The Hollow - * *
bP •> of Her Hand
^Georgfe Barr McCutcheon
COPYMGffr. f9/2 BY CtORtfGAM fiKCU7T//£'OH : COf*rMC/f7,/9/2 GY DODD, ffEAD &* COYiJ^AJIY
It
SYNOPSIS.
null* VnmUtl to found murdered in
• taMMi i i*e u ar W« York Mr* Wran
daf' fa out>ii?tute«l fnm the city and iden
Ub* • l**- *-«J% A %«eir.c »«man w»u> ac
r«fi.|aai i W r&ndall lu fhr inn and sub
•rqwnth lls* *P*-sred. :» *u*prc*t*d
Mr* ttesrd.ll .tart* *k f«»r New York
fa » -t*» during » b mijor *no«r wtonn
Oa »:.r *t»*. she meet* a young w< man In
CM fund «M pews— tn be the woman
Mt , * M Wrandall fWhrd that the
r rt * ^4 done ~r a in ridding her
«*f 1,4 mars wi«» l»*#*.*h ah*' him
<•.*}•• had . *-*d her great «orr«*w
M** ft nu. da It cieferauin-a t*» *h:eld h» r
•ad 'tie : er t«. tier own horn** Mr*
• \ -* rv of Hetty ('ma
te .j fc U . that portion that r**- ;
1 r*r*d- forbid* the Ctrl « ver to
«. r* Hetty a ha»f. fn iifiMp
• ft*. •< - per4’ a-'* ‘uni «*f tae
*frar At* tt rai»,Ut and Hetty re- -
twrt % « York after an aM*m*- "J *
> |, v « \V*
of <~UaTu» l*» -m*-* crrat’> interested .n
fimtv ji^ra «en* tn I-estle'a mtotuatkj
x - :. 4 •
wad *■»rat••* n f-«r If * •nine’* abe *ti*
fr*r4i' t * 1* 4 tn.nUia tt randall by
r : rt*.r< u< irCrfM into *.he family
J^V. - n * • •** •. .*e- *rjth hi* frVnd ltran
d<s» I ■ * at jritot visit* S.*ra at ^her
. * • s. ’ *
t»,H • . . e * :r» I \e Wit Hetty S«ra
• • ■ ■ . , * * :* Ii* - '» **• paint .* r * 1 ur# o^
Jl, ■ * i it*.,-t: .*■* t ^unilnc f*« Hm ’hut
f - v H. ffV Krf«»r* leioMHrj
4 »» pm • I M
k »**•«« Li ;• *' arti*t le f;m!* "»»■• «*f
Hrfti IT. .is to ber ib’ut I? Ile’tr
d~-;*r** It au4 or a pu-ture of Hetty
C.Irti* in Knr tfb <-*r«a*. «M re.-en bi«*<
1*4* v.rt Mi ! to hhi ehacrtn
14>:. t* o' iW h> Hetty B«oih and
Met* n.-dMi i* % f<*r earh other,
but He i*i -r *le la: « that a he ran never
Mm a* three is a« inuummuntahie bar
rwr -• •_ r a <.v Hetty admit* t»* Sara
tnst *i - lores Bda Sara <Mstm that
H-f*. must tnarrr l„ ehe. mho must l*e
si»d* * i» hr- ther*« d**bt to the
Kiri Hetty team attempts U> tell the
reai *tsry **f the tragedy and harm threat
ott to *tTanc: * *«-r :f she say* a word.
b*ra in* ka Hetty hv rweallfltg that all
thi» * me '• ** believed Hetty to have
mum* 4 it ,-r . Utt «v»a with CHalHa Wran
4a Uiftf r «lia*e that Hetty W in
sao leollr aarain pr «t*«*e* In liettv
•Ml M Plelfd Hh v prepares to leave
CUra d* Un«MC *bat afl*-r what has hap
pened »i4 an remain no l«*nr*r lletfy
War*% ft»r Kur •*» At a* alae reeeixes a
r- fr • H * *h t* | -a* started
*•** * f**ter *test!»rr *»n«i will t*e naitlnie
(l4 hr-r on the other S*de ne**t* ,
■ • *» ! * '•■!*’ ' • T ’
an cttrfnai •«» •« tie fnwn him H« tt> !
