The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-07-22

HIS pun pOSS, III IAO oPSS'eSN
well-dressed young man deliberately
casting a bag into a canal might at
tract notice, and even suspicion.
Very few people were about, how
ever; the children were all at home
lying down after their dinners, no
carriages had yet appeared in the
| drive, only one errand-boy loitered
by the palings, and he had his back
turned, and no barge glided through
the oily-green water under the hang
ing foliage. A universal slesta
seemed to obtain in that non-com-
mercial region.
Now was his time. 1t was horribly
like drowning a kitten, but he let the
bag fall as if by accident, and saw
it sink with a sudden splash. Then,
as the last ripple radiated from the
| place it had struck and spread to
! either bank, he turned away, with a
sigh Of relief.
He had done it at last. If the idol
had been capable of understanding
it's situation, it would surely have
made some resistance before submit
ting to be confined in a watery pris-
on, like Djinn Solomon sealed up in
the Golfer.
Somehow he did not feel inclined
to risk a return of his headache by
going back to his hot studio, with the
| sickly smell of paints and mastic, and
he turned into the park, thinking he
might pass away the afternoon there;
but the lake reflected a dazzling glare,
and the turf was dotted with basking
tramps, and in the shade under the
trees he was haunted by torturing
memories of his lost love.
He did not stay there long, and, as
he turned into Marylebone, a passing
omnibus carrying an advertisement of
the military tournament at Islington
suggested a method Of killing time,
and so it came about that an hour or
so later he was underneath the gal
lery which surrounds the Agricultur-
al Hall, picking his way through the
dim and narrow space filled with a
motley crowd of masked and leather
jacketed competitors, life-guardsmen,
looking unfamiliar to civilian eyes, in
caps, s~hell-jackets, and white buck
skins; artillery guns, harnessed and
embarrassed, and policemen. From
above and all around rolled thunders
| of applause, but nothing could be
seen until he came to a large gang
way, through which he looked up the
vast hall with its chocolate plain van
ishing in a haze Of light, above
which rose dim tiers of heads and the
blue panes of the erudely tinted arch
Of glass and iron.
In the arena the artillery contest
was just finishing, and the winning
team was driving round at the gallop,
deftly shaving the posts, and blowing
up the tan in brown spurts at all the
corners; he stood at the gangway for
a time, watching the brightly touched
uniforms, the glancing coats Of the
horses, and the lead-colored gun, as
they flashed in and out of the broad
shafts of light.
He was moving away, when he fan
cied he saw in the stream of people
who were passing him the face which
was never long out of his thoughts;
it was only for a second, and then
there was a cry that the team was
coming out, and an order to stand
back from the gangway.
The warning was promptly obeyed;
the crowd divided, hastily %retreating
to a safe distance, with the single ex-
ception of a girl who did not seem to
have heard the order, or understand
what was coming. There she stood
alone in the opening, looking dream
lily back as if in search Of someone,
and close upon her the team was bear
ing down, while, owing to the sharp
ness of the corner, the officers in
command would see nothing till too
late.
And the girl, as Campion saw at
once, with a thrill of horror, was
Sybil Ellsworth! He called to her to
stand back; nobody else seemed to
have eyes for her danger till then,
when a general shout was raised.
Whether she was confused by that,
or by a mutual recognition, or her
deadly peril, could not be known, but
she advanced with uncertain steps
into yet more direct danger and then
stopped, fascinated by fear and evil
IDENTIFY powerless to move a step.
Campion brushed aside some by
ISLANDERS who stood in his way, and
rushing out into the open space
caught her and drew her back, just
as the heavy gun swept by with the
rattle of gear and clank Of metal
through the gangway, and pulled up
sharp some yards beyond the spot
where Sybil had been standing. An
other secondhand, we'll as the team
was Misunderstanding could have
saved Sybil from a sudden and ter
rible death.
He kept his arm round her, and, If
at first she seemed inclined to reject
the support, she submitted after a
quick side-glance at his face, which
was softened by a reyerent Joy,
though the shadow of his recent hor-
ror still fingered upon it.
And the stream of people moved
on, backward and forward, and few
knew how nearly they had missed as
sisting at a tragedy; in fact, no n
took any further notice, except a mil
itary-looking man, who came up i'm
mediately in the greatest anxiety and
he had the excuse of being SYPHILIS ia