The Miller sun. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 190?-19??, 1904-12-14
CHAPTER XIV.

Hour after hour i lay tossing about
in a sleepless. mental agony. Clara was
undoubtedly in the same house with me,
exposed to heaven knows what sufferings
and prosecutions; and yet, for any hope
Of seeing or succoring her, | might as
well have been hundreds of miles away.
AT last, unable to lie there any longer,
l rose and dressed myself. A fire was
still smoldering in the huge CRATE, and a
night light was burning upon the table.
The nurse, by her hard, regular breath
ing, seemed to be in a deep sleep, and /
moved about cautiously. Her face was
turned to the open side of the sofa. |
crept behind it and inserted my trem-
bling hand beneath the pillow, feeling
further and further until my fingers
touched a hard substance-it was the
ward key. Little by little | drew it
away-she still sleeping profoundly
fitted it noiselessly in the lock, turned it,
and the next moment found myself in a
large, dark hall, at the foot of an inn
mensely wide staircase.
| closed the door softly behind me.
A long window. that stretched upwards
from the first landing, admitted suffi-
cient light to guide me, and, with a
noiseless step, ] crept up the stairs. AT
the top of the first fight was a long
corridor, on each side of which. as far
as | could see. for the further end was
lest in ~obscurity. was a line Of doors.
Now came my difficulty; the slightest
error would not only defeat my present
object, but consign me to q ~stricter sur
veillance than ever, and perhaps bring
about Clara's removal to some spot to
which | could obtain no clue. Suppose,
by chance, that / should go to Judith's
chamber door? / shuddered at the
thought.
/ stood for some moments at the head
of the corridor, irresolute what to do,
listening eagerly for the slightest sound
that might guide me. But the silence
was deathlike. Down the corridor l
moved noiselessly. Through the crew
ices of the third door came faint streaks
OF light and faint mufied sounds. either
means or a low, monotonous singing
the walls and doors were so thick, that
it was difficult to distinguish which.
/ listened more eagerly, until / fan
cied l could distinguish Clara's voice.
l paused for a moment, and then, with
my heart beating in my throat, tapped
gently. Breathlessly l waited for sew
eral seconds. No answer. Then / tap
ped a second time a little louder. A
sound Of moving, and then a soft. treIl-
ulous voice. that thrilled my very sJul,
asked family, "Who is there?"
l could doubt no longer. The key
was in the lock outside. l tried it-turn-
ed it-opened the door-met her whom
I songht-heard 2 low @ z :ssoaisii-
ment, and my darling was in my arms.
At that moment / fancied that | heard
a sound like the click of a lock in the
corridor. / suddenly turned, ~disengaged
myself from her arms, and looked out.
All seemed precisely as l had left it,
no light, 10 object, no sound: it must
have been fancy. | gently drew the
key from the outside, and, reversing il,
locked the door from within. We were
alone-no n could surprise us now.
To her eager questions, how had l dis
covered her, / scarcely knew what to
answer: for, the first excitement OF our
meeting over, / repented that | had ever
sought it. Could | have freed her from
her enemies then, and then only. would
it have been justiiable? AS it was. l
was feeding my own hopeless passion.
and engaging more and more closely the
affections of a. Supplemented girl. be-
meath the very roof that sheltered the
implacable ysman who claimed as her
husband. Oh. nll this was weak, Grim
iHShy weak, and | feit II so, and yet l