I • • r P*rm. Mil find*
*. - T* r»**t* in her refueal to j
t*' hm< tb * <-M whirls keep* their. !
•f.-r- M «Wlaees that Sara a lor* tain
un b rr. IL *:»- k area f'T Amer <*a de
b rMired i<> -*-t :l« **t«ry fr< a S»ra
CHAPTER XVI.—Continued.
The weeks slipped by. He was with
her almost daily. Other people came
ts her ho-.se, some for rather protract
ed visit*, others in quest of pillage at
the nightly bridge table, but he va?
seldom massing There were times
whet, he thought he detected a ten
dency to wa*-er. but each canning at
tempt on his part to encourage the
tm;ui» wxariabiy brought a certain
mocking light into her eyes and he
veered off la defeat. Something kept
telling him. however, that the hour
was bound to come when she would
falter la her resolution; when frank
ness would meet frankness, and the
the veil tie lilted
There were no letters from Hetty,
no word of any description. If Sara
knew anything of the girl s movements
the did not take l'-oo'h into her onfi
dence
Leslie Wnudo.ll went abroad in Au
gust, ostensibly to attend 'he av atioti
caeets la Prance and England. Hie
tuotter and lister sailed in September,
bet not before the entire colony of
Which they were a part had begun to
disease Sara and Booth with a relish
that was obtioualy distasteful to the
Wrandalis.
Where lb-re ts smoke there is fire,
k I all the gossips, and forthwith pro
ceeded to carry faggots.
A week or so before sailing. Mrs.
ki.ltnond Wrandall had Booth in for
dimer. I think she said en fsmille.
At aay rate. Sara was not asked,
witch is proof enough that she was
bent on making it a family affair
After dinner. Booth sat in the
a- rectied upper balcony with Vivian,
lie liked her. She waa a keen willed,
plain spoken ycung woman, with few
false ideals and no subtlety. She was
!»■*» snobbish than arrogant Of all
the Wrandalis. she was the least self
centered. Leslie never quite under
stood her for the paradoxical reason
that she thoroughly understood him.
“You know, Brandon." she said.
Coed Heavens. Viv!” He Cried, Un
comfortably.
after a long silence between them,
•tkey'ir been setting my cap lor you
(or a long, tong time." She blew a
tain stream of cigarme smoke toward
the moon.
He started. It was a bolt from a
dear sky "The deuce!"
"Yes." she went on in the most cas
ual tone, "mother's had her heart set
as U for months. You were supposed
to he mine at first sight. 1 believe.
Phase don't look so uneasy. I'm not
going to propose to you.” She laughed
her little ironic laugh.
"So that is the way things stood,
•h?" be said, still a little amazed by
her caudor
~Y«e. And what is more to the
pi.t I sb unite sure I should have
said yes if you bad asked me. Sounds
odd. doesn't It? Rather amusing, too.
being able to discuss it so unreserved
ly. mat ttr*
“Good heavens. Vtv!" he cried un
comfortably. “I—I had no idea you
cared—”
“Cared!" she cried, as he paused.
"I don't care two pins for you in that
way. But I would have married you,
just the same, because you are worth
marrying. I'd very much rather have
you for a husband than any man 1
know, but as for loving you! Pooh!
I'd love you in just the way mother
loves father, and 1 wouldn't have been
a bit more trouble to you than she is
to him.”
Gad. you don't mind what you
say!” ,
"Failing to nab you. Brandy. I dare
say I'll have to come down to a duke
or. who knows? maybe a mere prince.
It ;sn't very enterprising, is It? And
-rtainly it isn't a gay prospect. Real
ly. 1 had hoped you would have me.
I flatter myself. I suppose,1 but, hon
estly now. we would have made a
r it her nice looking couple, wouldn't
we?”
"You flatter me." he jaid.
