July 4. IMS«
S
M X U 8T *A T *f> FKATJUAM M fT U O N
THE CREEPING THING
A Story of Gruesome and Haunting Mystery
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N O W < iO ON W IT H n t K > 1 0 * 1'
■y
i i»ru J r un IM oir»
T he W ell-K nuten
f
Serial IT r it er
well turned the matter over
to me with the conaent of the
county authorities, not offi-
rially, but by common con*
aent," interpolated Alec.
As he ended his sentence
we were standinK before the
great carved doors at the en­
trance. Alec lifted the great
knocker, but before it had
Lime to descend the door
opened from within.
Old Diuron stood in the
entrance.
H i s
wrinkled
| brown face was a study of
mixed emotions. Grief and!
fear and anger and appre­
hension. all. fought to control
tt*
“ I look for you. Monsieur.
(The femme she insist thut she
(In
K l.W Y N House loom stays in the houmfort.’ ’
ed. a gloomy spec-1 the
_ . island of his youth, old
ter, menacing and JHaron had known of the
silent, through the!»pneiy
mystery house« set
great trees that all ‘¿««P ,n »ec1
ret P j « * *
of
but hid it from the view 0f| H mi U mh jungles, and those
passers on the highway. High|*»oumforU of the voodoo wor-
up in a single window abut - -h>PP®rs were fitly exempl.-
ting on the sinister octagonal
>y
**jy*teriou» ™ om
tower a faint light gleamed. I of horrors in the house where
'he served.)
As he spoke,
“ It is the reflection of the
gesticulating wildly accord
light in the wide corridor. |ing to his custom, his dark
1 V '' U ,th? I ,,a " wi" d° ^ | o l d eyes rolled ... the urgency
whispered Alec in a hushed of hiJ exc|U,nient.
voice as we turned in between
,,,
,
, , .
the huge stone pillars fla n k -1
1 ,n]*
mg the grilled iron gates now
hghted1 hall, Alec preced­
ing me. Once inside, the old
setting open.
..• I
. ■>
*
t
*
•
]
_ 'm
l l l i an’.,
tll o
t
excited
\ t 1 Id. II K
gaze
A A L 1*4»
paused
U o l IT tlii
as
i i *'*i ti ,n ''rj< ‘ " '. ,
his eyes rested on my own.
zled. "I thought you told me
J
he exclafmcd_
he wide corridor led d rectlj
f() 'f o
t for the mo.
back through the center of ment the Mgit aUng circum-
the house above stairs k U |lU
,.,t , , M * eu Fred.
does below
My own voice erick
Now wi|, a„ be we„
was lowered in key with the jndeed
Thank , hp Hon 1)iel|
general eermess o f the »ur-
hitve come.“ The old j
roundings and the atmos
turned
hi# trem.
phere of mystery and h o r r o r . ' , ^ brown handj|* hltrd and
“ It does,
affirmed my wrinkled with age, gripped
companion, “ but the first mine.
He was incoherent;
door leading to the left, wjth something like relieved;
o p e n s on to a short passage­ pleasure
way that serves to isolate the
I felt some nerve inside of
octagonal room more effec­
Her shoulders were
me tauten at that spontan­ Alene Hardmore was two inches over six feet in height.
tively from the other rooms eous indication of this old square like a man’s and her arms flexed as she gripped my hand.
of the house proper.
This servant’s confidence in my
short, irregular corridor, is
ability to solve the weird turning over the reaponslbtut y that «as the flood of Invective and c o m * years a g e . I found it peculiarly d e ­
unlighted save for the tiny crimes that were being com­ feated heavily on his shoulders. I plaints slowed down into bubble; tasteful.
window through which you
and sputters of impatience, “ 111 see. Her voice, when she spoke, pre-
mitted in this lonely place. mentally took charge.
are seeing the reflected light.
- I hope you are right. Diaron.” I Jf we ran’t dissuade the lady from j ldicod me still further against her.
Such
confidence
as
this said witu the reservation of a men - 1 her unladylike Intentions
It was hard and harsh
She spoke
Since the strange horrors
shouldn't m od ! ’ Have you ever seen Miss Hard- feep In her throat like
man
should not be misplaced if it lal prayer that
have been happening, this
more
difflrult.es
than
I
could
take
p'or^
.^lec^
whispered
t
h
e
|
“
You
re
the
great
__-----------------—
,
--------Detective
Fred-
were humanly possible to
i my ear discreetly as we climbed erick." she said directly and witli-
door is left open all night.” justify it; that I resolved. Old care of "Now just what is it that l the
long
shallow
stairs.
out
introduction
from
the
fuming
is rating you so about this insistent
"No." I flung the answer care- j Diaron
“ I know vou from vour
“ W as anyone in this cor­ Diaron had always been the dame and the 'houmfort' as you call
1-ssly back to him. wonderin« at the pictures and because the marslial
ridor able to observe it dur­ one figure in that house o f. It?' ^
tlon brouRht the old
Irrelevancy of it and vaguely con- and the coroner both told me that
ing the time the Creeping mystery t h a t offered or a s k - low back to the present with a jerk t. mptuous of the sub rosa tone in they were expecting you in on the
which it was asked.
case before long. Your friend Mr.
