The Lamar register., 1901-02-06

brain. Her dead fathers hand! Could It
be? She had heard of mummies. She
had once seen a skeleton! She. too. felt
the horror dazed. Then a sickly doubt
| at which she clutched made her smile
| In sickly manner. Then. believing 1t in
| some fearful. mysterious way trne. her
blood was frozen. The knowledge Of that
| hideous crime fell on her Six years Of
life had taught her that miracles are
| real. She had sold her own dead fathers
hand!
"But-but thought 1t was sod!'
SILLY child--it could not be-"
The little lips grew stin. The eyes
stared trascally. Ines face was pale
as death. her mind grop!ng into this se-
pulchral possibility. "But-the color of
IT." she barely whispered. scared only
child can be.
Her mother recalled that the brass was
a little tarnlshed She did not under
stand Ines. "They all turn so.' muir
INJURED she. dreaming of past days. when
hanging thus. as the sad years go on
The terrified Ines. her life wilderness.
sprang suddenly. madly away.
IAN these things with which he fitted
up the home. at least-at least. these 1
can keep" wept the mother. seated
alone.
Ines. n tiny ghost, shivering, crept into
the pawn shop The man there was very
fat and red. with the north-uf-Spain COM
plexipn and n jug Of north-of-Spain cider
In his hand The counters and shelves
were full OF secondhand things. with
tickets on em-gold-cm5roiiered SOM
breros. silver saddles. mantil'as. coffee
urns everything. Ines could not speak.
She crouched In frozen misery under the
counter. The man leaned far over: his
face appeared above her like the moon.
''what do you wantr' asked ne, and
grinned.
"The-the-" Her whisper died, her
eyes were wild. appealing. as she
crouched there. bunch OF pink.
'Eh?" The moon grew fuller
81 want the hand"'
81 sold It," said he
She leaped up In n spnsm. She bent h'
counter. She wept and stormed. Her
panic was terrific.
I Will have it--I will! That was my
own dead fathers hand!''
"Buy 1t, then, from the man who bought
It," said he. 'Juan!'
A dirty. sandaled servant. with shrimp
in his hand. came out of the rear door
Take this little earthquake where you
took the knocker."
Juan jammcd a stupendous sombrero on
his head and trudged out and away. non
chalantly, chewlnS MS Snriinp!
Noon had gone by. The early afternoon
strewed sweet warm sunshine silently
through the. trees of still streets. She.
her one grand grief towering rugged. awr
full In her life, went on after him, n crea-
ture of tragedy. Her eyes were hungry,
haunted. Her little face was thin. She
remembered that she had once seem her
father. when she was three years old. He
had been In the patio. He had taken her
hand-a dark. tall man. He had said and
smiled. though strangely: And you-for-
get me-forgct me-little Ines!
After that they said he was dead. But
his SMILE and that alone-hIs one strange.
last smile, she remembered. Her past.
her father-the hand of the man who
smilcd-she had sold them all; and hor-
rible revolving was the deed.
They came to an old battered church
where the French had fought and cannon
AIDED In the sixties. An ancient grave
yard was walled there. the stones crowded
and hoary. Juan. whistllng dreadful
tune. trudged straight in there. She stood
spellbound on the threshold. under the
high arch. He was going on among tho
graves. Here-here hel would find her
fathers hand. She sank down. fragments
of mummy stories, skeleton stories enact
ing orgies In her brain. Hoarsely she
shrleked after the servant. Terror could
go no further.
But he beckoned her on. He went away,
out of another gate. She took courage,
flew among lne graves, and leaped pant-
ing, into another street beyond Ihere
stood an old. high house. colored n dull
purple. with imitation pillars, of deep. sun
set red. painted upon Its front. The serv
ant was knocking.
Il brought 1t here, according to orders,
said he and went away.
The door opened and mozo In clean
white found her trembling thare alone.
my fathers hand!" Gasped she.
"what?'
She half fell into the passage and sank
to the stone. "'rhe hand! The hand"'
muttered she.
"Oh. may be you mean the knocker my
master bought Why, We saw it In the
shop My master has just come from Eu-
rope. He is fitting up this house. He
toId me he wanted knocker, and. none
but this hanging hand would do.
She was only staring at him, her eyes
dllating in face deadly pale.
Come in to him." said the mozo.
She arose and followed. The servant.
bowed her into room fifty feet lorg.
where one tall man was seated by HIM
self at lonely dining table in the huge
( apartments middle. His back was to-
ward hec. The servant went away; the
master had not heard. She gazed at his
back. She crept little closer. and her
lip trembed pitifully She waited a long,
long time. and crept little closer still.
He was not eating. His head rested on
his hand over an untouched plate. He
was reading n yellow and worn-looking
| letter
| She came creeping to the chairs side.
Somehow her terror-stricken heart loved
this man in a sudden, pitiful way. She
put her hand on the table. She brought
her face, without warning and quickly
close to his arm, and looked up into his
face.
| Il I,nl tal ola nf xvi ne ThA