The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1911-07-19

house had been round lying on q tabI'
| In the side hall OF the Cumberland
unreasonable keys which have al
ready mentioned as missing from my
pocket--an alarming discovery which
might have acted as n clew TO the sus
picious feared II their presence there
had not been explained by the walt
rcss who had cleared the table after
dinner. Coming upon these keys lying
OH the floor beside one Of the chairs
she had carried them out into the hall
and laid them where they would be
more readily seen. She had not rec
ognizcd the keys. but had taken 1t for
granted that they belonged to Mr.
Ranelagh. who had dined at the house
that night.
They we're my keys. and have al
ready related how | came to drop them
ON the floor. Had they but stayed
there! Adelaide. or was It Carmel.
might not have seen them and been
led by some strange II not tragic pur-
pose. incomprehensible 10 us now and
possibly never to find full explanation,
to enter the secret and forsaken spot
where / later found them. the one
dead the other fleeing In frenzy. but
not In such thoughtless frenzy as to
forget these keys or to fail to lock the
clubhouse door behind her. That she
on her return home should have had
sufficient presence of mind to toss these
keys down In the same place from
which she or her sister had taken
them argued well for her clear head
edness up to that moment. The fever
must have come Oh later.
The next paragraph detailed a fact
startling enough to rouse my deepest
interest. Zadok Brown. the Cumber-
lands coachman. declared that Ar
thurs cutter and what he called the
gray mare had been out that night.
They We're both in place when he re-
turned to the stable toward early
morning. but the signs were unmistak-
able that both had been out in the
snow since he left the stable at about
g. He had locked the stable door
at that time. but the key always hung
in the kitchen where any one could
get 1t. This was on account Of Ar
thur, who. II he wanted TO go out
late. sometimes harnessed a horse
himself Zadok judged that he had
done so this night. though how the
horse happened to be back and in her
stall and no Mr.. Arthur in the house
It would take wiser heads than his to
explain.
There was some comment made on
this because Arthur had denied using
his cutter that night. He declared in
stead that he had gone out on foot
and designated the coachmaI's tale
as all bosh.
AS for myself. felt inclined to be-
lieve that the mare had been out. that
one or both of the women had har.
messed her and that II was By these
means they had reached the Whisper
ing Pines. Adelaide was FAR from
strong and never addicted to walking
under the most favorable conditions
] could understand now how Carmel
had succeeded In returning in safety
to her home She had ridden both
ways-a theory which likewise explain.
ed how she came to wear mans
derby and possibly mans overcoat.
With her skirts covered by bearskin
she would present a very fair figure of
q man TO any one who CHANGED TO pass
her.
LODI Ira
from my own knowledge. Would 9th
ers who had not my knowledge be in
any wise Influenced to draw the same?
Yet. If they let this point slip. where
should I be? Human nature is human
all the way through, and 1 could not
help having moments when / asked
myself If this young girl were worth
the sacrifice | contemplated making
for her. She was lovely to look at,
amiable and Of womanly promise save
at those rare and poignant moments
when passion would seize her in a gust
which drove everything before 1t. That
she had had provocation l did not
doubt. Adelaide. for all her virtues
was not an easy person to deal with.
Upright and perfectly sincere herself.
she had no sympathy with or COM
for any lack of principle
or any display of selfishness in others.
She was little cold. little reserved.
a little lacking in spontaneity. though
always correct and always generous
In her gifts and often in her acts.