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Show ! THE WOMAN WHO WALKFD AT NIGHT BY M. 1 M. DAVIS A Sinclair drew near Mr, -w. hiii a house, h slackened hi some- what liertous wce. und hailed wllh nu air of Indecision. Hut lire. Wson j tad caught ght mm from tire torch where she ml, wllh a huge hand 1 bell mi her knee walling fiir her boarders to mine home for supper. There whs a shu.ie'oTYiftiMH ...... ancnl an hi handsome fare ".Mr l.iwsnu i, HlnrLilr with f visible effort, 1 iiitni' h In nee If jo i , Would lake Knlhnrliie xlul iii)svf Up j boerd " ' . "In II ame of I In- blessed Uinib' t ejaculated .ura llnuwin staring l tltu oter the gnie ptikii. whatever Las htipiened' Winn , you want to t fio anywhere mid Imunl for" Alul the Unlalpns " ( r "H l H wrtnrh In me to leave the ', old place," .Sinclair interrupted "mid I .vj my father will l tcry lunel) now that my tnotlier In deml llm Kathailn : bill set her heart on It. uml If you will I tnke us" j '"I hateu't a sign of a room lett. , .Allck," Mn Luwaon hrole In, "except , ' the room on ihe roof." he added ' ' H dubiously. ' . ''Well, w hat la Ihe mailer with ihe room on the roof?" demanded Simla I r, I whimsically lie threw bark lili head n he spoke, i anil screwed hi eyes up at the Un like tlructure planted on the roof of , the low cotti.e "Nothing," returned Mr. Lawson haatlly, "nothing nt all, exiopt thai It It so small IleHliloi. the ntnlr I Ilka j ' a ladder Katharine would lieter " I "All rljtht, I'll take It nt your own f . price, Mr. I.iwaon " L Bhe was tory beautiful, the golden- ? haired girl whoni Allck Sinclair had i '. brought, a hrlde, to his father's house I lees than two yean before. The mv trrinua malady which det eloped short-t short-t ly nfter her mirrlaeo. and which cos- tlnueil to bank- her phyalrlan, hid robbed her cheeka of their color and bloom Hut It added an Indescribable . (harm to her dellrale face and fragllo figure An unearthly expression dawned Into her lirge blue cyea a pretrlent gate, ns If ner vision, like her sense of hearliiK. hail become abnormally ab-normally rcute Something almost akin to awe filled tlioo around thla exijulilte young creature at light of her atrnngc nnd Inexplicable sufferings suffer-ings She' had, apparently, uo bodily ailment. Hut the slightest Irregular sound thrilled her with nerroua alarm, , heruttCD.uatcd framo shook with con- t' TuIiloni-n( any unexpected appoir- I j ance; ado paled- nt a whiff !f unarcus- -j turned) perfume. She atehtit little, - -p and ae'emod to havo lout thi'tncully of ! ilfipl Jjitterly, a morbid dlatnste for the ld (Jlutlalr homestead had pos-i pos-i sessifl hiuv.Bas breathed with elm- i eulty within lla lofty waJla, ahe was ; oppressed by the atmosphere of Its I ahldowy garden. Tho aame night awr thorn Installed .In Mra. Lawson's room on the roof. V The room was amall. A four-posted, mahogany bedstead, with balduchtn j and aldo steps, occupied at least one-t one-t quarter of the floor jrtiacc. 1 hlnclulr, seated oittne side of the ; bed, smiled as he compared Ibis cramped rookery with his wife's ample dressing-room at tho Catalpas. Hut ho felt an unwonted lightness of spirit spir-it He could see tho reflection of Katharine's face In the mirror opposite. oppo-site. She stood with her back to him, brushing out her long halt; There was a look of content on her white brow, he even fancied a touch of color in her lips, her golden hair seemed lo I have regained somewhat of Its lost luster. " "She was right," he thought; "the change has already helped her" He watched with delight the rhythmic rhyth-mic motion of her slender arms Moanwhlle he chatted gayly of his boyhood days, und the recollection! e ' aroused by Mrs, Ijiwson'a motherly j ,. rosilp Katharine listened, turning from tlrno to time with a nod or u smile. ,. He stopped abruptly, staring con-I con-I fiueillyi Into spare Ho pissed i. 1 j hind rfcroas his forehead and contln- I ued his story Hut tho words were lit- i tered mechanically Was there he i was asking himself was thero aome- I thing moving between Kaihiwino nnd I himself? Somelusng faint and shnd- owyT cloudltl.e mlttyT Yes' No lie shnt his eyelids tightly and opened them again Yes! He lould see It plainly uo,-th gray -clad figure of a woman with he id drooped to her breast and arms hanging nt her title "MyiCod!" he groaned. Inwardly, , "now 'Katharine will turn around! She, Will see III The ahock wll( kill herl She will die' She All) drop dead before my eyoa'" "Katharine' the words burst Invol-l Invol-l .untarlly from hla lip He sprang for- Iward with outstretched arms . . "Did you speak, Allck" ualied Ills wife, looking ijer her shoulder "Yaano-thal is,- " he stammered, stam-mered, a cold sweat beading hla forehead. fore-head. . 