Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-04-27

was it? There was something, some
thing he could not see.
Madame" he faltered He had had
gallant Italian phrase to turn for
her benefit. He spoke English in
stead, and not very firmly.
The woman turned Hillard took 3
step backward and blundered against
a pedestal.
She was masked!
CHAPTER v.
Masked! Only her mouth and chin
were visible, and several little pieces
of court plaster effectually disguised
these. There was a mystery. He to
come blindfolded and she to wear a
mask! Extraordinary! There was
something more than jest: she real
ly did not wish to be known, and the
reason lay far back of all this, beyond
his grasp. He stood there dumfounded.
She rose. The movement was elegant.
"And this" she said ironically, "is
the gentleman who leaned out Of the
Window"
He brought all his faculties togeth.
err, for he knew that he would need
them in this encounter. "Supposins
/ had fallen out of it? Well, it could
not have mattered. | should not have
been more at your feet than | am
now This was very good, consider
ing how dry his tongue was.
eff you had fallen out? l had not
thought Of that A modern Ulysses,
householder, and an itinerant siren!
You had been wise to have stuffed
your ears that night"
my mythology is rusty. And much
vastly more than an ancient prize.
fighter"
But sit down, 'rr. Hillard, sit
down." The lady h the mask mo-
toned him to chair directly under
the light. She wished to study his
face while she talked
Hillard reached the chair success
fully enough. but he never could re-
collect how. He sat down as bashful
man sits down in crowded ballroom
with his knees drawn in tightly and
his feet at sympathetic angles. He
knew that she would have the best OF
him in this engagement. All the
bright things to say would come to
him after he had gone home. 1t is far
easier to write letters. That mask!
One might as well converse with the
Sphinx His face was hers to study;
her emotions would be wholly her
own.
Presently she laughed with malice.
"You are not comfortable in that
chair"
"That is true: and vet 1t is soft and
roomv. I am uneasy Perhaps you re-
call to my subconsciousness a period
in nv former existence on earth; or,
if Won will, one Of nv ancestors
81 fail to understand"
well a Hillard two hundred years
ago had his head cut off bv IN ak.
His executioner wore mask"
"a mistake. Your ancestor should
have been hanged" e
"And i along with him, you would
imply?"
"Are you not Irish? I have known
Irishmen by the name of Hillard."
"They were in disguise. But / have
generous strain of Irish blood in me.
otherwise. I shouldn't have had the
courage to follow up an adventure
like this
Thanks. The compliment is rather
ambiguous
"My compliments cannot possibly be
more ambiguous than your appear
ance Surely. there will be an hour for
unmaslling.'
"1t has already begun, Nj Hill.
lard"
masked? Well. l have onlv the MASK
nature gave to me. I wish she had
been more liberal But shall see what
can he done with it.
'Is there any mask quite so terri
BILE quite so deceptive. as Ibis very
mask nature gives us? Can it not lie
adroitlv break hearts, overthrow EN-
pires? You can indge character by
this mask sometimes. but never the
working of the mind behind it." She
! resumed her seat on the divan.
81 wish l could read yours
"And much good it would do YOU.
She smiled, rather ruefully Hillard
thought
He took note Of her teeth, and felt
q sudden tinge of regret. One may dis
guise the face and hair, but the teett
are always the same. Two lower teeth
on the right side appeared to he gone
the others were firm and glisIenins
white. 1t was pity, for woman's
teeth are as much her glory as hel
hair.
81 am curious to learn what 20,
brought for dinner
He enumerated the delicacies.
"You have evidently studied you
Lurullus." she said.
Silence. The ruddy light on her hal
fascinated him.
What is it," she demanded.
/ "Your hair" with simplicity whicl
silenced her. "You have the most beau
tiful hair I have ever seen"
/ Thank you. And yet, for fall 20,
know, it may be a fine wig"
/ eff it is. shall never be sure o
anything again. Am in prosaic New
York? Have you not, by some carpet
magic. transported me to old Europe
If dozen conspirators came III cowl
to render me the oath,'I should no
be at all surprised
"There is no magic; only mask
And there is no way of seeing be
hind that"