" Put," she resumed, calmly exhal
ing. "you very foolishly fell in love
with som- one else, and it wasn’t
recessary for me to pretend that I
w as in love with you—which I should
have dene, believe me, if you had
given me the chance. >’ou fell in love,
first with Hetty Castletoc "
“First?" he cried, frowning.
"And now you are heels ovrr head
in love with my beautiful sister-in-law.
Which ail goes to prove that I would
have made just the kind of wife you
need, considering your tendency to
fluctuate. But how dreadful it would
have been for a sentimental, loving
girl like Hetty!"
He sat bolt upright and stared hard
ai ner.
"See here. Viv. what the dickens are
you driving at? I'm not in love with
Sara—not in the least—and—” He
checked himself sharply. “What an
ass 1 am! You're guying me.”
"In any event, 1 am right about Het
ty .'' she said, leaning forward, her man
ner quite serious.
If it will ease you mind,” he said
stiffly. ”1 plead guilty with all my
heart.”
She favored him with a slight frown
of annoyance.
"And you deny the fluctuating
< barge?" ,
"Most positively. I can afford to be
honest with you, Viv. Y'ou are a
corker. I love Hetty Castletou with
a!l my soul.”
She leaned beck In her chair. “Then
why don't you dignify your soul by be
ing honest with her?”
' What do you mean?”
For a half-minute she was silent.
Are you and I of the same stripe,
after all? Would you marry Sara
wltnout loving her. as I would have
done by you? It doesn't seem like
you, Brandon."
Lood heaven, I'm not going to
marry Sara!" he blurted out. "It's
never entered my head.”
Perhaps it has entered hers.”
Nonsense! She isn’t going to
marry anybody. And she knows how 1
f'-et toward Hetty. If it came to the
point where 1 decided to marry with
out love, 'pon my soul, Viv, I believe
I'd pick you out as the victim.”
"Wonderful combination!" she said
with a frank laugh. “The quintes
• nee of no love lost.' But to resume!
Do you know that people are saying
you are to be married before the win
ter is over?”
"Let em say it," he said gruffly.
"Oh. well,’ she said, dispatching it
all with a gesture, "if that’s the way
you fee! about it, there's no more to
be said."
He was ashamed. “I beg your par
don. I shouldn't have said that.”
"You see," she went on, reverting to
the original topic, “people who know
Sara are likely to credit her with mo
tives'you appear to be totally ignorant
of. She set her heart on my brother
Challie, when she was a great deal
younger than she is now. and she got
him. If age and experience count for
anything, how capable she must be
by this time.”
He was too wise to venture an opin
ion. “1 assure you she has no designs
on me.”
“Perhaps not. But I fancy that even
ou could not escape as St. Anthony
did. She is most alluring.”
“You don’t like her."
’ Obviously. And yet I don’t dislike
her. She has the virtue of consist
ency, if one may use the expression.
She loved my brother. Leslie says
she should have hated him. We have
tried to like her. I think I have come
nearer to it than any of the others, not
•-xceptirig Leslie, who has always been
her champion. I suppose you know
that he was your rival at one time.”
' He mentioned it," said Booth drily.
“I should have been very much dis
appointed in her if she had accepted
him."
"indeed?”
I sometimes wonder if Sara spiked
Leslie’s guns for him.”
“1 can tell you something you don’t
know, Vivian,” said he. “Sara was
rather keen about making a match
there."
Vivian's smile was slow but trium
phant. “That is just what I thought.
There you are! Doesn't that explain
Sara?”
“In a measure, yes. But. you see,
it developed that Hetty cared for some
one else, and that put a stop to every
thing.”
“Am I to take it that you are the
some one else?"
“Yes,” he said soberly.
“Then, may I ask why she went
away so suddenly?”
“You may ask, but I can’t answer.”
“Do you want my opinion? She
went away because Sara, failing in
her plan to marry her oft to Leslie,
decided that it would be fatal to a cer
tain projeot of her own if she re
mained on the field of action. Do I
make myself clear?”
