The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1911-07-25
(Continued).
CHAPTER XVII.
The Borderiand, and q Name.


Its an Internal lie," | said duly.
Sure IL Is" Maclean was thor
oughly embarrassed and uncom-
Portable. The way I work II out Is,
there's probably just enough In II
somewhere for Carucci to build on
Maybe Reid did get into some mess or
other way back before he was mar
ried. an Carucci works that In with
what he thinks he knows about the
family now, an dopes out this scan
DIAL in high life business. Or maybe
Fhe don't sslieve IL himself, an jus.
has IL In for the old man. You can't
tell whether it's muck-rakin' or mud
slingin', but it's bound to be partly
both. you see? i only told you so
you'd know what was around. Well,
are you comin'?"
| got my hat mechanically, and
went out with him into the dust and
the heat. The sense of unreality that
had been upon me that early morn
ing In the automobile was returned
now In the breathless afternoon. The
hazy slit OF sky overhead, the stark
light and shadow of the street, had
the tones of q cheap colored photo
graph. The very smell of the air was
like a memory of itself. The roar
and jangle OF the traffic seemed TO
come from a distance through still
ness that listened: and the wall OF a
lhand-organ on the corner somehow
completed and enhanced II all. | had
only had one serious illness In my
life, and that had been long ago; but
III remembered that upon my first ven
turing out OF doors after II, things
had looked so; and / wondered for q
moment whether l were going TO be
| I'll again. But that was nonsense. l
was not person 10 collapse upon the
hearing of bad news; and besides,
1 this news, did not believe. Maclean
had not believed II himself, in telling
II to me. Only, he had so much less
knowledge than 1 OF Its consistency.
Grant for once that Lady was Miriam,
that she was an only daughter-and
they all would have done even as
had seen them doing. So Lady would
have worn her ring, so feared our
growing intimacy, SO felt the burden
OF an abnormality not her own. so
confessed to me the barrier and In ex-
tremity lied about her name, 80 the
family would have shrunk from any
| notice, and striven to rid themselves
OF Carucci and of me. Straight this
way pointed every line Of mystery
since the beginning; here was one
logical motive for all. The explana-
ton fitted every fact; only, / could
not believe II Of the people. A small
cloud covered the sun. and the hot
street turned suddenly gray. A horse
clicked heavily around the corner.
the rumble OF the wheels behind him
suddenly muffied as they struck the
asphalt of the avenue. We were go
ing up the steps OF house, house
closed for the summer with lead-col-
ored board shutters over the lower
windows, and an outer door Of the
same, on which the bright brass disk
OF a spring lock took the place OF
knob. Maclean glanced again up at
the number as he pressed the bell.
admit one gent and phantoms," he
said smiling. Now you put your soul
in safe pocket, an button II In. This
gang, they'd snitch 1t in d second"
A low-voiced man In cutaway
coat opened the door, and We stood
/ for a moment in a dark hallway
smelling of cloth and furniture, while
he and Maclean talked together In Q
half-whisper, suppose explaining my
I presence- Then he opened another
door at the side or the hall, and usher
ed us into the front room, where we
half CROPPED our way to a seat on the
farther side, amid a low rustic Of
whispers. A grayish twilight filter
ed through the bright cracks of the
shutters and between the closed fold
ing doors at the rear. At first, the
contrast with the glare Of the street
made it seem almost absolutely dark;
, and as my eyes gradually became
adapted to the dimness, / remember
ed being shut In the closet when
was a child, and how the pale streaki
from decreasing and keyhole hac
gradually diluted the glom In just the
same way. The recollection was sc
vivid that I half imagined here the
same rustic and STIFFNESS OF hanging
clothes. and the sense of outrage al
/. the shutting out of daylight. Their
! slowly the room formed itself out Of
: darkness into grayness; the white
ceiling, with its moving shadows and
dubious cloth-enfolded chandelier;
the floor and furniture, all shrouded
in summer covers of grayish denim
and the indefinite shade of the walls