The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-04-08
pUprlsHrD 7 SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The Feast Of the Golden God
By MRS. EdERT0N EASTWIcK,
Author OF" Ihe NuOes ihHnmr Etc Copyright 1870 by Mrs Eg@tonE nstwhkl
By MRS. EdERT0N EAsTwIcK,

ouSWCEdDlt.
II cannot tax money from you"
Shall I ask Andrew
He knitted his brows.
IL think, hardly. Already he-he re-
sents my-my worship of you. God knows
it is distant ~enough-humble enough"
FLUSH! hush,' she said, hurriedly.
at can't hurt you to know that a poor
devil repays your friendly goodness to him
by just loving the ground you touch with
your foot, the glove that has caressed
your hand When you have married An
drew I shall go-disappear-that is if the
entities will let me. AT all events / will
never trouble your peace again."
She had blushed a deep crimson in the
evening light, which in the few brief mo-
ments before sunset fiared over everything
as though a volcano had suddenly burst
out in the island. To hide the color in her
cheeks she had turned aside her head, and
a short silence ensued. When she looked
round again her eyes fell upon her left
hand which lay gloveless upon her lap. The
third finger sparkied with jewels, two dia-
mond rings and one of large emeralds. She
began to play with them ~nervously, half
pulling them off.
Take thesei" she said hurriedly. "I
have been told thu they are worth more
than you ay-the diamonds alone. They
are mine, and /. give them freely. True,
they were Andrews gifts, but you-you
are almost the same as his brother, and he
has so much. 1 will tell him what 1 have
done, or 1 will say an~ything-they are lost
l have given them to help a friend. I don't
mind his ange in the least-I mean I could
bear IL very WELL"
He seized her hand and bent his head
over 1t, almost touching it with lips which
she fancied quivered a little.
Come" she said, Withdrawing it quick
ly and trying to laugh, take them. I
cannot wear the price of your life. of your
whole career"
MY redemption cannot come from your
hands; you know it is impossible"
IF you will not take them + shall give
them back to Andrew tomorrow"
You would do that?" he said, his whole
face Frightening, and for me?'
That evening Miss Carr attended a con-
cert at the Town Hall; an entertainment
due to last until after IL o'clock, but at the
close of the first part Mrs. Carr complained
Of heat and headache, and her daughter
without much reluctance accompanied her
home. On reaching the house Mrs. Carr
at once went to bed, and consequently at a
quarter past 10 Clarissa found herself alone
in her own room for the night.
So soon as her door had closed behind her
ayah she unlocked her jewel case and dis
played the chief part of the contents upon
the dressing table-the rings she had worn
that afternoon, a diamond clasp and neck
the precious things to the light; she let
them fall through her fingers, watching
their scintillations with rather a lingering
finally she gathered them into a little
heap, threw her handkerchief over them.
and stepped out between the open vene-
tan shattered doors to the veranda adj
joining the room.
II must rest first" she said to herself.
'I must be quiet for a little while and think
what to say. But / will write tonight"
She moved across to a lounge chair in the
corner of the veranda, and lay down, look
ing in her dark gown a shadow among
shadows. She had exchanged her evening
gown for a loose japanese dress. the color
of a moonlight sky and threaded with a
pattern in silver. In her hand she
held a fan of peacock feathers. which she
waved softly, until her hand grew weary,
dropped motionless at her side.
1t was with something of a start that she
reused herself, not more than a quarter
of an hour later. A depth of stiffness had
settled down over the place, and yet she
was conscious of some sound that had
o-1,,-1I a from fr0rIChtc which had AL
most lost themselves in dreams. She half
raised herself in her long chair, and
glanced towards her room. The night lamp
she had left burning enabled her
to distinguish the objects within, and she
became suddenly aware Of something I'M
usual-something that seemed at first no
more than a shadow, not to be accounted
for by the usual position of the furniture
Of the room-a tall blackness.
Then rapidly this blur resolved itself into
he outlines of a human form-the figure
Of a Malay woman, unusually tall, a sa-
rong, additional to that which appeared be-
Meath her long loose coat or kobya, drawn |
closely over her head so as to conceal her
features after the manner of her race.
She was standing by the dressing-table,
as a matter of fact, outside the line
Of Clarissa's vision, but the flare of the
amp fell upon her, and cast her reflection
a large pier glass which stood behind
her. but a little to the left, in the corner
facing that where Clarissa sat; it was at
his reflection that MISS Carr was gazing. |
In her half-risen posture she paused a
moment breathless, and in that moment
saw the woman take the jewel-case from
the table and hide it swiftly within the
folds of her coat. Then the thief
and as she turned drew the
sarong around her. In that double move
nent Miss Carr had a momentary view of
he face of the thief in the glass; was even
that in that flash of a second
the woman had glanced at her own re-
to see whether her heavy veil was
satisfactorily arranged
Clarissa caught at her throat to stife a
cry: upon a first impulse she had slipped
Ter feet noiselessly to the ground when
she saw her Jewels disappear. but as that
ACE had flashed upon her I'm the glass she
struck into inaction. and before
;he had recovered her presence of mind the
Malay had glided from the room.
Miss Carr had but little sleep that night.
rhe situation, difficult before. had become