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Show JOrlUSTJRAMJSD BY MAT WALPTJ$R$ SYNOPSIS. Three girls Elizabeth, Gabrlello and Ellso started' for CanuUn to spend tho summer there. On board Btenmer they wero frightened bj; nn apparently demented dement-ed stranger, who, finding a bag belonging to onu of ttiem, took enjoyment In scrutinizing scru-tinizing a photo of the trio. Ellso shared her stateroom with a Mrs. Qraham, also bound for Canndn, Tho yoUng women on a sightseeing tour met Mrs. Graham, anxiously awaiting her hUsband, who hud ft mnnln for sailing'. They wero Introduced Intro-duced to Lord Wilfrid and I.udy Edith. A cottnga by the ocean wnH rented by tho trio for tho summer. Elizabeth learned thnt a friend of her father's was to call. Two men called, one of them being tho queer-noting stranger on the steamer. Tho girls were "not at home," but discovered by tho cards left that one of the men was Elizabeth's futher's friend. The men proved to bo John C. Blake and Gordon Bennett. A wisp of yellow hair from Atr. Graham's pocket fell Into the hands of Ellso. Mrs. Graham's Gra-ham's hair was blnck. Lady Edith told the girls of a robbery of Jewels at the hotel. Fearing for the safety of her own gems, sho left them In a saro at the cottage. cot-tage. Mr. Gordon Bennett was properly Introduced, explained his queer actions, returned tho lost bag and told of mysterious mysteri-ous doings of u year before connected with tho cottage. Exploring)' tho cellar, one of the girls found a sphinx cult-button, the exact counterpart of which both Gordon Bcnnott and Lady Edith were found to possess, also. Ellso, alone, explored ex-plored tho cellar, overhearing a conversation conver-sation there between Mary Anno and a mnn. He proved to bo her son, charged with murder. Tho young women agreed to keep tho secret. Lady Edith told a story of a lost love In connection with tho sphinx key. Ellso and Gordon Hennott Hen-nott discovered Lady Edith and Mr. Graham, Gra-ham, tho latter displaying a marvelous barltono voice. At a supper which was held on tho rocks Elizabeth rather mys- . terJously lost her ring, causing a soarch by tho entire party. CHAPTER X.. Continued After a moment's Indecision I crept across tho room and looked out from, behind the drawn curtain. Thero was nothing In sight. In tho clear moonlight moon-light I could sco qulto as distinctly as by day, and tho whlto stillness was wonderfully comforting. It was rather awesome, too, and while I felt tho fascination fas-cination of the night I was also conscious con-scious of tho rather creepy sensation one experiences when the world sleeps, leaving, one wakeful and alone with nature. Out before me stretched tho path leading to tho village and my eyes followed It unconsciously until It turned shnrply and disappeared. As I looked two shadows fell across It, seeming very black against tho surrounding sur-rounding whiteness. Ono was short, fat, and shapeless; tho other long, thin, and somewhat like an elongated pair of tongs a very specter of a shadow. They moved, merged themselves them-selves into an indiscriminate mass, soparated and camo togother again, a black streak marking tholr progress around tho corner. I clung to tho window frame, deriving de-riving some comfort from contact with "the solid wood. A pricking sensation ran up and down my spine and I was lncnpablo of moving or uttering a sound. In a second I was glad I had noX spoken, for the shadows again, detached de-tached themselves. I hoard ' tho crunchlnir of crave!, and n fnmlllnr figure appeared.around tho turn of tho path. It was Mary Anne, a red shawl held ovor hor head, and no words can express tho relief and comfort at seeing see-ing hor ample flguro prosaically proceeding pro-ceeding toward tho kitchen door. I was rather indignant, too, and wont down to ask hor what sho meant by such nocturnal rambles. I found hor collapsed upon a kitchen chair, breathing heavily. Upon seo. ing my whlto-clad form close beBldo hor she uttered a stilled scream, then immediately stole my thunder by reproaching re-proaching mo for prowling around the houso in tho dead of night and fright-enlng fright-enlng people out of tholr wits. In fact, sho became so oloquent' that instead of the dignified rebuke I had Intended to administer I found mysolf apologizing for my presence