Rocky Ford enterprise., 1906-12-28
[Il4 lXTNl0lY

I said. with some warmth. u would
choose the one you offer me-
"Sour words. Mr.. Rodin. are pleas,
ant to hear. and ! accept them unre-
servedly. overlooking their seeming
extravaganza. which fiaiters me. and
recognizing their sincerity. which hon
ofs me-"
Her voice was full. clear and sweet.
ins accent. In which were sweetiy
blended the force Of English with the
romance of French.
when shall my duties bcsin."
said. at last. rs she had fallen again
into n rcycric.
''At once. for there Is much to do.
and I will assist you To famiilarise
yourself with tho work. But. nrsi. let
mo ask you question. when did you
leave Dead Mans cayc!'
Two days ago at midnight"
"Did you note anything unusual In
Of Silence. In the atmospheric" she
said. leaning over toward me. and her
lovely eyes fiilcd with an intense
light.
The odor of Ens." replied. "wns
She turned white and sank back
into her chair. her hand ;rcmbicd.
II am sorry. Miss Do Tavcnicr. that
Il fell TO my lot to cause you this pain.
s,iii I am confident tina, Pcnguiiiy and
Romanaki will md n means TO avert
this danger. as they have so offer
done before"
The bell changed In the hallway. anc.
few moments later. the black
brought In n grca, bundle Of letters.
These wcrc taken to smail room
and seating herself at one Of tho
desks. she began TO open tho mall.
A great bundle Of papers. all Of
similar size. lay upon another dcsk.
There were many letters to write.
some under the dlctation Of Miss De
Tavcnicr. others which ! could do
alone. Many other entries which Mr.
Dc TAvenier had failed to complete
werc carefully made. and though at
other times II would have beon task.
II was now a pleasure.
applied myself with boyish en-.
thusiasm. hoping. longing. to please
the fair girl mt my side. and In her
smlIc IOuuu my TcWhTu.
The work continued until p. M.
when together We had dinner In the
great dining hall. where she served
me with her own hand. and when we
had left the table and entered the
parlor. I thanked God that there was
valdermcre. that there was con.
spiracy to kill the Gar. and, Lord
have mercy on me: that there was n
Gear to be killed. I could scarcely
realize the rapid transition from the
mouldy dungeons OF the caverns and
the silent dncanny servants OF the
mountain house to the splendid par.
lors OF Mr.. De Tavenier, and the
queen.like loveliness Of his daughter.
We worked no more that day. Mile.
Marie sang a sweet Creole song for
me. and her peculiar accent added
new charm to the wild romantic
music. while her long white fingers
sped over the ivories OF the grand
piano from Paris. Her voice was
sweet. well modulated, delicate In ex-
preston, thrilling in strength, and
under perfect control. To please me
she sang annie Laurie" but she
could not drive away the French, and
laughed at her English "Annah" and
her French "Lauree" until she her.
self was forced to Join ME.
'I shall not try again to sing for
you." she said-"not in pure English"
But you did 1t beautifully" said.
charmed by her generous speech and
her sense of humor, and again she
sang song that pierced my heart
and thrilled my very soul-an old song
of the Spanish Main-such a song
such a voice!
"Ah, am SO glad you love music,
for 1t is part Of our life here" she
said, were 1t not for music life would
be insupportable. Speech is clever.
is amusing. is instructive. but 1t is not
restful 1t is not always pleasant, but
music rests the soul, calms the mind,
soothes the heart, 1t brings you nearer
to God, 1t is peace offering to tired
and turbulent soul-and, do you know,
Mr.. Rodin, that there is something
heavenly to me in the song of bird"
was strangely affected by the ten
der words of this fair creature, who
could hate Gar and love bird, who
could quote Tennyson in English and
read in cipher the reports Of THE In
visible Hand" who could hide her
beauty away from adoring mankind,
to serve the deadly purposes of a con-
spiracy against human life and in
human autocracy. l could not find 1t
in my heart to impute to this fair
being one unwomanly thought, and
secret hope found its way to my heart,
.h1 In
to raise her fair hand in unison with
those of 1.-THE Invisible Hand" felt
myself redeemed by her influence.
hated the necessity for such a con-
dition, and 1t was with an effort that