Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1907-06-15


opo on my bed seemed TO be shroudcd
In mystery OF the most irnpenetrablc
kind; but even Il was exceeded In
It's tncomprehensibility by the aston
ishins contents OF the note.
NY love for Florence Carney was. I
had thought. a secret buried deem In
my own breast. Surely had never told
II In all the years that bad cherished
u so fondly. and. on one occasion at
F, least. bad denied 1t fatty. Yet II was
mentioned here, In as mRtter-of-fact a
way as II our engagement had been
formally announced and our wedding
day named
/ turned the matter over and over
In my mind. as Etrolled slowly along
In the winding road that led to Hos
lins' hotel. but I was no nearer a So
luton OF the problem when finished
my breakfast than had been when I
! LETT the house There were a number
Of letters for mo at the post once, but
had no interest In them. and. STUFF
ing them unread into my pocket. I
wandered back 20 Carney-Croft. 'sdu
poDdering deeply.
4
once to my room and again made a
careful search for any possible means
Of ingrOss after the door was closed
and secured for the night While the
| lock might have been turned from the
outside with a master key. there was
still the bolt 60 hold f. and that this
/ could not have been slipped by any
| other hand than niue I was absolutely
sure. Aoreover there was no hidden
l mechanism connected with the bolt
which was a simple. commonplace at
fair, bearing the name OF a well-known
maker and evidently attached to the
door after the house was completed.
Giving up In despair. for the pres
ent, at least. 7 descended 10 the
ground floor again. intending to make
n minute inspection Of the house and
grounds. when faint odor OF cigar
smoke attracted my notice. and I saw
that the library door was ajar.
Tiptoeing forward. 1 peered through
the opening and beheld. to my amaze
ment, a familiar figure seated comfort
ably IN one OF the large leather chairs
with his feet resting lazily on an
1
ept proprietcrship At tho same in
slant he turned his head slightly IN
my direction and. uncertain as 10
whether no had seen me OF not. I re-
treated rapiGy and nolselessly up the
stairs 20 my room. where I locked N.Y.
self in and tried TO smother my an
ger and view tho situation logically.
While the manner In which the
note had reached me was still as much
OF nystery as ever, its contents. az
least were explained. and my fury
knew no bounds At tho wholly unwar-
ranted Importance OF this sorry at
tempt AZ practical joke.
To me the matter was so sacred. so
precious. so entirely my own. that my
rage at tho fHvolity OF this contempt
ible jest alrore from my mind all
thought OF Wonder that a man who.
had every reason % believe was
miles away. should be. az this very
moment. under the sans roof with
me.
sat down and Eazcd out OF the win
dow across tho river 10 the heavily
wooded hills IN tho distance and
made an almost superhuman eaort TO
control myself Finally I opened the
lettors that had come by the morn
inE's mail and began 70 read them in
a perfunctory way. The second was
from my secretary, and, as porused
IL, I suddenly awoks from my apathy
and read with Interest:
Two letters came this morning
from Mr.. Carney. one postmarked Lon
don and the other Paris. I forward
thom. with other papers. under sepa-
rate cover.
'Dr. MacArdel called this afternoon
and was greatly surprised to learn
that you had gone away so suddenly
and without sending him word. He
said he wanted to see you on person
a. matter and soemed quite disap-
pointed az missing you
The Jarvis case has been post
poned % tho fall term"
The letter closed with few mono
randa o. business matters and by the
time had finished reading IL my mind
was clear 20 an extent that enabled
me to SEQ things in a reasonable light
and TO appreciate that the mystery Of
the note was as deep IL not deeper
than ever.
Opening the door I strobe down
stairs. into the library. and up to the
nEure in the chair.
"Hello,- exclaimed. grasping him
by the arm.
Better late than never" he re-
sponded with a hearty laugh What
made you sneak upstairs in that mys-
terious way? Think l was a ghost?'
No" replied, slowly and serious
ly. I thought you were a scoundrel.
and owe you An apology from the
bottom OF my heartl"
Have q cigar. old man. said Mac
Ardel
CHAPTER Win.
Disappearing Cigar Case.