Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1910-11-16

table by her bed. The shade was yell
low, and that contended with the
blue of the sapphire. but c. aldn't
break its light. With the first flash
OF its splendor in her face she felt
certainty threatening her. She shook
the ring quickly of her finger and it
fell with a light chatter on the tables
/ marble top-fell with the sapphire
face down. and all its light hidd, /.
She took it UP again a little fearfully.
as If il might have got some harm;
and again while she looked at 1t It
seemed to her that nothing that hap
pened about this Jewel could be too
| extraordinary. If only it had been
less wonderful, less beautiful. she
would not have felt so terribly afraid
She put It back on the table and for
a moment held her hand over it, as
| If she imprisoned living thing.
Then, without looking again. she
| got out of bed and went to the win
dow. II overlooked the dark steep of
the garden, the moving trees and the
| lighter plane of the water She
| leaned out, far out. Black housetops
marched against the bay, and be
tween them, light by light. her eyes
followed the street lamps down to the
! shore.
| Oh. to escape out of this window
into the innocent, sleeping city, away
| from the horror at her back! To look
| in from the outside and be even sure
there was a horrorl And il there was,
| to run away into the wide soft dark!
But there was another way to be
rid of It. The real IDEA occurred to
her. How easy 1t would he to take It
that beautiful thing-and throw 1t;
throw 1t as hard as she could, and
let the night take care of II. The win
dow was open, as If it stood ready,
and there was the ring on the table.
She went to it. looked at II a moment
without touching it, holding Ter hands
away.
Then with little SILVER she backed
away from 1t and sat down on the
foot of the bed. She looked pale and
little, as If the eye of the ring. bla-
zing under the feeble lamp. like the
youth. She Rugged her arms around
her updrawn knees, and resting her
| chin upon them eyed the sapphire
bravely.
81 suppose you know / can't throw
you away" she murmured, land yet
can't keep you!" She pondered, chin
in hand. To take II to Harry! That
seemed the natural thing to do-the
simplest way TO be rid of it. She hes
itated.
IF l only knew! If l only were
sure!" She locked her fingers closer,
staring hard. If it had been the whole
Crew Idol, the undismembered god
himself. then there would have been
less terror, and one plain thing to do
She looked hard at the sapphire set
ting, as if she hoped to discover upon
its brilliance some tell-tale trace of
old soft gold; but there was only one
great, CLASSY, polished eye, and out of
what head it had come. whether from
the forehead of the Crew Idol, or from
that of some unheralded deity, who
was there who could tell her?
She tried to summon coherent
thought, but again 1t was only flash
out OF the darkness.
"Kerr! Why, he knows more than
l." She looked at this stupidity for
moment as if it were too large to take
in at once. OF course he must have
known! Why hadn't she thought of
that before?
WHAT series of circumstances might
have led up to Kerr's knowledge she
could not dream He was one of whom
nothing was incredible From the
first moment his face had shot into
the light, from the moment she had
heard his voice, like color In the level
voices around him, she had been be-
wildered by his variety.
And where, she asked herself in a
summing up. might such a man not
be found? But there were few places.
indeed. in even the broadcast plain Of
possibility. which could hold knowl-
edge of so particular and piercing a
quality as his look had implied. There
had been so much more than curiosity
or surprise in it. She could hardly
face the memory of it, so cruelty il
mad struck her. There was no doubt
in her mind that Kerr had seen the
ring. Somewhere in the pageant of
his experience he had met it, known
it--but what he wanted of it
She broke off that thought, and
looked long at the little flame Of the
lamp. 1t was strange, but there was
no doubt in her mind but that he
wanted il. That had been the strong
est thing in his look She felt herself
picking her way along a very narrow
path, one step over either edge OF
which would plunge her chasns deep
Now she snatched at frail sapling TO
save herself The fact that Kerr
knew her stone didn't prove 1t belong
ed TO the Crew Idol And If IL didn't
If It wasn't the crown Of the heath
en- god. then her whole dreadful sup
position fell to pieces But she hadn't
proved it and the simplest way was
just to ask Kerr Her chance for that
was the chance he had fought so hard
for, the chance Of their meeting the
next day.
II seemed it should be simple, It
question; but she was possessed by
the apprehension that It would be
neither Would the question she had
to ask be safe thing to give him ?
And II she dared undertake it and
should be overpowered after all--then
everything yrc41fd 30 IoHf