“Oh, you are away off in your con
clusions, Viv."
"Time will tell,” was here cabalistic
rejoinder.
Her father appeared on the lawn
below and called up to them.
"You are wanted at the telephone.
Brandon. I’ve just been talking to
Sara.”
“Did she call you up, father?” asked
Vivian, leaning over the rail.
“Yes. About nothing in particular,
however.”
She turned upon Booth with a mock
ing smile. He felt the color rush to
liis face, and was angry with himself.
He went to the telephone. Almost
her first words were these:
“What has Vivian been telling you
about me, Brandon?”
He actually gasped. “Good heavens,
Sara!”
He heard her low laugh. “So she
has been saying things, has she?” she
asked. “I thought so. I've had it
in my bones tonight.”
He was at a loss for words. It was
positively uncanny. As he stood there.
Her Eyes Were Moody. Her Voice
Rather Lifeless.
trying to think of a trivial remark, her
laugh came to him again over the wire,
followed by a drawling "good night,”
and then the soughing of the wind
over the "open" wire.
The next day he called her up on
the telephone quite early. He knew
her habits. She would be abroad in
her gardens by eight o'clock. He re
membered well that Leslie, in com
menting on her absurdly early hours,
had or.ce said that her “early bird"
habit was hereditary: 6he got it from
Sebastian. . . ,
“What put it into your head, Sara,
that Vitian was saying anything un
pleasant about you last night?”
■‘Magic,” she replied succinctly.
"Rubbish!”
“I have a magic tapp9try that trans
ports me, hither and thither, and by
night I always carry Aladdin's lamp.
So, you see, I see and hear everything”
“Be sensible.”
"Very well. I will be sensible. If
you intend to be influenced by what
Vivian or her mother said to you last
night, I think you’d be wise to avoid
me from this time on."
Prepared though he was, he blinked
his eyes and said something she didn’t
quite catch.
She went on: "Moreover, in addition
to my attainments in the black art,
I am quite as clever as Mr. Sherlock
Holmes in some respects. I really do
some eplendid deducing. In the first
I ■'
place, you were asked there and I
was not. Why? Because I was to be
discussed. You see—”
“Marvelous!” he interrupted loudly.
“You were to be told that 1 have
cruel designs upon you."
"Go on, please.”
“And all that sort of thing,” she
said sweepingly, and he could almost
see the inclusive gesture with her free
hand. He laughed but still marveled
at the'shrewdness of her perceptions.
“I'll come over this afternoon and
show you wherein you are wrong,” he
began, but she interrupted him with a
laugh.
“I am starting for the city before
noon, by motor, to be gone at least a
fortnight.”
“What! This is the first I've heard
of it.”
Again she laughed. “To be perfect
ly frank with you, 1 hadn't heard of
it myself until just now. I think I
shall go down to the Homestead with
the Carrolls.''
“Hot Springs?"
“Virginia,” she added explicitly.
“I say, Sara, what does all this
mean? Y'ou—”
“And if you should follow me
there. Vivian'? estimate of us will not
be so far out of the way as we'd
like to make it.”
True to her word, she was gone
when he drove over later on in the
day. Somehow, he experienced a
queer feeling of relief. Not that he
was oppressed by the rather vivacious
opinions of Vivian and her ilk, but
because something told him that Sara
was wavering in her determination to
withhold the secret from him and fled
for perfectly obvious reasons.
He had two commissions among the
rich summer colonists. One. a full
length portrait of young Beardsley in
shooting togs, was nearly finished. The
other was to be a half-length of Mrs.
Ravenscroft. who wanted one just like
Hetty Castleton's, except for the eyes,
which she admitted would have to be
different. Nothing was said of the
seventeen years' difference in their
ages. Vivian had put off posing until
Lent.
The Wrandalls departed for Scot
land, and other friends of his began
to desert the country for the city. The
fortnight passed and another week
I besides. Mrs. Ravenscroft decided to
! go to Europe when the picture was
half-finished.
"You can finish It when I come back
in December, Mr. Booth,” she said.
