OCR Text |
Show PIUTE COUNTY NEWS, JUNCTION, UTAH The Mystery Road By E. Phillips Oppenheim Copyright by Little, Brown A Co. CHAPTER VI Continued 24 There are moments when revelation Is This wns one of them. Myrtile, gazing almost In terror Into the face of her benefactress, knew that she was hated, and, with an extraordinary Insight, she knew why. She saw the crumpled up telegraph form ; she guessed at everything which hud lain unspoken between them. She closed the door firmly behind her, came across to Lady Marys chair, fell on her knees nnd struggled with her sobs. I knowl" she cried. "I I know am very miserable I" Mary looked at her coldly and critically. All the natural Impulses of her Even her heart seemed dried up. aid. The come to her to refused pride truth lay naked between the two. I was a fool not to realize what bringing yon here meant, she said. It Is too late now. Here Is the telegram. Christopher Is elected. Myrtlle brushed It away. It wns a thing of no account. 1 care nothing for Christopher and you know It," she declared passionateI do not care whether he Is ly. elected or not. Nothing about him makes any difference to me, or ever will." Myrtlle wns speaking the truth. To Mary It seemed amnzlng, but she knew that It wns the truth. It Is only a fancy which Christopher hns for me," Myrtlle went on. "It will pass oh, I am sure that It will pnssl Deep down In his heart know that there Is another feeling." Her anguish wns apparent. There wns something almost unearthly In the sorrow which shone out of her eyes. Marys heart began to fall her. Her fingers rested on the top of the other girls head. A glenm of coming kindness shone mistily In her eyes. It wasnt your fault," she said. It Is my fault thnt I am alive!" But listen, please. Myrtlle monned. I have my plans. 1 am going away." "What good would that do?" Mury asked doubtfully. It would do great good, Myrtlle I shall remove myself aldeclared. together. Christophers fancy will pass. And besides I must go." My father would never spare you, Mary said, ashamed of the Joy with which the thought filled her. I have thought of everything," Lord Illnterleys Insisted. Myrtlle has been very kind to me, but he will forget, if he chooses to see me sometimes, It will be possible. Let me tell I have a plan. Only you, please. yesterday I heard from the cure. He Is buck again In the valley. lie Is at the church there now. He says, If need ever to go back, I con tench at the school. All my people have gone away many, many miles. My stepfather has a larger farm. I shall go I shonld never have come back. away." Mary looked at her searchlngly. All the suffering In the world seemed to be quivering In Myrtlles sensitive face. She leaned a little forward towards the kneeling girl. "Myrtlle," she whispered, there Is pain In your heart, too." Oh, God knows It!" Myrtlle sobbed. There will be for ever and ever. It Is for my snke thnt ' must leave. I thought that love wns a toy, nnd I laughed to find It In my heart. And now I know that It Is a torment. I want to go back along the road I have come and hide." We have both been a little foolish," Mary said kindly. "You lookeJ out Into life, expecting to find happiness, just as children go Into the meadows to pick flowers. And I, too, forgot that happiness only comes when It Is earned. Now let us try and be sensible. I think thnt yours Is a very good Idea. We shall miss you very much here, but perhaps It will be best for you to go away for a little time. I must go," Myrtlle insisted fervently. ftut teaching?" "There Is no need for me to teach, This letter that I Myrtile declared. have from the cure; It was written to tell me thnt my mother's brother, who went to Geneva many yenrs ago, has died and left me some money. An nvocnt at Toulon hns it for me. It Is quite a great deal. I thought that I would buy a small farm and work In the fields there; work and work until I got brown nnd bard and grew like those other peasant girls there, lumps of the earth to which they stoop all the time. In a way I used to love the farm," she went on, when 1 was alone those first few mornings when he fields began to show purple with the budding violets, and the still evenings when the cypress trees looked ns though they had come out of a box of childrens toys and the colors the sonnet used to draw out of the mountains. the magentas and paroles, nnd I 1 the pink glow coming In such unexpected places. Why, youre positively homesick I" Mary exclaimed. No, I am not homesick, Myrtlle assured her gravely, but I am like an animal that has been hurt and wants to limp back to Its home. A little time ago It was different. Every fiber of me longed for escape, to be where life was. Now I would like to go where I can forget it." Mary sighed. Fortunately," she said, "you are very young. You will learn soon that there are many men of Geralds type, nnd that they are not to be taken too They have the trick of seriously. believe what they want you making you to believe, and they use It because they must. They are never quite honest. They are never qulto bad. They certainly are not worth a broken heart. Now we must take this message