The Washington herald., 1907-07-14

I
he would go to Eddleston, a big seaport
aad manufacturing town. a long day 8
drive distant, and try TO follow up a sug-
! gested clew there. Only too likely il
would end in nothing, Ike so many an
/ other-overeager eyes, deceived by some
/ chance Hkeness-but at least it would be
better than eating his heart out at Stor-
mont.
( Though he had tried TO discount a prob
able failure beforehand, Conyers realized
that he had hoped more than he knew
from the bitterness Of disappointment
when his quest proved unsuccessful A
night at a commercial did not tend to
raise his spirits, and in the morning, as
he stood aimlessly gazing out over the
dirty wire blinds 20 the narrow. busy
street, he was conscious chiefly Of a
weary shrinking from the return to Stor-
mont, bringing nothing with him but
slain hopes and deeper disappointment
How was he TO face the silent question IN
Lady Stormont's eyes and Sir David's
restless misery? II suddenly occurred to
him that he might drive back by a series
OF crossroads, and make inquiries by the
way. The roads were little frequented.
and SO far as he knew they had not yet
been specially explored He had little
hope Of any result. but when It was all
blind chance, one way was as good or
as bad as another. II would at least post
pone the bitter, inevitable acknowledge
ment Of another failure. and keep despair
at bay little longer. II was the last
thought, perhaps, which chiefly decided
him, and in a short tine he was driving
out Of EddlestOn by the northern road in
light trap, and behind a smart horse
The weather had changed in the night,
and the smiling harvest calm had given
place 20 q raw. clustering wind, dreary
with driving clouds and rain. The few
wayside houses had their doors closed
against the blast, and the Unreaped grain
/ lay fiattened under the beating rain. Il
was a long. dreary business, but Con-
yers kept doggedly az It, and the day
was well advanced when at last he stop
ped, perforce, TO rest the horse, and
have a long-delayed lunch.
At the little ian he went again through
the form. as he was rapidly beginning to
feel it. OF making inquiries On this side
/ Of the hills. Stormont was not a name 20
cOnjure with as it was, far and near, in
/ Sir David's own county. but every one
had heard OF the missing girl, and the
/ stout landlady's sympathy was quite sin
cere, if it were not so great as her curl
/ Osity. While Conyers struggled with
! some cUriousiy tough mutton. she stood
over him. exclaimiug and questioning.
while he tried vainly TO stem the food
/ with an occasional query OF his own.
At last, as Il struck by some sudden
\ thought, she turned to a stTapping SER
want lass.
Jean. wasna there a red-heided lassis
NIL Fs,-1-
/ the toon yesterday
/ Jean would probably at another time
! have tossed her head. as il she had time
/ to heed a tramper-lass!' but the fact that
/ the young gentleman" was concerned in
the answer put different eOlCT upon Il.
She knitted her freckled brows.
Deed. sir, ! wOuldna Ike 70 say just
/ for certain, but I think there was ane.
She didna come here to the taproom wi
the rest I saw her sitting oot-bye when
] I gae'd to the byre."
''Ye're RIGHT. Jean. an that minds ne
+ moo. I thOCht she must be sick or silly,
/ for she just sat staring frae her ike a
daft body, but Josh, sir. what does il mat
/ ter, after g.? A Draw young Teddy like
Miss Stormont, puir thing, wuld ne'er be
/ tramping the country wi wheen randy
gypsy folkr'
We can't tell" said Conyers. hastily.
she must have been i'll oT-0r under some
delusiOn when she left home. OF peCrle
like these gypsies may have got hold OF
her Can you tell me anything more
What was this girl like how was she
dressed-in white?" hesitatingly.
White: Odd. that wad be a fertile, IN
deed, amang sic folk II wudna De white
/ long As far as I mind. she had on a
bit dud o. an aud black frock. and as for
what like she was. except that she had
a lot OF red hair hanging about her
shoulders, 1 ne'er gave 1t a thought.
/ though I wish now I had done it. I Gamma
even exackly say II she was wi the gyp-
sizes ava. though she gae'd after them
Which way did they go?'' asked Con-
/ yers, eagerly.
/ "Richt through the toon, sir. There's
a camping ground no sac far frae the
town end. They're maybe gaun no fur
Their. seem the days sac saft. but Josh.
sir, if we're TO gang after a the red
heided folk"
"In walk on and see If the gypsies
are still there; it's not far. you say? You
can send the trap on after me. said Con-
yers. rising and going out. while the land
/ lady and Jean, and apparently every fe-
male in the place. stared after him. as
/ he hurried down the empty. wind-swept
street.
The village and some scrappy outlying
! fields left behind, the country became
more waste and open. stretches Of Doggy
moorland. sloping gradually up 10 bare
/ formless hills, the oUtpOsts of the central
ridge, across which rough road led TO
Duncaird. and branching from il, another,
which led further up the valley TO Stor-
mont Dusk seemed already falling
/ though # was Still afternoon by the clock
when Basil reached the camping ground
I 4 piece OF fiat sward, f0uled by trampling
/ feet. and defaced by the ashes OF dead
/ fires and the nameless litter left behind by
| its wandering tenants At least. it was
not wholly vacant. for under the lee Of a
shelving bank, topped by a line Of rug
ged. starveling frs. a couple Of low, round
tents were crouched, with the usual &C
compartments of wild-eyed children, f
crazy cart or two. and some lean, hob
bled horses, trying painfully to crop tho
coarse trodden grass. Between the tents.
black and shining with wet. ike a snaiPs
back, a woman was trying to coax a sui
len fire OF suffering green sticks to a
fame II was the seamy side OF nonlad
life indeed, and as COnyers looked from
the foTlOTn sweep Of moorland, dim under
the rain-clouds. TO the miserable. dripping,
squalOr around him. and the half-sav-
age looking figure budding over the smok-
ing sticks. his errand appeared to him for
the moment, as it did, apparently, to most
of his interlocutors, utter madness. And
yet, somehow. the landlady's description
stuck. Had he not seen Isobel sitting
and gazing with dilated, unseeing eyes,
starting when spoken to, and smiling her
vague. wis$ful apologize smile, while
Lady Stormont would say, Dreaming
again, darling? I wish you could give US
the key TO your fairyland." But between
Isobel. lost in her pretty, girlish fancies,
and this poor tramp, dazed with misery.
the gulf seemed too great OF course n