The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1898-04-06
/ \ Vanished Idol.
IL ~ By GERTRUDE DONALDSON.
By GERTRUDE DONALDSON.

on small table near the window was
Malcoms latest gift, the ivory idol from
the JosS-house in the far East Under
the window projected the glass roof of a
small conservatory, into which the door
OF the smoking-room opened downstairs.
Hlida was an ideal specimen Of a thor
oughly bright and pretty English girl
dark hair and brown eyes. with a fresh.
rosy complexion, and small but well-shaped
features. Two days later, she turned
out from the avenue leading from their
house into the highroad towards the sta
ton, she looked indeed winsome lassie,
gong to meet her lover. AS she walked
briskly along, her mind intent on thoughts
OF love. she did not notice until close be-
side him the figure Of a man under the
hedge by the roadside. Her long residence
in the country had not quite sufficed to
eradicate her distance for any stranger who
might be taken for a tramp. and she
shrank aside from him and passed more
quickly on her way. The momentary
glance she had given him in passing
showed he was dressed like common
sailor. but there was something peculiar
about the eyes and face, the latter being
of an unusually yellow color. On her re-
turn absorbed in conversation with her
lover. she forgot all about this man. who
had in the meantime disappeared from the
place where he had been sitting.
At dinner that evening there a con-
paragraph of a few deys before. Malcolm
said 1t was very remarkable that in each
case no Valuables had been lost. and that
he began to think he was rather a Jonah in
the matter Of HOUSEKEEPING.
I'VE were very nearly writing to entreat
you not to come, on the principle that pre-
ventiOn is better than cure, ~ said Freda.
80, third times lucky. Perhaps. if they
do make another attempt, I shall be the
fortunate person to catch them at it. Any
how. 1 assure you l had nothing to do with
the previous affairs, or l promise you I
would have solved the mystery"
That night the two girls retired to Hilda' s
room, Osteasibly for confidential chat but
in reality because the talk down stairs
had somewhat unsettled their nerves, so
that as they passed along the corridor they
looked for shadows at every corner, and
crept together into the same bed. Before
the maid servant tapped at the door with
the matutinal hot water, Hilda aWoke, and.
shaking Ferda, exclaimed: 20, do wake
up! l had such a horrid dream.
I dreamt l was going down stairs in the
middle of the night, and met man coming
up them towards me-.
The result Of our last nights CONVERSE
ton, my dear said Freda, with a yawn
Fancy ruthlessly arousing me from my
sumbers to tell me that"
AS she spoke the servant came ill.,
eff you please, miss, Richards says as
there's been someone in the house last
night; the winder in his pantry as been
forced and the things in masters room
and in the drawing room is all of a hig-
gledy-pggledy. But we can't find out as
they've took anything, and the plates
all safe enough
Good gracious, Freda." said Hilda. as
she sat up in bed. her face gradually as
Stunning the hue Of the sheets that covered
her; then they have come. What can be
the meaning of it?"
Richards says as 'Ow master as sent for
the police miss. But by the same token, he
will ave it 'ow someone's a-playing a
practical joke on Capt. Wizard, he ses"
Il expect Richards is right, Freda. But
who on earth can it be? And 1 don't quite
see where the joke comes in"
Nor did she after breakfast, when ner
father asked to see her privately in his
study, after the constable had been and
fgone, and. with Mrs. Marshall seated be-
side him, began to breach the subject IN
a very serious tone Of voice. He told her
briefly that it was the opinion of the de-
tectives who had been employed in the
other two affairs of the same sort that
the extraordinary proceedings had orignat-
ed by some inmate of each respective
house, and that the decision they had one
and all arrived at was that the perpetrator
of these inexplcable doings was no other
than Capt Wizard himself.
My dear child your mother and l have
sent for you to tell YOU this, and to en-
treat to tell you this, and to entreat
you under the circumstances to postpone
the day you have fixed for your marriage
We are convinced that something-the eff
feet of tropical climate or possibly
a slight stroke Of the Sun-has temporarily
deranged his brain; perhaps he is a sleep
walker of an alarming kind, but, in any
case, we do not feel that we could trust
our precious and only daughter to his care
until we are assured that he is in a fit
state to undertake your guardianship. And
SO we ask you to put it off for six months,
at any rate. VIII you do this?'
Hilda's face had flushed and the tears
had risen to her eyes while he was speak
ing. "Of course l must do SO, If you in
sst, father. But it is very hard on Mall
colin, who has waited patiently for me a
year already. AS for his brain being af-
fected-Of course that Is absurd. No one
knows better than 1 do that his intellect
is clear as my own. and far clearer
But sooner than have any trouble about
the matter, 1 will do as you wish-only,
don't know how l can tell him.
II will do So or your mother If you pre-
fer it,
80, no! I would rather tell him myself"
and she went out to find her lover and
break the news gently possible.
OF course he was indignant and angry
also at first, but eventually became calm,
whilst he vowed to find out who was at the
bottom of this burglary business before he
was much older.
A week later he was no wiser than any
one else, but there had been no further
nightly visitation. Freda Birchett had
gone home as her services as bridemaid
were not to be in immediate requisition,
promising, however, to return as soon as
she was wanted
Hilda had been feeling worried all day.
Malcolm Wizard was bent on urging her to
induce her parents to withdraw their pro-
hibition, and If they would not do so, to
She was torn by conflicting emotions her
duty to her father and her mother, to whom
she was as devotedly attached. and her
love for Malcolm, to whom she felt they
were not quite just. She had taken off her
dress and slipped on peignoir, and in or
der to distract her mind from anxious
thought had gone to get novel she was
reading from her boudoir. She found an
easy chair drawn up temptingly near to a
small fire in the CRATE, and sank Into 1t
with the book unopened in her hand, and,
womanlike, began fondly to mentally re-
trace what had happened since her lover
came home from abroad. AS she did so
she remembered how gladly she had gone
forth to greet him that day, only fort
night age, when she set out to meet him at
the railway station.
Suddenly like flash, came the recollec-
ton Of the tramp who sat on the roadside.
At this moment she raised her eyes from
the fireplace towards the window, ana
there gazing at her through the panes Of
it, she beheld the yellow face and the
peculiar eyes of the sailor. Just beneath
him was the little table on which the
Chinese idol Stood and while her terror
lxent her silent with one blow he smashed