The moving finger

THE swish of starched skirts caused the man in the bed to roll slowly over, and for the first time patient and nurse regarded each other. The silence grew protracted.

The imperative summons on his bedroom door roused Hugh Wyndham. It seemed but a moment since he had fallen asleep, and he listened in uncomprehending surprise to the repeated dr...

THE day nurse, Mrs. Christine Hall, the severe lines of her face showing more plainly in the strong afternoon light and her forehead puckered in a frown, watched from the bedroo...

“Yes, sir; certainly, sir,” and Murray backed from the room, but before going upstairs to find Mrs. Porter he bolted into the pantry and mopped his white face which was damp wit...

“GOOD AFTERNOON, Mr. Williams.” The managing editor of the Washington _Tribune_ twisted about in his revolving-chair, and his frown changed into a smile of welcome at sight of h...

“Mrs. Porter and Miss Millicent are taking dinner in their boudoir,” he explained. “Selby is serving them, and Mrs. Porter gave most particular orders that you should have a goo...

A ROW of beautiful trees ran the length of Thornedale Lodge, facing the entrance on the south. They had been planted generations before, and, no allowance made for their increas...

DOROTHY DEANE laid aside the muffler she had been pretending to knit and stared intently at Millicent who lay stretched out on the lounge in Mrs. Porter’s pretty boudoir. Millic...

THE high wind sweeping around the Porter mansion in ever increasing volume found an echo under the eaves, and the attic in consequence resounded with dismal noises. Much of the...

THE hall clock was just striking three on Thursday afternoon when Murray stopped before the room occupied jointly by Mrs. Hall and Vera and rapped smartly on the closed door. It...

A SILENCE followed, so heavy as to be felt, then Vera took the black-edged card and, reversing it, read the engraved name. A rush of memories obliterated the bleak countryside....

CONTRARY to Vera’s idea of a “chatty” motor drive into Washington, Millicent and her two guests made the trip almost in silence. Hugh Wyndham, alone, seemed to find the silence...

THE front door of the Porter mansion opened with such precipitancy that Vera Deane, on the point of going upstairs, paused with one foot on the bottom step. A glimpse of Murray’...

THE dining-room at Thornedale Lodge looked particularly cozy in the soft lamplight, and old black Cato, surveying the room, could not repress a smile of subdued gratification. H...

THE moonlight penetrated but feebly through the one small opening which did duty for a window of the lean-to, and its interior was a mass of shadows. Suddenly that point of ligh...

WYNDHAM, taking no precautions to walk lightly, tramped down the hall oblivious of the bright sunshine which streamed through the windows, whistling dismally below his breath. A...

AFTER leaving Detective Mitchell, Wyndham’s walk increased into a run as soon as he turned a curve in the road, but before reaching Dewdrop Inn he slackened his pace and it was...

WYNDHAM turned his roadster into the river road and, seeing no vehicle approaching along the straight stretch ahead of him, pressed the accelerator and his car raced homeward. H...

“Just drop me at the house,” he directed as the car left the garage. “And, remember, Jones, Mrs. Porter says you must bring out a new nurse from the hospital; that you are not t...

“Well, I’m d--ned!” he muttered. It was some moments before he rose and went in search of Cato, but although he hunted through the entire first floor of Thornedale and called up...

VERA glanced neither to the right nor to the left as she walked with firm steps toward the library, and thereby missed seeing a face peering at her from behind the folds of the...

“Don’t,” he pleaded, grasping her hand weakly as the men helped him to the leather lounge. Once seated, he turned to Mitchell. “Take down what I say,” he commenced. “Miss Porter...

WITH a bound Detective Mitchell was by the footman’s side; a click, and handcuffs dangled from his wrists. It seemed a useless precaution, as Murray evinced no desire to be trou...