The Marshall republican., 1910-12-23

to It, he might as we'll never have
been nephew of his aunt as far as in. |
heriting that aunt's property was con.
cerned.
Dearest was inclined, being optimis. |
tic enough to hope for a consumma- !
ton of his engagement to Agatha |
Sixth before that time-to make of the
luncheon a sort Of marriage-feast in
honor Of that event, and was already
planning famous ices and cakes of q
hymeneal nature. But Arch seemed
not to view the approach of the cru
cial day with such a light heart. His
thoughts at dinner that night were so
absent, in fact, as to force one to con.
clude that the spectre of his aunt'si
third cousin seated upon the veranda
of the house in Australia with pos.
sessive feet on the railing had be.
come his familiar spirit.
1t was this apparent anxiety of his
n his feverish devotion to Agatha
Sixth that utterly u%nprepared me for
the unfortunate denouement later.
The evening had ended at last and
obu L a puSNCOuCo III u
ing a general move toward retiring
for the night. We had been playing
bridge-that is, the two Agathas had
with Terhune and the inevitable
Freer, while my wife and I stood by
and cut In now and then. We had OBJ
served with pleasure that the party
OF four had divided itself exactly as
we would have arranged 1t ourselves;
Terhune and Agatha Sixth were part.
ners, as were Agatha First and Freer.
Better still, Agatha Sixth seemed quite
to have forgotten the unhappy cpl.
sode Of the waterfall, when Arch had
so obviously missed his cue. and vas
openly basking in the return of her
admirers devotion. And Agatha First.
too, seemed quite c%ontented, not a
whit disturbed by this attitude on my
friends part and mildly amused by
the attempted gallantries of the rec
tors son from Wye. 1t was, in fact, a
thoroughly happy little foursome, and
as a spectator of its content felt
particularly pleased when l thought
Of what Arch had con1ded to me Just
before dinner. That he intended to
obtain a definite, and what he seemed
to consider, a favorable answer, from
Agatha Sixth on the morrow.
We had all gone to bed, and the
night was we'll advanced, when I was
awakened from the rippingest kind Of
a sleep by the loudest kind of a bang
you ever heard In your life. It came
from the big d~rawing-room, which we
did not often use, directly below my
room, and woke me at once. It sound
ed for all the world as IL some one
or something had knocked over one
of the endless number of ~statuettes,
a regular auction shop of the place,
and I struggled into my bath robe in
q minute to go and see what 1t was.
Dearest's room adjoined mine and I
listened at the door to find out II she
had been awakened, and hearing moth
ing from her, went on my way down
stairs.
didn't much believe 1t could be a
burglar; l had a hazy notion that 1t
might be one Of the dogs who had
gotten in there somehow. There are
no end of the big brutes about the
place and sometimes one gets into the
house for the night in spite of Dear
est. So / wasn't In the least alarmed
or apprehensive, and was just about
to lay my hand on the drawing-rcom
folding doors, which were at the foot
Of the stairs, when I heard the lightest
possible tread on the stairs behind
me and a soft hand clutched my arm.
1t was Dearest, Of course. 20 Fred
dy!" she sasped, what is 1T"
Zone Of the dogs, / expect" I told
her. what made you Gomez"
why" she said in an indignant lit
tie whisper, Il came after you, OF
counsel DO you think I'd let you go
all alone7"
why notH" I whispered. I'm a
man. Resides. there's nothing to be
afraid of"
20, but there isf" she assured me,
'Yt,s burKlars--I Know II isi They've
come to steal the Wyckhoff emeraids,
I know they havsi"
burglars nothingf~ answered
.It,s one Of the dogs. / nay. Besides,
4 were q burglar that's all the
sAssS rsasos Why ysu should 20 backs
"Ana leave you to be killed all
sionsf Neveri.
Sometimes, I admit II with q sort ci
fond regret, nv wife 4 unreasonable