Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1909-02-03
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KE HAN @'MN0LIRs

riage men, If that auto-you have
written description. / see, as well as
the number-find out If that auto left
this hotel this afternoon between six
and seven o'clock. Find out who were
in 1t. Find ont where it is kept and
who owns it. Get H. Birdsall, Mer-
chants Exchange building, to send
man to help you. Wait, I've card
ready for you to give him from me;
he has sent me men before. Report
by telephone as soon as you know any
thing. If I'm not here, speak Spanish
and have them write it down. Be
back here tonight by ten, if you can,
yourself"
Hafey dismissed, and his own ap-
petite for dinner effectually dispelled
by his report, Winter joined his aunt.
Should he tell her his suspicious and
their ground? Wasn't he morally
obliged, now, to tell her? She was CO.
guardian with him of the boy, who, he
had no doubt, had been spirited away
by Mercer and his accomplice; and
hadn't she right to any information
on the matter in his possession?
Reluctantly he admitted that she
did have such a right and, he ad-
mitted further being man who never
cheated at solitaire, that his object in
keeping the talk of the two men
from her had not been so much the
desire to guard her nerves (which he
knew perfectly we'll were of a robuster
fiber than those of most women 20
or 40 years younger than she) no, he
admitted it grimly, he had not so much
spared his aunt as Janet Smith; he
could not bear to direct suspicion to-
ward her. But how could he keep ST.
lent longer? Kicking this question
about in his mind, he spoiled the favor
of his afterdinner cigar, although his
aunt graciously bade him smoke it in
her parlor.
And still Miss Smith had not re-
turned; really, it was only fair to her
to have her present when he told his
story to his aunt; no, he was not grab
bing at any excuse for delay If he
could watch that girls face while he
told his story he would-well, he
would have his mind settled one way
or another.
Here the telephone bell rang the
manager informed Col. Winter that
Mrs. Wigglesworth had returned.
"Wigglesworth? What an extraor-
binary name!" cried Millicent when
the Colonel shared his information.
Good old New England name; I
know some extremely nice Wiggles-
worths in Boston," Mrs. Winter
'Of coulso. no alluslons are mace ts
any real NJ. 20l39.
amended with touch of hauteur; and,
at this moment, there came knock
at the door.
There is all the differences in the
world between knocks; a knock as
often as not conveys a most uninten-
tional hint in regard to the character
of the one behind the knuckles; and
often, also, the mood of the knocker is
reflected in the sound which he makes.
Were there truth in this, one would
Judge that the person who knocked at
this moment must be woman, for the
knock was not loud, but almost timid-
ly gentle: one might even guess that
she was agitated, for the tapping was
in hurried, uneven measure.
81 believe 1t is Mrs. Wigglesworth
herself" declared Aunt Rebecca. '.Ber-
| tie, I'm going into the other room;
she will talk more freely to you. She
would want to spare my nerves. That
is the nuisance of being old. Now open
the door,"
She was halfway across the thresh-
old before she finished, and the colo
nel's fingers on the doorknob waited
only for the closing of her door to
turn to admit the lady in waiting.
! A lady she was beyond doubt. and
any one who had travelled would have
been sure that she was lady from
Massachusetts. She wore that little
close bonnet which certain elderly Bos-
ton gentlewomen can neither be driv-
! en- nor allured to abandon; her rich
and quiet black silken gown might
have been made any year within the
last FIVE, and her furs would have
graced a princess. She had beautiful
gray hair and a scft complexion and
wore glasses. Equally evident to the
observer was the fact Of her sup
pressed agitation.
She waved aside the coIonel's prof
fered chair, introducing herself In q
musical, almost tremulous voice with
the crisp enunciation of her section Of