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About The morning Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1899-1930 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 13, 1905)
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER ij, 1903. TIIE MORNING 'ASTOItlAN. ASTORIA, OREGON. THE "IRON HOUSE" By Willis Emery, Copyright, 19005, by Charles B. Etberlngton, III Arf spent the evening at a theater with my clients, Mm. Icborougb ml her dsnghtcr. and we hud tried, with fair success, to exclude fi'ttin our conversation all reference to the very thrilling Jmm of real life la whk'b we threw wire out tut, leading role. Miss Desborough, Indeed, seem i to shako her ml ud free of It with iHM and heartily to cujuy the play up. on the stage, but there were long Inter val when I beheld the actor with ne 'oiuirt'hrnston of what they were it was mt fahxm, four naaiMoirD. about and It waa the same with the elder of my companion. Often I waa aware that she shuddered and started aa If waking from no pleasant dream. Then 1 knew that aha bad been think ing of our adversary, Richard Blend ball, whom ahe feared with the sim plicity of auperaUtloii as though be were the devIL Sometimes In auch mo ments eh would caat a quick glance at no aa If i were btr aole rvllauco lu thla Juat contention. I'pou the wbolt, It waa a highly emo tional evening fur mo and for Uil rea son keenly delightful WUi I bad parted from Mra. Des borough and pretty Ml Alice after a bit of aupper It waa past midnight, mild, clear and with growing noon stow falling toward the weet 1 waa In do mood for Bleep. My mind refreshed Itself upon Its own delight, and so It happened t ! took a long detour to aaa by Htendball'a borne the "Iron lout," aa It Is called, because of the abundance of that strong metal In and round It Tltere la a tall Iron fence upon the arrnut aide, and the black arvb over the great gate rises twenty feet at least The cumbrous bolts were al moat on a level with my eyes. The up right bars which I took bold upon were bigger than my bauda could clasp. This formidable atructure, seemingly designed for giants, dwarfed mo lu body, yet enlarged my spirit, for lo the dark mass of that great bouso there was a single lighted window In the second story, snd I believed that Btend ball bnrncd bis lamp ao late to seek for refuge against my attack. Tills was by no means the first time I bad stood before bla gate. Ilia house, o ponderously defended, the courtyard alwaya deserted by day and crowded wllh black shadows by night, bsd ex- ervlscd a strong fascination upon my mind long before I dreamed that the nan blinself would erer bo more than name to me. Ills homo fitted him si well! Ills Iron hardness of heart, bla long defiance of the law, bis Incredible wealth locked up In steel behind the doors of buiiks, the mystery of bla ways these and ninny other linage I bad enjoyed years ago, when the scene was new to ins and Rteudball charmed my fancy as a type of the most mon strous product of our era, the throued brigand of Induatry. The broad window whence cams the light In a wavering tracery around the edges of the curtain bad one been pointed out to me as belonging to the room where Btendhall received the most Intimate of bla visitors and concocted bla most Intricate conspiracies. He, In deed, formed many alliances and aeem sd to bavs no need of caution, distrust Ing all men, but fearing none, scorning treschery, often betrayed, yet never to bis hurt , -As I watched, tbt light waa atowly lowered. Frugal 8temlhall, being about to leave the room for a little while, bad turned dowu the gns. Presently I saw a gleant through a panel of stained glass uon a stairway. Then the door of the house was, opened and two men appeared. They were no more than Shadows under the overhanging, heavy roof of the atone pillared portlfo, yet one of them was so tall that It must Is titendball. The other disclosed no recognisable characteristic. They walk d slowly along the portico, which end ed at the wall of an adjoining build ing. For perhaps two minutes they were Invisible to me. Then Btendhall returned alone and entered the bouao. What bad become of the other mail It was an Interesting puzzle, but oni that I despaired of solving. I contin ued to stars Idly at the bouse until Btendhall bad turned up the light la bis room. Then I abandoned my posi tion and faced toward home. At the corner of the next cross street I looked westward, attracted by the brightness of lbs moon, and so I chanced to see a man coming out of a bouse upon that street-the third from tho corner. It was my partner, John