Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-29
THE LATE TENANT
Continued from page II

was gone well past him, making westward
most silently, with steady haste. She gave
him the impression of having been overtaken
by, of being shy at, the moonlight. His heart
leaped in a spasm of recognition, almost of
fear And he followed, he could not help it
as water flows downward. as the needle follows
the magnet, he followed. with the stealthy
pace of the stalker, as silently as il he was
tracking deer, and as keenly
His breathing. meantime, was as if sus-
pended, his heart seemed to stand still That
form and motion-his instincts would have
recognized them in midnight giimmer of dull
lamps. and now they were before him in light
Still, he could not believe his wits. That she
should be walking the streets of London at
three in the morning, alone, Fastening secretly
homeward like some poor outcast fore-con-
scious of the light of dawn this savored some
what of limbo and lunacy. For what good
reason could she be thus abroad A swarm of
doubts, half-doubts, queer bodings, iostled in
David's heart. She might, indeed, have come
out to summon doctor to obtain drug in
emergency But. something in her air and
pace, something clandestine, desperate, illicit.
seemed to belle this hope. She turned north
when she had gone as far west as Orchard-st.,
and thence sped on west and north. And David
followed, with this thought in his mind that.
though he had not seen her face, he had GER
tain means of determining her identity for
if the flying figure before him went to 90 A,
Portchester Gardens, the address which he
had of Violet Mordaunt, then, this must be
Violet
Not that in the later part of his chase he had
the slightest real doubt. The long black cloak,
like those that nurses wear, inflated behind
her, the kind of toque above it, the carriage of
her head the slope of her shoulders-all these
were hers; and she sped direct, notwithstand-
ing turns and twists, to Dorchester Gardens.
David from behind the corner of a street,
could see her go up the house steps bend over
something in her hand, open the door, and slip
on what must have been rubber overshoes.
This secrecy revolted him, and again he almost
doubted that 1t was she. But when she had
gone in, he fastened from his street-corner to
the door to read the house-number, and it
90 A.
She was gone now 1t was too late to chal-
1enge and upbraid her. He already regretted
that he had not dared. He was bitter at it.
Something said within him, Both sistersl"
Some envenomed fang of anger, spite, and
jealousy plagued him, a feeling that he
wholly out of it. and had no part nor lot in
her life and acts; and then, also, like oil on
the waters came pity. He must home to his
haunted fat, where the scent of the violets
which he had bought greeted him on his en-
trance. 1t was near four 0 clock.
After looking gloornily for sometime at the
head in chalks Of Gwendoline Mordaunt he
read three letters which he had found in the
letter-box. One of them was from Miss
L Estrange, and in it she said:
have asked my girl Jenny about the
marriage and birth certificates which fell out
OF the anu tnefS something
about her" CA woman never means humor
when she uses that word funny.) She wants
to make out that she knows nothing about
what became of them but believe she does.
Perhaps she has found out Strauss and sold
them to him, or perhaps she only means to do
so, and you may get them from her if you are
quick and bid high. Anyway, l have. done
my best for you, and now it is in your own
hands. You can come here whenever you
like
P,,+ David IUas now Sttddan1v NOT en- de-
voted to the affairs of Violet and Gwendoline
Mordaunt as he had been. What he had seen
within the last hour made him bitter He
went foraging in the kitchen for something to
eat, then threw himself into bed in a vexed
mood, as some gray of morning mingled with
the night.
To be continued next Sunday