The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1905-04-19

ing me my medicine. and some beef tea.
wrapped herself up In a blanket, and
putting tho key Of the door under her
head. as was her custom. lay down upon
the sofa to take her nights reposs.
CHAPTER XIV.
Hour after hour lay tossing about
In q 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, l might as
well have been hundreds Of miles away.
At last, unable to lie there auy longer,
I rose and dressed myself. A fire was
still smolderlng In the huge crate, and
night light was burning upon the table.
Tho nurse. by her hard. regular breath
ing. seemed to be in deep sleep, and
moved about cautiously. Her face was
turned to the open side of the sofa. l
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 1t
away-she still sleeping profoundly
fitted II noiselessly in the lock. turned 1t,
and the next moment found myself in a
large. dark hall. at the foot Of an i'm
mensely wide staircase.
closed the door softly behind me.
A long window. that stretched upwards
from the hrst landing. admitted SUM-
nolseless step, crept up the stairs. At
the top Of the first flight was a long
corridor, on each side of which, a. far
4 o.. ~ R,,v al >r
lost In obscurity, was a line Of doors.
Now came my dimculty: the slightest
error would not only defeat my present
| object. but consign me to 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? l 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 I
moved noiselessly. Through the crew
| ices Of the third door came faint streaks
| Of light and faint muffied sounds, either
| means or q low, monotonous singing
the walls and doors were 80 thick. that
i it was dimcult to distinguish which.
l listened moro eagerly. until | fan
cied I could distinguish Clara's voice.
I 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. aud then 4 soft. trem-
ulous voice. that thrilled my very soul,
asked family. "Who Is there"
could doubt no longer The key
was in the lock outside. ! tried it--turn-
ed it-opened the dOor-met her whom
I sought--heard a low cry Of astonish
ment, and my darling was In my arms
At that moment fancied that heard
sound like the click Of a lock In the
corridor. l suddenly turned. disengaged
myself from her arms, and looked out.
All seemed precisely a. I had left it
no light, no object. no sound; 1t must
have been fancy. l gently drew the
key from the outside, and. reversing It.
locked the door from within. We were
alone--no one could surprise IN now.
To her eager questions. how had I dis
covered her, l scarcely knew what to
| answer; for, the hrst excitement Of our
meeting over. repented that had ever
| sought II. Could l have freed her from
her enemies then. and then only, would
It have been justifablef As It was. I
was feeding my own hopeless passion,
and engaging more and more closely the
affections Of 4 simple-hearted girl, be-
meath the very roof that sheltered the
implacable woman who claimed as her
husband. Oh, all this was weak, GRIM
inally weak; and l felt 1t So and yet
had not the courage to end It honestly.
After q while asked her what hap
pened upon the fatal night that We lost
her--how she came to be separated from
us.
She told me that a rush Of people had
suddenly impelled her forward, and that
By the time she could turn her head to
look round, she found that she had been
carried ont Of sight Of Mrs. Wilson.
At that moment young man, evident
~ the same who had delivered Montgom-
ery's message to me. touched her upon
the shoulder. and said that l was wait.
ing for her in a cab a little way down
the street.
He was hurrying me along all the
time he was speaking" she went on;
"and | was too bewildered by my situa-
tion to offer the slightest resistance.
There was a long line of cabs and car
rlages: the one he pointed out as ours
was the last of all. and stood up an un-
freQuented side street He opened the
door and pushed me in; at the same
moment q strange man jumped In past