Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1895-12-13

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of bright yellow ribbon were every
where, yellow pincushions and wall
pockets hung about the toilet table, soft
yellow rugs lay at the bed and lounge
side, and sunshiny tone was given to
the whole apartment by the shades Of
yellow silk that hung close to the win
dows.
On the wall were some choice etchings
and few foreign photographs On the
bonl1shelves were a few volumes Of
poetry and the prose of George Eliot
and our own Hawthorne. Hanging on
pegs in the corner of the simple army
room, covered by curtain, were some
heavy outer garments, an ulster, a
travelling coat and cape of English make
and one or two dresses that were ap-
parently too thick to be used at this
season of the year. He drew aside the
curtain one moment, took brief glance
at the garments, raised the hem of a
skirt to his lips and turned quickly
away. A door led from the room to the
one behind it, spare bedroom evident
ly, that was lighted only from the back
of the house and had no side window at
all. Another door led to the hall, a
broad, old fashioned affair, and crossing
this he stood III the big front room oc-
cupied by the colonel and his wife This
was furnished almost as luXuriously,
from all army point of view, as that of
Miss Renwick, but not in white and yel-
low.
Armitage smiled to see the evidences
of Mrs Maynard s taste and hfndiwork
on every side In the years he had been
the old soldiers adjutant nothing could
have exceeded the simplicity with which
the colonel surrounded himself. Now it
Was something akin to SybaritiSh ele-
gance, thought the captain, but all the
same he made his deliberate survey.
There was the big dressing table and
bureau on which had stood that ravish-
ed picture, that photograph Of the girl
he loved which others were able to
speak Of and one man to appropriate
feloniously, while yet he had never seen
it. His impulse was to 80 to Jerrold' S
quarters and take him by the throat and
demand it of him, but what right had
he? How knew he even that it was now
there? In view of the words that Ches-
ter had used toward him, Jerrold must
know of the grievous danger in which
he stood. That photograph would prove
most damaging evidence if discovered.
Very probably, after yielding to his
vanity and showing it to Sloat, he
meant to get it back. Very certainly,
after hearing Chester's words, he must
have determined to lose no time in get
ting rid of it. He was no fool if he was
a coXcomb.
Looking around the half darkened
room, Armitage fingered long over the
photographs which hung about the
dressing table and over the mantel, sew
eral prettily framed duplicates of those
already described as appearing in the
album. One after another he took them
in his hands, bore them to the window
and studied them attentively. Some
were not replaced without long, lin
gering kiss. He had not ventured to dis
turb an item in her room. He would
not touch the knob of q drawer or at
tempt to open anything she had closed,
but here in quarters where his colonel
could claim joint partnership he felt less
sentiment or delicacy. He closed the
hall door and tried the lock, turning the
knob to and fro. Then he reopened the
door and swung it upon its hinges. For
wonder neither lock nor hinges creak-
ed. The door worked smoothly and
with little noise. Then he similarly
tried the door of her room. 1t was in
equally good working order, quite free
from squeak and complaint with which
quartermasters' locks and hinges are apt
to do their reluctant duty. The discov-
cry pleased him. 1t was possible for one
to open and close these portals noise
lessly, if need be, and without disturb
ing sleepers in either room.
Returning to the east chamber, he
opened the shades, so as to get more
light, and his eye fell upon all old al
bum lying on little table that stood by
the bedside. There was night lamp
upon the table, too, little affair that
could hold only thimbleful of oil and
was intended evidently to keep merely
faint glow during the night hours.
Other volumes-a Bible, some devo-
tional books, like "The Changed Cross, "
and hymnal or two-were also there,
but the album stood most prominent,
and A-mitage curiously took it up and
opened it.
There were only half dozen photo
graphs in the affair. 1t was rather a
case than an album and was intended
apparently for only few family pic
lures. There was but one that interest
ed him, and this he examined intently,
almost excitedly. 1t represented little
girl of 8 or 10 years-Alice undoubted-
ly-with her arms clasped about the
neck of a magnificent St. Bernard dog
and looking up into the handsome fea-
lures of tall, slender, dark eyed, black
haired boy of 16 or thereabouts, and the
two were enough alike to be brother and
sister. Who, then, was this boy?
Armitage took the photograph to the
window and studied it carefully. Parade
was over, and the troops were marching
bocL to their Quarters. The band was