‘Til have several new gowns to choose
from, too.”
"I shall be busy all winter, Mrs. Ka
venscroft,” he said coldly.
! "How annoylhg,” she said calmly,
j and that was the end of it all. She
' had made the unpleasant discovery
that it wasn’t going to be in the least
j like Hetty Castleton's, so why bother
about it?
Booth waited until Sara came out
! to superintend the closing of her house
for the winter. He called at South
look on the day of her arrival. He
I was struck at once by the curious
change in her appearance and manner.
There was something bleak and deso
late in the vividly brilliant face: the j
j tired, wistful, harassed look of one !
who has begun to quail and yet fights
on.
"Will you go out with me tomorri
Brandon, for an all-day trip in
car?” she asked, as they stood to
i gether before the open fireplace on
I this late November afternoon. Her
eyes were moody, her voice rather
1 lifeless.
WOULD MARK ALL CRIMINALS
Woman’s Suggestion to Mayor of New
York Is to Have Them AH Ap
propriately Tattooed.
Among the helpful letters daily re
ceived by Mayor Mitchel came one the
other day signed "Mme. Mercury,” the
New York Sun states. She wrote that
since all other forms of punishment
had failed she would suggest that each
criminal be tattooed with a suitable
mark across his forehead or on the
cheeks.
“A pickpocket,” she said, “should
have a long fingered red hand grasp
ing a purse tattooed on the cheek. A
‘Black Hander’ should have a black
heart pierced ' with a red dagger, a
gunman should be marked with a
red hand grasping a gun, grafters
with a hand grasping the long green,
thugs marked with a blue hand grasp
ing a blackjack, burglars marked with
a doorlock and pick.
"Please give this system a trial,”
she asked. “It is humane and will not
require any extra expense. See how
many gunmen, pickpockets, murderers
and thieves the police can tattoo in
the next 12 months, and you will real
ize the old axiom of ‘catching before
hanging.’
"This system would lower the cost
of living, reduce the co6t of maintain
ing prisons and make all the poor and
criminals self-supporting, taxpaying
citizens.
“The revolution that I suggest in
the system of handling crime and crim
inals will rotate the wheels of crime
backward into oblivion in time.”
The mayor received Mme. Mercury’s
suggestions to late to incorporate
them in the Goethals police bills.
Preserving the Verities.
Star Actor — “I must insist, Mr.
Sager, on having real food in the ban
quet scene." Manager—“Very well,
then; if you insist on that you will be
supplied with real poison in the death
scene.”
FOUND STONE AGE CEMETERY j
Recent Discovery in Italian Province
Will Arouse Keen Interest
Among Archeologists.
A burial place of the Stone Age has i
just been found by Prof. Dali Osso of ;
Ancona, in the Valle Vibrata (prov- '
iace of Abruzzi). Italy.
The bodies are not buried, but are 1
all laid in small cabins containing
from two to eight each, and are
ranged on either side of these little
huts on low platforms sloping toward
the center.
With a single exception the bodies
all rest on one side, with the knees
drawn up. and it is assumed that the
dead were placed in this position to ;
give them the attitude of prayer in
their death chamber, for it has been
established that the custom of praying
on one's knees was already in exist
ence in the Stone Age in Egypt.
In one of the cabins, almost in the
center of the group, there are no
bodies, but a big circular hearth,
around which it is assumed, from the
fragments of broken earthenware pots
around it, the funeral banquets were
held.
The objects found in the cabins with
the bodies have remarkable import
ance from the archeological point of
view, as they prove the existence of
a degree of civilization, especially as
regards vases and such utensils, never
hitherto observed in the Neolithic age.
Ingenious Calculating Machine.
A Hungarian citizen has invented
an instrument which shows instantly
the amount of interest due on any
given sum for any period at any
given rate of interest. The instru
ment, made in the size and shape of
a watch. Is of very simple construc
tion and Inexpensive. All that is nec
essary to operate It is to place the
hands In the proper position on the
dial and the exact amount of interest
in each case la Indicated on the dial.
