Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1910-08-22

before you can get back she said.
stand I'd better stay here and get II
ready. that is, unless can help you"
So he set of alone.
For awhile the occupation of setting
their dieordered living-room to rights
and getting the supper started were
sufficient to take the whole of the girls
attention. But later. when 1t was q
question merely Of waiting for the pot
to boil. and of not watchingeit so thai
| 1t would boil sooner. she moved rest
lessly to the door and stood there, be
fore the hut. gazing down the beach IL
the direction Cayley had taken. He wal
already out of sight around the head
land.
The gorgeous riot Of color in cloud
and ice vapor. which marked the end
of the day, had already set In. But
this time, perhaps because she was
alone. 1t was not the beauty. but the
terror of It that impressed the girl
the heartless cruelty of 1t.
For one moment the thought of q
certain little hill-sheltered meadow,
with a sleepy brook meandering across
1t and the shade of gnarled oaks dottine
its sunny, golden green with patches
of deep shadow. of sleek. well-fed cat
tie and a grassy little lane. which one
got into by means of stile, coming
before her all at once, distinct IN all its
minute, homely detail, gave her mind g
sudden wrench that was almost In
tolerable.
She wished she had gone with Philip
and she gazed with straining eyes to-
ward the narrow bit of slanting beach
around the base of the headland which
was the place where he must appear,
He was not to be expected yet, not for
a long time probably, for his progress
dragging those great sticks he had sci
out to bring home. must be slow.
And then, even as she looked, she
saw him, not moving slowly with his
burden, but running-running at his
topmost speed. like a man in fear OF
something.
Instinctively she moved forward te
meet him, and this move Of hers en-
abled him to see her. He slackened his
pace instantly. and waved her back to-
| ward the hut. She obeyed that imper-
ative gesture of his. without hesitation
but still remained in the doorway
watching him as he rapidly drew
nearer.
When he had got near enough sc
that she could see his face and read
more or less. what she saw there, she
again moved forward to meet, him. ant
this time he did not wave her back
When he came within arms reach o.
her. he caught her and held her tight
in his two hands.
What is it. Philip" she asked
searching the depth of his eyes and
trying to plumb the horror she saw II
them. What happened out there9'
"Nothing-happened But saw
something there that made me anxiou;
for your safety. It's all righi
now you're safe Nothing has hap.
pened here. has there, while have
been gomez
Nothing. What could have hap.
pened. Philip 1t can't be anything
that you're afraid to tell me- she weni
on. for he had not answered her. s'Thert
can't be anything you'd be afraid Il
tell me now-not after yesterday"
"Oh, no: it's not so bad as that. but
l saw that had been wrong to leave
YOU. even for that little while. Yot
see the sight of the place brought bacl
to my mind what you had told me yes.
terday Of the terror YOU had felt there
and Of the thing that you saw in ths
twilight. And SO l looked about, and
Jeanne. 1t was no haseless terror, nS
product of the twilight and the fac
that you were far from home. There
was something there slipping along
- 4. =
that Of another. I found the tracks II
the snow. They weren't more than ter
PAGES away from you when cam,
down out of the sky"
WAS it the bear2" she asked THAI
was what you thought It might have
been, at the time" But he could see ir
her eyes that this was not the answer
she expected,
He shook his head: that told hei
enough.