, 1910-12-29

through the unreslsting plaster of
Eliza's room with such force as to
send the rod flying on to her bed. I
had gone upstairs alone. and | confess
the thing puzzled me; in two or three
places In the wall small apertures had
been made, none of them OF any depth.
Not the least mysterious thing was
the disappearance of the iron nipple
ment that had been used.
Mary Anne and Eliza left that after
noon, but Rosie decided to stay. 1t
was about five o'clock when the hack
came from the station to get them,
and. to my ~amaZement, 1t had an oc-
cupant. Matthew Geist, the driver,
asked for me. and explained his err
rand with pride.
I've brought you a cook, Miss In
ness lie said. When the message
came to come up for two girls and
their trunks l supposed there was
something doing. and as this here
m had been looking for work in
the village / thought I'd bring her
along"
Already I had acquired the true
su~burbanite ability to take servants
on faith; I no longer demanded writ.
ten and u~nimpeachable references. ]
Rachel Innes, nave learned not to
mind If the cook sits down comfort
ably in my sitting room when she is
taking the orders for the day, and !
am grateful II the silver is not cleaned
with securing soap. and so that day l
merely told Liddy to send the new ap-
plicant in. When she came, however,
I could hardly restrain a gasp of sur
prise. 1t was the woman with the
pitted face.
She TODD somewhat awkwardly Just
inside the door, and she had an air of
self-confidence hat was inspiring.
Yes, she could cook; was not a fancy
cook, but could make good soups and
desserts If there was any one to take
charge OF the salads. And so, in the
end, l took her. AS Halsey said, when
we told him. 1t didn't matter much
about the cooks face If 1t was clean.
l have spoken of .Halsey's restless
ness. On that day 1t seemed to be
more than ever a resistless impulse
that kept him out until after luncheon.
| think he hoped constantly that he
might meet Louise driving over the
hills in her runabout: possibly he did
meet her occasionally. but from his
continued gloom ! felt sure the situa-
ton between them was unchanged.
Part of the afternoon | believe he
read-Gertrude and l were out, as I
have said, and at dinner we both no.
ticed that something had occurred to
distract him. He was ~disagreeable,
which Is unlike him, nervous, looking
at his watch every few minutes, and
he ate almost nothing. He asked twice
during the meal IN what train Mr..
Jameson and the other detective were
coming, and had long periods of alb
straction during which he dug his
fork into my damask cloth and did
not e when he was spoken to. He
refused dessert, and left the table
early, excusing himself on the ground
that he wanted to see Alex.
Alex, however, was not to be found.
1t was after eight when Halsey or
dered the car and started down the
hill at a pace that, even for him, was
unusually reckless. Shortly after
Alex reported that he was ready to go
over the house preparatory to closing
1t for the night. Sam Bohannon came
at a quarter before nine and began his
patrol of the grounds. and with the
arrival of the two detectives to look
forward to I was not especially appre-
hensive.
At half-p~st nine ! heard the sound
of a horse driven furiously up the
drive. 1t came to a stop in front of
the house and Immediately after there
were hurried steps on the veranda.
Our nerves were not what they should
have been, and Gertrude, always ap-
prehensive lately. was at the door al
most instantly. A moment later Louise
had burst into the room and stood
there bareheaded and breathing hard.
Where is Halsey?" she demanded.
Above her plain black gown her eyes
looked big and somber. and the rapid
drive had brought no color to her face.
l got up and drew forward a chair.
He has not come back" | said
quietly. "Sit down, child; you are
not strong enough for this kind of
thing"
I don't think she even heard me.
HE has not come back?" she
asked, looking from me to Gertrude.
DO you know where he went? Where
a I find him?"
For heavens sake, Louise" Ger.
trude burst out, tell us what Is wrong.
Halsey is not here. He has gone to
the station for Mr.. Jameson. What
has %happened?"
ITO the station. Gertrude? You are
sure2"
Yes" I said. Listen. There is
the whistle of the train now"
She relaxed a little at our matter
of-fact. tone. and allowed herself to
ofnl into n nhafr