Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1905-1906, 1906-02-13

before had given him n cold. so
James hunted for the veterinarian.
Where CO yoa Ecc2 yo.:r bS5..s
here?" he asked William Pirates
got cold"
! I'm the house library. You just go
in and get it. We always do that at
home. You'll find ii on the lower
shelf. to the right as you enter the
door,"
1t was half after four when James
having taken a final look at his hands
and nails. proceeded to follow Will
liam's instructions. He found no one
about. Outside the kitchen the lower
part of the house was deserted. To
reach the library he had to pass
through the MUSHROOM
The first thing that caught his at
tention was a movable drawing board,
on which lay an uncompleted drawing
AT one side a glass into which were
thrust numerous pens and brushes.
Near this lay a small ball Of crumpled
cambria. such as women insist upon
carrying in their street-car purses,
delicate, dainty. useless thing. So she
drew pictures, too, he thought Was
there anything this beautiful creature
could not do? Everything seemed
to suggest her presence. An indefin-
able feminine perfume still fingered on
the air. speaking eloquently Of her.
Curiosity compelled him to step
forward and examine her work. He
approached with all the stealth of a
gentlemanly burglar. He expected to
see some trees and hills and mayhap
brook, or some cows standing in a
stream or some children picking
daisies. He had sister and was reas-
dasies. He had sister and was rea-
sonably familiar with the kind of sub
jects chosen by the lady-amateur.
A fortification plan!
He bent close to j.. Here was the
sea, here was the land, here the num-
Der of soldiers, cannon, rounds of am
munition, resources in the matter of
procuring aid, the telegraph, the rail-
ways. everything was here on this pale.
waxen cloth, everything but a name.
He stared at it. bewildered. He couldn't
understand what a plan Of this sort
was doing outside the war department.
Instantly he became a soldier; he
forgot that he was masquerading as
groom: he forgot everything but this
mute thing staring up into his face.
Underneath. on a little shelf. he saw
a stack of worn envelopes. He looked
at them. Rough drafts of plans.
Governors Island! Fortress Monroe!
What did it mean? What could it
mean? He searched and found
plans, plans, plans Of harbors,
plans of coast defenses, plans of
ships building. plans of full naval
and military strength: everything,
everything! He Strengthened. How
| his breath panied him! And
all this was the handiwork of
the woman he loved! Good God. what
was going on in this house? What
right had such things as these to be in
| private home? For what purpose
had they been drawn? So accurately
reproduced? For what purpose?
Oh, whatever the purpose was, she
was innocent; upon this conviction he
would willingly stake his soul. In
nocent. innocent! licked the clock
over the mantel. Yes, she was inno-
cent. Else how could she laugh in
that light-hearted fashion? How could
her eyes shine so bright and merry?
Karloff. Annesley! Karloff the
Russian. Annesley the American; the
one a secret agent of his country. the
other a former trusted official! No.
no! He could not entertain so base
thought against the father OF the
girl he loved. Had he not admired his
clean record. his personal bravery. his
fearless honesty? And yet. that ab-
sent-mindedness, this care-worn
countenance, these must mean some
thing. The purpose, to find out the
purpose of these plans!
He took the handkerchief and hid
it in his breast, and quietly stole
away A handkerchief, a rose,
and a kiss; yes, that was all that
would ever be his.
Pirate nearly coughed his head off
that night; but, it being Williams
night off, nobody paid any particular
attention to that justly indignant ami
NAL