and promising prom-ising to bo more considerate In tho future. ""But, Mary Anno," I ventured to remark, re-mark, "where havo you been? I was frightened to death." Mary Anne at onco becamo propitiatory pro-pitiatory and sympathetic. "Pore child," sho exclaimed, "of courso you was upset! It was Miss Elizabeth's ring I got to thlnkln' about tho best way to find it. So I went to my brother Dan, 'lm as lives In tho littlo 'ouse Jest below tho bluff (which you know Is gospel truth, miss). And I begged 'lm to tako 'Is boat and go round them rocks early, miss, and see what 'e could find. Fur I wanted to give It to 'er fust thing when she wakes " Mary Aunopausod for breath and I felt a thrill of compunction, for, after all, sho had been out on our account find sololy to do us a sorvico. "A"rrdtrrnt was- ymrr-brother -wittr you, 1 suppose" I remarked, "Does In' think he can rind tho ring?" , -.ft . . . : . e " Sho looked at mo a moment without replying, thou walked to tho door and bolted It. "Yes, miss," she said; "Dan 'as 'opos. Not that thoy'ro very Mgh 'opes, fur Dan ain't much at lookln' at tho bright side. But 'o'll do Ms dooty, miss, and I think .Miss Elizabeth may find her ring, though of courso I can't bo sure no moro can Dan. Now you'd better go to bed, Miss Ellse, fur you need your Bleep nnd I need mine." I was very willing to follow this ndvlco, and felt hopeful that morning would bring good news to Elizabeth, for Mary Anno's brother had inspired me with a feeling of conlldcnco Gordon Gor-don Bonnott's dlvor had not produced. As I lay thinking dreamily of him and wondering whothor ho would get his boat out early and go to work a sudden recollection of his appearance overpowered mc.- Wo wero all familiar with Mary Anne's -brother. Ho was a short, stocklly built man, with very broad Gabrlello that tho afternoon was end less. A diversion was hero created by tho nppearnnco of Mr. Graham, who carried car-ried n bunch of long-stommcd whlto roses thnt certainly wero novor tho product of tho Island. Mrs. Graham had sent them with hor lovo nnd apologies apolo-gies for her hysterical outburst of tho night boforo, which, ho was careful to explain, was solely tho result of hor physical condition. Ho hoped wo had not allowed their departure to break up tho party. Wo told him about tho lost ring and ho listened with Interest. I thought his expressions of regret nnd offors of assistance wero unnecessarily effuslvo, but then, as Gabrlello said afterward, Mr. Graham alwaya went a little too far In everything. After n while ho took his departure saying ho did not like to leavo Mrs. Grahnm long alone In her present nervous condition. Gabrlello lifted tho roses and laid tholr heavy perfumed bonds against her faco. "They nro beautiful," she said; "but what shall we do with them?" "Do with them?" I echoed. "Yes, that's whnt I said. You know if Elizabeth over gots ono sulft she'll havo hay fovor, and I'm suro I don't want to add that to hor afflictions, poor dear." Aftor a littlo consideration wo do-elded do-elded to transfer tho roses to Lady Edith, and Gabrlello volunteered to tako them to her at onco. "For they mtiBt not go Into tho houso," sho snld, "and If wo It bop them out hore any longer somo enterprising gorm might drift through tho window A Familiar Figure Appeared. shoulders and short bowed logs. It seemed Improbable that ho could caBt a shadow like a pair of tongs, but then as ovory ono knows shadows aro not to bo depended upon. CHAPTER XI. "I don't like suppers on the rocks, do you?" "No, I think they're beastly." It was the next afternoon and Gabrlello Ga-brlello and 1 wore sitting on tho veranda. ver-anda. I was pretending to read, while sho was frankly doing nothing. The day hud dragged eavlly. My confidence-In Mary Anne's brother had been misplaced, for ho had not appeared ap-peared In triumph with tho ring nnd wo folt rather aggrlovod in consequence, conse-quence, Of courso we had all visited the rocks many times, separately and collectively, col-lectively, but had returned empty-handed empty-handed nnd rather cross. Even the Canadian sun Is hot at midday In summer, and continued Ineffectual stooping among rocks and loose stones would have Its effect upon tho most ango.llc disposition. Then, too, Gordon Gor-don Bennett had not nppcarcd with his dlvor, nor had wo hoard