Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1912-12-26
21X7
HORACE
HAZELTINE

ourselves, and by friends Whom we
can trust absolutely. | can take no
risk OF this horrid thing getting into
the newspapers. Besides" he added,
with a kindly, considerative smile,
Evelyn must be kept in ignorance.
Not for worlds would have her trou-
bled by our perplexing enigma
My suggestion that he should 20
abroad for time, or AZ least spend a
few weeks al Newport. was met with
similar obstinate refusal.
Il admit that have been somewhat
upset by this extraordinary combina-
ton" was the way he expressed IT,,
but | am not a coward. ] am not 60
ing TO run. Even II | were inclined to
do so, what should | gain? II 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, returned TO
bn,,,p nd n, I aarrfaH tho
thought with me.
The sowing Of this seed in the sub
conscious garden of my mind brought
forth fruit after its kind. 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 a 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 | now regarded as
most needlessly alarmed, TO my own
! wholesome way Of thinking.
Directly after breakfast, therefore.
set forth on foot for my neighbor's
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. Ny own house, which
is fashioned in semblance of a Pom
peiian villa, it's 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 STAN
ford Harbor and the blue waters o.
the Sound, to where on clear days the
pencilled outline Of Eaton's Necl
shows purple in the distance. There
are no towering, outrageous trees u
interrupt the outlook; only low, care
fully-trimmed shrubs, adjoining
series of marble sculpture-dotted ter
races. well below the line Of vision
But the Cameron place, rejecting tn
, Townsbury penchant for arboriculture
Is quite the reverse. The prospec
from the windows and verandahs 0
, the fine old mansion is all green vista
and leafy perspectiyes, with only
, CLINT Of sun-sparkled waves, chance
caught between gray boles or whel
the wind spreads momentary opeI
ing in the foliage.
My way 10 Cameron's led through
: veritable forest of such luxuriant leaf
y age that the path more than half III
time was in twilight, while TO RICH
q and left the shadows deepened int
dark in the cloistral recesses Of tn
4 woodland heart. The silence was pro
=. found. No yoic-of bird nor scurryin
p foot Of squirrel invaded the mornin
! hush Of those Famous depths. My ow
, footsteps on the soft turf returned u
:. sound.
o A half-mile or more had walked (
this mute greenwood peace, whe
Y sharp and clear there echoed throug
the verdurous aisles the crack OF
4 rife, and / came 10 a sudden, inyolul
e tary halt.
t. Then it occurred TO me that It was th
C third day of the open season for ra
/, birds, and that It was the report Of
y shotgun ] had heard, fired by som
+ sportsman, off on the shore, there,
y my right And so / resuu ed my traml
!. with ears keen for a repetition. A
y most Immediately was rewarded, an
/, then ! knew that it was 10 rail biz
d gunner, for the shot was unmistakabl
rife shot and It was fired IN II
It depth Of the wood, to the left of me
n Three times more / heard II, in fai
l. ~ rapid succession, and sounding a
0 ways from about the same direction
e cannot say that it gave me any nj
easiness, but it perIleXed me In mil
!. way, arousing a passing curiosity 2
r 10 its object. And then, l came OF
e upon the wellkept gravelled dri'
y which circles the clDse-cropped, We
J. yety Cameron lawn, and catchir