down to my father and send a reply. Afterward, I will talk to him about you. I shall have to be very eloquent, for I know he will hate your going. If it could be before Gerald comes back, Myrtile pleuded. Mary had even more trouble with her father than she had expected. At the first mention of Geralds name In connection with Myrtlles desire to return to France, he stiffened. Mary," he Insisted, I shall require you to tell me the exact truth In this How much blame Is to be matter. attached to Gerald, and precisely what are his relations with Myrtlle? "Gerald Is to blame only for she assured him. thoughtlessness, lie is a born philanderer, Just as Myrtlle wns born to be a ready victim. Mjrtlle loves him, nnd I am afraid she will never care for any one cKo. Other women have to bear their hurts, though, and I dure say she will get over it." Gerald Is a fool," his father declared. Marrying In ones own class Is well enough In an ordinary way, but well, there Isnt another woman like Myrtlle In the world. Gerald Is an ass not to realize It Instead of going to Russiu, risking his life and liberty for the sake of this Russian girl. I dont like Russians never did. You are a person of common sense, Mary. If you sny Myrtlle must go, go she must, but I'd much rather Gerald came to his senses and married her." Men are rather difficult In that way, Mary rejoined, a little bitterly. Chapter VII The butler made his announcement to his mistress a little doubtfully. There Is a person here, your ladyship, who desires to see you." What sort of a person? Lady Mary Inquired. The butler coughed. A woman, your She ladyship. struck me as being some sort of a She assured me that her foreigner. I have shown business was urgent. her Into the morning room. Mary rose to her feet at once. "A foreigner?" she repeated, with suddenly aroused Interest. Perhaps she has news from Lord Dombey." Nevertheless, when she entered the little room where Elsa Francks was waiting, It scarcely seemed likely that news of so fastidious a person as her brother could come from such a source. Her doubts, however, were soon set at rest. Are you Lord Dombeys sister? the woman asked bluntly, without offering to move from her chair. I atu," Lady Mury acknowledged Have you brought news at once. of him?" I have brought him home," was the unexpected reply. "You? Lady Mury exclaimed. The woman laughed coarsely. I have Yes, me! she dednred. saved his life a dozen times over, as I dare say he will tell you some day. Even now I do not know why. "But where Is he?" Lady Mary demanded. "He Is snfe In the Charing Cross hospital," the woman replied, and If you want to know all about him, you will give me some wine quickly." Mary, scarcely conscious of what she did, rang the bell. This woman was certainly the strangest visitor who hud even penetrated the portals Sho seemed of ninterleys house. larger and coarser than ever. Her clothes were showy, but unbrushed and crumpled ns though she had slept In them for nights; her hair wn9 yelThe rouge and low, but untidy. were distributed powder upon her face In ungainly daus. She breathed an atmosphere of stale scent. Notwithstanding all these things, she had news of Gerald, Gerald who for seven months had been lost I Lady Mary waited eagerly for the butler, who entered the room, fuil of the confident anticipation that he would be sked to remove this Incongruous visitor. "This lady would like some wine." Lady Mary announced. "Do tell m what you would prefer? she added, turning toward her guest Champagne, If you have it, was the prompt reply. Bring champagne, Richards," his mistress directed. Perhaps you had This lady his tell lordship. better has brought us news of Lord Dom- bey. The woman held out her hand; Dont bring any lordships here, I will tell my story to she begged. you, maam. I am very near hysterics myself. To reach here from Sokar has taken us a month. We tried at seven places on the frontier before we could get Into Poland." Poland?" Mary exclaimed. "But here Is the wine. Do, please, help yourself." The woman was served with champagne and dry biscuits, which latter She drank she scornfully rejected. three glasses of champagne, however. Then she filled a fourth glsw for herself nnd began to talk. Well, here Is my sttry,H Elsa Francks said, draining the contents of her glass and refilling It. Remember It, for I shall never tell It again. It Is a story I would like to forget. I will certainly remember It," Mary promised. Twelve months ago I went to live at Sokar," Elsa Francks began. It Is n miserable place, but I went there to he near my friend Ivan Krossneys, the governor of the fortress. In that fortress was confined a man whom your brother went to Russia to rescue. He came to me to ask me to help him bribe the governor. That was In the month of October last year. He was a very different person then, nnd I thought that I liked him very much. The woman sipped her champagne. The warmth of the room, and the wine, had moistened her face. A little streak of rouge had spread upon her left cheek. There were black lines under her eyes. Her voice, however, wns stronger. He offered a great deal of money nnd