Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1910-10-18

| Side character OF the present keeper
of the Chatworth ring, or whether il
was just the sight of Kerr himself as
he sat there that stirred her, she
didn't try to distinguish.
But suppose he was your own
thief" she urged; took your own
things, mean," she hastily amended
and suppose he turned out to be :
scme one you knew and liked Shs
hesitated. She had come at last to what
she really wanted to say. She had
brought out question that had been
teasing her fancy at intervals all the
while he had been talking, and he had
not even heard it. He wasn't even look
| ing at her. She had caught him of
his guard. He was looking across her
| shoulder straight down the dim vista
OF the room to the little blaze of Dor
dering light. He was looking at Har-
| ry. No, Harry was looking at him.
| Harry was looking with a steady, an
| intent gaze, and Kerr meeting tit
might have been merely the blank
| glare of his monocle-seemed, to
N~AN w AACCL IL lAtLlC lAOOACAtAg
She fancied in the instant something
to pass between the two men, some
thing which, this time, she did not
mistake for jealousy-a shade too dim
Tor defiance or suspicion, deep
scrutiny that struggled to place some.
| thing, some one.
| Flora felt sudden wish to break
that curious scrutiny. 1t had broken
her little moment. 1t had shattered
the personal, almost intimate note
| that had been sounded between them.
! The look Kerr turned back to her was
vague, and stirred in her a lim re-
sentiment that he could drop it all so
easily.
Shall we join the others?" 1t was
the voice with which she had begun
| with him, but her eyes were hot
| through their light mist of lashes, and
he threw her a comprehending glance
of amusement.
"Oh, no." he assured her, 1--WE can't
help ourselves. They are going to
| Join u.s.
Ella Butler, in the van of her pro-
| cession, was already descending upon
them. Her approach dissipated the
| last remnant OF their personal mo
ment. Her presence always insisted
that there was nothing worth while
| but instant participation in her gen
iality, and whatever subject it might
| at the moment be taken up with
| This conviction of Elias had been
wont to overawe Flora, and it still
| overwhelmed her; so that now, as
she followed in the trail of Ella S
marshaled force, she had guilty feel
ing that there should be nothing in
her mind but a normal desire for sup
| per.
Yet all the way down the great
| stair, "the Corridors of Time" where
the white owl glared his CLASSY wis
dom on the passings and counter
passings, she was haunted with the
thought that Harry had seen the ex
traordinary Kerr before; not shaken
hands with him, perhaps-perhaps not
even heard his name; but somewhere
| across some distance, once glimpsed
him, and had never quite shaken the
memory from his mind. For there
was something marked, notable, unfor
! getable in that lean distinctiveness
| Against the sleek form of the meI
they met and shook hands with, he
flashed out--seemed in contrast fairly
| electric. She saw him, just ahead oil
her where the crowd was thickenins
| in the door of the supper room, max
ing way for Clara through the press
! with that exasperating solicitude Of
his that was half ironic.
The room, hot, polished, faring re
Elections of electric lights from its
! glistening floor, announced itself the
heart of high fastivity, through the
! midst of which their entrance made
an added ripple. The flushed faces
/ of the women under their flowers. un
der their pale-tinted hats, with their
smiling recognitions to Clara, to Flora
to Ella, smiled with sharpened in
| terest. 1t proclaimed that Kerr was
found itself little stale for lack Of
innovations, desirable one.
Apparently the dominant note Of
their party was Elias clamorous Sc
lection for the supper; but to Flora
the more real thing was the atmos
phere of excitement and mystery she
had been moving in all the evening
She was pursued by the obsession oil
| something more about to happen
something imminent though, Of
course. nothing would; at least how
could anything happen mere, to them
And by Them" she meant herself
and these people around her so stupid
ly talking-the eternal repetition o.
the story she had read out that even
ing to Clara, and not one glimmer o.
light She wondered if her obsessior
was all her own-or did it reach Il
one of them? Certainly not Ella; no
Judge Butler, settled into his collar
choosing champagnes. Clara? She
had to skip Clara. One never knew
whether Clara had not more behinC
her smooth prettiness than ever sh,
brought TO light? Kerr? Perhaps
| WIN Hiln oHC icll pOl6ulldlllIcs
enormous. Harry? Never. Harr,
was being appealed to by all the won
en- who could get at him as to his par
in the affair-what had been his sen
sations and emotions? But Flora
knew perfectly well he had had none
He was only oppressed by the atten
ton his fame in the matter, and the
central position of their table, brough
him. Protesting, he made his part al
small as possible.
"Oh, confound 1t. Ii | can't get a
my oystersi" he complained, leaning
back into his group again with {
sigh.
You divide the honors with Ia,
mysterious unknown. eh?" Kerr in
quired across the table.
Hang it, there's no division. II
offer you share.' Harry laughed
| and it occurred to Flora how much