Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1911-01-21
Continued From Yesterday

tCOnttnued From Yesterday
Swiftly he dashed to his trunk, knelt
and examined the lock, unscrewed It.
and took out the documents more pre-
cious to him than the treasures of a
hundred Captain Kids. Instantly, he
returned to the window. Nothing was
missing. But here was something he
had never noticed before. On the face
of the slip of ~parchment-a diagram,
dim and ~faded-was an oily thumb
mark. The oil from the lock; nothing
more; doubtless he himself had touched
It. How many times had he found an
unknown ouch among his few belong
ings2 How often had he smiled? Still,
to quell all rising doubts, he rubbed his
right thumb on the lock and made a
second impression. The daylight was
now insufficient, so he turned on the
electricity, and compared them. Slowly,
the scars deepened till they were the
tint of cedar. Deaths head itself could
not have fascinated him more than rhe
dissimilarity of these two thumb-prints.
He said nothing, but a queer little
%strangling sound came through his lips.
Who? Where? His heart beat so
violently that the veins in his throat
swelled and threatened t burst. But
he was no weakling. He summoned all
his will. He must act, and act at once,
Immediately. Fitzgerald? No, not that
clever, idling fool. But who, who? He
replaced the papers and the lock. A
hidden menace. Question as he would
there was mover any answer.
He practised the pleasant deceit that
the first mark had been there when the
diagram had been given to him. 1t
was not possible that anyone had dis
covered his hiding-place. Had he not
with his own hands contrived il, alone
and without aid, under that accursed
mansard roof? Not one of his CO.
adventures knew: they had advanced
him funds on his word. His other doc
uments they had seen; these had suf-
feed them. Still, back IT came, with
deadly inslstence; someone was digging
at the bricks in the chimney. The
drama was beginning to move. Had he
waited too long?
Mechanically he proceeded to dress
for dinner. Since he was to sit at the
family table he must fit his dress and
manner to the hour. He did not re-
sist the sardonic smile as he put on
his fresh patent feathers and his new
dinner coat. He recalled ~F1tzgerald's
h-alf-concealed glances Of pity the last
time they had dined together.
In the room across the corridor FItz-
gerald was busy with a similar occupa-
ton. The only real worry he had was
the doubt of his luggage arriving be-
fore he left. He had neither ennis
clothes nor riding-habit. n these two
pastimes were here among the regular
events OF the day. The admiral both
played and rode with his daughter.
She was altogether too charming. Had
she been an ordinary society girl he
would have stayed his welcome thread
bare perhaps. But, he repeated, she
was not ordinary. She had evidently
been brought up with few illusions.
These she possessed would always be
hers.
The world, in a kindly but mistaken
spirits, fosters all sorts of beliefs in the
head Of a child. True, il makes child
hood happy, but 1t leaves its skin
tender. The moment a girl covers her
slippers with her skirts and winds her
hair about the top of her curious young
head things begin to jar. The men are
not what she dreamed them TO be,
there never was such a person as
Prince Charming, and the women en-
brace her--if she is pretty and grace
fuI-with arms bristling with needles
of envy and malice, n the rosal tint
that she saw in the approach Is moth
ing more or less han jaundice, and,
one day disheartened and bewildered,
she learns that the worl Is only a
tumble Of futile. ill-made things. The
admiral had weeded out most of these
illusions at the start.
80 much for suppositions and
analysis" painted Fitzgerald, reknotting
Arctic; cold, but safe. 1 have never
fallen in love. / have enjoyed the So
ciety OF many women, and to some I've
been silly enough to write. but I have
never been maudlin. I'm no fool. This
is the place where it would be most
likely to happen. Let US beat an order
ly retreat. What the devil ails my
fingers tonight? NH! There. will you
stay tied as / want you? She has trav-
eled, she has studied, she is at home
with grand dukes In Nice. and scrib-
blers in q country village. She is wise
without being solemn. She has cour-
age, too, or ! should not be here on a
mere fluke. Now, my boy, you have
given yourself due notice. Take carei"
He slipped his coatiover his should
ers-and passably sturdy ones they
were-and took "A final look into the
glass. Not for vanity's sake; some
times a mans tie will show above the
collar Of his coat,
HIN I'll wager the trout are rising