Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-02-21

You must Toxic Of yo1tr rings"
ders. After all, he had stepped into
a tight corner, bat there was no need
to cry out i'll squeezing his way back.
/ Then he realized that the soft, ingra-
/ tiatinS tones were sounding once
more.
It's the passing of my hands over
yours while look into the crystal that
sets up sympathy"--a slender hand
moved swiftly into the light and picked
up the ball-"and makes my eyes see
the pictures in your mind Now, VIII
/ you please take OFF your ringa?"
/ The very naturalness of the request
diSnrmed him 1t was a RISK. Put, rs
Chilcote had said, risk was the salt Of
/ life
Ism afraid YOU think me very
| troublesome" The voice came again,
delcately low and conciliHtury.
For brief second Loder wondered
uncertainty how long or how well Chill
cote knew Lady AstrUpp; then he dis
missed the question. Chilcote had
never mentioned her until tonight, and
then casually as Lady Rramfell's sister
What coward lie was becoming in
throwing the dice with fate without
further delay he drew off the rings
slipped them into his pocket and re-
placed his hands on the smooth table
top.
Then, at the moment that he replaced
them, Il peculiar thing occurred.
From the farther side of the dark
partition came the quick, rustling stir
OF Il skirt and the Slight scrape Cf "a
chair pushed either backward or for
ward. Then there was silence.
Now. silence can suggest anything
from profound thought TO imbeci,ty.
but In this case its suggestion was uil
That something had happened, that
some change had taken place, was as
patent to Iodcr as the darkness of tho
curtain or the band of light that crossed
the floor, but what had occasioued it,
or what IL stood for. he made 10 at
tempt to decide He sat hitn2ly CON
Scious of his hands spread open on The
table under the scrutiny Of eyes that
We're invisible to him. wildly aware
of the aWkwarGncaS If his position
He felt with instructive certainty that
n new chord had boon struck: but a
man seldom acts on instructive certain
ties. If the exposure Of his hands had
struck this fresh note. then any added
action would but heightcn the dilemma,
He sat silent and m0tionlCsS.
Whether his impdssivity had any
bearing on the moment he had 10 way
of knowing: but no further movement
came from behind the partition. What
ever the emotions that had caused the
sharp swish of skirts and the sharp
scrape of the chair, they had evidently
subsidized or boon dominated by other
feelings
The next Indication Of life that came
to him was the laying down Of tho
crystal ball. II was laid back upon the
table with slight jerk that Indicated
n decision come to; and almost stimuli
taneously the secr's voice came to him
again. Her tone was lower now than
It had been before. and its extreme
Ease seemed slightly shaken whether
~ excitement, surprise or curiosity it
was impossible to say.
You will think IT strange" she Be
gan. you will think Then she
stopped,
There was q pause, rs though she
waited for some hell, but Lodcr rc-
manned mute. In difficulty n silent
tongue and a cool head are usually
mans best weapons.
His silence was disconcertlng. He
heard her stir again.
you will think it strange" she be-
gan once more. Then quite suddenly
she checked and controlled her voice.
you must forgive me for what | am
going to say" she added In n COM
pictcly different tone, but crystal ga2-
ing is such an Elusive thing. Directly
you put Your hands upon the table |
felt that there would be no result but
wouldn't admit the defeat. Women
are such keen anglers that they can
never acknowledge that any fish, how
ever big, has slipped the hook she
laughed softly.
At the sound of the laugh Loder shift
ed his position for the first time. He
could not have told why, but it struck
him with a slight sense of confusion.
A precipitate wish to rise and pass
through the doorway into the wider
spaces of the conservatory came to
him, though he made no attempt to act
upon it, lie knew that, for some mex
plicablc reason, this woman behind the
screen had lied to HMM the CONTROL