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Th? Mystery of Room No. 222
A Ml OUT STORY
The dn'o was the ♦*fth of Novem
ber, a date easy '.n remember, |l bi*-
Ing my own blrtnday. It wan a Krl-
flay, and yet there ate people wl-i-
affect to believe that Friday Ih not a
flay singled out from ita six compan
ions lor mystery, strangeness and dis
aster. The number of the room was
221, as easy to remember as the date
not that 1 could ever fall to recall
l.be number also. Every detail or
tni* affair is fixed In my mind im
movably and forever. The hotel J
ahull call the Grand Junction Terrain
us hotel. II this tale were not a
simple and undeeorated record of
fact 1 might with impunity choose
any of the big i’urls hotels In order
by such a detail to give a aemblanc •
of truth to my invention, hut the
•lory happens to be true and I must,
therefore, for obvious reasons di*
guise the Identity of the place where
It occurred. I would only say that
the Grand Junction railroad is one of
the hugest and best managed systems
In France, or In the world, and that
these qualities Of vast ness (‘.(tend to
the Immense Terminus hotel In the
midst of I'aris.
Hie hot< l Is full every night In the
wets except Friday, Saturday and
Sunday, and every drummer knows
ihat. except on the nights, If he
wishes lo secure a room at the Grand
Junction he must write or wlr-i
ahead. And there are 40'l bedrooms.
It was somewhat late when I ar
rived In Fails that night. I had
meant to sleep In a large n-w hotel
iu Avenue de L’Opera, but 1 felt
tired, and suddenly, on the spur of
the moment, 1 decided to stay a' the
Grand Junction If there waB room fo;
me. It Is thus that fate works.
i walked Into the hallIfpllowed bv
a porter with my bag. "rha place
seemed Just like usual, the perfection
of the commonplace, the business-like
and the unrplritual.
’ Have you a room?" I asked the
young lady In black, whose yellow
hair shone gaily at the office window
ill the electric light.
She glanced at her hooks and said
impassively: "Koom 222.”
Howe & Co.,
■■■■■■■■iincBammHMBiHBni
Augusta, Ga.
MAKERS CF CLOTHES THAT FIT.
—Don’t fail to consult us* before
buying a suit and you will be sat
isfied with results. We have some
elegant patterns just imported for
the season trade. Our LEATH
ER-SHADE BROWN is some
thing attractive and our plaids
can’t be heat. Other lines that
are staple the year around.
—We want your business and are
willing to come after it. Drop us
a line about your needs and we
will see that you are supplied. Ev
erybody knows us, i
let’s get acquainted.
you don’t
Howe 6c Co.;
Augusta, Ga.
Sunny Brook
the PURL POOD
Whiskey
It is distilled in the Rood old Kentucky way and is especially
adapted (or home use. Every bottle is sealed with the Govern
ment “Green Stamp/* a positive assurance o( full proof, full
quantity and a fully matured age. It stand* un aqua led as a
rten and healthful stimulant—a sure cure lor many ol the
minor ailments o( the human system.
DELIVERED DIRECT TO TOU EXMESS PREPAID
BY ANY OF THE F0U.0WINS DISTRIBUTER!:
,, Tv* aaas m,
M. mAKKsTKINV , j,
^ MRr,,| ('hRlUnnoin*. I«nn.
t BAS BLUM a CO . Jacksonville. Fla.
BEDINGFIFLD a CO., JackannvilW Fla
c. C BUTLF.R Jacksonville. FU.
P. F. a ( r LONG Jacksonville Fta
H ^VYgTKlNa aV klonurLer,- Ala.
■A* ' °NWni; K i" rrn ' r,y •' Montgomerr. Ala
"Pity you can’t make It all two’s"
1 ventured with timid Jocularity.
She smiled very slightly with a dis
tant condescension. It is astonish
ing how a feminine hotel clerk can
make a masculine gurst ff-el small
and self-conscious.
"Name,” she demanded.
“Victor Hollard."
"Fourth floor,” she said, writing out
ihe room ticket and handing It to
me. In another moment I was In
the elevator.
No. 221 was the last door but one
at the end of the eastern corridor of
the fourth floor. It proved to be a
room with a double bed, targe, ugly,
hut perfectly-appointed In all nut
ters of comfort, In "hort It was char
acteristic of the hotel. I knew that
every bed-room In that corridor and
every bed-room In every other corTI-
dor presented evactly the same as
pect. One Instlni lively felt the im
possibility of anything weltd, any
thing mysterious or terrible entering
ihe precincts of an abode go solid,
cheerful and orderly. And yet—but
I shall come to that presently.
