The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-02-13

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unbiased conscience would seem little
short of fiendish. Love for an IN
/ worthy relative or rather the sense OF
/ duty; toward ones own has driven
i many a .elear-minded woman to her
ruin, as the police annals, embodied
q as they are for me in Mr.. Gryce
would show
| That / have not as yet put into
definite words the suspicion upon which
| was now prepared to work is quite
apparent to me. Up to this time it hao
been too vague, or rather of so mon
strous character, that l had felt ready
tC consider other possibilities, as, FOL
instance, the possible connection of ole
Mother Jane with the unaccountable
disappearance which had taken place
in this lane. But now the very definite
assurances / had been constantly re-
ceiving from the moment | had set fool
in this house that something eXtraordl-
nary and out of keeping with the ordi-
nary appearances of the household was
going on in secret in some one of the
| corridors corresponding to my own, and
| which for very obvious reasons / had
as yet failed to find any excuse for
! penetrating, was taking shape in my
| mind, and l no longer affected to deny
| tc myself that everything l had thus
far seen and heard went toward es-
| tablishing the fact that these young
! women held in charge a prisoner of
some kind of whose presence there and
/ personality they dreaded the discovery.
! Now, who could this prisoner be?
Common sense supplied me with but
enc answer-Silly Rufus, the boy who
within a few days had vanished from
| among the good people of this seeming
/ ly guileless community.
Once settled in this idea, I applied
myself to a, consideration of the means
at my disposal for determining its
| truth. The simplest and perhaps the
most sure as we'll as the least salts
! factory to one of my nature would be
! to summon the police and have the
| house thoroughly searched, but this in
| Volved, in case I had been deceived by
| APPEARANCES was possible even to a
| woman of my experience and discrimi-
nation-a scandal and an Opprobrium
which [ would be the last to inflict
/ upon Altheas children unless justice to
! the rest of the world commanded it.
Ii was in consideration of this very
| fact, perhaps, that l had been placed
| here instead of some regular police spy.
| Mr.. Gryce is a man who has made it
| his rule of life never to risk the reputa-
| ton Of any man or woman without rea-
| sons so excellent as to bear their own
| generation with them, and should !, a
woman, with full as much heart if not
| quite so much brain (at least IN the es-
| timation of people in generaD, by any
pre- mature exposure Of my suspicious
cast a mantle of shame over this family
they are far too weak and too poor to
ever rise above again?
No. rather would I trust a little
longer to my own perspicacity and
make sure by the use of my own eyes
or ears that the situation called for
the interference ! had, as you may say.
a the end of the cord / was even now
lingering.
Lucetta had not asked me how !
came to be back SO much sooner than
she had reason TO expect me. The I'M
expected arrival OF her lover had prob
ably put all idea of her former plans
out Of her head. I therefore attempted
no explanation with her and a very
short one with Loreen when I met her
at the dinner table. Nothing further
seemed to be necessary, for the girls
were even more distracted than ever
before, and William positively boOrish
till a warning glance from Loreen re
called him somewhat TO his better self,
which meant silence.
The afternoon was spent in very
much the same way as the evening
before. Neither sister remained an
instant with me after the other enter
ed my company, and, though the al
ternatio were less frequent than they
had been at that time, their peculiar
tiles were more marked and less nat
urally accounted for 1t was while
Loreen was with me that l made the
suggestion which had been lowering
on my lips ever since noon.
II think this said L, in one of the
pauses of our more than fitful CONVEX
sation, "one of the most interesting
houses it has ever been my good for
tune to enter. Would you mind my
roaming about it a bit just to enjoy
the old time flavor of it's great empty
rooms? I know they are mostly clos
ed and possibly unfurnished but to a
connoisseur like myself in colonial ar
chitecture this would rather add to
their interest than detract from it.
Impossible" she was going to say.
but caught herself back in time and
changed the imperative word to one
more conciliatory, if equally unyield
ing.
Il am sorry, Miss Butterworth, to
deny you this qualification, but the
condition of the rooms and the I'M
happy excitement into which We have
been thrown by the unfortunate visit
paid to Lucetta by gentleman she is
only too much attached to- hope you
will not expect me to talk on the sub
ject-make it quite impossible for me
to consider any such undertaking to-
day. Tomorrow I may find it easier;
but, if not, be assured you shall see
every nook and corner in it if you so
desire before you leave the house"
Thank you" I retorted dryly, 1T
will remember that. To one of my
tastes an ancient room in a time hon
| ored mansion like this affords a de-
light not to be understood by one who
knows less of a century ago's life. The
| legends only connected with your great
drawing room below 1--WE were sitting
in my room, I having refused to be
cCoped UP in their dreary side parlor
and she not having offered me any
other spot more cheerfuD are attrac-
tons sufficient to hold me entranced
for an hour. I heard one of them to-
day"
"Which?"
She spoke more quickly than usual
and for her quite sharply.
| Mrs. Carter" I went on, "endeav-
ored to amuse me by relating the story
! of Lucetta's namesake-she who rode
! through the night after a daughter
who had won her lovers heart away
| from her.
'Ah, it is a well known tale, but I
think Mrs. Garter might have left Us
| to tell it to you. Did she relate any
thing else?"
mo other tradition of this place. -
said I.
II am glad she was so considerate.
But why-if you will pardon me-did
! she happen to light upon that? We
| have not heard those incidents spoken
of for years.
Not since the phantom carriage
| flew through this road the last time, -
| have disarmed her from suspecting
l1IfQriOr on INV VI