Los Angeles herald., 1906-03-11


myself had been wishing that George would
never return.
For long time we sat discussing the affair.
and devising all kinds of theories to account for
Georges flight.
Next day L took an early train for Dover with
the intention of calling at the strange house. and
OF questioning its silver-haired occupant Not
till had reached the Kentish sea-town was it
suddenly forced upon me that in my haste and
excitement | had forgotten to note the name
of the street in which the strange house was
situated; nor did L even know which wav to
turn on leaving the station.
L will not weary the reader with an account Of
the Investigations carried on for many weeks
by my uncle and myself. 1t will be sufficient To
say that our endeavors to discover the cause of
Georges fight and to trace his whereabouts
fruitless.
HeaViness may endure for night but 10y
cometh IN the morning" Daphnes morning. how
ever was long time In coming and my uncle
proposed to hasten its advent by foreign travel
"A Continental tour will do her good" he
remarked to me. ''We will visit France. Spain.
Italy. The glitter of foreign cities will nerbans
help to remove her grief. You must come with
us, Frank; shall need you"
1t would require great sacrifice on the mart
OF any young man to leave the cloisters of
university in order to escort a beautiful girl
through Europe, [ gladly assented to nv
uncle's proposition.
SO, late IN March, we left England, and by the
end OF the summer had signed our names in half
the hotel books of Europe
Night was just fading from the Alpine heights
that girdle the quaint old town of Rivoli in the
canton OF Ticino. Two men, issuing from the
entrance of chalet perched on the iuttiDp crao
of a mountain, paused to admire the grandeur
Of the scene. These persons were my uncle and
myself, and we had risen at this early hour in
order to witness that most beautiful of sights IN
Switzerland, sunrise.
That's pretty little town down there" 7
continued, gazing at the spires of Rivoli It Law
at our feet in the valley beneath so far down
that 1t seemed like toy city "How the noun
tains seem to isolate it from the rest of the
world! Rivoli? Rivoli?" l muttered. 81 have
never heard Of the place before" unconsciously
telling fasehood.
What's that rough stone building to the right
OF usY' | said. There! just by the cascade A
hermit's grotto?"
Looks like it. A rather damp quarter for his
saintship, Ell? / suppose in this secluded part of
Europe many hermits must have lived out their
lonely days and"
He paused, stopped by the curious look on my
face, What is the matter, Frank"
DO you know that your last remark is singh
arly like an expression in Georges letter of last
Christmas and | repeated the passage. for
every word of that episte was engraved on INV
mind.
Hum! SO it is. A singular coincidence Of
language, Some secluded part of Europe" he add
ed, quoting Georges words"
light step now sounded on the terrace and
Daphnes sweet voice greeted US
''Well, Daphne" my uncle said, waving his
hand towards the chalet, what do you think
of our home for the next month";
f1t is lovely" she said, moving backward from
the house to survey it better. Gust the place
to dream away a summer holiday in"
"I see" remarked my uncle, chat the piety
of the architect has decorated the facade with
Scriptural texts-a common custom about here,
have observed All in Latin-from the Vulgate,