Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1907-12-20
A STO-Y OF

Then he didn't live at Corre?'
AT Fond-Corre? oh, no He wa:
a zombi--in the air, In the earth, ev.
erywhere. Doudoux would fight with
MIN an hour at a time. oh, it was ter
rible!"
| leaned back in my chair anC
watched the smoke from my cigaret
circling upwards. / remembered tn,
letter that had been tattooed on thu
arm Of the man killed in suite four
teen. SO Tremaine had some cause &c
hate him-he had helped him, had
supplied him with whisky, with money
through G n not through friend
ship. TIC establish that was to take
another step forward.
Did ne ave those spells often,
Cecilyy' / asked. at last.
"Oh, no; sometimes not for months.
Then, phut! the zombi would charm
him"
Charm him %
with a little scrap of paper, yes.
There would come a letter; doudoux
would open 1t; always in it there
would be a little piece OF paper. Some
printing, as though 1t had been cut
from a newspaper. Then. tamboui
ooudoux's face would grow black, he
would tear the paper into little bits,
uttering curses the most terrible, and
we would all run
1ipplHSS ITOUH II newspaper. Here
was a coincidence. But ! cudgelled my
brain vainly-I could form no theory
as to why a clipping should cause
those fits of rage.
The last one, though, did not give
him a spell" she added, after a NOM
cnt. We were watching the sun set
out across the water when Dodol
brought the letter to him. This time
IL was printing and writing both; I
got up. ready to flee. for I thought
that would be twice as bad; but no.
He sat reading II and his eyes glisten-
ed; then he sent me running for his
hat and hurried away to st. Pierre.
When he came back, he told me that
York"
1t was exasperating. / felt that the
secret lay just under my hand, and
yet ! could not grasp 1t. / seemed to
be revolving round and round about 1t,
without getting any nearer. What
could this message be which brought
Tremaine hot foot to New York?
That was the question to which there
seemed no possibility of ending the an
swer at present: besides / thought IL
well 20 lead the talk away from Ire
maine for q while, or even Cecily, un-
suspecting as she was, might guess
my purpose. So / turned TO another
point.
You have some very pretty jewelry,
Ceciiy," | said, touching the great
brooch of gold that cleaned at her
throat.
She laughed like a pleased child.
Ies-are tney not pretty, che? Let
me show you" and springing from the
couch. she ran into her bedroom. In
a she was back again. a box
of inlaid ebony in her hands
the lid. $50
Indeed they were worth seeing, and
IL was not wholly to disarm her sus-
PIGEONS, II h had any, that / fingered
over them. At last. / came to the piece
/ wanted.
Here is a beautiful PIN | said.
An opal In a circle OF diamonds" and
/ held IL up to the light. But see, Ce-
oily. one of the diamonds is missing.
Have you lost it?'
"Doudoux lost It." she answered.
II wore 1t sometimes as a pin for
his scarf. Tambou! / was angry when
l found 1t gone. You should have
heard me-"
II have a diamond" 1 said. getting
out my pocketbook, "that might do TO
replace II. Let us see IL Ii will nt."
l ~unwrapped the little brilliant and
applied Ii to the break in the circle.
Then my heart fell. II was evident
in an instant hat II had not come
from there-it was much smaller thar
tAAN VthNt Ciitiy cut |
I d seldom experienced n more
poignant pang OF disappointment. L
seemed to have lost more than III
had gained. Where, then, had this
diamond come from? Who was II had
dropped 1t In suite fourteen? / was
lest, confused, utterly at sea. And
a moment before, I had been so con-
fdent. Well, 1t was right; 1t was just.
This would be the fate OF the whole
silly, nimsy fabric we were trying to
build against Tremaine.
mo. Ii will not do" | stammered, at
last. 1T is too small" and l re-
turned 1t to my pocket. II shall have
TO get you another trinket. Cecily."
And she thanked me with a child's
cxuberance, then put away her jewels
and came back to the divan. talking
OF many things. But my attention
wandered: / answered her mechanical
~. or not at all: 1 felt the need of
being alone and setting my discoveries
In order; or finding out whether / had
gained or lost ground. In any event,
We should have TO take a fresh start
the trail we had been following led
Lowhere-ended Ia n swamp.
Cecily perceived my indifference In a
moment-~she had a temperament
which seemed to scent instinctively
her arms above her head with that
gesture OF WEAKNESS which / had seen
before.
"Adie. che she said abruptly.
o night, Cecily." / answered.
rising, smiling In spite OF myself at
my curt dismissal. at her change of
tone.
"Bon-Die Ike benz oui-
And you. Cecilv."
As | turned 10 the door, l heard the
1ustle OF her gown as she arose from
the couch Ny and on the knob, L
glanced arou.l, expecting TO nnd her
at my elbow. Instead, she was kneei-
ing. with bowed head, before her vir-
gin.
CHAPTER ii.
TREASURE TROyE.