Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1912-03-08

4 BEAUTIFUL YOUNG GIRL SHIELDING
EKR LEFT CHEEK.
passed between Us and the wreck
she had made Of my life. But here.
in q place 80 remote and desolate /
had hesitated to enter it myself.
what was I to think? How was I
to reconcile 80 uncomfortable q fact
with what knew of her in the past.
with what I hoped from her in the
future?
It was evident that some grisly fear.
some staring horror. had met her in
this strange retreat. Simple grief
speaks with a different language from
that which I read in her distorted
features and tottering. slowly creep
ing form. What had happened above?
She had escaped me to run upon
what? My lips refused to ask. my
limbs refused to move. and If
breathed at all I did 50 with such
nerceness Of restraint that her eyes
never turned my way. not even when
she had reached the lowest step and
paused for a moment there. oscillat-
ing in pain or uncertainty. Her face
was turned more fully toward me.
and I had just begun to discern
something In It besides it, tragic
beauty when she made a quick move
and blew out the candle she held.
Then there came a crash. followed
By the sound Of flying feet. She had
flung the candlestick out Of her hand
and was hurriedly crossing tho hall.
I thought she was coming my way
and instinctively drew back against
the wall. But she stopped far short
Of me. and I heard her cropping about,
then give q sudden spring toward
the front door. It opened. and the
wind soughed In. l felt the chill Of
snow upon my face and realized the
tempest Then all was quiet and
dark again. She had slid quickly out,
and the door had swung to behind
her.
Another instant and I heard the
click Of the key a. it turned in the
lock. heard It and made no outcry.
such the spell. such the bewilderment,
Of my faculties! Then ! felt all lesser
emotions give way to an anxiety
which demanded immediate action, for
the girl had gone out without wraps
or covering for her head. and my ex-
perience Of the evening had told me
how cold It was. l must follow and
ind her and rescue her If possible
from the snow.
Throwing myself against the door. I
shook It violently. It was immovable.
Then / few to the windows Their
fastenings yielded readily enough. but
not the windows themselves. One had
. broken cord. another seemed glued
to it, frame, and was still struggling
with the latter when heard a sound
which lifted the hair on my head
and turned my whole attention back
to what lay behind and above me.
There was still some one in the house.
To ind Carmel Cumberland alone in
this desolation was a mystifying dis
covery to which I had found It hard
enough to reconcile myself. But Car
mel here in company with an I'M
known another at the very moment
when had expected the fruition Of
my own joy-ah, that was to open
hell's door in my breast, possibility
too intolerable to remain unsettled
for an instant.
Leaving the window. I CROPPED my
way along the wall until reached
the rack where the mans coat and
hat had hung. Nothing now hung
from the rack. The wall was free
from end to end. She had taken
these articles Of male apparel with
her: she had not gone forth into the
driving snow unprotected. but
I did not know what to think. The
cropping she had done had been in
this direction. She was searching for
this hat and coat "a mans hat, a
derby. as I had been careful to as
sure myself at the first handling). and
in them she had gone home as she
had probably come, and there was no
man In the case, or If there were
The doubt drove me to the staircase.
! began my wary ascent had not
the slightest fear. I was too full Of
cold rage for that.
The arrangement of rooms on the
second floor was well known to me.
I unNrstood every nook and corner
and could find my way about the
whole place without a Light took