The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-09-15
In THE SPIDERS WEB
BY j. Il. HoRNiBRoOk.

f Separate little world OF their own, on dl-
together a different plane to that of the
ordinary mortal He was a pedant, be-
lore all things. Science was his goddess,
ana she had in him whole-hearted de-
vojee, He carried about with him the at
mosphere of the laboratory, through the
bluI CT which he looked with Indifferent
eye upon the everyday affairs of life
Nevertheless, when the even, unevent-
flu routine OF Ivy Lodge-it belonged, by
the Way TO his aunt, who was profoundly
. imposed by her nephew's attainments-
was invaded by the winsome presence of
Miss Mabel Elstree, a distant cousin of
his, l noticed a slight stir in friend
COlethrop. He came down out of the
clouds q little. The distracted, detached
air which usually chung to him was laid
aside for the time, and he looked about
him with the newly awakened interest of
one who was exploring. a region hitherto
unknown. He claimed Mabel's attention
while he eXpounded ponderoUs theories
IL science, quite crushing her under the
weight of his knowledge. Though she
listened with wrinkled brow and d pretty
pretense Of taking it all in, one could
see that she was hopelesSly at sea from
q first to last
This fash Of interest in something out
side himself and. his own atmosphere
was destined to early extinction. Mrs.
ColGthorpe. has aunt, a most amable and
kindly soul, was of opinion that scien-
Tic eXposlCions, however excellent in
themselves, were hardly a suitable form
OF recreation for fresh, healthy minded
young girl. The good lady considered
that outdoor amusements tennis, cycling
ana such-like, might probably be a trife
more acceptable; and l. being . friend
OF the family, was called in council upon
this point. l emphatically indorsed Mrs.
ColethorpeS views, begged for the privi-
leSe of acting as Miss MabeFs cavalier,
~
along the country roads. The nephew,
James, fell back upon science again, and
gave himself up to it more assiduOuSly
than ever
Ivy Lodge, / am bound to say, soon be-
came a sort of Mecca to me, to which
made pilgrimageS at all times and sea-
sons. Mabel was the attraction l admit
There must have been a natural affinity
between. us, / suppose, for we felt drawn
TO each other, and never tired of being
alone together So far as I was concern
ed. it was quite task to tear myself
away every evening; so much so, indeed
that it involved a prolonged leave-taking
at the door, from which Mabel was gen
orally recalled by an admonitory hint
from Mrs. ColethOrpe as to the flight of
time
That good lady saw plainly enough
how the land lay, and lent us her coun-
tenance-or rather, more strictly speak
notice Of the soft cooings which went on
behind her back. With James, of course,
Ii was entirely different. The fellow was
rs blind as bat in an affair of this
kind, and if he happened to be present.
which was not often the case / am glad
to say bIunderingly thrust in his oar be-
tween US. l, for one did not bless him.
As a general rule, however, he SLOUGH
ed away early in the evening to the little
un-topped shanty out in the garden
which he designated his laboratory, and
where, If the tit was upon him, he some
times passed the entire night
1t SO happened that on one particular
evening, just as l was leaving the house,
1t came upon me suddenly that I had
message for him from an old cronv of
MS whom l had run across that after
noon. knowing that [ would find him
III his laboratory, I stepped round bv
the side of the house and entered the
garden at the back
me little corrugated iron structure in
which he conducted his experiments was
set FAR back from the house, and its no
sluon was always clearly marked at
nlght time by the two bright shafts of
light that shot out into the darkness
from the tiny windows Electricity was
one Of his hobbies, and he had all sorts
OF curious installations in this den of
his 0e1- u
AS 1t was getting rather late I made a
bes-hne across the garden, lodging the
lloWer-beds as well as l could i'm The
oarkress. Just as I stepped off the grass
ana my footsteps crunched upon the
SfaFeI walk that led to the door of the
nut fancied 1 heard stified exclara-
uon inside, followed by slight crash of
SASS. paid little heed to the circl1rn
stance, however, for my thoughts sin
cluhg 10 that tender parting with Mabel
a iHli ~ or TWO ago. and was more or
less IN Greamland at the moment.
AS 1 turned the handle, and door vaUr,.-
ed open a sharp surprise drove the f5l,,,
Oh thought from my eyes, and IN an in
StaRt my whole attention was fixed 1rnon
CoiethOrpe
lie was standing with his back partly
turned towards me, but his chin had
come round on to his shoulder and 10
was staring across in NV direction ui+b
the oldest kind of look imaginabIe II
was almost as if he was yy0nder-strrclr
by my presence. In his hands he still
uhconseloGsly held the ends of splin-
teieu test tube, which he must have
broken in a moment of agitation
very much puzzled, / proceeded TO de-
AVer my message, but I might iust as
wen nave addressed myself to the emmy
an Qont believe he took in a si3a1a
"ord OF it. All the time [ was snea lriI7er
ne cohtlhued to regard me in the Same
Ocu' arrested manner which was a trif1e
oiScoiceftlhg, to say the least of it. It
was only when l turned upon NV heal
ana was about to leave the place tha+
ne seemed to wake up.
Don go yet he called after mo e-a+
ing tue words out quickly, if afraid
l would slip away. Come in. come il.
ihere was something I wanted to sneak
TO you about Let me see-what was # p,
ne !ald the broken test tube aside ano
put his hand to his forehead.
something he wanted To e,,aa1v =.
ABOUT? Wen, that was stransel He
was not given to being communicative
dt the best Of times; but whom he
was shut in here he was gena-aII1,
as gum and unsociabIe as a hermit in
ms cell L closed the door and sat down
wondering what would come next.
Coietherpe, however, appeared in no
particular hurry to approach the s,1k-
Ject, whatever it might be. He 1noxo6
about the room, laying MS hani-ain7Iess
~, as it seemed to me-upon\ one tbiop
after another, but keeping his ewes
steadily averted from my face thu whole
time.
watched him with growing wonder.
III ms long gray dressing gown ana list
shpPers he looked q somewhat grotesoiIo
fgure-almost as if one of those oId-
time alchemists had come back to lie
again
suppose you have no objection to
smoke said, pulling out my CT
sarette case, for he seemed. a pracious
long time in coming to the point.
%! not the least he assured me. over
his shoulder (Which, by the wav
very much doubted, for 1 knew he was
not partial to the Practice himseIf.}
AS l lit the cigarette he turned and
shot swlft glance at me from under
bic Iv-,..