The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1901-09-11

| COlQ dlr lTUu luS SlOuno-hooA Va enS
house, and dashing quickly out upon
the landing, he came face to face with
Nell herself, as she ran up the stairs.
Now If it had not been for the
strange occurrence Of the night Cliff
ford would have thought nothing of
this early meeting. People rise early
in the country, and Nell had the live
stock to attend to, as she had told him,
taking her turn with the servants. The
| fact Of there being a visitor in the inn,
too, would have explained satisfactori-
ly the care she took not to make any
noise.
But with his mind full of the agony
of unwilling suspicion, the young man
could not help noticing that Nell looked
guilty and frightened, that the color
suddenly left her cheeks, and that she
stammered in her efforts to give him
greeting.
"You-you get up very early. IL
had not expected to see you down be-
fore eight O'clock" she managed to
say at last.
And there was in her eyes, as She
looked shyly up at him, an unmistak-
able anxiety which made his manner,
as he answered, short and cold.
II was disturbed in the night" he
said, stifdy.
And he avoided her eyes as steadily
as she avoided his.
"Dis-turbedw exclaimed Nell, faint
ly.
And then she looked up quickly IN
his face with a glance so full Of in
quiry, of fes-, that, against his wish
and his will, Clifford's own eyes met
hers with suspicious frown.
What was it that disturbed your"
asked the girl.
He hesitated. Surely this candid
anxiety was a proof Of innocence, not
guilt! Surely a thief would have been
ready with a glib speech, with look
Of overdone surprise. He looked away
again, absolutely unable to frame, to
her, the story Of his adventure.
"Oh, L don't know. It was nothing,
suppose" he answered, confusedly.
He felt the girls eyes were upon
him, but he would not meet them. he
must speak about his loss, Of course,
but It should be to her uncle, not to
her.
What are you goitg to do with
yourself till breakfast timer" she
asked, pleasantly. I'VE have no nice
garden where you could walk about
on a pleasant lawn and pick roses.
viii you 90 out over the marsh and
bathe in the sea? I could show you
the way to the ferry. Or would 1t be
too slow for you to watch US turn the
cows out?"
Innocencel Surely this was inno-
cence. Clifford only hesitated for a
moment. During that moment he told
himself that he would conquer his
feeling for the girl, that he would not
run the risk of becoming more infat-
uated than he was. But the next mo-
ment the girl conquered, and looking
down into the fair, sweet face, he was
ready to think that his own senses had
lied to him, that the hand which had
robbed him could not be Nells.
So he followed her out into the fresh
morning air, helped her to turn the
bolts and draw the bars to let out the
COWS for their days wanderings over
the marsh, and to look for the eggs
which lay warm in the nests Of the
fowl-house.
Long before breakfast time the oc-
currence of the night had become a
half lf-forgotten nightmare, and Clifford
was enjoying Nell's unaffected, lively
chatter as much as on the previous
day. Only when his hand touched
hers, as she took the basket Of eggs
from him, did Clifford remember, with
shudder. that it was the same touch
which he had felt In the night, the
same smooth, soft skin, the same slen-
der little fingers; so that he was
bound, before he met the landlord, to
come back to his old theory that Nell
was a somnambulist.
It was a disagreeable business, that
Of making known his loss to George
| Claris. But it had to be done, and as
soon as he had had his breakfast
Clifford followed the landload to the
front Of the house, where he was TAX
ing down the shutters, and told him
he had something unpleasant to relate
to him.
| Tho uo,Dr mon Of onno nernnivpd
by a sudden change to sullen expec-
fancy In the landlords manner, that
he was not wholly unprepared for the
sort of story to which he was listen
ing. He heard with attention the
whole story, and only looked up when
Clifford described how he had actually
touched the hand as 1t was withdrawn
from under his pillow.
"You touched it, you say?" said
George Claris. sharply. Then why
on earth didn't you hold on and
shout?'
And defantly, incredulously, the
man. with his red, honest face full Of
sullen anger, turned to face his visitor.
Clifford hesitated. He had said
nothing about the sort Of hand it was,
and he began to feel that he would
rather lose all chance Of ever seeing
watch or money again than formu-
late, however euphemistically, the
| fearful accusation.
ut was-it was a shock, you know?"
he stammcred, meekly. 1.-THE hand
was snatched away as soon as I felt
It,"