The Kenna record. (Kenna, Roosevelt County, N.M.) 190?-1924, 1912-11-29

the month as the first, and was a mere
Continuation of the original threEt.
But my contention lacked the intrinsic
strength which carries conviction,
end, as Cameron put It, we could only
watch and watt" for the communi-
cations offered no alternative They
made no demand which being COM
piled with would avert penalty. Only
implacable and inevitable retribution,
calm, patient, and determined, effused
from every line.
But, in spite of Cameron's evident
anxiety-and in using that term am
very mildly stating his obvious condi-
ton Of mind-he sternly refused to
consult either the police or the private
detectives
you may not know" he explained.
that l am largely interested in GER
tain line of industrial enterprises, the
shares Of which are listed on the New
York Stock Exchange. Should the pub
lie become aware that my life is
threatened, very serious consequences
might ensue in the market. No, Clyde,
whatever is done, must be done by
ourselves, and by friends whom we
can trust absolutely. l can take no
risk Of this horrid thing getting into
the newspapers. Besides" he added,
with kindly, considerative smile,
Evelyn must be kept in ignorance.
Not for worlds would l have her trou-
bled by our perplexing enigma"
My suggestion that he should go
abroad for a time, or at least spend
few weeks at Newport, was met with
similar obstinate refusal
81 admit that have been somewhat
upset by this extraordinary combina-
tion," was the way he expressed it,
but am not a coward. l am not 60
ing to run. Even If l were inclined to
do so, what should gain? If man
be not safe in his own house, where in
Heavens name is he likely to find
safety?"
Quite naturally was led by this ex
preston to inquire whether, per-
chance, he mistrusted any of the many
persons who were employed in the
house and about the estate. But, some
what to my surprise, he was almost
gravely offended by the mere sugges.
ton. Nevertheless there were several
features of the affair, chief Of them
the manner in which the letters were
received, which caused me to dwell
with some mental persistence on this
as the most profitable ground for spec
ulation. And when at length, in the
mornings small hours, l returned to
my home and to my bed, 1 carried the
thought with me.
The sowing of this seed in the sub
conscious garden of my mind brought
forth fruit after it's kind. l awoke
with a perfectly clear understanding
of how that which, the night before,
had seemed so impossible of accom-
plishment was, perhaps, after all,
merely harlequin trick, quite simple
when explained.
With the new day, too, and the
sunlight, and the CHEEKY brightness of
my own rooms, there came lifting of
that oppressive atmosphere of the ESQ
teric which at Cameron's had set my
nerves out of plumb and my reason
on the bias. Indeed was fully con-
WINGED that we had been foolishly con-
structing an Alpine chain out of mis-,
cradle little row of mole hills, and
determined to lose no time in bringing
Cameron, whom l now regarded as
most needlessly alarmed, to my own
wholesome way of thinking.
Directly after breakfast, therefore,
set forth on foot for my neighbours,
choosing the shore road as the more
direct of the two routes.
Personally, my taste in landscape is
for distant view in preference to near
at-hand foliage. My own house, which
is fashioned in semblance of a Pom
peiian villa, its cream-white walls
punctuated with shutters of a some
what vivid pea-green and crowned by
gently sloping roofs of the same
bright color, gazes out across SIAM
ford Harbor and the blue waters Of
the Sound, to where on clear days the
pencilled outline of Eaton's Neck
shows purple in the distance. There
are no towering, outrageous trees to
interrupt the outlook; only low, care
fully-trimmed shrubs, adorning a
series of marble sculpture-dotted ter
races, well below the line of vision.
But the Cameron place, rejecting the
Townsbury penchant forarboriculture,
is quite the reverse. The prospect
from the windows and verandahs Of
the fine old mansion is all green vistas
and leafy perspectives, with only a
CLINT of sun-sparkled waves, chance
caught between gray boles or when
the wind spreads a momentary open
ing in the foliage.
My way to Cameron's led through a
veritable forest of such luxuriant leaf