Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1900-02-02
CHAPTER NNvI
cwYv clrAus ~ nun MYSTERY.

Startled by these words, Mason said
hurrirdly. Thank y"u." aud entered
the kitchen.
At the sound ~ his voice Gwyn
Spran. up aud stared AT him with wild
eyes She had heard uf the tragedy
which had happened hut au hour be-
fore. and il WAS evident that IL had
shaken her still delicate frame and
struck diSmay Ia her loving nature
She stared AT MaS>on for few mo
mrntS Then for moment her fca
lures broke into n beautiful smile Of
welcome. hut the next moment look
Of horror came over her face. The
slight flush died away. aud. turning
from him toward her grandmother
with long pnSping sigh. she fell back
into her chair AMI covered her face
with her hands.
And for the first time the old wom-
an. who had reused So much luminosity
in Ma>S"ns breast. showed a sign of
tenderness. of humanity.
"Dou'i-ce cry. dearic. Its bad. Its
very bad To bear. But don't-cc cry"
AlaSsun stood transtiNcd. For here
WAS another mystery presented 10 his
mind. The witchlike old woman, who
had been reported 10 speak no English
and who had. indeed. never until that
morning uttered word in his hearing,
was speaking as intelligently and AS in
tclligihly a any of them. Her beadlike
black eyes. too. whose unblinking stare
had been one cause of the dislike she
had inspired in him, We're now full Of
kindliness and feeling.
There WAS nothing for him to do but
to cross the floor as quietly and unob-
truSivcly as possible and. rctreating
into the background of the corner be
tween the fireplace and the front door,
to wait until they chose To give him the
confidence which he felt sure was i'm
pending.
1t was Tom who broke the silence.
He put his arm, awkwardly but kindly.
on his sisters shoulder and said:
Don't take ON. Gwyu. Tell the gen
tleman. tell the doctor all about ii.
You can now
nodding to COch Tai, who reluctantly
followed him. The old woman trans
ferrcd her gaze from her grauddaugh-
ter to Masson, and then said, in low
voice:
Maybe she'll find ii easier to speak
to you alone. sir. Aud to tell you what
you'd better know. III come back
presently
I And then she retired in her turn. and
Mason and the girl We're left alone.
For Il few minutes she remained In
the same position, with her head bent
. over her hands. He did not even feel
/ sure that she WAS conscious of his
presence. But at last she raised her
head and showed him n face which
was drawn into strange Fuckers and
lines 10y stress of deep feeling,
"rerhaps." said he gently, you
would rather not speak to me. | am
quite content to 90 away without hear
ing anything more, Indeed, ! can
guess for myself much that you may
have thought it necessary for me to
know"
But Gwyn babe him remain, making
an mpcriouS gesture of command rath
er than entreaty that he should he
seated SO he took the chair on the
opposite side Of the fireplace, clasped
his hands loosely together and leaned
forward with his arms upon his knees
so that he could listen without appear,
ing To watch her face.
"You must know; you must hear"
said she in Il faltering voice, "for all
our sakeS and for your own. You must
not go away thinking that we are n
body of murderers and thieves. We
are not. You must not come back or
send detectives back to hunt out the
mystery OF your brothers death"
"Do you think | would" began Mas
son hotly, but she silenced him by 4
gesture and went on:
Yes. you would. If we let you go
away without knowing the truth. You
might think yourself bound by some
tie of kindness, Of gratitude, to keep
silent But in the long run you would
say something or do something; you
would come back or send some one in
your behalf, and we should ut any rate
all lie under the disgrace-my brother