Thing was in a ctio n ?" I wait­ e e u
d f r i e n d s h i o f r o m t h e o u t - n . o Immediately
began
ila.1 am.
the
I thought Alec, laughed significant­ Jonas, here, seemed to want to hold
_ , . h his expressive
prnr-
„ lv, to hands
hand.«
. . îr it iiu . , s iu p . ir . u in . . m e o . u , t .air
with
and
ed eagerly for his answer.
ly.
albeit
in
an
undertone.
__ __
everything _ till you
came, __
but I pre-
Side world.
I had b e e n tlli'b c w a ll in a conglomerate patois o(
Stalking nonchalantly along after ¡vailed’ upon ’the authorities lit V —
“ No,”— Alec paused, in the only one of that outside w o r l d French and English the female pro Diaron.
my mind busily engaged oil .the county
seat», to aUow me to
o
' for me"
^bie-making.
this n , *•» possibilities and probabilities of proceed with investigations mean-
dimness I saw that he was re­ who had ever responded t one
"fem
in particular and
For
moment I let the stream of
invec- . solving the nature of the criminal Lime
Hope you'll see the thing in
garding me almost quizzical­ his needs.
live and incohcrencies flow unre- agency or agencies^^responsible^lor a reasonable frame of mind." She
ly— “ But
I’m
afraid
you
From the first day when •trained. Then, when I felt the Ule deaths of old Meme and Ezra regarded me keenly as she said this
Selwyn and the disappearance of and paused.
won't find any explanation he had timidly offered me an ¡pressure had bp<'n 1 so,ne^ “ t rc_
—
b o d ,«, j brought myself
** to * » 1 I felt myself stiffening
against
there, old man. The walls apple from the old orchard doiS?'to s^Sfft detoil,
m e excuea
standstlll automatically when we the woman but I had to be courte-
were
confronted
at
the
top
by
Al-
ous.
are perfectly bare of open­ beyond and back of the
As yet there was no excuse
A fem ale Detective
ene Hardmore -herself.
tContinued on -îage four<
ings. The tiny window is a shielding trees and border­ The reprehensible and unreason- j My first impression was of the
replica of the ones inside the ing the walled-in garden at able "femme." It seemed, was the hugeness of the woman. A huge-
and all but unsexed (ac- ness and angularity that gave one
octagonal room. That space the back of Selwyn House, I graceless,
cording to Diaron). female detect Ire ¡the feeling of masculinity.
is purely to isolate the room h a d b e e n h i s s t a u n c h a n d p e r - i MUs Alene Hardmore. She had ar-1 Alene Hartmore was two inches
,
,
*
rived at Selwyn House something lover six feet in height and ebony
of mystery from the rest of haps only
m end.
like an hour earlier, armed, as it black. Her shoulders were square
the house.
I went over it Tho apple was good. It was only:were, cap-a pie and with the firm like a man's and the great muscle;
Thorc are some very in­
very carefully.
There isn’t the first one of many, as was my ¡and as yet undisputed intention of of her large half bare arms flexed
teresting opyortunit:es of­
first rendezvous with the can ny1 remaining in the octagonal room and rippled as she reached out and
so far as I can see, any pos­ old fisherman that I soon found the for the night: tier avowed purpose gripped my hand in greeting.
fered to 'u r r e a d e r s
Instantly my mind registered dis­
sible chance of its being in “ queer outlandcr" (as the other being the solution of the hitherto
anion# the classified ad
townsfolk railed him) to be.
baffling and unsolved mystery of the approval of this mannish woman
any way connected with this The success of my career as n crimes enacted there.
advertisements which ap­
Her size and general masculinity
“ Cherches la femme," seems to aroused a fundamental antagonism
Thing. However, to prevent detective was no news to old Diaron
pear on page 11 of the
Indeed It was one of his few obses­
No man likes to
been unnecessary ndvlce for >in my man mind.
the possibility of a chance, I sions that no solution of crime was have
Illustrated Feature Se.’ tion^
Diaron in this particular case. She have to peer up at a woman; and
in this issue. Why not"
have ordered it to be left too difficult for me I felt bound to bad appeared on the scene of her being considered a pretty large man
up to that reputation
own will and furthermore refused myself (I am five feet eleven, and
look them over?
open throughout the night. live
Now. Willi Alec urging me by his to budge from same.
played half-back on the star eleven
You know Jake has pretty ailrnce and his relieved look of "Come along. Diaron." I soothed of the Interscholastic teams thr.w
,
a
f
.
^
teX
IM PORTANT NOTICE!
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