"Certainly,” he said, watching her
closely. Was the break about to come?
"I will stop for you at nine.” After
a short pause, she looked up and said:
"1 suppose you would like to know
where 1 am taking you.”
"It doesn’t matter, Sara.”
"I want you to go with me to Bur
ton’s inn.”
"Burton’s inn."
“That is the place where my hus
band was killed," she said, quite
steadily.
He started. "Oh! But—do you
think it best, Sara, to open old wounds
by—”
“I have thought it all out, Brandon. |
I want to go there—just once. I want
to go into that room again.”
CHAPTER XV!!.
Once More at Burton's inn.
Again Sara Wrandall found herself
in that never-to-be-forgotten room at
Burton's inn. On that grim night in
March she had entered without fear
or trembling because she knew what
was there. Now she quaked with a
mighty chill of terror, for she knew
not what was there in the quiet, now
sequestered room.' Burton had told
them on their arrival after a long
drive across country that patrons of
the inn invariably asked which room
it was that had been the scene of
the tragedy, and, on finding out, re
fused point-blank to occupy it. In
consequence he had been obliged to
transform it into a sort of store and
baggage room.
Sara stood in the middle of the
murky room, for the shutters had long
been closed to the light of dfy, and
looked about her in awe at the hetero
geneous mass of boxes, trunks, bun
dles and rubbish, scattered over the
floor without care or system. She had
closed the door behind her and was j
quite alone. Light sneaked in through
the cracks in the shutters, but so
meagerly that it only served to in
crease the gloom. A dismantled bed
stead stood heaped up in the corner.
She did not have to be told what bed
it was. The mattress was there too,
rolled up and tied with a thick garden
rope. She knew there were dull, ugly
blood stains upon it. Why the thrifty
Burton had persevered in keeping
this useless article of furniture, she
could only surmise. Perhaps It was
held as an inducement to the morbidly
curious who always seek out the grue
some and gloat even as they shudder.
For a long time she stood immov
able just inside the door, recalling
the horrid picture of another day. She
tried to imagine the scene that had
been enacted there with gentle, lov
able Hetty Glynn and her whilom
husband as the principal characters.
The girl had told the whole story of
that ugly night. Sara tried to see it
as it actually had transpired. For
months this present enterprise had
been in her mind: the desire to see
the place again, to go there with old
impressions which she could leave be
hind when ready to emerge in a nev,
frame of mind. It was true that she
meant to shake off the shackles of a
horrid dream, to purge herself of the
last vestige of bitterness, to clean6e
her mind of certain thoughts and mem
ories.
Downstairs Booth waited for her.
He heard the story of the tragedy from
the innkeeper, who crossly maintained
that his business had been ruined.
Booth was vaguely impressed, he knew
not why, by Burton’s description of
the missing woman. ’Td say she was
about the size of Mrs. Wrandall her
self, and much the same Agger," he
said, as he had said a thousand times
before. "My wife noticed it the min
ute she saw Mrs. Wrandali. Same
height and everything.”
A bell rang sharply and Burton
glanced over his shoulder at the indi
cator on the wall behind the desk. He
gave a great start and his jaw sagged.
"Great Scott!" he ga6ped. A curi
ous grayne6s stole over his face. "It's
—it’s the bell in that very room. My
soul, what can—”
"Mrs. Wrandall is up there, isn't
she?” demanded Booth.
"It ain’t rung since the night he
pushed the button for— Oh, gee!
You're right. She is up there. My.
what a scare it gave me.” He wiped
his brow. Turning to a boy. he com
manded him to answer the bell. The
boy went slowly, and as he went he
removed his hands from his pockets.
He came back an instant later, more
swiftly than he went, with the word
that “the lady up there” wanted Mr.
Booth to come upstairs.
She was waiting for him in the open
doorway. A shaft of bright sunlight
from a window at the end of the hall
(ell upon her. Her face v as colorless,
haggard. He paused for an instant to
contrast her as she stood there in the
pitiless light with the vivid creature
he had put upon canvas so recently.
