The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-07-29

lire.
well, Mr.. Campion," she began,
do you think this is creditable be-
havior on your part?"
Il have done nothing ~discreditable,
to my knowledge, Mrs. Staniland,'
he replied stifly; "our meeting here
was quite an accident, and Colonel
Ellsworth himself asked me to take
charge of your niece"
Took you for some one else,"
growled the colonel.
"Sybil, you knew there must be
some mistake, and you made no eff
fort to enlighten your father; he has
only been home two days and you de-
ceive him already"
Papa" pleaded Sybil, IT hadn't
seen Ronald for so long, and then he
saved my life!"
"Jove, Hilary, you KNOW" said
the colonel in ar undertone to his
sister, she's right there.
Mrs. Standard was not to be molli-
fed; it was too bad this detrimental
should have turned up just when her
plans seemed about to succeed. He
may have saved her life," she said;
Il was not there; but even if he did
he had no right to presume upon it.
We won't aetain you here any longer,
Mr.. Campion."
Mrs. Standard scarcely returned
his farewell and the colonel did so
with a constraint that cost him a
secret effort; the young fellow might
be as ineligible as possible, but he
thought his sister was rather hard
on him; however, he had made a
mess of it and concluded to hold his
tongue till he saw his way more
clearly.
But Campion cared little. Sybil
believed in him, and Sybil loved him
still; sooner or later things would
come right, he would wait now.
So he dreamed as the dusk drew
on, and the clock in the studio struck
eight, and then nine. In half-an-hour
or so he would begin to dress. 1t was
unusually dark for the time, he
thought, so dark that he could not
see the clock and could scarcely be-
lieve it was no more than nine. Just
then a church clock began to strike
it took a long time surely to strike
nine; he counted the stSokes-twelve.
He lit a candle to reassure himself
and then saw something which struck
CONSERVATION and despair into his
soul. Above the clock rose the too
familiar ~countenance, bland and
beaming as ever, of the thing he had
fondly believed to be smothered in
the black mud of the canal!
How had it burst the confines of
it's bag and returned thus out of
the depths to confound him? 1t was
not muddy, it was not damp, It bore
no traces of it's temporary seclusion-
and then he missed Perceval's cast,
the lovely little head of Cybele, Of
which he had been enioined to be
so careful.
What If, from the confusion his
head had been in, or under the
strange illusion which this diabolical
image seemed to shed around it at
will, he had substituted the cast for
the idol? That would account for it's
lamblike submission, for it's presence
here still.
And o it was too late to go to
the soiree and meet his darling that
evening; the idol must have corrupt
ed his clock and caused it to lull into
a false security. His ill-luck had re-
turned with this hideous efigy. He
felt recaptured by the old supersti-
tious dread.
What was he to do? Must he sub
nit to this ill-omened presence in the
house, and when Sybil was to bring
her father there next day? How
could he tell~what its malice might
not suggest, and it's occult resources
enable it to carry out?
We must leave Campiop endeavor-
ing to grapple with his revived diff
ficulty, and return to Babcock. The
colonel's mistake at the military
tournament had upset Mrs. Stani-
lands plan, and, without telling Bah
cock more than was desirable, she
gave him to understand that he would
have to postpone speaking to Sybil
till later. He was not particularly
uneasy, W. though he guessed to
whose care she had been entrusted;
Campion must long ago have given
up all ~pretensions or he would not
have acted as he had done; most
probably the interview was equally
involuntary and irksome on both
sides.
The colonel came back to his seat
alone, explaining that his sister had
gone home with his daughter, who
was feeling the shock she had re-
ceived-Babcock and he watched the
rest of the entertainment in company
and silence, but the invitation to dine
with them that evening, upon which
| Babcock had reckoned, was not given.
Didn't hit it off with him, some
how" he reflected afterward; never
mind, I've got the women on my
side"
He had fortified himself with a
good dinner, and driven home to
dress, when he found Nebelsen at the
door Of his fiat.
Were you coming to look me up?"
he said.
Il wanted to consult you as a
worldling," said Nebelsen.
Come in, l can spare you ten min
utes, and then I must dress. I'm due
at the Academy soiree in an hour.