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Show I gabriel taap TT)LLrVER By Joel ChAiidltr nrtl a (Copyright. 19C1 by Joel Chandler Harris.) 3 i 8ruvuuvviiuuriuvruiuvuvun rtood looking- in the old gentlewoman's . . . eyes. Then she kissed her quite sud-denly sud-denly and impulsively. f "Nan, you must be ill. Miss Fanny Tomlin declared. "I am. Aunt Fanny; I am not feeling- -well at all " "Lie there on the sofa, child," Mrs, . Lumsden Insisted. Taking- Nan by the arm. she almost forced her to lie down. She seated herself on the edge of the sofa, and held Nan's hand, caressing it softly. .' "This Is the way I used to cure Gabriel, Ga-briel, when he was ill or weary." she said in a tone too low for the others to hear. "Did you?" whispered Nan. closing her eyes with a sigh of satisfaction. - "This Is the second time I have been able to sit down since breakfast," remarked re-marked Mrs. Lumsden. "I have walked miles and miles," r- plll Nan, wearily. . There was a noise In the hall, and -presently Tasma Tld peeped cautiously Into the room. "Wey- you don wit J Honey Nan?" she asked. "She In dis house; you aln kin fool we." "Corre In. and behave yourself If you .. know how," said Mrs. Lumsden. "Come in. Tld." ..:, The African came into the room, acting act-ing as If she were, afraid some one would Jump at her. "Sit In the corner there at the foot of the sofa," said Mrs. ' Lumsden. Tasma Tld compiled very readily with this command, s'nea It enabled en-abled her to be near Nan. The African squatted on the floor and sat there motionless. mo-tionless. Meriwether Clopton and Miss Fanny went away after awhile, but Mrs. Lumsden continued to sit by Nan. caressing ca-ressing her hand. Not a word was said for a long time, but the silence was finally broken by Nan. "Tasma Tld, I want you to ro home-and home-and tell Miss Johnny that I will spend the rest of the day and the night with grandmother Lumsden." After Tasma Tld had gone, a silence fell on the house a silence so profound tht Nan could hear the great clock ticking In the front hall. "If I had known what was going to happen when Gabriel came and kissed me good-bye," said Mrs. Lumsden, after af-ter awhile, "I would have gone out there where those men were, and welL I don't know what I wouldn't have done!" "Didn't Gabriel tell you? Why" Nan paused. "Not he! Not Gabriel T' cried Mrs. Lumsden In a voice full of pride. "He wanted to spare his grandmother one night's worry, and he did." Didn't you know when he kissed you good-nla-ht that something was wron?" Nan inqured. "How should I? Why, he sometimes comes and kisses me in the middle of the night, even after he had gone to bed. He says he sleeps better after-wards." after-wards." , What was there in this simple state- 1 ment to cause Nan to catch her breath, ' and seize the hand that was caressing her. (To be Continued.) - CHAPTER XXIL-Contlnued. "Good ;, morning. Meriwether," she said pleasantly; "It is a treat. Indeed, and a rare one, to see you in this house. And here Is Fanny! X am glad to see you, my dear. It Is very good of you to come to an old woman who Is In trouble. I think w are sll In trouble together. Come into the library, Meriwether." Meri-wether." "Upon myV word, you ' look twenty years younger," said Miss Fanny Tomlin. Tom-lin. "Do I, indeed? Then trouble must be good for me. Still. I don't appreciate appre-ciate It. I am an old woman, my dear, and all the years of my life I have had a contempt for those who fly into a rage or lose tbelr tempers. And now, look at met Never fa all your days have you seen a woman In such a rage as I have felt all dajr and still feel!" "The Idea!" exclaimed Miss Fanny. "Why, you took as cool as a cucumber." "Tes, the Idea!" echoed Mrs. Lumsden. Lums-den. "If I had those miserable creature crea-ture in my power, do you know what I would do? Do youtnow, Meriwether?" Meriweth-er?" . t -' . "I can't imagine, Lucy," he replied gently. He saw that the apparent calmness of Gabriel's grandmother was simply the result of suppressed excitement. excite-ment. When Mr. Banders was announced and word was sent to him to come right In. "Howdy, everybody, he said In his informal in-formal way, as he entered the room. He was warm, and was using his hat as a fan. "Miss Lucy," he said. "I won't take up two minutes of your time, I only want to settle a p'int or two. Do you remember what time It was when Gabriel come home the night Hotchklss was killed?" Mrs. Lumsden reflected a moment. "Why, he went out directly after supper sup-per and came in well, I don't remember when he came In. I must have been asleep." "Um-m," grunted Mr. Banders. "Is it important?" Mrs. Lumsden asked. "It may turn out to be right down Important," replied Mr. Banders, and then he said no more, but sat looking at the floor and wondering how Gabriel could be released from the tangled web that the spider, Circumstance, had woven about him As Mr. Sanders went out, he met Nan at the door, and there was that In her face that Mr. Bandera had never seen there before, "Why. honeyf' he exclaimed, ex-claimed, "you look like you've lost your best friend." "Well, perhaps I have." Her face was pale and she had the appearance of on quite ill. "Why, honey, what ails you? I never reed you lookin like this before." "You've never seen me ill before," answered an-swered Nan. With that, she ran up the steps very rapidly for an ill person, and stood a moment In the hallway. "Be Jigged ef she ain't wuss hit than any of us!" declared Mr. Sanders, to himself, as he turned away. Following the sound of voices, Nan went into the library. Mrs. Lumsden, who was still walking about restlessly, paused and tried to smile when she saw J Nan. Nan went directly to her. and 1 |