The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1912-06-07

her spirit, through her eyes, an
swered his In q fash. Then cooling.
she looked him over from crown to
tie, weighing him deliberately In the
balance Of her knowledge Of men.
He bore the inspection with equanim.
ity, quite sure of himself, as was nat,
Lral in the O'Rourke. Provoked, put
on his mettle, he felt himself irwin.
ciblc, and showed It In every line OF
his pose, She could not have wavered
long; indeed, her decision was quite
manifest, lmpuleiwely she caught bis
two hands n her own.
YES" she cried, II do believe you,
| take you at your word-your gener
Gus word, Colonel 0'Rourke! ! will
trust implicitly in you. You shall get
me to Bombay by the fifteenth"
THE ~flfteenth?" he echoed thought
fully. This Ia the tenth"
The panjnab Ia scheduled to ar.
rive on the fifteenth, All my plans
depend upon there being no delays"
Five days! It shall he
managed, Mrs. Prynne. Bombay by
the fifteenth II shall be. or the
ORourke will have broken his hearti"
She grew thoughtful. you are very
good--l've told you that. | believe
that you will accomplish what you
promise. Yet It seems hardly fair TO
You with my cares. my perils,
without informing you OF their ma.
ture--"
Madam, It's not the O'Rourke who
would ever be pryins into your &C.
crets. Let's not complIcate a simple
situation with explanations"
But, colonel. there is one thing
He paused, ut is a question"
she continued, "of charterlng a ship
Mt Alden, ia 1t not7"
Il see no other way"
"Then-Rpare no expense. Colonel
ORourke, Remember that | foot the
bin"
~"But-er~-"
"Or, If you insist, sir, ! pay nothing:
Britain pays for both OF u.s."
"Eh2 Yes?" he stammered.
But see, colonel"
He had before then noted indirYer.
emily that she wore a chain OF thin.
fine gold about her neck, It's termIna.
tion~presumably a locket OF some
sort-~hidden in the folds Of her cor.
sage, Now she quietly pulled this
and displayed her pendant, A
little trinket Of gold, a running grey.
hound exquisitely modelled.
Stunned, be stared first at the ton,
at the woman. we mean to saw
-" he whispered, doubling
"on the Kings service, Colonel
O'Rourket"
"A Kings courier, madam? You
4 womau!'
And why not?" she demanded
proudly. ''The Kings messengers dare
many dangers, It's true. But in some
of them might not Il woman serve bot.
ter than Il mann"
True enough. Yet It's unprece.
.dented~-at least. yen admit. most un.
usual, | begin TO understand. That
for instance"
"Belteve me, Colonel O'Rourke. I'm
liberty to tell you nothing"
Tell me this. at least. would re
know him II ye saw him again."
"Truthfully," she said, looking him
In the eye, Il woula not. | will say
one other word: | had anticipated hts
although / had never seen him
before"
Faith, It's yourself that has your
courage with We, Mrs, Prynne'
but good night, madaml Your serv.
anti"
food night, colonel" she said softly,
ana as she watched him swing away
laughed lightly and strangely. Later,
sun standing outside her door. she
signed, and an odd light glowed deep
IN her eyes Of graylsh.green. Signing
again and with another low laugh
mat rang a thought derisiye. an
snoush she were ~'outing the man
whose service she accepted SO gladly.
she turned and vanished within her
stateroom. ="
As did SO, the opposite door