The San Francisco call., 1904-02-21

II Wid a mighty DdQ lOOh DOul NS
mOuf. Den he gone up to de cupoly an
lef' it dah, an den come down ag'in.
WhiIes dey all is eatin', he 'nounces
thee time dat he goin' be way enduin'
de evenin'. Den he gone out de front
do. an out de gates, an down de
street. Den, sub, den, sub, 'tain't no
mon a half-'n-'our ago, Nelse come to
ne an say dat he see de boss come
roun' de stable, keepin' close in by de
shrubbery, an crope in de ballroom
window, witch is close to de groun',
sub. Nelse 'uz a cleanin' de harness in
de back yo'd an he let on not TO see
him, like. Miss Betty, she walkin' in
her gyahden an Miz Tanberry fan on
de po'ch. Nelse, he slip in de house wliuh
de lights ain lit, an stan an listen
long time in de liberry at de foot er dem
sta'hs; an he hyuh dat man move,
sub, Den Nelse know dat he done
crope up to de cupoly room an'-an' dat
he settin' dab. waitin'i Soze he come
an tole me. an 1 beg Miz Tanberry
come in de kitchen an shet de do an
tole her An she sended me hyuh to
you, sub. An if you 'uz a-goin', de
good God 'lmighty mus er KEEP you
ontel / got hyuh!"
NO; wasn't going" Tom smiled
upon her, sadly. I dare say there's
simpler explanation. Don't you sup
pose that if Nelson was right and Mr..
Carewe really did come back, it was
because he did not wish his daughter
and Mrs. Tanberry 10 know that-that
he expected a party Of friends, possibly,
TO join him there later?'
What he doin' wild dat gun, sub?
Nobody goin' play cyahds ner frow
dice wild a gun, is dey?" asked Mamie,
as she rose and walked toward the
door.
"Oh, that was probably by chance"
mo, suhi" she cried, vehemently.
AN dem gelmun wouldn' play t'-night,
no way; mos on 'em goin' wild you to-
morrer an dey sayin' good-by to der
folks dis evenin'. not gamblin'. Miz
Tanberry II be in a state er mine ontel
she hyuh FUN me, an I goin' hurry
back. You won come dab, sub? I kin
tell her dat you say you sutney ain
comm nigh our neighborhood dis
night?"
I had not dreamed of coming. tell
her, please. Probably I shall not go
out at all this evening. But it was
kind Of you to come. Goodnight"
He stood with candle to light her
down the stairs, but after she had
gone he did not return to the office.
Instead, he went slowly up to his own
room, glancing first into Crailey'
doors Of neither were often locked-to
behold a chaos Of disorder and unfin-
ished packing. In his own chamber it
only remained for him TO close the lids
Of a few big boxes and TO pack a small
trunk which he meant to take with him
TO the camp of the State troops, and he
would be ready for departure. He set
about this task, and. concluding that
there was no necessity TO wear his uni
form on the steamboat. decided to
place it in the trunk. and went to the
bed where he had folded and left it. 1t
was not there Nor did a thorough
search reveal it anywhere in the room.
Yet no one could have stolen it, for
when he had gone down TO the office
Crailey had remained on this floor
Mamie had come within few minutes
after Crailey went out, and during his
conversation with her the Office door
l had been open: no one could have
passed without being seen. Also, a
thief would have taken other things as
well as the uniform; and surely Crai-
ley must have heard; Crailey would
Crailey-!
Then Tom remembered the figure in
the long cloak and the military cap
and, with a sick heart, began to under
stand. He had read the Journal, and
he knew why Crailey might wish to
masquerade in a majors uniform that
night. If Miss Carewe read it too, and
a strange wonder rose in her mind
this and a word would convince her
Tom considered it improbable that the
wonder would rise, for circumstances
had too well established her in a mis-
take, trivial and ordinary enough al
first, merely the confusing of two
names by a girl new to the town, but
so strengthened by every confirmation
Craileys wit could compass that she
would, no doubt, only set Cummings
paragraph aside as a newspaper error
Still, Crailey had wished to be on the
safe side,
Tom sighed rather bitterly He was
convinced that the harlequin would
come home soon, replace the uniform
(Which was probably extremely beccm-
ing 10 him, as they were of a height
and figure much the same), and after
ward, in his ordinary dress, would
sally forth TO spend his last evening
with Fanchon. Tom wondered how
Crailey would feel and what he would
think about himself while he was
changing his clothes; but he remem-
bered his partners extraordinary pow
ers Of mental adjustment-and for the
first time in his life Vanrevel made no
allowance for the others temperament;
and there came to him d moment
when he felt that he could almost dis
like Crailey Gray.
At all events, he would go out until
Crailey Had come aud left again; for he
had no desire 10 behold the masquer-
.ader's return. So he exchanged his
dressing gown for a coat, fastened his
collar, and had begun to arrange his
cravat at the mirror, when, suddenly,
the voice Of the old negress seemed to
sound close beside him in the room: