The Washington herald., 1910-12-17
THE WHITE CAT
By GELETT BURGESS
Author Of avivetse.n sister of &c
lcopynght The sMarmc
CA T
By GELETT BURGESS

Leah-and l think that this part of her
acting did more than anything else.
through her Indignation, TO stimulate her
to do her best on the morrow.
Besides all this, she was to do what
ever occurred to her az the moment, TAX
ing her cue from the doctor. She had,
impressed upon her. always the resource
at hand of a pretended fainting fit after
which she might plausihly awaken in her
real character as Joy. In any case,
surmised that her failure 10 enact the
part consistently would be attributed by
| him to her primary selfs partial proJec-
ton into consciousness. And, after all.
there were. OF course. many POINTS of
resemblance between the two women, and
with moderate care he would never sus-
pect that she was feigning. 1t would
scarcely have been possible for Edna
TO have taken the character Of Joy.
| 1t was nearly dawn before we felt that
we had gone far enough TO be willing TO
| risk her facility. and then. to freshen
| ourselves up. we went outdoors. The
air was cool and inyigorating; 1t was a
| beautiful night of stars and cloud. About
| the house the trees waved and rustled
/ The mass OF woods across the garden was
black in shadow. ! smelt mint mingled
with violets.
| / took her arm, but it was she who
guided me through the obscunty, know
/ ing every inch of the way through long
acquaintance. The dogs aWoke and
growled as We passed the stable, but In
stantly relapsed into silence as If aware
OF the presence Of friends A horse whin-
MED IN his stall We climbed the hill.
| Joy feeling for the concaYity of the path
with sensitive feet and leading me on:
and at the top we sat down. wrapped a
/ shawl about our shoulders and waited for
! the day 10 break We could hear the
dogs barking far away. The second or wv
| ing of cocks sent challenges from one
distant farm to another; Infinitely mote
railway whistle sounded. After an
hour the twittering of birds began. at
first in occasional chlrps. and finally in a
chorus of matutinal gossip. The sky IN
the east grew pink. then, through red and
orange and yellow. to pale straw color,
| The limb of the sun pushed through the
! sea, freed itself from the horizon and
| hoated up and up, flooding the country
With light.
| We walked back to the house. rejuve-
mated by the fresh air and had our
baths and hot coffee which Leah had
ready for US. JOY was fun OF spirit and
| courage The lines about her eyes were
softened and her whole figure and bear
/ ing expressed determination. At o'clock
she said:
We'll let's ring up the curtain. must
/ begin the play. IFS time to telephone.
I'm going to tell the first lie I've told.
/ think, for months. You've no idea how
unnecessary It has been down here. I'm
afraid I've almost forgotten how 20 be a
woman"
She got the doctor, and after a short
| conversation he promised TO come down
! to Midmeadows on a train that would
| land him at the house at 10 o'clock. We
went over the days campaign az the
breakfast table. and / gave her my last
instructions At Q o'clock Uncle Jerdou
drove up. and I got into the carriage to
go to the station. bidding her good-byr
for his benefit
The old man was loquacious as usual
but offered Tfothng in regard TO affairs
at MidmeadOws. he commented upon
the crops and the state OF every farm
we passed. without ever touching upon
Miss Fielding's condition. II this were
his custom with every one. no man could
: be safer 10 have about the premises but
l had an idea he was more commUnica-
tive with the doctor. At any rate, it had
seemed best to me TO make him believe
that ! was going UP 10 town.
/ had already prepared the plan by
which l was TO outWit them both The
up-train came into the station first
while the down-train waited on a siding
for il 10 pass. All had 10 do was to bid
Uncle Jerdon good-by. get into the smok-
ing car, and. as it pulled out. drop %
the step and dodge quickly behind a
wOOdpile beside the track Here | wait
ed. peeping over the top till the down
train had gone and saw Doctor Copir
get into the carriage TO drive of with
Uncle Jerdon. Then / walked lesurely
back 10 MidmeadOws. went into the
cabin and waited with what patience |
could.
/ had 10 stay from 10 till o'clock
! before I saw the carriage go back with
its passenger. That wait had been long
but II was not so anxious a time as
had spent before, for / knew that Joy
would be quite able TO cope with the sit
uation. But / was relieved 10 see the car
Tiage 90 back, and left the cabin the
moment the vehicle was out Of sight.
TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW.