The Southern herald., 1910-11-25


and even with the distance and the
broad glare of noon between them
she recognized his aspeet-his gayest
of diabolic glee. There lurked about
him the impish quality Of the whistle
that had summoned her.
Come down." he called.
All sorts of wonders and terrors
were beating around her. He had
transcribed her widest wish; he had
come to her more openly, more dar-
ingly, more romantically than she
could have dreamed. All the amaze
ment of why and how he had brayed
the battery of the windows Of her
house was swallowed up in the greater
Joy of seeing him there, standing in
his "grays," with stif black hat
pushed OF his hot forehead, hands be-
hind him, looking up at her from the
middle of anemones and daffodils.
Come down." he called again, and
waved at her with his slim, gittering
stick How far he had come since
their last encounter, to wave at and
command her, as If she were verify
his own! She left the window, left
the room, ran quickly down the stair.
The house was hushed; no passing
but her own, no butler in the hall, no
kitchen-maid on the back stair. Only
grim faces of Decentralization not
her own-glimmered reproachful
upon her as she fed past. Light
echoes called her back along the hall.
The furniture, the mufilng curtains
her own reflections flying through the
mirrors, held up to her her madness,
and by their mute stability seemed tc
remind her of the shelter she was
leaving-seemed to forbid.
She ran. This was not shelter; 1t
was prison He was rescue; he was
light itself. The only chance for her
was to get near enough to him. Near
him no shadow lived. The thing was
to get near enough. She rushed d.,
rect from shadow into light. She
came out into the sun, into the gar
den with its blaze of wintry summer
its whispering life and the free air
over it. The man standing in the
middle of it, for all his pot hat and
Gothic stick, was none the less its
demlgod waiting for her. laughing
He might we'll laugh that she who had
written that unfinching letter should
come thus flying at his call; but there
was more than mischief in him. The
high tide of his spirits was only the
sparkle of his excitement. 1t was
evident that he was there with some
thing of mighty Importance to say.
Was it that her letter had finally
touched him? Had he come at last to
transcend her idea with some even
greater purpose? She seemed to see
the power, the will for that and the
kindness-she could not call it by an
. other word-but though she was be-
. seeching him with all her silent atti.
tude to tell her instantly what the
great thing was, he kept it back mo
: ment, looking at her whimsically, in
, diligently, even tenderly.
) 81 have come for you," he said
: ooh, for mel" che murmured. Sure
+ ly he couldn't mean that! He wai
D simply putting her off with that.
t 81 mean it, mean II" he assured
a her. This doesn't make it any lest
+ real, my getting at you through gar
t den Better" he added, "and swee
+ of you to make the duller way i'm
J. possible"
t She took step back It had no
o been play to her; but he would hav'
= 1t nothing else. He, too, stepped
e back and away from her.
n Come" he said, and behind hin
r she saw the lower garden gate tina
d opened on the grassy pitch Of t.i
hill, swinging idle and open. Tn
!, sight of him about to vanish lured he
IT on, and as he continued to walk bach
, ward she advanced, following.
d "Oh, where?" she pleaded.
W with mel" Such a guaranty {
o. good faith he made it!
She tried to summon her reluctanc,
lie "But why?"
n We'll talk about it as we go along
s His hand was on the gate. I'VE can
st stop here. you know. She'fl be watcl
e. ing us from the window"
ep Flora glanced behind her. The vii
Is dows were all discreetly draped-
lg, most likely ambush-but that b
ne should apprehend Clara's eyes behiE
re- them! All, then, he did know what
d. was about! He saw Clara as she di
ay She would almost have been ready
no trust him on the strength Of tn
w alone Still she hung back.
"But my things!" she proteste
ne She held up her garden hat. "And n
gown!" She looked down at her fra
ce- silk fiounces. Was ever any womi
Ill seen on the street like this!
lth "Oh, la, Ia, la," he cut her sho
ne 1--WE can't stop to dress the pa
lit You'll forget EN-"
ite She smiled at him suddenly, look
back at the house, put on her hat
ns the garden hat. The moment she
ce' dreaded was upon her. In spite Of b
eo' warning reason, in spite of eve
1t thing. she was going with him.
De- .(TO BE CoNTINUEl).l
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