Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1893-12-29
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CHAPTER XVlI.
Ni>alN!NG>.
was sill weighing ka'ana.;h's myster!-
o.:- qut~ti"'.- a'-l dark in-iunations I'M
,..t.t ,t,...,> Any definite conclusions from
ts.r. ,..fllr,.I, du'ilis that agitated my
,4-..3. VsL.u is- door opcucd and Mere Lu-
ca- c1,-- iI- lrr ~; mouth l'uchered up
with pain AID tears running down her
checks.
What di-.->tcr, What terrible ca
lar.iy. my poor dear friend"' she eXclaim-
II. dropping on a chair as If overcome with
.,r.ef. And then rocking herself backward
and forward ste whimpered ont her grief
IL alohc chain of iucoherent phrases broken
Iy >olr- behind the blue apron which she
held to her eyes
Il seemed - me H. I watched her impos-
sil.c that such grief could be simulated,
that Any one could summon such a flow Of
tears from an ul!feeling heart. But then /
reflected the person chosen by the cars
a-ci.t t. execute 50 dangerous "A mission
must If necessity bc extremely subtle and
deceptive.
The beautiful figures lltorn down-the
who'll, work ruined She went on. The
work it has taken - long to make. the
pride and joy of my lear master! would
rather the monsters had beaten me down
and crushed the life out of mc!'
Iaskcd myself if Mere Lucas was not ov-
erloinS it now
And To say" she added, getting the bet
ter of Lrr tears and dropping her apron
TO say that am the cause of it all.''
docs he say sOir asked uuickly
"AL! l would he had. Look you, my
poor dear friend, it Is easier to bear blame,
when one deserves it, than forgiveness and
words Of kindness" She burst into tears
again as she repeated the words with which
TaraS had tried to comfort her.
My judgment wavered-it was difficult
to doubt the sincerity of her emotion.
1t is my fault; say it, ~ she cried.
striking her breast, adding, with dramatic
emphasis, land it is true What right had
i to leave the house whom my master was
away? What am here for but to protect
the house and my masters interestss If it
had happened while l was at home, it
would have been great misfortune, but at
least should not have been culpable; no
one could have said suffered the mischief
to he done"
Docs any one say SO now?" asked.
why, it is evident, my poor friend. Any
good for nothing watching his opportunity
might have opened the front door with q
bent nail and walked in. And, animal that
! am, did not even look round the place
when came in to see that all was safe as
left it,
kavanagh's suggestiveq questions returned
forcibly to my mind, and found it was
quite conceivable that crafty person
should accuse herself Of a pardonable fault
to screen herself from the suspicion of an
act of baseness.
And to think that this is my fault and
that owe everything in the world to that
dear master. One would say that did it
expressly to show that there was no more
gratitude in the world" and the tears
starting from her eyes again she rose and
went out of the room, whimpering: ''Heav-
ems! l deserve to be turned out of doors,
and then what would become of me''
l started thinking that had key to
the mystery in that phrase. Had not the
dread of being cast adrift induced Mere
Lucas to connive at the destruction OF the
group? If she had been warned of the fatal
consequences TO Taras, which the produc-
ton of this work must entail, would she
not, for his sake as well as her own, agree
to this simple measure for averting such q
terrible result? Gauging her disposition by
my own, l believed she would, and nv
heart readily forgave her offense. But
though affection for the old woman In
clined me to accept this explanation re-
solved to watch her closely till had seen
Kavanagh and heard the result of his in
quiry respecting the friend in Soho.
followed her when she went out shop
ping l slept with my door open, and wax
ing at a fancied sound crept out in the
darkness to listen on the stairs. l discov-
cred nothing tending in the slightest de-
gree to confirm the suspicion of her COM
plici.y in the outrage; on the contrary, her
continued detection, which the cheerful
remonstrance of Taras failed to remove.
seemed to confirm the sincerity Of her sor-
row and humiliation.
Apparently Kavanagh found greater
difficulty than he had anticipated in his in
vestigations, for a week elapsed before
saw him again. When he went up with
Taras into the workshop to see the new
group, which was already taking form,
followed with the hope of finding an op-
portunity Of hearing the communication
which thought he might have to make to
me.
II shall finish it now" said Taras conf
IDENTIFY, "by the time Gordon's kiln is
ready to be fired"
III nothing happens to you or it in the
meantime" said Kavanagh somberly.
st isn't likely the rascals will try that
game on again. If they do, SO much the
worse for them. They will have to settle
accounts with poor old Mere Lucas"
"And supposing, nevertheless, said Kav-
anagh, with glance at me as he turned to
Taras, that this group shared the fate Of
the last, what thens"
what them Why, I would begin an
other, with revolver by my side, and
never leave it till gave it to the world to
protect"
Kavanagh nodded gravely, but made no
other comment. For some minutes he
stood silently watching Taras as he built
up fold in the drapery with pellets of
moist clay; then, recovering from his ft Of
abstraction, he looked at his watch and
pleaded an engagement. Taras laid aside
his clay, and despite his friends remon-
strances led the way down the steps to see
In that moment Kavanagh, turning to
me, murmured:
II have something to tell you when I get
the chance. But, for heavens sake, don't
lose sight of Mere Lucasp' Then he added
some commonplace in q louder tone and
ran down the steps.
At dinner time Taras said to me:
Il am going to smoke pipe with Cor
don presently. Will you walk as far as the
Adelphi with mea"
Nothing would have pleased me more,
but with Kavanagh's warning still ringing
in my ears dared not accept the offer.
How long shall you stay with himi" I
asked, thinking that il the time were not
too long Mere Lucas might be left.
"A couple Of hours or SO. too long for you
to wait. And can't very well ask you to
60 up into his rooms"
II know that" had almost ceased to
be exacting and no longer begrrdged Taras
the liberty which a man always wishes to
feel "Thank you very much, but think
would rather stay at home tonight"
It was o'clock when Taras started. At
9Mere Lucas came in TO bid me n lugubri
Gus adieu, and then began to listen to the
footsteps In the street, though had no rea-
Son to expect Taras in for at least another
hour. At 10 o'clock went out as noise
lessly as could and looked up at Mere Luz
cas- window. There was no light in the
room, but as reached the door of the work
shop the window sash was thrown open,
and her head in its white nightcap ap-
peared. She had heard me unbolt the back
door,
WHO is there?" she cried In a tone of
alarm.
told her it was I. who had come out to
see if the lock which had been put on the
workshop door was secure.
MY poor little friend" said she, do
you think / could lie down il had not
made sure of that' Is it that my good ~
tie master has not returned yeti"
<ald hot