The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1896-12-24

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Phil Followed Her with u Revolver
In His Hand
dealing with a mad woman it were
| Wisest to humOr her III.
| How can serve your" he asked,
+ quietly, wondering what she was go
| ing to say next. She pointed to the
clock.
He will be here in a minute or.
two 2 ~. .3z
HE? Who?' Ph;lo asked. with 4
composure which his pulses belicd
The mani tell you, the man., she
answered. THAT man. and she point
| ed to a sWarthy face in the photo
graph He is6n,y lover, and I loathe
him. He is a mailman when he is
! Jealous. When lie finds you are here
he will try to kill YOU
That is very thoughtful of him anG
| of you," Ames said quietly The Mo-
man might be mad, or she might not.
but, in any case, the adventure was
! ticklisll and a cool blood the only wis.
dom.
5S If he kills sou the woman went
on. with her eyes fixed on Philo's face,
then he is a murderer, and so am
we'll rid Of him. If you Kill him, as I
hope, then you have acted in sclf-le-.
Tense, and are innocent and SO, too,
am well rid of him.
! You seem to have thought things
out very carefully" said Ames. But
why did YOU honor me with your
choice Of champion?"
Because of your reputation she
said, with a smile that was half a
sneer; perhaps because Of your big
boast. Women have done So much for
1 you that it was time you should do
something for wo.ocn.' 2 Z M.
.Philo shrugged his shoulders. '.sYou
4 fatter me- he began, but the woman
interrupted him. 3,E
Hush she said, Il hear footfall.''
Philo, straining his sense Of hearing,
4 seemed to catch the faint sound Of q
distant ascending step on those distant
i ascending stairs. He slipped his hand
to his hip pocket and pulled out his
l pistol. The Woman's eyes flushed at
/ his action. Il
"Of course he said. 81 can only feel
fattered at the honor you have done
me. Il your friend attacks me. as
/ you seem to assume well, IS / believe
/ | am considered to be a good shot, and
as believe that 1 justify the impress.
sion, should imagine that you will be
relieved Of your difficulty in about five
4 minutes
Even as lie spoke the stems came
nearer and nearer, ard sounded louder
and louder in the gaunt loneliness Of
4 the place. But, Ames' blood. growing
i hot with the excitement of the mo-
m men suddenly cooled at the sight of
i the WOman's face. 1t had grown curl.
ously pale and drawn and wan, and its
4 look Of anxiety touched him with O.
quick pity. She seemed to be listening
4 as curiOuSly as he to the On-cOming
steps, but with a different interest. He
! thought to himself, trying to translate
her expression, that the steps sounded
Y singularly light to be those Of the
black-visaged savage whose face grim
ned on the chimney piece. The steps
came close and stopped before the
q door. There was a moments silence
and then a ring.
\ The woman remained motionless for
a moment, like one under the influence
of some ungoyernable fear, some I'M.
nameable horror, Then, as if shaking
off the lethargy Of a dream, she walk
4 ed to the door and went into the hail.
Philo followed her with a revolver in
j his hand. She opened the hall Gnor,
and Anes mechanically lifted his pis-5
tol, but lowered it again as his gaze
encountered nothing more alarming
4 than q telegraph boy dimly visible in
the family lighted corrido rs Before the
boy had time to say a name, the wo-:
man had caught the message from
3. him, looked at the address, and swung
q the door to. Philo Ames and she were
4 again alone together. Philo could hear
q the boy Whistling and stamping as he
4 went away, but the woman stood still,
holding the message in her hands.
It was only for a minute, but it seem
4 ed an age; then she turned and
4 walked into the drawing room, Ames3
q making way for her. She tore the en-
4 yelope open, read the message, gave a
u little cry, which she forced fiercely
into a laugh as she handed the slip of
pink paper to Ames. He read four
4 WORDS IN naSh. The four words
4 were: Go to the devil Then she
4 snatched the paper from his hands,
a and the pair stood in silence for a
second, facing each other vaguely.
9syNell, 3 said Philo, slowly, q 'you
s seem to be rid of your difficult =
4 She gave little shiver as she an
a swered: $50 it appears"
Philo swung his fur coat on to his
81 aShOulderS and slipped his revolver
s. back into its place. As he stretched
d out his hand to his hat the woman
. touched him on the arm.
you can stay if you like, Z she said,
& in a voice that was half a proyocation,
half an appeal
h Philo looked at the w0man's beauti-
81 full face, and his heart grew hot; then
B he glanced around the room, and
81 Thought what sha mhles 1t might have