The Comrade. (Winnfield, La.) 1890-1914, 1910-12-30

:, 1n'uu was monstrous. It startled he
)" oroad awake that she sat IN in ho
" n meet it the more alertly.
J. ne room was dark except for nov
: auo again the yellow square of light
from some passing cable car travolin,
alohs the ceiling. The four wall
eiound her, their dark bulks of FIR
,, .i:uie ana light ripple Of moving cur
e.s',ls' smut her up with this monster
81 her mind. 1t had sprung upon he,
l.oil lhe solid actualities Of the night
xlnu' yes, OF the day beforehand the
, m,snl before that. Oh, she had known
wen enough that there had BEEN some
n en'ns wrong at the goldsmith's shop
oie llao 1elt it even before she had
seen the sapphire; and afterward' how
II mad held them, both herself and
marry! 10 have moved Harry It must
! oe something indeed! Had he sns.
pected it them. or had he onlv. won.
dered? why "on'
IL lie mad suspected why hadn't he
spoken of it? Well, her annal1inp
!ahcy prompted, hadn't he spoken, Of
,''-lnough not to her. There flashed
oack to her the memory of him there
III me back of the shop with the blue.
eseo Chlnaman. How furiously he
iiaa assalled the little man! She
could be almost sure that the mon<
strous idea which had Just overtaken.
ner mad, however feetingly, flashed
oelore Harry's mind in the goldsmith's
shop. But surely he couldn't have en-.
.ertalned it for moment. That was
impossible, or he would never have let,
ner take the sapphire-Harry, who
naa seen the ring, the very Crew
IDOL itself, within the "a hours.
"A little heather god curled round
himself with a big blue stone on the
Top OF his head Harry hadn't said
what sort of stone it was: but Kerr
had said it was sapphire. There
was a sapphire on her, and now. She
touched 1t with her finger TIPS eau
tlously, as if to touch something hot
so near to her! In the same room
with her! On her own hand! It
was TOO much to be alone with in the
dark! She reached out softly. as if
sne feared to disturb some threaten.
ing presence lurking around her. and
lit the small night lamp on the low
table by her bed The shade was vel
low, and that contended with the
Glue OF the sapphire, but couldn't
break its light. With the first flash
u us splendor in her face she felt
certainty threatening her. She shook
me ring quickly off her finger and it
ell with a light clatter on the tables
marble top-fell with the sapphire
ace down, and all its light hidden. ,
she took it up again little fearfully, ;
IS II it might have got some harm; 6
nd again while she looked at it it t
eemed to her that nothing that hap. 2
ened about this jewel could be too F
Extraordinary. If only it had been
ess wonderful, less beautiful, she '
'ould not have felt so terribly afraid! t
he put it back on the table and for
moment held her hand over it, as a
she imprisoned living thing. a
Then, without looking again, she b
OF out Of bed and went to the win K
DIV. It overlooked the dark steep of
le garden, the moving trees and the C
ghter plane of the water. She a.
aned out, far out. Black housetops 81
arched against the bay, and be. a
geen them, light by light, her eyes It
flowed the street lamps down to the s1
lore.
Oh, to escape out of this window |
to the innocent, sleeping city, away tn
ON the horror at her back! To look tn
from the outside and be even sure ID
ere was horror! And if there was, :
run away into the wide soft dark! ].
But there was another way to be
OF it.. The real idea occurred to |
r. How easy it would be to take it /
that beautiful thing-and throw it;
'oW 1t as hard as she could. and
the night take care of it. The win
was open, as if it stood ready,
q there was the ring on the table.
e went to it, looked at it moment
:hout touching it, holding her hands
ay.
Then with little SILVER she backed +
ay from 1t and sat down on the l.
OF the bed. She looked pale and
le, as If the eye Of the ring, bla-
under the feeble lamp, like the
eye, had sapped her fire and II
til. She Rugged her arms around
updrawn knees, and resting her
4 upon them eyed the sapphire Ia
vely. I'M
suppose you know I can't throw F.
away she murmured, "and yet I
T keep you!" She pondered, chin
land. To take it to Harry! That
ned the natural thing to do-the
plest way to be rid Of 1t. She. hes.
ed.
t ] only knew! If l only were
* She locked her fingers closer,
ing hard. II it had been the whole
" Idol, the undismembered god