Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-12

Another minute she waited. and no an
swer came. The light burned steadily, but
all was silent. The call was not repeated.
! The shadow presently stole slowly. reluc-
family away. vanishing finally in the deeper
shadows around the corner of the little
wing. Jane could stand it no longer. TAX
| Ing with her a little night lamp, she stole
| into the narrow hallway, down the stairs
and through the deserted parlor and din
| ing room to another hallway leading to the
wing. She found his door unlocked. his
| room unoccupied. his pillow unrufiied, his
wardrobe open. his revolver gone. All she
wished he had not taken that! Whatever
his errand->his extremity-she wished he
had not taken that! There was little like
| lihood. she reasoned, of further violence to
/ him.. Public sentiment. that at first had
! been Indifferent to his possible danger, had
reused vehemently after the attack 1t Is
| our national characteristic. We scorn pre-
caution for ourselves: we scott at it for our
national servants. but we wake in righteous
I wrath when once the brutal deed is done.
We boast ourselves perennially of the APP
proachableness of our leaders, and kick our
selves day or two perhaps, when at odd
| intervals. in open light and in the midst
of his own people, a beloved President is
assassinated. We blow up by scores our
| friends and fellow citizens through defect
/ i've mines or weakened boilers. We burn up
by hundreds our women and children in
playhouses and pleasure boats. We grind
them to fragments in excursion train and
railway tragedies. We rage a lot when the
We did before in the way of an ounce of
prevention" We have had a half century
of experiences that should have brought
wisdom but have killed OF far more vic
tins this end of the half than We did at
the other.
Groveton was as certainly wondering now
why Fame did not carry a pistol two
weeks before it would have been censuring
had he carried one But Jane was looking
at 1t all from still another point of view,
and Jane was more troubled-troubled that
at so late hour her brother should be
out at all-troubled that. being out, he
should carry that revolver. The danger
was no longer in her eyes that others
might injure him. but that he might in
jure others. knowing him as she did;
knowing his quick. high temper; knowing
how furiOusly he ragged at heart over the
cowardly assault upon him, the covert in
dignity to his uniform: knowing how deep
was his sense of wrong and how keen his
longing to meet his foeman face to face.
she deplOred his having taken that weapon
with him. Had Jane begun to know that
still other things had happened to stir to
the uttermost his fiery nature, her anxiety
would have been redOubled.
That knowledge was yet to come. and to
confound her.
| Slowly she turned away. There were let
tiers and memoranda lying on the little Ia
BILE, some of them temptingly half open,
, but Jane had been brooding over that sin
gle case of spying to which she humbly
pleaded guilty. Ronald had said he would
tell her later what all this mystery meant.
and though sore troubled and SleeplesS from
anxiety. she would not spy further. even
to the extent of reading open places. Per-
haps If she had she might have averted
more than one fateful consequence, but
read she would not. Ronald could not
bear 1t in man or woman that he or she
should peep or pry into other peoples az
fairs. and Ron was growing beyond her.
away from her, the sister who so loved
him God forbid she should do aught that
might ever drive him aloof from her. She
would go back to her room, but she must
leave line for him. A blank pad lay
on the desk, a pencil beside it, and she
wrote: - =.
Il am so anxious, Ron. dear. Seeing
your light burning so late brought me down,
and there was somebody spying-signaling
at your window. I had to come down and
you were gone-your revolver. too. I'll tell
you all about it in the morning. Who
ever it was he's gone and it's long after
one-nearer two. Lovingly. j.
Was he gone? Something impeIled her to
stop a minute and try the little side door
that opened on the yard. 1t was unbolted,
but the lock worked clumsly, and snapped
as she esSayed to opep-snapped and at
tracted the instant attention of some shad-
owy thing standing at the coping Of the
old well between the opening door and the
westward sky-something that started. that
came quickly, stealthily few steps toward
her, then suddenly stopped, seemed to stare
an instant, then turned and plunged through
the currant bushes at the back of the wing,
and was out or SiSnt III anOtner second.
Her little lamp. upheld, had thrown its
beam upon her anxious face. 1t was not
the face the intruder hoped and looked to
see What stranger, friend or foe. was
this that haunted her brothers door long
hours in the dead of night?
And still she wished that Ronald had not
taken his revolver!
YEARLY she went back to her room. blew
out her light. softly opened her window
shutters, and crouched there. looking out
upon the chill and silent night. No wind
was stirring. No cloud was scudding across
the sky. dense veil of yapor seemed to
be drawn across the armament, shrouding
even the planets in their solemn round
The nearest street lamp threw pallid
CLEAN along the board walk at the front
and part way across the unpaved street.
Darkness brooded over all the neighborhood,
even to the distant buildings on college
hill. Only from two windows, far or near.
was there sign of wakefulness within.
Twenty minutes earlier there was only one.
First was this bright one close at hand
from Ronalds bed room in the wing. Sec
ond was that dim one over to the west
ward across the family FLASHING waters,
somewhere among the tawdry buildings on
the island the now supposedly deserted
pleasure resort much affected in the sum-
mertime and early autumn by Stetson and
his cronies. Once or twice of late Jane
noticed night light at The Roost. as
some of the students Gerisively called 1t,
but when she spoke of it. Mrs. Jameson.
who happened to hear, was prompt to say
she mad prODdDly seen some LOCOMOTIVE
headlight much farther beyond. There was
no one on the island now but an old Ger
man caretaker and his wife. The resort,
such as it was. had closed for the season
long weeks before These Germans. said
Mrs. Jameson. were never astir after dark,
and often asleep in the daytime.
Then who was astir over there tonight?
1t was close to the hour of two. Jane ex-
pected every moment to hear the deep boom
of the college bell, yet, late as 1t was, some
body must be moving about among those
distant and deserted buildings. There was
sort of pavilion and dancing platform,
rooted above but open at the sides. There
was a bowling alley with wooden observa-
ton tower. There was main building in
which were the bar and billiard room. Hv-
ing rooms, kitchen and card rooms. for
rumor had it that gambling was rife there
in the height. of the season. There a
little boathouse with a wooden landing pier
down at the downward side. and now at
2 a.m.-for 'the Senator the students
called the bell spoke at the instant-a light
as of a lantern was dancing from the
building at the summit down to the land
ing at the shore. while the light near the
summit still burned. dim yet steady.
Jane took from its case a binocuiar field
glass that had been her fathers In the
war days. and focused 1t on the summit
light 1t seemed to be that of q kerosene