Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1902-09-05
CHAPTER .XXXu.

LUCETTA.
Inc next morning | rose with ~
: lark. | had slept well, and all NV 81
vieor had returned. A new problem wa
t peiore me, a problem which had in
{ creased in interest since it had becom
narrowed down by the elimination fro,
~ OF the knollys household. Motbe
Jane and the jewels were to be NJ,
{ uryce starting point for future inyesti
satlon' Should they be mine? Ithouph
" would take an early stroll and see.
J Ihere was silence in the house whe,
! passed through on my way To IN,
'front.' door. But that silence had lost il
, terrors and the old house its ahsorb;ue
mystery. Yet it was not robbed of it,
interest. When l realized that Altbog
hhoIlys the Althea of my youth. haf
actually breathed this same atmosnber,
with me, and that within a few DAYS
1eIt that no old time romance nor auv
terror which fitting ghost or stalking
apparltion might bring could conipare
with the wonder of this return and tha
strange and thrilling circumstances
which had attended it, And the end
was not yet. Peaceful as everything
looked this morning, l still felt that the
end had not come.
Inc TACT that Saracen was loose in
the yard gave me some slight concern
as opened the great front door and
looked out. But the control under
which l had held him the dav before
encouraged me in my venture, and after
q lew words with Hannah who was
careful not 10 let me slip away unno-
tlced, boldly stepped forth and took
my solitary way down to the gate
1t was not yet 6, and the grass was
still heavy with dew At the gate
paused. l wished to 20 farther, but Mr..
Gryce's injunction had been imperative
about venturing into the lane alone. Be.
Sides No, that was not horses hoof.
There could be 10 one on the road so
early as this | was alarming myself
unnecessarily, yet Wei, | held my
place, a little aWHwardly. perhaps. Self
CONSEQUENCES i always awkward. and I .
could not help being a trihe self con
scious alta meeting so unexpected and
But the more l attempt to explain the
more confused NY expressions become.
so viii Just say that by this very
strange chance | WAS leaning over the
gate when Mr.. Trohu rode up for the
second time and found me there.
l did not attempt any excuses. He is
gentleman enough 10 understand thar
IA woman OF NV ten perament rises carly
and must have tn. morning air Thar
he should feel the Same necessity, i =
coincidence. natural PERHAPS. but still a
coincidence So there was nothing TO be
said about it.
But had there ben would not have
spoken, for he seemed 50 eratifed at
finding me ENJOYING mature AZ this early
hour that any WORD, from me would {
have been quite sup.rfuous. He did not {
dismount-that would have been too I
marked perhaps but he stopped, and.
we'll. we have both passed the age of /
romance. and what he said cannot be of l
interest to the general public. especial
" as il did not deal with tie disappear.
,nce or with the discoveries made in I
the Knollys house the dav before or t
with any of those questions which vou d
nave been irving TO solve with me to e
his time,
That we were engaged more than five t
minutes in this conversation l cannot l
believe. I have always been extremely
in regard to time. vet a good i
,alf hour was lost nv me some time that i
morning for which I have never been
,hle 70 account Perhaps it was spent V
n tbe Short discussion which followed. b
discussion which may be of interest r.
n Won. for that was upon the action Of d
he noIica q
"No1hing came Of the investigations Il
,ada nv Mr. Grvce Yesterday. | nor. c,
Give Mr.. Trohm had remarked. with Re
o,,,o relr,n+anca as he gathered mn his Il
Gins n denart. "Well. did not expact al
nv+b;ne How conld he hone ia find al
nvtbino there2" d
XIo,T cop1d he indeed9 Yet" said |. if
IA aI1ov this one mans sDs. b.
ic;ons at once. which. Notwithstanding
40 o,ennass If his remark. was still 81
'-o,,,iollo in his tones "vou saw that
- an NV. sbon1d hardly exnect from to
s.ael ,,oi,,l,bo,, and friend Wbv is &c
NJ, Tral,,g surely Won do not ms. az
, ,a c,.;,,,e With tbe Knollvs?'
nCn;,,,a9 m, M certainly not. No l
ia ossoo;ota crime with the l
~ re- ~, +opo was at fault If was al
.. a