The Huttig news., 1908-12-05

a little. "Oh, how carelessi"
 Fine brows puckered. she pondered the matter, and ended oy placing her owa hand over the print; this one l fitted the other exactly
 How he must have wondered He is sure to look again. espe- cially if-"
 No need to conclude the sentence Quickly she placed bag and case squarely on top of the impression, the ] bowl over all, and the book upon the | bowl; then, drawing from her pocket a pair of long gray silk gloves, draped one across the book; and, head tilted to one side. admired the effect
 It seemed decidedly an artistic ef- feet, admirably calculated to attract attention. She was satisfied to the ] point of being pleased with herself. a fact indicated by an expressive fiutter of slim, fair hands And now. to work Time pressed, and cloud dimmed the radiance of her eyes, irresolutely she shifted in her chair. troubled, frowning, lips woefully dropping And sighed. And a still small whisper, broken and wretched, disturbed the quiet of the study.
 T can not! 0, can not To spoil it all. now, when"
 Yet she must She must forget her self and steel her determination with the memory that another's happiness hung in the balance, depended upon her success. Twice she had tried and failed. This third time she must sue ceed.
 And lowing her head in token of her resignation, she turned back squarely to face the desk As she did so the toe of one small shoe caught against something on the floor, causing a dull jingling sound. She stopped, with low exclamation, and strengthened up. small bunch of keys in her hand; eight or ten of them dangling from a silver ring: Maitland's keys.
 He must have dropped them there, forgetting them altogether. A find of value and one to save her a deal of trouble; skeleton keys are so exas- peratingly slow. particularly when used by inexpert hands. But how to bring herself to make use of these? All's fair in war (and this was a sort of war. war of wits at least) but one should fight with ones own arms, not pilfer the enemny's and turn them against him. To use these keys to ransack Maitlands desk seemed an action ever more blackly dishonorable than this clandestine visit. this mid night foray.
 Swinging the notched metal slips from a slender finger, she contem- plated them: and laughed ruefully. What qualms of conscience in burg lar, selfconfessedi She was there for purpose. a recognized, nefarious pur- I pose. Granted. Then why bubble? She would not auibble She would be firm, resolute, determined. cold blooded unmindful of all kindness and courtesy and She would use them, accomplish her purpose, and have done, finally and for ever, with the whole hateful business.
 There was a bright spot of color on either cheek and hot light of anger in her eyes as she set about her task. It would never be less hideous, never less immediate.
 The desk drawers yielded easily to the eager keys. One by one she had them open and their contents explored vain repetition of yesterday after | tton's fruitless task But she must Df sure, she must leave no stone un- urned. Maitland Manor was closed q her for ever because of last night l But here she was safe for few short lours, and free to make assurance ioubly sure.
 There remained the dispatch box. he black japanned tin box which had proved obdurate yesterday. She had come prepared to break it's lock this time, if need be; Maitland's careless ness spared her the necessity.
 She lifted it out of a lower drawer, md put it in her lap The smallest key fitted the lock at the first attempt The lid came up and
 Perhaps it is not altogether discred- l itable that one should temporarily for get ones compunetions in the long-de- 1 ferred moment of triumph. The girl uttered little cry of joy.
 Crash!-the front door downstairs had been slammed.
 She was on her feet in a breath, faint with fear. Yet not so overcome that she forgot her errand, her sue cess. As she stood up she dropped the dispatch box back into the drawer, without sound. and. opening her hand bag, stuffed something into it.
 No time to do more; dull rumble of masculine voices was distinctly, frightfully audible in the stiffness of the house, voices of men conversing together in the inner vestibule. One laughed and the laugh seemed to penetrate her bosom like a knife Then both strode across the tiling and began to ascend. as was clearly told her by footsteps sounding deadened on the padded carpet.
 Panic-stricken. she turned to the student lamp and with a quick twirl and upward jerk of the chimney catch extinguished the flame. A reek of 1 smoke immediately began to foul tho