The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-07-27

his udI SOl SLidShcu, In
it wasn't his head
l got out and tried to force my way
through the crowd toward the red
car. Now was my opportunity TO
force Starr to explain.
Fare" called my driver, evident
ly fearing to lose sight of me.
tossed him a bill. whether more
or less than the allotted toll I did
not stop to inquire, and plunged
ahead desperately, for the red car
now showed symptoms of motion. AS
my hand touched the door the wheels
began to turn, and IS l wrenched 1t
open and sprang inside the machine
was running swiftly and easily. New
| crthelcss, ! landed on my knees, with
hardly enough presence Of mind re-
naming to close the door after me.
| expected to hear EXPLANATIONS,
and perhaps a stifled scream from the
white feather. Judge, then, of my
surprise when, the silence remaining
u%nbroken, I scrambled to my feet and
found myself alone in the tonneau.
Where l was going l did not, OF
course, know. and my first inclination
was to call to the chauffeur to stop
and let me out. Second thoughts,
however, convinced me that this
would be an unwise proceeding for
many reasons, so I made myself COM
Portable and tried to plan a plausible
excuse in case l was discovered when
the car stopped.
Something white on the leather
seat caught my eye, and / lifted it
%curiously. 1t proved to be a hand
kerchief. fine Of texture, and deli
cately scented. One corner was
knotted and seemed to contain some
thing hard. I united the knot, and
the light of an arc lamp in the street
showed me that I held in my hand a
plain gold ring, new and shining, and
much like the circlet l had so proud
ly placed on Nancy's finger the pre-
vious night.
But with a difference. The ring
I held was bent and almost shapeless,
as though crushed intentionally
rather than the result of accident. /
examined the handkerchief, but it
had no mark except the letter M
embroidered in the corner.
When 1 had seen this much the
motor stopped. There vas a DELHI
Grafton about this pause that seemed
TO indicate we had reached our desti-
nation, and it appeared to me advis-
able to make q silent and speedy
exit, as explanations we're inevitable
if l should be discovered, and dis
covery was more than probable under
any circumstances.
The chauffeur, however, did not
even turn his head as I alighted, and
had apparently received full instruc-
tons beforehand as to what was ex-
pected of him, for he simply went
away without looking to the right or
the left. or being any the wiser re-
garding his change of passengers.
/ looked about and tried to get my
bearings. It was surprising to dis
cover that I had been deposited at a
railway station, and ! will confess
that I felt a decided inclination to
board the first train for New York;
but the thought of Nancy restrained
me. ! went, however, into the gen.
eral waiting-room and sat down to
collect my thoughts and decide what
next.
The usual throng of travellers
streamed through the station and l
watched them idly, wishing in a
vague kind of way that Nancy and I
were among them, starting on a per-
fectly orthodox honeymoon, with no
complications to annoy us, and no one
to be interested in our movements
except ourselves. Was it possible, l
wondered. that only three days had
elapsed since l went out into the
night to meet Nancy on the street
corner? I felt that in that space of
time ] had lived tremendously, and l
also felt that perhaps elopements
were unWise when a little patient
waiting might have Strengthened
things out for us matrimonially after
all.
But in that instant l forgot to o
alize-forgot everything, in fact, save
that at the other end of the room l
saw a face l knew. Not Starr indeed,
Of whom ! was in search, but Fer
guesson, whom / had thought to be
at the theatre with the unknown
lady.
CHAPTER NJ.
it was Ferguesson-yes, even
though he had a harassed look quite
unnatural to that happy-go-lucky per-
son, and carried in his hand a huge