Los Angeles herald., 1907-11-17
y VELYN MARCH faltered on the threshold
a of the darkened drawing-room, shuddered

Iw4
and retraced her steps to where Miss Newell and
Arthur were standing in the full light from the
street door. 1t was the first time she had been
brought into such intimate contact with Death
since her own cruel sorrow over which the lethel
balm of two years had been spread The matron-
ly Miss Newell smiled indulgently as she came a
step forward, as if to stay her courage.
"Just go in and look at her. She never was as
harness in her life as she Is right now, in her
ofd yellow satin Dress"
81 say, Aunt Hannah, did you hear the cats
last night?" Arthur Perrin's brown eyes danced
with unseemly mirth as he asked the apparently
irrelevant question.
flush, Arthur. You forget that she is dead"
81 believe I'll go down and get Tabby and see
if Miss Prue won't say scat 1t would be the
first time she ever failed"
Evelyn turned to look searchngly into the face
of the handsome lad who dared speak thus
feelingly of the dead. Miss Newell. interpreting
the question in the girls eyes, hastened to the de-
fense of her nephew
"If you had known Miss Hope did, you
would understand why Arthur shows so little re-
spect."
"And if she had pulled your ears as often as
she has pulled mine, you wouldn't experience any
wild, deep grief at seeing her shuttle off this NOR
tai COIL" and he rubbed his ear ruefully.
81 heard her moaning the first night I was
here, and I was glad to learn, yesterday that
she had been relieved of her suffering. How long
had she been ILL., Miss Newell?"
"She has boarded with for fourteen years,
and can't remember the time when she was
well. She had no more love for me than she had
for Arthur; but she insisted on staying here and
l never had the heart to send her away. 1t has
always been mystery to me how she happened
~ come here in the first place. She told me her
attorney had recommended my house. and when
I thanked him for the service, once when he was
in tile drawingroom, waiting for her, he
taken completely by surprise and said he had
never heard of my establishment until she came
here to board"
AS she spoke, a stealthy streak of yellow and
white gilded the hall and into the darkened
room. A moment later dismal howl issued from
the shadowy apartment. Tabby had leaped upon
the coffin and the next instant sprang back to the
floor carrying a great wreath of pink with
her. Terror was on her feline countenance as
she bounded down the basement stairs, her tail
enlarged to the size of an oyster can.
Probably heard the old familiar scat You
know how Miss Prue used to scream it at her
every time she dared to put her nose into the
diningroom." Then to spare himself the rebuke
that he felt was on his aunts lips, the boy ran
on hastily.
Miss March, you ought to have been here last
summer. My cousin Tom was down from Ver-
mont and-you know the double row of spikes
on the back fence? Well, we took out section of
the fence to make convenient place for the
neghborhood cats to hold choir rehearsal. We
connected the plates with wires and operated the
battery from the bathroom window"
81 understand" Evelyn nodded.
"Then we put out little catnip by way Of spe-
cial invitation and got full chorus. There
was new tenor who insisted on taking the lead
arrangement, and just when the fun was at it's
height Tom slipped the zinc down into the acid.
Such yelping and scattering of cats you never
saw. We were having the time of our lives when
l felt my head go crack up against Toms, and
we both saw stars instead of cats My but Miss