1 The eltor had, joaumed bar ghostly walk. j "Dear Allck " said Katharine, ca- S reaslngly, I know you jnust be tired I will be ready for bed In on moment." mo-ment." "She sees nothing! 8he hears noth-Ingl noth-Ingl Oh, thank OodV thought Sinclair, Sin-clair, turning his hot eyes from the , white-robes! figure kneeling In prayer by the bedslue to the gray-clad shadow moving up and down the room. Kath'.rlne nestled like a tired child among the pillows und fell Instantly I asleep. Her husband hung over her In I an agony of amusement and Ineredul- I Ity. Could It really be that she was I sleeping? Was she not rather dead? Her regular breathing, the smile on I her slight) parted lips, the soft aban- a donment of her limbs, reassured him Yet, bow strange! How long alnco I she sad slept thus! "Thank God I" bs kL Dre,ithel again, drawing the lare net ting oter her Then It enine nearer, steadily nearer near-er He mw behind the veil a pair of dark, d e)wi. A cLHI senMtlon ipiHered along hla veins He struik out Muaxel) at noihlug lie Wis ilSateaed b) hearing Mm -finwron timntrRTilimit In the lull below be-low He ariHw softly and deiiendtd the stair. "Mrs lnmm" he demanded nb rnplly. laying hi hand mi her sh ml der, "la Ihero anything has any blng eter bi-en said almnt the rcHim on Ihe nil I?" "Don't sa) n word Allik, she In lerrupled In an awe-struck w'mpcr I i an see It In your fair 8h li isn t walked bVfore. not thai I know of slnre my mother eaw lr an 1 ''at HIP ItK STllL'CK 01 T HAVAUKI.Y-AT .NuTltl.MI was betoiu you woro born. I'to never aecn her myself. I never dreamed that she was walking yet. tard, what hato I done? I didn't want to put you there 1'oor- Katharine" "Don't worry, .Mrs. Utwson," ho said, kindly. "Katharine has seen nothing as yet, but 1 have." Ho smiled grimly, yet with n certain eenso of relief. "At least," ho thought, "It Is not qulto mucinous What does It meant" hi asked aloud. "Who was It aho?" "Tbey say," returned Mra. Lawson, still speaking fn a whisper, "that old Sijulre Lawson' my husband's grand-fatljr, grand-fatljr, bad tba room built as a sort of 111 for his young wile, who went outft her mltl, poor thing, and no wonler, for ucf squlro was a terrible old Ian! lie took her baby from her and Shut her up In that room and kept her there by herself until she pined and died. Tbab was before you were burn." Mrs. Lawson was sobbing and wringing her hands. "You must take Katharlno Slnchilr away before ahe sees her. It would kill her. Hut don't say anything jibout It outside, Allck My boarders would all leave me. I would be ruined," Sinclair soothed the excited old woman Into quiet. Then he remount-ca remount-ca the stair. Katharine, lu her white dressing gown, met him on the lauding. laud-ing. "I missed you when I awoke, Allck, dear," ahe said. Where were you?" "Katharine," bo began with studied carelessness, "1 nnd this room very small; don't you? And Mrs Ijtwson Is well-meaning, but she Is tlrcsomo, good Boull I think 1 will look up more comfortable, quartora during tho day, Can you be ready to leave bora this afternoon?". She place her hands upon bis shoulders and held him at arm's length for a moment without speaking speak-ing Her eyes were orlmmlng with mischief; a smile danced about her . d lips. "Allck," ahe nald, "I know why you wish to go nwuy You are afraid of the wqtfiau who walked hero last night Did you think I had not seen her?" Sinclair's law dropped. He stared at .her with an amazement wblh was almost ludicrous Hut before ho had riovcred himself aulllclenlly to speak Mrs. I.-iwaon came wnl!ng up the stair and thrust a pallid face In a. the door. The house was on Are! In an Incredibly In-credibly short time tho old wo,deu building was laid lu aeuea. Sinclair aud hla wife returned tu the Caul pas. It was Katharine w-bu; Insisted, In-sisted, with a sort of gay perve'nssnes, upon this Hut eteu a ihey paased under the arched gateway the mysterious myste-rious gloom fell Imi k upoii list Sinclair, Sin-clair, now almost as morbid as horself could have nwom that he saw Its descent In visible form Her hair on the tuatant became dull and lifeless, her cheeks roll hollow the red on her 1 1 lis changed lo a gray pallor. A moth fluttered ugalnat her bosom She lied, iwlpltatlug with terror, across the old garden Sinclair stood, hardly a month later looking down on his wife's upturned' face Ome more she slept profoundly A mocking-bird whistled In a oatalpag tree by an open window The stricken man frowned and lifted Instinctively a warning hand, but dropped u ro. meinberlng. "What did It all moan?" ho questioned, ques-tioned, stooping to the face on its coffln-plllow. The dead lips sralleu, but withheld the response (Copyright. 1M by Joseph n Howies) |