It will be well for me to relate all
that I did that evening. I washed
and then took some valuables out of
iny hag and put them in my pocket.
Then I glanced round the chamber
and among other satisfactory details
noticed Ihat the electric lights were
so fixed that I could read In bed
without distressing my eyes. I then
went downstairs in the elevator and
Into the smoking room. I had dined
In the train so I ordered nothing but
a cafe noir and a box of Virginia ci
garettes. After finishing my coffee
I passed Into the blllard room and
played a hundred up with ihe marker.
To show that my nerves were at least
as steady as usual that night, 1 mav
mention that although the marker
gave me fifty and beat me I made a
break of twenty ados which won his
generous approval. The game Over.
I’went Into the hall and noticed that
ihe porter:—It was the night node.,
and he had just come ou duty—
seemed to have i peculiarly honest
and attractive face. Wishing him
good night I retired to bed At 3
o'clock I awoke, not with a start but
gradually. I know It was exactly 3
o'clock because the striking of a.very
noisy church clock in the neighbor
hood was the firs' thing J heard, lur.
l ho clock had not wakened me. I
felt sure that something else, some
thing far more sinister than a church
dock had disturbed my sleep,
I listened. Then I heard It again
It 'was the sound of a groan In the
next room.
"Someone must be sick," I thought
and tried to sleep again. But I
could not sleep, the groatiH continued
and grow louder and more terrible.
At last 1 jumped out of bed and turn
ed on the light. I felt easier with
ihe light turned on.
“That man, whoever he Is, Is dy
ing, only a dying man could groan
like that,” I thought.
I admit I was frightened, bo I call-
id. No answer. /’What’s the mat-
ler ? " I Inquired. No answer “Arc
you sick or nre you doing this Just
to amuse yourself? 1 ’ No answer.
Then 1 tried to open '-he door but It
was locked.
"Yes, I said to myself, “he Is
either sick or he hus committed a
murder and Is feeling sorry for It.
I must get the-night porter.”
I put on some tclothes and went
lo find my way through endless cor
ridors and down Mights of stairs ap
parently Innumerable. Here and
there an electric light sought with Its
yellow eye to pierce the gloom. At
length I reached ll.e hall and l re
member that the tiled Moor struck
cold Into my slippered hut bocklcss
leet.
"There is a man either dying or
very sick in 222," I said to the night
porter. He was leading an evening
paper and evidently very comfortnbl*
in his easy chair.
"Is that so, sir," lie replied.
“Ye3," 1 Insisted, "l think he Is
dying. "Hadn’t you better do some
thing?"
'I ll come upstairs with you." hs
answered readily, and wo began ths
ascent. At the first Moor landing
the night porter stopped and faced
me. Ho was a man of about 45 aua
looked like the father of a family.
"If you think he is dying, sir, 1
will call the manager, 5>r. Duvall."
"Do,’ 1 said.
The manager slept on the first ficor
ind he soon appeared—a rath
young man In a terra cotta colored
dressing gown. Arrived in front of
loom 222 we listened intently, but
could only hear a faint occasional
groan.
"He Is nearly dead." 1 said. Th
manager called aloud, hut there was
no answer. Then lie vainly tried to
open the door. The nigh' porter ilo-
pnrted and returned with a stout pair
of steof .ongs. With these and the
natural ingenuity peculiar to hotel
porters he forced open the door and
wo entered room No. 222.
A stout, middle-aged man lay on
'he bed, fully dressed in black. On
the Moor near the bed was a silk hat
As we approached the great body
seenu-d to Mutter and then it lay pro
foundly and terribly still. The man
ager put his hand on the man's head
and held the glass of his watch to
the man's bloodless lips.
"He Is dead," the manager said. "1
am sotry you have been put to any
inconvenience and 1 am very much
obliged lo you for calling me."
• • • •
"What about that man?” 1 asked
the porter early the next or rather
the same morning.
"What man, sir?" he replied.
"You know." 1 retorted very angrilv
“The man who oled during the night
In room 222."
"I assure you clr, I have not the
slightest idea of what you mean."
Yet his face seemed as honest as
ever. I inquired at the office for the
manager and saw him in his private
office.