She beckoned to him and turned
back into the room. He followed.
"This is the room. Brandon, where
my husband met the death he de
served,” she said quietly.
“Deserved? Good heavens, Sara,
are you—”
"I want you to look about you and
try to picture how this place looked
on the night of the murder. You have
a vivid imagination. None of thfe
rubbish was here. Just a bed, a table
and two chairs. There was a carpet
on the floor. There were two people
here, a man and a woman. The wom
an had trusted the man. She trusted
him until the hour in which he died.
Then she found him out. She had
come to this place, believing it was
to be her wedding night She found
no minister here. The man laughed at
her and scoffed. Then she knew. In
horror, shame, desperation she tried
to break away from him. He wae
strong. She was a good woman; a
virtuous, honorable woman. She saved
herself.”
He was staring at her with dilated
eyes. Slowly the truth was being
borne in upon him.
"The woman was—Hetty?" came
hoarsely from his stiffening lips. "My
God, Sara!”
She came close to him and spoke
in a half-whisper. ‘‘Now you know the
secret. Is it safe with you?"
He opened his lips to speak, but no
words came forth. Paralysis seemed
to have gripped not only his throat
but his senses. He reeled. She
grasped hie arm in a tense, fierce way,
and whispered:
“Be careful! No one must hear
what we are saying.” She shot a
glance down the deserted hall. “No
one is near. I made sure of that.
Don’t speak! Think first—think well,
Brandon Booth. It is what you have
been seeking for months—the truth.
You chare the secret with us now.
Again I ask, is it safe with you?”
“My God!” he muttered again, and
passed his hand over his eyes. His
brow was wet. He looked at his fin
gers dumbly as if expecting to find
them covered with blood.
"Is it safe with you?” for the tliir*
ume.
"Safe? Safe?” he whispered, follow
ing her example without knowing that
he did so. "1—I can’t believe you,
Sara. It can’t be true."
“It is true.”
“You have known—all this time?”
“From that night when I stood where
we are standing now."
“And—and—she?”
“I had never seen her until that
night. I saved her."
He dropped suddenly upon the trunk
that stood behind him, and buried his
face in his hands. For a long time
she stood over him, her interest divid
ed between him and the hall, wherein
lay their present peril.
“Come," she said at last. “Pull your
self together. We must leave this
place. If you are not careful they
will suspect something downstairs.”
He looked up with haggard eyes,
studying her face with curious inteut
ness.
“What manner of woman are you*
Sara?" he questioned, slowly, won
deringly.
“I have just discovered that I am
very much like other women, after
all,” she said. "For awhile I thought
I was different, that I was stronger
than my sex. But I am just as weak,
just as much to be pitied, just as
much to be scorned as any one of my
sisters. I have spoiled a great act
by stooping to do a mean one. God ■
will bear witness that nay thoughts
were noble at the outset; mv heart
was soft. But come! There is much [
more to tell liiat cannot be told here, i
You shall know everything.” ]
They went downstairs and out into j
the crisp autumn air. She gave direc !
tions to her chauffeur. They were
to traverse for some distance the same
road she had taken on that ill-fated
night a year and a half before. In
course of time the motor approached
a well-remembered railway crossing.
“Slow down, Cole,” she said. “This
1s a mean place—a very mean place.”
Turning to Booth, who had been sit
ting grim and silent beside her for
miles, she said, lowering her voice: "I
remember that crossing yonder. There
is a sharp curve beyond. This is the
place. Midway between the two
crossings, I should say. Please re
member this part of the road, Bran
don, when I come to the telling of
that night's ride to town. Try to pic
ture this spot—this smooth, straight
road as it might be on a dark, freezing
night in the very thick of a screaming
blizzard, with all the world abed save
—two women.”
In his mind he began to draw the
picture, and to place the two women
in the center of it, without knowing
the circumstances. There was some
thing fascinating in the study he was
making, something gruesome and full
of sinister possibilities for tht- hand
of a virile painter. He wondered how
near his imagination was to placing
He Dropped Suddenly Upon the Trunk.
the central figures in the picture as
they actually appeared on that secret
night
• ••••••
At sunset they went together to the
little pavilion at the end of the pier
which extended far out into the sound.