further from Lord Wilfrid on tho subject, so our -fftHlt-ln-manklntHmd-Buffomlaccor(l-lngly. I also wished something pleas-out pleas-out would batmen and agreed' with .' , and up Elizabeth's nose. Will you go with mo.?" I declined, saying I was going back to tho rocks to havo one more look before dark. Wo strolled along together to tho point whero our paths dlvergod and Gabrlello became silent nnd preoccupied. preoc-cupied. "Ellso," sho said, speaking very solemnly, "I am going to ask you a question and I want a truthful answer, absolutely your honcBt opinion, you know." "Well?" "Do you think I caro more for Elizabeth Eliza-beth than sho does for me? Or does Ellznbeth care more for mo than I do for her?" 1 laughed, nnd she continued half laughing also, yet wholly In earnest. "Well, 1 really want to know." "What do you think yoursolf?" Tho question had often been propounded pro-pounded to me, and I knew that a definite answer would bo merely ground for argument. "I think you aro horrid. But then," she paused rolloctlvoly, "perhaps you'd hotter not answer aftor all. I would hate to think Ellznbeth did not caro ns much for me as 1 do for hor, yet It -loefliteem-Q-nift-fllHMsaR, ou-niay-laugh, but of course you don't, understand under-stand bow wo feel "about It." -if. ' : '- i Our paths scpnratcd here. Gabrlcllt, I with hor arms full of roses, went on j to tho vlllago whllo I picked my way carefully along the shoro to the rocks. ' It was useless to look again, as I j well knew, yet I searched consclcn t tluusly for somo time, then sat dowa " to rest beside tho ashes of our lasf night's fire. I really do not know of v anything moro depressing than ashes . when ono Is rnthor tired and Inclined 1 to bo Introspective Thoy scorn to ''H typify so romorsolessly tho lnevltablo J outcome of human desires and am j bltlons. I So I sat watching tho glow of the fl suiiRot, nnd thinking of many things In a disconnected sort of way. I thought of Gabrlollo and Elizabeth, lll and of their friendship which seemed so wonderfully satisfying; I also ro-mcmborcd ro-mcmborcd tho shadows of tho provlous night nnd my unnecessary agitation over them. Thon I recalled Gabrlollo'a parting words with something akin ' i to a sigh. Perhaps, as sho said, I did I not understand, but I thought I did j and envied them hcartll). yl I confess to bolng foolishly blue as Bl I bat on tho rocks listening to tho El wash of tho waves, for I was suro no ono was speculating whether thoy loved mo moro than I did them, and I folt very lonely In consequence The tldo was low nnd the oconn calm and uninteresting, so I turned my back to it, preferring to watch tho sun ro-luctantly ro-luctantly surrender the world to the moon, which would soon como up out of tho water Just as It had done last Therefore I did not sco two figures walking along tho shoro and not until I heard my namo in Mr. Blake's ovon volco was I awaro that I was no longer ) alono, but that ho and Gordon Bennett wero standing beside mo, both looking rather amused. "A penny for your thoughts," said Mr. Blako, producing It. I 'M "Nonsense," interrupted Mr. Ben- ; nntt; "they nro worth moro than that. 'M Whnt will you tako for them?" "Thoy aro not oven worth n penny. . I really don't bellevo I was thinking of anything." "Has tho ring been found?" I repllod that It had- not and thnt wo foarcd it must bo in tho ocean, ntt-or ntt-or all. Hero I paused significantly, for I did not llko to nsk outright what had becomo of tho promised dlvor, yet con sldorcd n hint permissible under the circumstances. I thought ho looked ill at easo as he somowhat formally expressed his regret for tho accident. His manner wns certainly very dlfforcnt from yos-torday yos-torday and I decided that the Incident had begun to bore him. Mr. Blako wandered down to tho water's edge, but Mr. Bonnctt seated himself be-sldo be-sldo mo. "Tho world Is out of Joint," ho re-marked; re-marked; "what's the mattor?" "I'm crosB," I admitted, "and aw-fully aw-fully blue. Plcaso don't ask me why, for I don't know mysolf." He was wlso enough not to pursuo the subject, but began to talk upon Impersonal matters, and aftor a whllo I bocame qulto cheerful and oven won-dnrcd won-dnrcd secretly what I had found to bo melancholy nbout, for it was certainly H a very nlco world after all. (TO BE CONTINUED.) 1 |
