The Washington herald., 1912-05-26

ewes fixed uponk the arm Of the river
below, dotted fi0w with brown-Sailed
! fishing boats. Here, after all, was a
simple way out Of the difficulty The
murdered man had no other relatives.
In all probability, no one would ever
] tell the girl. No one would ever claim
the possessions of the dead man, what
soeyer they might be- Then common
sense reasserted itself IN his brains, and
he stihed the instinct which he had so
nearly yielded to,
"She must be told, Mr.. Sarsby,'s he
said. IF You would rather not tell
her yourself, / viii do So"
Mr.. Sarsby shook his head. 1T isn't
that" he said. Il don't mind telling
her. But its the journey to London,
and the excitement, and al that l
hate worry of any sort It's bad for
my health, anyhow"
They stood upon the little quay, and
Deane hesitated IF there is anything
further which | can do" he said, come
out and look me up. In any case, let
me see you before you start for Lon
don"
Mr.. Sarsby wrung his hand. "ft i
very good of you" he declared. i
shall certainly come out before we
startZmost certainly. Il can't imagine
what Ruby win say. Poor girl Poor
grill"
Deane retraced his steps along the
high dyke bank to the marshes which
surrounded his tower. Once or twice
he looked behind, looked toward the
low white front of the cottage which
the girl had pointed out as her abode
Once he f9ncied that he saw something
moving in the garden, and he stood on
the top Of the dyke, gazing with q curl
Gus interest at the slowly moving speck
passing in and out among the trees
Then il vanished He turned and made
his way homeward.
Toward sunset, the heat of the day
seemed suddenly to increase. A curl
ously hot wind sprang up from the
land, black clouds gathered in the sky,
and unusual darkness hung over the
land. The air seemed charged with
electricity. Every moment il seemed
as though the clouds must break and
the storm come. The tide came rolling
in, no longer with faint, insistent rip
pie, but with great powerful waves,
throwing their spray far and wide.
Deane left his dinner more than once
to stand outside on the little knoll and
watch. Every moment he expected to
see the banks of black clouds riven
with lightning, to hear the far-oT NUT
tering across the sea grow nearer and
nearer The whole world seemed TO
be in a state of suspended animation.
The seagulls had ceased their scream
ing. and had taken shelter in some hid
den haunt A little feet of fishing
boats had furled their sails. Not soul
was to be seen upon the marshes.
Deane finished his dinner and sat
by the wide open window, leaning upon
his folded arms, looking out at the
foam-fiecked sea-foam which seemed
to glitter with clear, white phosphor-
escence in the failing light There
were books by his side, but he felt no
inclination to read-cigsrettes and
cigars at his elbow. but he lacked the
enterprise to smoke. There was some
thing almost theatrical. something
breathless, in this pause before the
storm! He himself was in an emo
tional frame of mind. Another page
of this tragic chapter had opened be-
fore him. The coming of this girl was
in itself catastrophe. She would take
possession of the papers belonging TO
the murdered man-would show them,
probably to a lawyer After that, only
the worst could happenl
Then. as he sat there, the profound
silence was suddenly broken. He heard
the crunch of the gravel beneath flying
footsteps. the rustic of a skirt. a little
half-subdued cry! He looked up in
amazement. 1t was Winifred Rowan
who was coming toward him. her hair
disordered, her eyes lit with fear-a