The Washington times., 1894-10-14

with all nv heart. was the resrons
'sAnd do not forget. I shall call for you to
morrow evening to take you to the Chutney' 5
ball"
Scarcely had the two friends entered the
weli-flled. magniicently pointed ballroom
the following evening when Clyde grasped
| SWintons arm. and in 4 strange voice, and
also in an intensely excited manner. said:
! ''Tell me who that woman Is there? That one.
That onei There cannot be two such throats
and necks IN the worldr'
why, man. exclaimed Swinton, you look
as if you had seen a ghost: or perhaps one Of
| your Apaches unexpectedly
mo, no, impatIently answered the other.
''Not an Apache. but one that recalls the tribe
( vividly TO me. Tell me quick
"Of her many conquests in the past can
remember none quite so instantaneous. -
answered Swinton; then. catching the ex-
| preston on his friends face, he replied di-
rectly: THAT is Mrs Holmes.
Mrs. Holiness Mrs. Holmes. Not the
wife OF the broker Not the woman of whom
| YOU told me last night" excl timed Clyde, ex-
| hibiting such increaing exci,ability that for a
moment even the worldly SwiutOn was tribe
/ alarmed.
My dear fellow the latter replied in low
and soothing tones. pray calm yourself.
You shall know her in a moment if you wish
/ to.
Yes. yes: she above al others. Do pre-
! sent me at once.
Il beg OF you not t. ask me to officiate, -
responded Swinton in grave tones. I fear
| that l have already lost one dear friend
( through that woman. Do not require me TO
/ be the agency by which I might lose another.
/ But 1 will arrange il for YOU, and at once"
| a moment later Clyde was looking into the
! face OF the woman who had so strangely
/ moved him.
Eyes, my lady OF the locket.' he said to
/ himself as his thought went back to the
| lonely canon and the dead stranger. ''The
/ same superb throat and neck, the same divine
/ coloring and even the little sparkling aigrette.
Also the same absence OF nature. the same
lack of soul. Had the artist painted better
than he knew"
| Swinton for the nonce was more engaged
| in watching this introduction than he was in
| appreciation of the fair debGtaute whom he
| had upon his arm.
! When Clyde left the Chutneys that evening
it was with Mrs. Holmes permission to call
| upon her the following day. Not ono word
| did he say TO Swnton Of his suspicion that
! the latter's friend. Clayton, ana the dead
| Arizona Wanderer were one and the same per-
! son But tie circumstantial evidences was
! TOO overwhelming TO permit OF the vest ge Of
| q doubt entering his own mind. the time OF
/ Ciayton's disappearance and the finding of
| lQe DOuN, ILt peCulidt Win LALt 4ull41iS
] L. and II. Lawrence Holiness. and above all
the locket with its artistic counterpart of Mrs.
! Holiness might have convinced a far less
| credulous person than Clyde.
| On going to his rooms the following day to
dress for dinner Swinton was more than as
! tonished to find there brief noJe from Clyde
| informing him that the latter, at his own re-
| quest, had received permission by wire from
| Washington to at once rejoin his regiment in
Arizona While Swinton was occupied in
reading this document Clyde was already en-
! route. In those days it required lar less in
fuence to get permission to return to Arizona
| than it did to obtain consent to leave the Ter
ritory.
Perplexing, inexpIicable as this bit OF news
was to him, yet it was quite absorbed in the
intelligence received later the same evening
| of the sudden death OF Mrs. Holmes.
Weeks later there came to him letter
from Arizona, which gave him every par
ticular.
With the confidence that Mrs. Holmes was
the woman who had sent the friend of his
friend into exile and oblivion, Clyde had
called upon her the morning after the ball.
He was not Iinmindful of her regal bearing,
and her superb, matehless beauty. On the
contrary, he was fascinated, charmed. At the