San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-07-16
happened

FNOftSD.
Anne went off in hurry by rail next
morning, about an hour before DR.. lib
bets came home from the city to find
her gone. The house seemed strangely
cold and empty and ungenial, and he
was glad to be called away to a scarlet
fever case at Deadman's Hollow. At
tea Mrs. Bissell seemed to have changed
into petrifaction of her former self,
the Holmes family had crept back into
their inexpensive, fiat featured shells,
and Miss Carver was furtively watch
ing the scene and drawing her own con-
illusions about Anne's sudden flight.
Evidently the Bissells had discovered
something unfavorable to their paragon.
She communicated her suspicious to the
Widow Harkaway, and they waited i'm
patiently for an explosion that did not
come. There were no more jokes at
table about the doctors growing prac-
tice, no more run or life or active SYM
pathy. Without Anne's girlish laughter
and bright presence the house had sud-
denly turned into vault.
Lie CudIlRt III MIS- DloSCll SUI uIh OOlu
on the doctors heart. He suspected that
she blamed him for not having traced
the stolen money or captured the thief,
and specul&t2d us to what further steps
he could take to show his zeal. He was
under cloud, and he fell into the way
of entering and leaving the house stealth
lily, shutting himself in his Office and
smoking more cigars than were good for
him. He watched the smoke wreathe
pabOut his head by the hour and Anne's
face appear and vanish away, and his
blues grew daily Of d deeper indigo hue.
He noticed as a significant sign that the
floral offerings that once adorned his
Office table had ceased to appear. Once
he thought seriously of asking Mrs. Bis
sell what he had done to forfeit her es-
TEEN, and then his pride rebelled, and
ne concluded to fall into the business at
titude of boarder and landlady. He did
not even dare to inquire after Anne or
when she was coming home, for all his
questions We're met with polite but frigid
Encouragement.
He could see that Mrs. Bissell suffered
silently, but the loss of her interest
money, the shiftlesSness of Bissell and
the worries OF poor help were sufficient
to account for her low spirits. Only
Miss Carver throve in the changed atti-
tude of affairs. She now firmly believed
the doctor was a thief, and that the Bis
sells had found him out, and for some
reason were hushing matters up; but
she was willing to indulge i'll scientific
conversation even with a man of his
suspicious character, now that she had
the field all to herself, and Anne's irri-
tating beauty was no longer beaming on
the opposite side of the table. In spite
of her belief in his turpitude she was
half disposed to go over to the little pill
theory, for the doctor was very generous
in his medical opinions he gave gratis on
her pet diseases Miss Carver had tried
her best to fathom the mystery of Annes
absence and Mrs. Bissell's freezing up
toward the doctor. but without very
brilliant success.
They've found out something pretty
black about him, you may be sure" she
said to the widow, "for l never saw
girl make a bolder push than she did
after that man, and they were all just
ready to eat him up"
A month had gone by and Mrs. Bis
sell showed no sign of relenting toward
the young DOCTOR She was more and
more polite and formal and ceremo-
NOUS, and it occurred to her that he
would soon be looking out for a fashion
able boarding place, where the climate
was more salubrious, for the spread of
scarlet fever in Qeadua2's H2llow had