The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1911-08-03
THAT AFFAIR AT
TT TZARETH By Burton E. Stevenson,
Etc
New York; 4 o-1sy.
New York-Henry Holt & co.-lsc7
CHAPTER VII--(Continued)

| "Or, at least" l persisted, pressing
my advantage, III You know why your
daughter fed. you might yourself tell
| Mr.. Curtiss-"
| Again she stopped me.
| The secret is not mine" sne said
| hoarsely.
Whose is It? Who has the right to
tell?'
| NO one!"
And you will let 1t wreck two lives %
| crossed her face. She must yield; a
moment more, and I should know the
| secret!
"Tomorrow-give me till tomorrow!
| she cried. Perhaps you're right
| must think-I cannot decide now--in-
| stantly. There are so many things 70
| considerable dead as we'll as the liv-
| ing"
Very WELL" I agreed. Il will call
| tomorrow morning"
AT 11-not before"
Tomorrow at IL, then. And hope
you'll decide, Mrs. Lawrence, to help
me all you can. The living come be-
fore the dead"
She bowed without replying. and see
ing how deadly white she was,
checked the words which rose to my
lips and let myself out into the hall.
The maid was standing just outside
the door. l wondered how much she
had heard OF what had passed with
In.
lone moment" I said. as she start
ed for the stairway, and l stepped
again into Miss Lawrence's room
1t had grown too dark there to see
anything distinctly, for this room was
not flooded, as her mothers had been,
by the last rays Of the sun, but in a
moment l switched on the light, The
maid stared from the threshold, her
face dark with anger lint not la rin q
to interfere.
This is the dressing table, isn't it?'
i asked, walking toward il.
yes. sir she answered sullenly.
1T was here YOU found the letter."
yes, sir
You persist in that farce" / de-
manded. wheeling round upon her.
She did not answer, only sta ca Dack
without iiinchins. l realized that here
was q Will not easily overcome.
Very Well" | said quietly at last,
II shall get along then in spite OF YOU,
and | returned To my inspection OF the
room.
There WAS a writing desk in one cor
ner with pens, ink and paper. l picked
up sheet of paper and looked at it:
i dipped pen IN the ink and wrote
few words upon it; then l blotted it,
folded it and placed it IL ms pocket
Now we can 60" | said. and
switched off the light.
She led the way down the stairs with
out replying.
My hat is in the library" I said
as we reached the FOOT, and l turned
down the lower hall
The library was even darker than the
room upstairs bad been, for the trees
around The house seemed to shadow
especially the windows Of this wing
noted how the windows extended TO the
| floor and opened upon little balcony.
One of the windows was open, and I
went to ii and looked out A flight Of
steps connected one end of the bal
cony with the ground, and ! fancied
from the steps | could discern a faint
pathway running away among the
trees.
A convulsive sob nj the door brought
me around. 1t was The maid. who had
entered and was claring at me with a
face to which the growing darkness
gave an added responsiveness. The sob,
which had more OF anger than Of Sor-
row in It, had burst from her involun-
tarily, called forth. no doubt, by her
inability 10 hinder me in my investiga-
tons, to show me the door, to kick me
out. l could see her growing hatred
OF me in her eyes, in the grip of the
hands she pressed against her bosom;
and certain reciprocal anger arose
within me.
Here is a handkerchief OF your mis-
tress.' / said, plunging my hand into
my pocket and drawing forth the
square of lace please return il to
her wardrobe. It's valuable" | added,
with a sudden burst OF inspirations "es-
pecially SO, since it's her bridal hand
kerchief."
The shot told. She took the hand
kerchief with hand that shook con-
vulsively, and / determined to risk a
second guess.
"She left it here ] said she left
1t here when she went out by yonder
window and ran through the grove.
Shall l tell you where she went? But
you know"
II do not!" burst from her IT'S a
lie!"
You know" I repeated remorseless-
ly. You followed her there. 1t was
there she wrote that note which YOU
brought back with you and which you
found on her dresser"
mo, no. The words were two sobs
rather than two articulate sounds
Don't lie to me! IL the note was
written here, why did she used a writ
ing paper different from her own?
You're playing with fire! Take care
that it doesn't burn you!"
But l had touched the wrong note.
Burn mel" she cried. You think
you can frighten me! Well, you can't.
I'm not that kind"
And indeed as l looked at her, saw
that she spoke the truth.
Very WELL" l said do as you think
best. I've warned YOU" and without
waiting for her to answer, / passed
before her down the hall, not without
the thought that she might plunge a
knife into my back--she was certainly
that kind! I opened the door myself
aad closed it behind me, then started
down the walk. But in a moment. 7
lodged aside among the trees and hast
ened around the house. was determ-
!ned to follow that path which started
from the library balcony-I must see
whittier IL led
CHAPTER VIII