Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-05-14
Darrell passed his hand across his
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his wits.
II was not authorized to speak for
you," he said, "but know that they
fully understood. OF course your sud-
den departure gave US great anxiety.
We were afraid that In escaping from
the police you had run into the hands
of the cars agents. 1t was for that
reason that l went to Stavropol, re-
membering that you had said you
might be taken there"
"But told you where l was going"
she exclaimed. 81 gave you word for
Mr.. and Mrs. Gordon. gave you the
means Of seeing me again In Paris"
Darrell slowly shook his head.
"I know nothing of this" he said.
ut was all-all In your hat" she
cried, stammerlng prettily in her e1-
citement.
Gall in my hatT" he echoed. 'T real
ly beg your PARDON
81 could not find you that last night"
she said hurriedly. "Your hat was ly-
ing on the table. I wrote q note and
put 1t under the band inside, so that
you must find 1t when you put the hat
on"
81 haven't seen 1t from that day to
this" said Darrell. "a servant must
have taken 1t to my ROOM"
They sat looking into each others
face in silence for Mt least a minute,
each thinking of the pain Of mind that
this trivial accident had caused.
~ heard that you had gone to Stavro-
pol" said Vera. "but | could not guess
that you were In search of nae. In
Stavropol you disappeared, and fear
| ed that you had been murdered by
some avenger Of Ladislov. 1t was al
most by guesswork, founded upon the
vaguest rumor, that | came to believe
you had been taken to Gredskov."
Darrell's voice was not free from a
tremor Of emotion as he rejoined:
"How did you know anything Of my
fate? The mere fact that you were
| sufficiently interested to make single
inquiry repays me a hundred times for
all / have suffered"
"I had agents In Stavropol," said We
ra, coloring, upon other matters. Hav.
Ing heard that you had travelled In that
direction with Ivan Getchikoff. my
agents thought you worth an inquiry.
They learned that you had been ar
rested upon your arrival. but neither
they. working secretly. nor the Ameri-
can consul. protesting openly. could
gain any knowledge Of what had hap
pened to you afterward. 1t was given
out that you had been Immediately re-
leased and had left the city. Your bag
gage was obtained by the consul. who
received also a packet forwarded to
you in his care from Paris. by Mr. Cor
don doubtless. These things were In
the consul's hands three weeks ago."
"Three weeks ago' cried Darrell.
rising slowly. "Have you had word so
lateW
Vera's cheeks were burning.
1--WE have still our agents In Stavro-
DOL" she said. land occasional commu-
nication Is possible. They have thought
It worth while to report to me In re-
gard to your affairs"
"Then nothing else In the world mat
ters in the least" be said. II do not
magnify your interest In me. but
She checked him with q look that
was both intense and smiling.
"You couldn't" said she almost In a
whisper, and at that he laid his hand
upon hers. which was palm upward on
q pile Of military reports.
"vera"- he began. but suddenly
there was a clash Of guns and sabers
In the hall.
The princess raped upon the table
with the scabbard Of her sword, a
much bejeweled weapon that had lain
across a chair beside her. At the sum.
mons an orderly appeared with the
rigid haste Of a toy monkey on q
stick. Vera pointed to the door COM
municating with the hall. and pres
emily the orderly announced two off,
GERS, who were admitted.
They came with reports that concern
ed the practical details of war, and
| Darrell heard them with divided at
tention, working meanwhile upon his
maps. One of them spoke mostly OF
| cannon. and Icra's questions showed
q surprising comprehension OF the SUBJ
ject. Slngularly enough, Vera when
speaking of ordnance ceased to seem
q play soldier. What she had to say
about the capacity Of certain light bat
teries whose disposition seemed to be
q subject of some question struck Dar-
rell as apt and accurate beyond criti-
cism. Darrell had followed the char
lot Of war In many quarters OF the
globe and indeed had differed troops,
white, black and yellow, In the whirl
of various emergencies. for which rea-
son this Clrcassian campaign had ap-
pealed to him rs grim and awful
Joke. But somehow when Vera talked
of artillery the thing seemed serious.
Perhaps it was the surprise that d
woman should know anything what
ever about the subject.
"Your excellency," he said when the
officers had withdrawn, and then, Il
beg your pardon; am uncertain what
form of address you prefer"
Under the present circumstances"
she replied. glancing around the empty
room, 81 prefer the style which you
used just rs these annoying people
came with their reports"
"Vera," he cried, p
"That is it," she said. "but in public
| IL, or N VII hino fh q 4