Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-05-16


pied ii her hald, SIG sre1,ad dazed.-
not able to understand. Ths note was
In Spanish; her knowledge Of the Ian
suage was good. but she would not
trust 1t in this case. Every word in
the thing had been compared with a
dictionary. And now that she had
verified her understanding Of it, she
still could not see what 1t was.
For Ernest was her husband-a mar
ried man. Why, therefore. should any
!woman-Spanish or otherwise-write
n, calling him her dearest Ernes-
70. the light Of her SOUL her be-
loved" begging that he would come to
her. in Vera Cruz. and that she was,
as always, his novia-his sweetheart.
Aal:n. 1t came to her dully-for the
heat had made her stupid, rs she
thought to herself-that Robb had
sometimes murmured this same name
IN his dreams. There had been all
those months. too, in Vera Cruz before
he had returned to marry her. Per
haps he had then known this woman
Anita! But even If he had. why should
he leave his wife now to go to her
what claim or right could she have?
Meanwhile her head ached, and she
felt very queer and stupid Perhaps
she had best lie down for while and
not think about it. Not that she was
suffering; it was strange to feel so
calm about it, Any other woman ON
discovering that her husband was false
and cared no longer. would faint and
weep and cry She couldn't. Tears
were impossible. She would lie down
and try to sleep. ..
Much later that afternoon the sun,
going down i'll gorgeous blaze OF COL
or such as one sees only in the tropics
flung crimson and yellow streuks into
the quiet room, with its pretty furnish
ings. One yellow blaze fell across the
lounge and changed Mrs. Robb's hair
from brown to gold, and f1ickered I'M
certainly on her white brow But she
never stirred-the heat and the shock
had SO combined to stupefy her that
she could not but Sleep But she muir
INJURED uneasily in her sleep, and still
one small brown hand-sunburned and
roughened from the hacienda life
clenched tightly the soiled scrap of pa
per-the letter from Anita!
Without doubt, Mrs. Robb asleen
was almost as pretty as Mrs. Robb
awake. So Robb had often said. In the
attempt to tease her; SO evidently now
thought a most peculiar insect that
was making its way with great dis
play Of curious, snaky-looking feeers,
down the wall from the thatched roof
OF the hacienda. You couldn't call it
spider, for it was three times the size
OF spider, and most extraordinarily
marked on each part Of 1t that wasn't
legs. About as big as the Mexican sill
yer dollar it was black and red and
ali hair-covered. 1t wiggled itself
along slowly. now and then gathering
itself together in a small, black hairy
bunch.
Mrs. Rohb, as she lay on her lounge,
attracted the attention OF the thing.
whatever it was. And yet not SO much
Mrs. Robb as yellow shining orna-
ment that lay at the base Of her throat,
and which the low-necked wrapper
plainly let show. It was only a tiny
gold locket. containing Robbs picture
which Mrs. Robb wore night and day
out Of sight under her bodice. or
course the thing on the wall could not
know this; but it did want to !nyestI-
gate for itself.
An uncomfortable tickling on her
neck aroused Dorothy: half asleep. and
thinking that Robb had returned. she
r.t ~ sc- md and brushed at what