The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1912-12-04
what no, Sir Philipf We are well


nett"
And then she told me that her Uncle
Robert had telephoned for me, leav.
ing message with my man, bidding
me come TO him at my earliest leisure.
why not come for dinneri" she add
ed; and her eyes gave accent to her
words.
"But your" Querisd: for her car
was headed In the opposite direction.
l am going alone to Norton. have
a hamper In the tonneau for that poor
OMallcy family. I shall be back In
time. We dine at half-past seven. you
know. You'll conner
"Of course I'll come" I answered
her. think she must have heard
more In my voice than the simple
words, for her lids dropped. for Just
breath, and the color famed sudden
below her lowered lashes.
But. after all. I saw very little of
her that evening. It IL true that she
sat on my right at table. piQuantly,
youthfully beautiful In tho softly tint.
ed light which filtered through tho
pink and silver nligree candleshades,
but the atmosphere Of the dinner was
tinged by . vague. unreasoning con.
straint a. from some ominously brood
Ing yet undennabls influence which
overhung the three Of us. And when
tho coffee and liQusurs were served,
employing some slender pretext for
her going. she bade u goodnight. and
LETT Us, not TO return.
In justice to Cameron. I must add
that he appeared least affected by
and certainly In no wise responsible
for-the pervading infestivity. He had
been. indeed. rather less demure than
was often his wont. chatting with al
most gayety concerning Evelyns new
role Of Lady Bountiful and Of her
Noroton benenciaries. As for the sub
1ect upon which he desired to consult
me, 1t had not been so much as men,
toned; 30 in looking back. 1t seems
impossible that matters of which
neither Evelyn nor I was at the time
Informed could have exerted an effect,
save through Cameron's undetected,
subconscious inducement.
Even after his niece had With
drawn. Cameron continued for a time
to discuss with me topics of general
and public, rather than personal, i'm
port. He spoke, remember of q
series OF articles on "The Commercial
Resources Of the United States" the
publication Of which had just begun
In The Week, Of which am owner
and editor; and though fancied at
first that II might be In this connec-
ton he wished to consult me, very
soon discerned that he was merely
using q statement contained therein
as . text for certain views OF his own
on the conservation and development
OF the country's timber supply.
/ go thus into what may seem un.
interesting detail. partly that may
give a hint as to the character OF
Cameron's mind, but moro especially
to indicate how lightly he would have
had me think he regarded that for
which he sought re.
Meanwhile my curiosity grew keen
r. 1t was natural. suppose. that I
should fancy Evelyn involved in some
way. In fact then attributed the de.
preston during dinner to her knowl.
edge OF what her uncle and guardian
purposed to say to me. Likewise I
found In this conception the reason
for her sudden and unusual desertion.
Hitherto when had dined here Eve
lyn had remained with us while We
smoked our cigarettes. leading us at
length to the music room, where for
q glad half-hour the rich melody Of
her youthful sweet contralto voice
mingled In pleasing harmony with her
own piano accompaniment.
And while I veinly made effort to
imagine wherein / might have laid my
self open to the disapproval OF this
most punctilious Of guardians-for I
expected nothing less than q studious-
ly polite reference to some shortcom-
Ing OF which had been unwittingly
guilty. momentarily lost track Of
my hosts discourse. Emerging from
my abstraction 1t was with a measure
OF relief that ] heard him saying
IL think you told me once, Clyde,
that you rather prided yourself on
your ability to get line on ones
character from his handwriting.
That's why I telephoned for you this
afternoon. have received an anony.
nous letter"
There was an all too apparent as
sumption Of nonchalance In his man.
ner OF expression to deceive even the
least observant. Of which I am not
one. The effect was to augment the
seriousness Of the revelation. I saw
at once that he was more disquieted
than he would have me know.
He was leaning forward, little
constrainedly, his left hand srippinp