"1 thought I would just see about
that man,” 1 begau.
"What man?" the manager asked.
"laxik here," 1 said, now thoroughly
annoyed. "It is all very well to give In
structions to the porter, and I can
quite understand you want the thing
kept as quiet as possible.
.M-f. Irlrtr •Irt+irlr
i Thinking: About It!!
Two farmers met in the road one day-=“thought you
said you had plowed that ten-acre field” said the
first farmer. “No, I was only thinking about
plowing it” said the second farmer. “Oh, I see;
you merely turned it over in your mind.”
Now then, we’ve been turning over some things in
our mind, and want to tell you about them.
The Store oE Today
? Not Yesterday—Not Last Week
We propose to make this the model store, we are going to do so from the customers' standpoint as
well as our own. What makes the good store, the model store? Our way of thinking:
Having what you want, new and stylish, nothing old, polite salesmen ro wait on
you, the right prices, the right treatment. What’s yonr idea? We w ill
be pleased to hear from you. We want you to make this
store right. Drop us aline, you can sign your name
or not—if we agree with you, we will pub
lish it in The News.
Your friends.
McCRAW
| & MYRICK
"Excuse me sir," said the manager,
“elthet you or 1 must be hnuil and I
am Burry to say, 1 don’t thing It Is
ntyself."
“Do you mcnn to say that you did
not enter room 222 with me at 3
o'clock this morning?"
"1 mean to suy Just that,’ he an
swered.
’ Well ” I got no furth-r. I paid j
my bill and left.
"Here," 1 suld to the porter as I de
parted, "tAke this flvo franc piece, t
admire you.”
I had a serious illness extending
over a spell of three months. In
the course of my next travels I found
myself one night at the Grand June
• Ion hotel.
"Mr. Hollard,” said the night porter.
"I have been looking for you for
weeks and weeks. The manager
would like to see you In his prtvat.
apartments. Again 1 saw the young
manager.
"Mr. Hollard," he said to me, sit
ting down next to me on the lounge,
"I owe you an apology. At any rate
1 think it right to Inform you that on
the night of the fifth of November
the year before last, exactly twelve
months before your last visit, a stem
man dlod in room 222 at 3 n. m. I
had forgotten this when you were in
my office last.”
"It seems queer," I said, coldly
"that you should have forgotten such
a ruing.'’
"The fact Is," ho replied. "I was
not the manager at that time."
"And (ho porter—is he u new man
too?'
"Yes, the porter wno, with th--
font! r manager fom-d the corpse Ir
222 is now at Nice."
“Then you think I had a glimpse of
the world of spirits?"
' On these matters," the manager
said, "I prefer to think nothing."
Night On Bald Mountain.
On a lonely night Alex. Benton of
Fort Edward, N. Y., climbed Bald
Mountain to the home of a neighbor,
tortured by Asthma, bent oncuring him
with Dr. King’s New Discovery, that
had cured himself of asthma. This won
derful medicinesoon relievedlandquickiy
cured his neighbor. Later it cured his
son’s wife of a severe lung trouble.
Millions believe its the greatest Throat
and Lung cure on Earth Coughs, Colds,
Croup, Hemorrhages and. Sore Lungs
are surely cured by it. Best for Hay
Fever, Grip and Whooping Cough. 50c
and $1.00. Trial hottle free. Guaranteed
bv all druggists.
BOOKKEEPING $29.°°
SHORTHAND % 2.2.99
C0ABINE0 $4 52°
Episcopal Church Lenten Services.
Evening Prayer and Address Wednes
days and Fridays at 4.30 p. m. a general
invitation is extended to all Christian
people. W. R. Scarritt D. D.
Rector
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church.
Rev. Wm. Russell Scarritt, D. D.,
Rector.
Sunday services—Morning Prayer and
Sermon. 11 a. m.
Sunday School, 9:30.*
Friday Evening Prayer, 4 p. m.
Holy Comjnunion, the First Sunday
in. the month.
The Rector andjiis family will be at
home to frinds each Monday night from
8to 10 o’clock.
Attention Ladies!
Don’t fail to see the
new line of hair fixings
now on display at Miss
Ellen Fox’s. New
Pompadour rolls, new
style putt's and the
newest of the new
Chignons. Hair nets
and the new shell ban
deaus.
li
Books Included. This offer good ninety days.I
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