The San Francisco call., 1909-09-26
CHAPTER XIV
THE COMIC MASK

CHE listened to the sound Of the
wheels, first rattling loud on the
gravel. slowly growing fainter.
Then stiffness was with her again and
inanition. She looked around and up.
and had no start at seeing Clara's small
face watching her over the gallery of
the rOtunda- 1t seemed to her that
appearance was natural to her exist
ence now. like her shadow. She looked
away. When she raised her eyes again
Clara was coming down the stairs. and
even at that distance Flora saw she
carried something in her handsome
thing fat and small and wrapped in
a hlmy biz OF paper.
out Of the chaos of her feeling rose
the solitary thought-the picture which
she had bought that morning. the pic
ture Of Farrell Wand. She watched it
drawing near her with wonder. She
sat up trembling. She had a great
longing and a horror to tear away the
hlmy paper and see Kerr at last brutal
ly revealed. She could not have told
afterward whether Clara spoke to her.
She was conscious of her pausing; con-
sciOus, finally. that the small swathed
square was in her hand.
She tore the tissue paper through
She held a photograph. a mdunted
kodak print She made out the back
ground to be sky and water and the
rail Ola ship with silhouettes of heads
and shoulders. a jungle Of black; and in
the middle distance caught in full mo-
tion the single figure of a man, back
turned and head in profile. He was
moving from her out of the picture
cnd with the first look she knew it
was not Kerr.
Her hrst thought was that there had
been a trick played on her! But no
across the bottom of the picture
In Judge Buffers full round hand,
was written. Farrell Wand board
ing the LOch Ettive." She held
ii high to the light. Clara had
been faithful to her bargain. 1t
was the picture that had deceived her
She studied it with passionate earnest
ness She did not know the bearded
profile. but in the burly shoulders, in
the set and swing OF the body in mo-
ton, more than all in the lowering
peering aspect OF the whole figure, she
began to see a familiar something. She
held il away from her by both thin
edges, and that aspect swelled and
swelled in her startled eyes. until sud-
denly the figure in the picture seemed
to be moving from her, not up a gang
plank, but through a glare of sun over
grass between broad beds of flowers
She was faint She was going to fall
She caught al the chair to save herself,
and still she was dropping down, down,
into q gulf OF spinning darkness "Oh,
Harry she whispered, and let her head
roll back against the arm of the fau-
teuil
With a dim sense Of rising through
[mmeasurable distances back to light
she opened her eyes. She saw Mrs. Her
Tlcks face. and as this was connected
In her mind with protection she smiled.
DO you feel better?" Mrs Herrick
asked her. Then she opened her eyes
wide and saw the walls and the high
arched ceiling of the hall directly above
her, knew herself lying on the floor,
saw above her the figure of Clara
standing with a bottle of salts, and then
remembered: and. with 4 moan, buried
her face in Mrs. Herrick's lap. "Oh, no,
no. no; don't bring me back; I don't
want to come back"
Their voices sounding high above
What is that?" Then Clara murmured.
Then there was the light rustling of
paper. Flora moved her hand.
Give II 10 me; I want it, She felt
the stin little square Of cardboard be-
tween her fingers. and closed them
around il fast.
After a little she went upstairs hold
ing tight to the baluster with one hand
and to Mrs Herrick with the other. Af-
l. 41,a
bed she lay down. still holding to Mrs.
Herrick. She felt as though some cord
within her had been drawn tight, too
tight to endure. and every moment she
hoped il would snap and set her free.
You don't think I'm mad, do you?"
she asked. Her friend earnestly dis
claimed it Then things are" Flora
said, everything. Oh. OH" The mem
ory overwhelmed her. He took me
there as il by chance.. He gave the
sapphire to me for my enga cement
ring. Oh, dreadful, Oh, poor Harry"
All that afternoon and all night she
slept ftfully, starting up at intervals,
trembling at nameless horrors-the
glitterirg gOldsmith's shop. the China
man. the great eye of the sapphire,
and worst Of all Harry's face. always
the same calm. ruddy. good natured
innocent looking face that had led her
to the goldsmith's shop, that had smiled
al her, falling under the spell of the
sapphire. that had covered. all those
DAYS. God knew what ravages of stress
and strain. until the man had finally
broken That face appeared and reap
peared through the flashing terrors of
her dreams like the presiding genius
OF them all. Finally. drifting into COM
plete repose, she slept far into the
morning.
She wakened languid and weak She
lay looking about the room. and, like
8 person recovering from a heavy blow,
wondering what had happened. Then
her hand. with her first waking
thought Il had done for the last week,
went to the locket chain around her
neck Oh, yes, yes; she had forgotten
The sapphire was gone. Gone by
fraud. gone at a kiss for ever with
Harry-no, with Farrell Wand
For Harry was not Harry; and Kerr
was not Farrell Wand He was indeed
an unknown quantity. Since she had
found Harry she had lost both Kerr's
name and his place in her fairy tale.
She had seen his very demeanor change
before her eyes. Indeed, her hour had
come without her knowing it. The
spell had been snapped which had made
him wear the semblance Of evil His
sinister form was dissolving; but what