Hammond. If bis manner bud been ordinary fj should have followed and hailed blm, but be was so obviously dsunted by the brilliancy of the night and made auch haste to pull bis bat down so that the shadow of It brim might ahleld bis face that I was thrilled with a sudden monstrous suspicion, and I let blm go upon his wsy. It seems certain that soma revelation j must bavt come to mt before In order that I should bavt been prepared to condemn Hammond upon auch evi dence. There was merely tbt physical possibility that a secret passage might lead from Rtetidhall't portico to this bouse upon the street below, and yet my mlud would never bavt accepted ao readily the suggestion of my partner's treachery unless unnoticed bints of Us Inception bad been accumulating In the remoter regions of my brain during the past month of oar joint labors with the I'esliorough case. In the succeeding portion of tbt night I slept little and thought much, and as a result of It all I went next morning at the earliest possible moment to the Central Safe Deposit vaults, where we kept certain documents of capital Im portance to our affairs. Among them was the original contract drawn near ly twenty years ago between Clarence Desborough and Richard Btendhall. whereby the former ceded a part of the control of hi business to the Utter. A dosu other wen In the same field of In dustry bad committed a similar Indis cretion, snd then Btendhall had exe cuted the first grand coop of the career which raised blm to such heights of wealth and power. How It was done bss lever been dlsclosed-probsbly by a trick as simple aa the commoucst sleight of band. Tbt salient fact la that Hteudhall began at once to arro gute to himself powers not delegated In these agreements, and when. the victims perceived his Intent aud turned to study their contract not one of those documents could bt found. Then began Interminable lawsuits, marked by Incredible scandals, disgracing many courts, but Btendhall'a grip upon that Industry which be bad planned to aelse grew always tighter. Borne of bla opponents became bla tools and waxed rich; others were ruined. Two suc cumbed to the stress of the unequal battle and died Insane. One of these waa Clareuce Desborough, Dy what meana the Desborough con tract eeraued destruction I do not know, but It was offered to the widow by a wretched creature who bad long served Btendhall aud had been discard ed. My partner, Hammond, bad Juat formed the acquaintance of the Des borough snd Had lost bis heart to Al ice, who waa never la the least attract ed toward blm. The affair waa put Into bla bands. I naturally took part In the Investigation which followed. We satisfied ourselves of the genolneuess and Importance of the document and advanced to Mrs. Desborough the mod erate price demanded. Its value was In the millions, but the man who sold It csred little for money, knowing him self to be on tho brink of the grave. If Hammond was to play us falas this document would be the nucleus of bis treachery, snd Jos lousy rather than money the true motive. He fancied that I had displaced hlra with Alice, but this was Impossible for the reason which I bsve stated. Indeed, no one knew this better than he did In bis calmer moments, but Jealousy is a kind of madness. Supposing blm to have bsd a trea sonable Interview with Btendhall, there was a fair probability that the con tract bad been exhibited, aud with tbt thought In mlud I weut to the safe de posit box that morning. The result seemed to Justify my suspicions, for the precious document was not there. I took post In a convenient doorway and within ten minutes saw Hammond enter the Central company's vaults When bs had gone away oguln I re examined our drawer. The contract waa In Its proper place. My plan was already formed. It would hnve Involved a baxardoua re posal of confidence except for one for tunate circumstance the man whom I must trust wss my own father. He was a manufacturer of the costlier kinds of paper and Imperishable parch ments aud an expert In Inks and sigua tures and all detalla that mark ths authenticity or expose the frandnlency tit documents. It was UDon his oDlnlon i that we bad chiefly relied In the matter of the genuineness of the Desborough contract It waa to him I now carried It with the alngular request that he should prepare for me the beat possi ble forgery. During the time necessary for this work Hammond once visited the aafety deposit box and missed the document but I satisfied blm with the falsehood tbut It hnd bceu In my possession. On the evening of the same day my father laid two cm'lM 0 Desborough con: I tract before me and asked me to Judge j between them; but though I bad learn ' ed many secrets (ro.ro blm. I ootid no distinguish the neV ffonf the d.a, . After I bad substituted the false for the genuine contract It was necessary only for mt to visit the Central's vault 1 at the clost of every day. When Ham mond should be ready to consummate his corrupt bargain I could not fall to know. It fell npoa a Satorday, and at mid night I followed Hammond to the bouse upon tbt cross street whence I bsd seen him emerge, aa I have described. I waa dressed In shabby clothes and die- raised aa an old man with a white wlf and board. When Hammond entered tbt suspected bouse I waa quite close to blm, and 1 observed that be gave.no summons. There was no visible at tendant The door seemed to open of lUelf, and I observed a similar phe nomenon a few mluutes later when a shadowy form which I could not doubt to be Ilammoud'a passed along the dim arcade to the uullghted portal of Btend hall's residence. Immediately an almost Insane curl- salty took bold npon me. My desire to set tbt meeting between Btendhall and Uammond was so strong that It re lieved me of the necessity of planning. I proceeded upon pure animal Instinct It waa no great feat to climb tne iron fence, but I will not describe, and, In deed, shall never clearly know, bow I scaled the side of Btendhall'o bouse. Once at the window, my difficulties were over. There were a fair footing and a bold for my bands, but I could s nothing. The window waa a little way open, and the draft waa outward, so that the curtain's edges aeemed glued to the casing. My excitement waa maddening, and the minutes were endless. Then suddenly the current of air changed. The curiam swung some Inches inward, and I could see Into the room. 8tendhali stood with bis back toward me, looking across a broad table to the door, which an III favored fellow who seemed to be a servant bad Just open ed. There was a folded paper In bis band. He advanced and gave It to Stendhal!, who glanced at It and nod ded several times. The servant with drew, and not a word bad been spoken upon either side. I slid down from my perch without a thought for my neck, ran round Inside the yard to the front door and pressed the electric button. I'pon the front the bouse bad a conventional and Inhabited look. I expected a prompt response to my ring. Instead there waa a long wait during which I bad a strange sense of being scrutinized by bidden eyes. Upon the farther side of Stendball's bouse there waa a carriage way closed by heavy gates, which suddenly were rolled aside. A closed carriage rolled out Into the road, and I thought I heard 1 muffled cry from within It Clearly they were taking Hammond away, hav ing robbed aad gagged blnu SVhat fur ther violence was meditated I knew not bat a strange survival of loyalty to this traitor swept over me, and I ran to his relief. Through many dark streets I pursued the vehicle, and at last It stopped be side the curb. I ran up to It and wrenched open the door. The coach man npon the box remained absolutely motionless, paying no attention to me. The carriage was empty. I had been neatly tricked. It was useless to return to Stend ball's, and upon a chance I went to the house In which my partner had his rooms. I bad removed the wig and beard. The attendant at the outer door knew tne and stared at my shabby at tire. ' Mr. Hammond, be said, had Just returned. I went to his apartment and knocked, and be answered in a hoarse voice, -Who's tberer "Let me In," I called. "I most see you at once." There was a brief silence and then a loud, sharp sound. I set my hand to of bla house were nndlscoveraDtt. -toe-yond my own evidence aa to Ham mond's entry by the private way could offer nothing. That did not prove the manner of the assault npon bins. VThen Btendhall found that be bad tan go a worthies document from Ham mond be offered a satisfactory aettl-v ment of the Desborough stilt and wit that I waa forced to be content Tb facte about Hammond found tlieV way Into print, but that they frightened or even annoyed Btendhall In the slight est degree I cannot give myself the pleasure of strpposlng, but I know npon excellent suthotity that the trick of tbt forged contract cut blm to the marrow. ' CAPTAIN EXAMINED Tells Hew Accident to the Steamer Koa soke Occurred. Han Francisco. Dee. 12. Captain Dun ham and other officer of the steamer Roanoke who were imeprilled by sn ac cident on the Eureka, bar November 27, carne before Captain's 1JJV and Bul ger today to explain the accident. 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