Daily camera., 1901-09-28
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: By epsacsr DsyL I
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A NAN and . woman stood upon
n the broad piazza apparently in
the act Of parting. A cat. black ~
midnight. perched upon the girl's
shoulder and formed . pleasing con-
tras% to her white dreo, and ct ol1
TO advantage her blond lovshnsss.
Flora. In defense Of her pet, was
wont to declare that IL possessed Q
soul that had once inhabited the
body Of one OF the Nsgi. or even that
Of Zoroaster himself. "For. said she,
"he literally worships . IRE. sdDrss
all the sunny places. aud HE powers
Of divination ere wonderful"
Mr.. Lyndon did not sAars her ad-
miration Of the animAl-it sssmsd 70
regard him with . peculiar malSvo-
lence.
just before leaving. che asked his
assistance In closing . number Of
windows, which had bsen left open
on account Of The warm svsping.
The situation Of the houss was
somewhat remote. sheltered from the
street by extsnsiva grounds and inter
cepting shrubbsry. and 70 one un-
familiar with the plaes. might have
appeared lonely.
This tendency WAS ordinarily re-
stricted through reason Of the im-
mediate family consisting Of come
i've or six psrsons, but for various
rsasonA - Flora explained. almost
every member had bssn called away
from the city. and now there was
only her brother st home. though her
father was expected on train that
arrived about midnight.
Mr.. Lyndon listened TO this expls-
nation with great apparent interest.
1t was surprising. indeed. with what
gravity and attention hs hung upon
her words. or. rather. II was natural
and dattering. Not the least pleas.
Ing element in his consideration was
that his regard seemed more deeply
enlisted - the evening wore to close
"a striking tribute TO the girl's fssci-
nations.
He performed the task Of closing
the windows With great care. which
may have accounted for the time II
occupied. or perhsps he w.s de-
libera.e rather than careful. 90 - TO
extend his visit and engage 20 the
furthest limit . social intsreousss %
charming.
Indeed It must have bssn the latter
reason. for one Of the windows wss
left unfastened. though the nsSh-
gencs was not apparently detected
II was now near II o'clock. and al
having been arranged. hr. Lyndon
took his departure.
Flora paassd into The house, and -
abe did %. . certain unaasinsss pos
sessed her-sn occult prophecy Of evil
which shs vainiy tried 70 banish.
A. 10 usual With these impressions
the cause was direct. and. In this
cas.. even immediate: but failing
to appreciate the logic Of the satus-
tion the girl :slt tornsntsd and
mystiAed. She proceeded TO her
room more agitated than shs would
admit. and especially oppessssd BY
the ehostly silence OF The spasious
house
A bat careered through the hall.
creating Intense alarm With its -
lent ghost-iks ruaAes>
The silence and the sound wsrs
terrifying and intollsrable.
She determined to knock on her
brothers door. that. even though nd
iculed. her fears might b allsysd.
There wss 40 light within. but abe
permitted in hss summons. drst with
. timid appeal than With psesmptory
vehemenee.
No answer wss ELECTED and finally
she opened the door. The bsd was
and the girl realized that
she was alone IN the house
She then very esutaous,y deposited
upon the bureau . package. tie con-
tents Of which had quite recently oe-
cupied Mr. Lyndon's attention - well
- her own.
She felt now that abe had bssa
little indiscres<, for Nr. Lyndon wss
. comparative stranger. yst Ne DE-
sire for display had Overcome her
scruples and her judgment. and she
eelt. with sons ssgrst. that she had
allowed 10 60 pnehaliengsd . laugh
Ing estimate of ths easkst's vslus-
one very largely in excess Of the
truth. The csskst contained sosns
.cors of diamonds.
Nr. Lyndon. IN tie msentams, pur-
susd his way towards ths center OF
the city. Happening into . saloon
which wss frequen4ed By college
boys, hs saw. with half . doesn com
rades, tie brother whom Flora
thought safe within his own room
While lounsing near tAs group hs In
heard that ths party
were about to adjourn to certain pri-
rate rooms whsss the great Ameri-
can game would occupy thsar stten-
lion for some hours.
This. Of course. was bet eighty IN
to Mr.. Lyndon. % he pro-
,ssded on his way. alter discovering
that the train which Plors expected
It twelve WAS some hours late.
He stood and studied the time table
With earnest sttention. seemingly en-
crossed 70 the exclusion Of ell Other
luties and diversions.
Flora determined 70 remain
lrssssd until her father should Ar
rive. She was . girl Of more than Or
MnaFy courage, and, though ct Arst
he loneliness oppressed her. abe felt
secure. She ssttlsd into
u easy chair and began reading.
This was an sxcsllsnt idsa, shs
and we'll designed 70 pro
,sct her from any feeling Of nssvous-
aess.