The Red Cloud chief., 1909-12-23
CHAPTER VII.
A Lady Of Shadows and Starlight.

a LADY OF shadows and Starlight.
1t was nine o'clock before lima
came In, dripping from his tumble in
the lake and his walk home through
the rain. The Italian had made no eff
fort to modest him. he reported; but
he had watched the man row ont to
the Stiletto and climb aboard. lima
has an unbroken record of never hav-
ing asked me a question inspired by
curiosity. He may inquire which shoes
! want for a particular morning. but
why, whore and when are unknown in
his vocabulary. He was, | knew, fair
ly entitled to an explanation of the in
cident of the afternoon, though he
would ask none. and when he had
changed his clothes and reported to
me in the library l told him in a word
that there might be further trouble,
and that | should expect him to stand
night watch at st. Agatha's for a
while, dividing a patrol of the grounds
with the gardener. His Yes, sir"
was as calm as though | had told him
to lay out my dress clothes, and l
went with him to look up the gardener
that the division Of patrol duty might
be thoroughly understood.
/ gave the Scotchman a revolver
and lima bore under his arm a repeat
ing rife with which he and | had d.
verified ourselves at times in the pleas
ant practice of breaking glass balls. l
assigned him the waterfront and told
the gardener to look out for intruders
from the road. These precautions
taken, | rang the bell at st. Agatha's
and asked for the ladies, but was re-
lieved 10 learn that they had retired,
for the situation would not be helped
by debate, and If they were to remain
at st. Agatha's it was my affair to
plan the necessary defensive strategy
without troubling them. And | must
admit here, that at all times, from tho
moment. ] first saw Helen Holbrook
with her father at Red Gate, | had
every intention of shielding her to the
utmost. The thought of trapping her.
of catching her, ilagrante delicto, was
revolving; | had, perhaps, a notion
that in some way | should be able to
thwart her without showing my own
hand; but this, as will appear, was
not to be SO easily accomplished.
| went homo and read for an hour,
then got into heavy shoes and set
forth to r~cconnoitcr. The chief ave-
nue. of danger lay, | imagined, across
the lake, and ! passed through st. Aga
tha's to see that my guards were
about their business; then continued
along a wooded bluff that rose to q
considerable height above the lake,
There was a winding path which the
p%ilgrimages of schoolgirls in spring
and autumn had worn hard. and | fol
lowed 1t to its crest, where there was
a stone bench, established for the ease
of those who wished to take their sun
l sets in comfort.
The path hat rose through the
' wood from st. Agatha's declined again
from the seat, and came out some
where below, where there was a spring
sacred to the schoolgirls, and where,
dare say, they still indulge In the In
carnations of their species. | amused
{ myself picking out the pier lights al
far as | had learned them, following
. one of the lake steamers on its Zigzal
course from Port Annandale to the VII
lage. Eleven chimed from the chape
clock, the strokes stealing up to m
dreamily. A moment later | heard
step in the path behind me, light
quick, and eager, and bent dow low
: on the bench, so that its back shielded
q me from view, and waited. The step
q drew closer to the bench, and SOM
one passed behind me. | was quit
) sure that 1t was a woman from tn
Z lightness of the step, the feminin
3 quality in the voice that continued t
hum a little song, and at the last me
ment the soft rustic of skirts. l ros
and spoke her name before my eye
were ure OF her.
n Miss Holbrook!" l exclaimed.
She did not cry out. though sh
n stepped back quickly from the bench
.e "Oh, it's you. Mr.. Donovan, is it?"
1T most certainly Isl" | laughed
I'VE seem to have similar tastes, Mis-
Is Holbrook."
Ii ITO M rnNTINTYED