, 1910-11-24

III III bittih6 hoobh lax Oo hC6Io
turned with quiet dignity to Halsey.
You bettah sit down, sah," he
said. Its a place for a woman, sab"
Things we're not turning u the
way Halsey expected. He sat down
on the comfortable, with his hands
thrust In his pockets, and watched
me as / followed Thomas up the mar
row stairs. At the top a woman was
standing. and a second glance showed
me it was Rosie. She shrank back a
little, but / said nothing. And then
Thomas motioned to a partly open
door, and l wen in.
The lodge boosted of three bed
rooms upstairs, all comfortably fur
nished. In this one, the largest and
ARREST, a night lamp was burning, and
by its light / could make out a plain
white metal bed. A girl was asleep
Thereon in a half stupor, for she
muttered something now and then.
Rosie had taken her courage in her
hands, and coming in had turned up
the light. 1t was only then that
knew. Fever-lushed, i'll as she was,
1 recognized Louise Armstrong.
will you tell me what you mean,
obiu SohAoohs W hob mn hle
this b~efore?" / demanded Indignantly.
Thomas quailed.
mis- Louise wouldn't let me-" he
said earnestly. II wanted to. She
ought to "a had a doctor the night she
came, but she wouldn' heal to it. Is
she very bad. Mis- Innes?v
Bad enough" l said coldly. Send
Mr.. Innes up"
Halsey came up the stairs slowly,
looking rather interested and inclined
to be amused For a m he could
not see anything distinctly in the
darkened room; he stopped, glanced
at Rosie and at me, and hen his eyes
fell on the restless head on the Pill
low. I think he felt who 1t was before
he really saw her; he crossed the
room in a couple of strides and bent
over the bed.
"Louise!" he said softly; but she
did not reply, and her eyes showed nc
Illness was new to him. He straight
ened himself slowly, still watching
her, and caught m arm.
She's dying, Aunt RAY" he said
huskily. Dying! Why. she doesn't
know mel"
"Fudge!" / snapped, being apt to
grow irritable when my sympathfes
are aroused. She's doing nothing of
the sort-and don't pinch my arm. If
you want something to do. go and
choke Thomas"
But at that moment Louise reused
from her stupor to cough, and at the
end Of the paroxysm, as Rosie laid her
back. exhausted, she knew us. That
was all Halsey wanted; to him con-
seriousness was recovery. He dropped
on his knees beside the bed, and tried
to tell her she was all right, and we
would bring her round in a hurry,
and how beautiful she looked-only to
break down utterly and have to
stop. And at that l came to my
senses. and put him out.
This Instant" I ordered, as he hes
Itated. 'And send Rosie here"
When the doctor from Englewood-
the Casanova doctor, DR.. Walker, be-
ing away-had started for ~Sunnyside,
and I had got Thomas to stop trying
to explain what he did not understand
himself, l had a long talk with the
old man, and this is what 1 learned.
On Saturday evening before, about
ten o'clock, he had been reading in
the sitting room downstairs, when
some one raped at the o The old
man was alone, Warner not having
arrived. and at first he was uncertain
about opening the door. He did SO
finally. and was amazed at being con.
fronted by Louise Armstrong. Thomas
was an old family servant, having
been with the present Mrs. Armstrong
since she was a child, and he was
overwhelmed at seeing Louise. He
saw that she was excited and tired,
and he drew her into the sitting room
and made her sit down. After a while
he went to the house and brought
Mrs. Watson, and they talked until
late. The old a said Louise was In
trouble, and seemed frightened. Mrs.
Watson made some tea and o. it to
the lodge. hut Louise made them both
promise to keep her presence a secret.
She had not known that Sunnyside
was rented, and whatever her trouble
was. this complicated things. She
seemed puzzled. Her stepfather and
her mother were still in California
that was all she would say about
them. Why she had run away no one
could imagine. Mr.. Arnold Armstrong
was at the Greenwood club, and at last
Thomas. not knowing what else to do,
went over there along the path. 1t
was almost midnight. Part way over
he met Armstrong himself and
brought him to the lodge. Mrs. Wat
son had gone to the house for some
bed linen. 1t having been arranged
that under the circumstances Louise
would be better at the lodge until
morning. Arnold Armstrong and
Louise had a long conference. during
which h. una haard In aform and he