Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1909-03-19

hAS t1d ht Jul SCI alpAlS
well enough without any p~aternal help
If he chose.
He attentively surveyed the room
1t was clean and dusted-evidently il
had been carefully tended. He might
have stepped out of it yesterday. Not
a thing had been disturbed-yes. one
thing. His portrait that had hung over
his bed was not in its place. A mo
mentary sense of trepidation rushed
through him. Could his father really
have meant all he had said in his rage?
Did he really mean to disown him?
For an instant he faced the hall door
with clinched hands. Somewhere in
the house, unconscious of his presence,
was that ward of whose coming he had
learned. Moreau vas a good friend to
have warned him. Was she part OF a
plan of reprisal-her presence there a
tentative threat to him? Could his ia
Their mean to adopt her? Might that
great house, those grounds, the bulk of
his wealth, go to her, and he, the son
be left In the cold? He shiyered. Per-
haps he had stayed away too long!
AS he turned again. he heard a sound
in the hall. He listened. A light step
was approaching-the swish of a gown.
With a sudden impulse he stepped into
the embrasure of the window, as the
figure of a girl paused at the door. He
felt his face flush. She had thrown a
crimson kimono over her white night
gown. and the %apparition seemed I'd
part the dusk of the doorway like the
red breast of a robin. She held In her
hands a bunch of the pale Marechal
Mel roses. and his eye caught the long
rebellious sweep of her bronze hair
and the rosy tint of bare feet through
the worsted meshes of her night slip
pers.
To his wonder the sight of the light
ed room seemed to cause her no sur
prise. For an instant she stood still as
though listening. then entered and
placed the roses In a vase on a reading
stand by the bedside.
Hugh gasped. To reach the stand
the girl had passed the spot where he
stood, but she had taken no note of
him. Her gaze had gone by him as If
he had been empty air. Then he real
lied the truth; Jessica Holme was
blindl Moreau's letter had given him
girl with whom his father now threat
ened himl Was she counting on his
not coming back. waiting for the wind
fall? She was blind-but she was
beautiful Suppose he were to turn
the tables on the old man, not only
climb back into his good graces through
her, but even
suddenly scarlet. What a supple,
graceful arm she had! How adroit her
fingers as they arranged the rose
stemsl Was he already wholly black
ened in her opinion? What did she
think of him? Why did she bring
those flowers to that empty room
Could 1t have been she who had kept
it clean and fresh and unaltered against
his return? A confident, daring look
grew in his eyes. He wished she could
see him in that purple tie and velvet
smoking jacket. What an opportunity
for a romantic self justification
Should he speak? Suppose it should
brighten heri
Chance answered him. His respira-
ton had conveyed to her the knowl
edge of a presence in the room. he
heard her draw a quick breath. "SomC
one is here!' she whispered.
He started forward. "Wait. waitT'
he said in a loud whisper as she
sprang back. But the voice seemed tC
startle her the more, and before be
could reach her side she was gone. He
heard her flying steps descend the stall
and the opening and closing of a door.
The sudden flight Jared Hugh:
pleasurable sense of novelty. He thrusf
his hands deep into his pockets. Now
he was in for til She would alarm tbs
house, rouse the servants. He SHOULD
have a staring domestic audience fol
the imminent reconciliation his sobereC
sense told him was SO necessary
Struggling his shoulders, he wen
quickly down the stair to the library.
He had known exactly what BIZ
should see there-the vivid girl will
the hue of fright in her cheeks, the