Here they were safe from the ears
of eavesdroppers. The boats had been
stowed away for the winter. The
wind that blew through the open pa
vilion, now shorn of all its comforts
and luxuries, was cold, raw and repel
ling. No one would disturb them here.
With her face set toward the sinking
east, she leaned against one of the
thick posts, and in a dull, emotionless
voice, iaid bare the whole story of that
dreadful night and the days that fol
lowed. She spared no details, she
spared not herself in the narration.
(TO BE CONTINUED^
To Control
Health
The stomach is
the controlling
power in all
matters pertaining
to health. This
important organ
often needs help
in its daily work
and it is then you
should try
HOSTETTER’S
STOMACH BITTERS
Breaking It Gently.
Said the little boy, who stood at the
door of the spinster, ‘‘would you kind
ly let me get my arrow, madam? It
has fallen in your garden.”
“Certainly, my little man. Rut do
you know exactly where it fell?”
“Yes—in—the side of your cat.”
ECZEMA ITCHED AND BURNED
R. F. D. No. 4, Box 55, Holland,
Mich.—“My child’s trouble began by
getting red and sore around her neck,
and her face, behind her ears, under
her arms, and different parts of her
body were affected. The eczema ap
peared in a rash first. It was wet
and looked as if it was sweaty. It
seemed to itch and burn so that she
could not sleep or rest It got so bad
at last that behind her ears was one
crust or sore so that I had to cut her
hair. There was a hard crust cover
ing her neck. She could not hare her
clothes buttoned at all. I could hardly
change her clothes. It caused an aw
ful difigurement for the time. She
would cry when I had to wash her.
“We had her treated for some time
but without success. I got one cake
of Cuticura Soap and one box of Cuti
cura Ointment and I had not used
more than half of what I bought when
she was all cured.” (Signed) Mrs. G.
C. Riemersma, Mar. 21, 1914.
Cuticura SJoap and Ointment sold
throughout The world. Sample of each
free;with 32-p. Skin Book. Address post
card “Cuticura, Dept. L, Boston.”—Adv.
Makes Trouble for Britain.
The father of unrest, as Bal Gan
gadhar Tilak, a Chitpavan Brahman,
and at one time a member of the
Bombay Legislative council, has been
styled, has lately been re'eased from
prison. In 1908 he was prosecuted on
a charge of seditious incitement in
connection with articles in the
Kesari, a newspaper owned and con
ducted by himself. This was just
after the Muzafferpur outrage, when
two English ladies were killed by thu
explosion of a bomb, and in the ar
tides which formed the basis of tin
charge assassination by such means
was spoken of with approval. A hie.,
court jury found Tilak guilty and ho
was sentenced by Mr. Justice Davur t
six years’ transportation. In view o!
his age and health this was com
muted to simple imprisonment at Man
dalay.
Spoiled the Effect.
Alice was playing store with het
youngest sister. Mother, asked to be.
come a purchaser, played well hej
part, but, in saying good-day, stooped
and kissed both children.
Sensitive Alice burst into tears.
"Oh, mamma,” she wailed, "you've
spoilt everything! You never kiss the
man in the real store.”
Sympathy.
Charity Worker—Will you do some
thing for a poor woman whose hus
band comes out of jail today?
Algy—Here’s a quarter. Wire her
mv condolence.—Judge.
Largest Insect Is 13 Inches.
The largest known insect Is a spe
aies of phasmid, or walking stick
found in Borneo. This, which is wing
less, has a body 13 inches long.
Baltimore is rapidly motorizing its
fire department.
Delays
Sometimes
Expensive
Business or social en
gagement—just a. few
minutes for lunch—can’t
wait for service. What
can be had quickly?
Order
Post
Toasties
with fresh berries or fruit
and cream. They will be
served immediately, they
are nourishing and taste
mighty good, too.
Sold by Grocers
—everywhere!