The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1912-01-06
CHAPTER Xxx.
The Lioht in the Dome.

T. From where he sat, in a tiny al
cove which jutted out and encroached
upon the line Of the sidewalk, Mr..
Grimm looked down on Pennsylvania
Avenue. the central thread of Wash
ington, ever changing, always brilliant,
splashed at regular intervals with
light from high-fiung electric arcs.
The early theater crowd was in the
street; well dressed, well fed, care
less for the moment of all things save
physical comfort and amusement; au-
tomobiles, carriages, cabs, cars flow
ed past endIessly; and yet MIR. Grimm
saw naught of it. In the distance, at
one end of the avenue the dome of the
capital cleft the shadows of night, and
a single light sparkled at its apex; in
the other direction, at the left of the
treasury building which abruptly
blocks the wide thoroughfare, were
the shimmering windows of the White
House.
Motionless, moody, thoughtful, Mr..
Grimm sat staring, staring straight
ahead, comprehending none of these
things which lay before him as in a
panorama. Instead, his memory was
conjuring up a pair of subtle, blue
gray eyes, now pleading, now coquet-
fish, now frankly defiant; two slim,
white, wonderful hands; the echo Of
a pleasant, throaty laugh; splendid,
elusive, radiant-haired phantom. Tru-
ly, woman of mystery! Who was
this Isabel Thorne who, for months
past, had been the storm-center and
directing mind of a vast international
intrigue which threatened the world
with war? Who, this remarkable
young woman who with ease and as
surance commanded ambassadors and
played nations as pawns?
Now that she was safely out of the
country Mr. Grimm had leisure to
speculate. Upon him had devoIved
the duty of blocking her plans, and
he had done so-merciless alike of his
own feelings and of hers. Hesitation
or evasion had never occurred to him.
It was a thing to be done, and he did
it. He wondered If she had under
stood, there at the last beside the
rail? He wondered If she knew the
struggle 1t had cost him deliberately
to send her out of his life? Or had
even surmised that her expulsion
from the country, by his direct act,
was wholly lacking in the exaltation
of triumph to him; that it struck deep
er than that, below the listless, official
exterior, into his personal happinessf
And wondering, he knew that she did
understand.
A silent shod waiter came and
| placed the coffee things at his elbow.
He didn't heed. The waiter poured
a demi-tasse, and inquiringly lifted a
lump of sugar in the silver tongs. Still
Mr.. Grimm didn't heed. At last the
waiter deposited the sugar on the
edge Of the fragile saucer, and moved
away as silently as he had come. A
newspaper which Mr.. Grimm had
placed on the end of the table when
| he sat down, ratified a little as a
| breeze from the open window caught
| it, then the top sheet slid OF and fell
| to the floor Mr.. Grimm was still
staring out of the window.
Slowly the room behind him was
! thinning of its crowd as the theater-
| bound diners went out in twos and
| threes. The last of these disappeared
| finally, and save for Mr.. Grimm there
were not more than a dozen persons
| left in the place. Thus for few min
| utes, and then the swinging doors
leading from the street clicked, and
a gentleman entered. He glanced
around, as If seeking a seat near a
window, then moved along in Mr..
.Grimm's direction, between the rows
Of tables. His gaze fingered on MI.
| Grimm for an instant, and when he
came opposite he stopped and picked
up the fallen newspaper sheet
CTO BE CONTINUED