Evening star., 1897-06-05

mcst exquisite pang he had ever felt be-
fore at his wife's hands ehqt through him.
Wild but impotent attempt to dash past
ditch. N sIa
He went up to her Shetmasddirty, she
Mas was, disneveied. she was ha9sara. she was
her tear~swept eyes and srAGdg& Of DUST
dried Precipitation over her fair Cheek. He
thought Of the beauty. freshness and
eieeance OF the woman hes hads Just left,
and an infinite pity swept The soul Of this
weak-ninded gentleman. He ran toward
her. and. tendeTiy lifting heT in i9er shame
stained garments from the btsgy, said
hurriedly. a know 1t all, pnDr Hittyi You
heard the news of Van LQo's Aight. and
you ran over to the Divide ito try and save
some Of your money. Why adn't,you wait?
Why didn't you tell meT ss
There was no mistaking the reality of his
words. the genuine pity and tenderness Of
his action, but the woman saw before her
only the familiar dupe Of her life. and felt
an infinite relief. mingled with certain
her precious fear Of him. IN
You might have driven over, then, your
self, she said in a high, duerulous voice,
me this horrid, dirty, filthy, hopeless ex-
petition, for have not saved anything
there! And I have had all this disgusting
tempted
lift his eyes to her face. but he checked
himself; then he gently took her dust coat
from her shoulders and shook 1t out wiped
the dust from her face and eyes with his
the dust from it with vivid memory of
performing the same service for Mrs
Horncastle only an hour before, while she
arranged her hair: and then. lifting her
again into the buggy, said quietly, as he
took his seat beside her and grasped the
reins:
Il will drive you to the hotel by way of
the stables, and you can go at once to your
room and change your clothes. You are
tired, you are nervous and worried, and
want rest. Don't tell me anything now
until you feel quite yourself again.
He whipped up the horse, which, recog-
nizing another hand at the reins. lunged
forward in a final effort, and in few min
utes they were at the hotel.
AS Mrs. Horncastle sat at luncheon in
the great dining room, little pale and
abstracted. she saw Mrs, Barker sweep
confidently into the room, fresh, rosy and
in new and ravishing toilet. With a swift
glance OF conscious power toward the other
guests, she walked toward Mrs. Horn
castle. "Ah, here you are. dear" she said,
in a voice that could easilysreach all ears;
and you've arrived only. a little before me.
after all! And I've had such an awful
drive to the Divide" And only think! poor
George telegraphed to me at, Boomville not
to worry. and his dispatch has only just
come back here" -
ana win glance or triumph she laid
Barkers gentle and forgiving dispatch be-
fore the astonished Mrs. Horncastle
Chapter VIII,
AS the day advanced the excitement over
the financial crisis increased at Hymettus
until, ii spite of it's remote and peaceful
Isolation. it seemed to throh through all its
Ve-andas and corridors with some pulsation
from the outer world. Besides the letters,
and dispatches brought by hurried mes
sengers and by coach from the Divide.
there was crowd of guests and servants
around the branch telegraph at the new
Heavy Tree post Office, which was con-
stantly augmenting. Added: to the natural
anxiety of the deeply interes1ed was the
81, simulated l.!i fever of the few who wished to
be I'm the fashion" 1t was, early rumored
that heavy operator, a guest Of the hotel,
who was also a director til the 'teleera ph
company, had bought up the wires for his
In his interests as bear lnds there was
wild talk of 'lynching'' by THE Indignant
mob. Passengers from SACRAMENTO. San
francisco FL and Marysville Brought incred-
after firm had failed in the great cities.
Old-established houses, that dated back to
the spring of 49, and had AWeathered the
hres and foundations of their sperilous Cali
terious, Invisible, impalpab1e breath of
panic. Companies rooted in ;reSpectability
and sneered at for old-fashiolredi ways. were
discovered to have shamelessiy- speculated
with trusts! An eminent 'CiesteufF and pillar
OF the church was found dead in his room
with a bliiet in his heart sasNl a damning
confession on. the desk before him. Foreign
eounry se hr s4 out of the
to to open the vaults of the fflint ltherei
would be an embargo DnIall bullion ship
ment! Nothing was too wild OF preposter-
Gus to be repeated or credited,
A n1 he
temperature had increased For the last
two weeks the thermometer had stood alb;
normally high during the day-long sun
shine: and the metallic dust in the roads
over mineral ranges nricked the skin like
red-not needles. In the deepest woods the
aromatic sap stood in beads ON felled logs
and spintered tree shafts; even the noun
tain night breeze failed to cool these baked
GUS clouds of smoke by day that We're pll-
lars of fire by night along the distant val
leys. Some of the nearer crests were etch-
ed against the midnight sky, by dull red
creeping lines like dying firework. The
great hotel itself creaked and cracked and
warped through all its painted, blisteFed
and veneered expanse. and was filled with
the sitting breath of desiccation. The
stucco cracked and crumbled away from
the cornices: there were yaWning gaps in
the boarded floors beneath the Turkish car
pets. Plate glass windows became. hope
lessly fixed in their warped. and twisted
sashes and added to the heat; there was
warm incense of pine sap in the dining
room that Favored all the cuisine. And yet
the babble of stocks and shares went on.
and people pricked their ears over their
soup to catch the gossip of the last arrival.
Demcrest, loathing it all in his new-found
bitterness, was nevertheless impatient in
his inaction and was eagerly awaiting
telegram from Stacy; Barker had disap-
peared since luncheon. Suddenly there was
cUmmotion on the veranda as a carriage
drove up with a handsome, gray-haired
woman. In the buzzing of voices around
him Demorest heard the name of Mrs. Van
Loo. In further comments, made in more
smothered accents, he heard that Van Loo
had been stopped at Canon Station, but
that no warrant had yet been issued
against him; that 1t was generally believed
that the bank dared not hold him; that
others openly averred that he had been
used as scapegoat TO avert suspicion from
higher guilt. And certainly Mrs. Van Loo's
calm, confident air seemed to corroborate
these assertions.
He was still wondering II the strange
coincidence which had brought both mother
and son ir to his own life was not merely
a fancy as far as she was concerned when
waiter brought message from Mrs.
Van Loo that che would be glad to see