wealthy men were W V' assigned this room, and with a start Leith remembered that he had all the family My t jewels on his person, they had said that the great clock always stopped at two o'clock fl Wi in the morning. He drew out his watch. It was after two now, and nothing had hap- 'N Wi pened to him. He was beginning to feel sleepy. He looked down. The castle was ' TMJ built on the ledge of a cliff. Fifty feet below swirled the turbulent waters of Death M E2 River, in which so many dead bodies had been found-bodies haggled and bruised. wi W He shuddered, sighed and his head dropped forward. tu? He awoke with a start. The long, mournful wail was sounding outside the door. 'll It seemed to have a warning note. Leith crept back in the recess and pulled the M A curtain closer around him. He looked at his watch again, it was three o'clock. .lust J Wi then came the noise of a key grating in the lock, the door swung open and the host lvl entered. By the dim moonlight Leith could see his haggard face. He crept toward W the bed, climbed upon it, and felt among the bed clothes. All was still. The host L W stopped as if startled. Below in the library, the great clock boomed. iw ill, One-two- all . H Dil Witli an amazing suddenness the bed dropped. The host uttered a hoarse cry, T 1 wi tried to grasp the floor, and disappeared. In a moment the bed arose and settled into xml l v its place. kj wi Leithis face was ashen, for he realized what his fate would have been if he had LSI .Wt retired. He knew now in what manner so many people had disappeared, he knew up that in some way the mechanism of the trap door was connected with the clock. Un- Q? known to the host, some one had turned back the hands of that clock, someone who ,lla knew at what time he would enter the room. At the first break of day, Leith investigated the bed. He found that it was fas- ...bf tened securely to the floor and the fine line which marked the trap door was scarcely p, 1 I visible. He made his way to the library. The crack in the wall was still there, and ' the hands of the clock had stopped at two. He found, as he had surmised. that the kr, clever device caused the bed to drop at that hour. ,K If K, Leith was then anxious to find out, if possible, what had become of the host E yi after he had disappeared. He made his way down the cliff and reached the point A which he thought to be almost under his room. At this point the river made a turn hi'j T t and washed under the rocks in a little cave. Leith crawled on his hands and knees Ti' all H along the ledge of rock. His hand struck something soft-a human form. caught on tie R a sharp stone. He dragged it into a little square of light. It was the body of his host, haggled and bruised as so many others had been. Leith looked up. He was at if? the bottom of a long cleft in the cliff. The hole was edged with knives. He trembled. ki i ,. So this was the death his host had planned for him. ka .I l L - A long wail, clear, ringing, triumphant, came from above. Leith raised his head. if At the top of the opening, illuminated by the light which filtered through small aper- 54 tures in the rock, was the woman of the wall. Upon her face .was a look of fiendish happiness, the joyful triumph of one who has had revenge. ll i DOROTI-IY XVHITTED Nfl I4 if F3 wi UU lit LH SYQFS f 2sfii: if if .g flfiRiil3 1 One Hluudred Eighteen