I agreed to help. I sent for Ivan nnd, although he made difficulties, he was easy to persuade. It wns all arThe prisoner No. 29, we ranged. called him walked out of the fortress In your brother's clothes and with his Your brother American passport. was to take his place for twenty-fou- r Then he was to leave the hours. In the funeral conch of anprison other prisoner who had died. This was seven months ago, Mary Low-co- st Star Relic of Roman Era the Interesting curios to be the museum at Oxford, Enghuge stone sack. It is carved fresh from a mans back; It bears the mark of a rope which once encircled it in two places, and has the usual puckers at the mouth, where the string once secured the opening. AH over the stone can be seen the marks of the coarse sacking which once covered It Its history Is curious. Some years ago It was fished up In the Thames below London bridge, where It must have lain for centuries. Some workmen In the time of the Romans was carrying this sack of cement from a moat to the shore, when the burden slipped from his shoulders Into the water. There, under the action of the water, It became solid and, as years passed away, the sack at last rotted off, leaving only the hardened cement within. Among found in land, is a os though Cars The Quality Leader Field d of the Low-Trice- From the beginning the Star Car has established a newer, higher standard of engineering in the low priced field, being the first to include the following quality-features- : Forced Feed Motor Lu- brication Silent Chain Front-en- d Drive 1. 2. 3. Single-plat- e Dry-dis- c Clutch 4. Semi - elliptic Springs, front and rear 9. Worm and Gear Type Steering Gear Fuel Feed with Tank at Rear 7. Durant Tubular Back- 6. Vacuum bone 8. Removable Prices, f. o. b. Lansing, Mich. Roadster $540 Coupe Touring $540 Sedan $7 50 Two-do- 5. Valve and Tappet Guides All Main Units Separately Removable $71 Commercial Chassis $443 Sedan $ 820 Four-do- INC York New Broadway at 57th Street, United and Canada States the Stations Service Throughout and DURANT MOTORS Dealers Plants: Elizabeth, N. J. Oakland, Cal. Lansing, Mich. Toronto, Ont. Giving Father Away The New Salesmanship Fred, you were very restless in Is Mr. Busiman in?" Wlmt do you want to talk to him church this morning. Why couldnt about? you keep as still as your father? I don't know, mamma, replied tin Golf as a starter. I believe that is observant youngster, unless its cause considered the proper approach. I wasn't sleepy. Life. T""3 faltered. The woman wiped her lips, shivered at the sight of the color upon her handkerchief, closed her eyes for a moment and recovered herself. That seven months," she said deliberately, has seemed like seven years, and each year like a lifetime 1 go on with my In hell! Listen. Your brother entered the story. fortress as arranged, changed his clothes with No. 29, who walked out of the place and came, without doubt, Your brother was to to London. that night in the fortress. spend Krossneys came down to me. We were both excited. It was a great sum of money which we had been paid, and life In Russia Is a horrible burden. We drank a great deal of wine. The more we drank, the more quarrelsome Ivan became. He resented having to part with so large a share of the money to me. We quarreled. Once or twice we made It up. Then Ivans anger flared out again. In the end, he declared that he would take away a part of my share. We had a struggle. Somehow or other, his revolver went off. He went backward with a groan. He was dead." The woman dabbed at her face. Mary could find no word of any sort. Her visitors eyes seemed fixed In a rigid stare. It was as though she were living through the scene again. I The police came, she went on. wns arrested. I told my story. There After fonr days were no witnesses. me The moment to had let go. they I was free I went to the fortress. Ivans deputy was taking his place. He was a man of a different type, a politician, a Bolshevist from conviction. Every time he mentioned No. 29, he spat. I had much trouble with him. Go on," Mary begged, glancing at the clock. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Transportation THE WORLD'S GREATEST BACSdFJQ pmVBED truly the worlds great Kb est baking powder It has produced Sales Pure Foods Better Baitings or over 'lt times one third those of a cen of any tury other brand Costs less than $1.00 to decorate a room with Wall finish King for t spend a penny painting or decorating until you have investigated King Wall Finish. This amazing finish not only gives any room a rich, beautiful appearance, but the cost is remarkably low. You can make any average sized room look like new for less than a dollar. Ask yourdecorator about King WallFinish. He will tell you it is easy to handle (just mix with hot water and apply) and that it never spots, laps or streaks, even when used by an inexperienced painter. Write today for name of dealer nearest you and FREE Color Chart showing 19 beautiful colors to choose rom. THB CHICAGO WHITE LEAD & OIL CO. 15th St. Sc S. Western Are., Chicago, UL Kl Ng Wall Finish T)istributor Salt Lake Glass 8C Paint Co. Salt Lake City, Utah |