The Washington herald., 1910-12-13
THE WHITE CAT
By GELETT BURGESS
Author OF 3vvette" OF
ocpHgh. he Company

several Things TO be decided upon and
Accomplished If Edna, a conflict was
imminent which caused me much anxiety.
Queerly enough, the proposal would
have to make to Joy seemed almost as
If It would be an ex post facto agree
ment. had already annoelced my en-
gagement 10 the doctor, but ] had not
made my bluff without holding a pretty
good hand l couldn't doubt, by this
time. how Joy felt toward me-
At o'clock I heard the customary
diaIogue-Mlss Fieldlhg's door being stiII
left .ajar-but I noticed that her voice
wassduiek and excited. Leah was called
in Immediately, and the two women
seemed 10 have .more than the usual
amount OF talk together.
Next | heard the dogs barking in an
swer 10 their names: but there we're
only three replies 10 joys calls to-day.
Poor old Nokomis would never greet her
mistress again. Then the door was
closed. Joy evidently ala not wait 10
: have breakfast. as usual, in her room,
for fifteen minutes later I heard her go
ing downstairs.
Fearing that something was wrong.
NhtS~t7AA was SA&t INV Ai&aAa a. WAS JOY
herself whom I had heard. I rose and
dressed as quickly as ] could / found
her in the library waiting for me.
She held a folded paper IN her hand,
as she sat by the window, looking out
listiessiy. / bade her good morning She
looked up without a smile and silently
handed me the paper, Unfolding il. /
saw, written in a round childish. vertical
script the words
II know you now-Cst.'
Il found this pinned to my pillow when
] woke up" she said Its from Edna. a.
Then a faint dreamy smile softened her
lips as she said. You see. even 10 her. ]
am the White Cat
How dyou know It's from Edna ,"
Its her handwriting. She writes very
differently from me-
Il looked at it, wondering. It was the
first shot IN the battle.
you see, she has found out. Her eyes
are opened, % JOY said.
Yes. I was going 10 tell You about Il
to-day / suspected & yesterday. and II
has proved true. It complexities things
immensely"
1Leah has told me that I struck her,
too Think OF Il! II makes me positively
faint What horrible part of me has come
10 the surface I'm Edna? What undis-
covered self is it that is torturing me so?
It's hideous revelation. It shows how
depraved ] must be, at heart"
1T isn't YOU I declared TITS an
other woman. quite. It's only YOU in the
sense that It would be you il you were
intoxicated, or If you were dreaming, or
insane You mustn't think Of yourself
as In any way responsible"
Then IF rarfraa ena-n mt
mo more than a child. or an idiot. She
uses your body and your mind, but she
hasn't. so 20 speak. the use Of your moral
scruples. She's a disintegrated self. Inn
perfectly functioned All the same we
have. OF course. to treat her as quite
another person. And the time is APP
preaching. ! think. when We'll have to
act I don't intend 10 snare her. We
must use force II necessary
How does she know about me. after
80 long an ignorance2' Joy inquired
/ told her what I had heard at the tele-
phone. She could scarcely credit my tes-
timony.
III the doctor is dcnnitely leagued with
Edna what can we d02 lie has all his
science and Edna active Ifh. I'm lost
( If he's really against me- liant bee sure
that the Doctor has deIibTately played
me false. There may he s5ne mistake.
7 think can prove that u you, an
swered. but l have a great dkal to say "a
you first"
I think she knew, then: / think she
hoped 20 hear what I was going TO say
for she gave me her hand, and smiled up
at me as she rose TO 90 in 20 breakfast
We sat down with Leah al the table
] hads taken il FOR granted that Leah
had told JOY everything that had hap
pened the day before. and SO. not wish
ing to grieve her further. 1 took care 10
say nothing about Nokomis But the
swelling on Leah's cheek could not be So
easily ignored, and several times I saw
tears come into joys eyes at the sight
or IT,
While we were there the clock struck
half past eight. At the sound Joys face
changed-an expression Of abstraction
came into IT, II was as II she were try
ing 10 recall something that eluded her
memory Then she half rose. like a SOM
nambulist.
TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW.