Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1912-07-31
CHAPTER XII.
Episode.

49, Episode.
Fortune had Immediately returned
from the bazaars. And a kind of tor
por blanketed her mind, usually so
fertile and active. For a time the
process of the evolution of thought
Twas denied her; she tried to think, but
there was an appalling lack Of continu'
lily, Of broken threads. 1t was like one
9lof those circumferential railways; she
travelled, but did not get anywhere.
iRyanne had told her too much for his
Town sake, but too little for hers She
asat back in the carriage, inert and
sslistless, and indeterminedly hkened
her condition to driftwood in the ebb
land flow Of beach-waves. The color
land commotion Of the streets were
mo longer absorbed; 1t was as II she
Iwere riding. through emptiness,
Through the unreality of dream. She
was oppressed and stihed, too; harb'
iinger Of storms
4 Mechanically she dismissed the car.
giriage at the hotel. mechanically she
went to her room, and In this semi.
lconscious mood sat down in a chair,
land there Georges wish found her,
,futilely. Oh, there was one thing
,clear, clear as the sky outside All
was not right; something was wrong;
land this wrong upon one side con.
,cerned her mother, her uncle and
iRyanne, and upon the other side, Mr..
Jones. Think and think as she might,
her endeavors gave her no single illu-
animation. Four blind walls surround
led her. The United Romance and AID
venture company-there could not pos.
lisibly be such a thing in existence; 1t
was a jest OF Ryanne's to cover up
something far more serious.
She pressed her eyes with a hand.
They ached duly, the dull pain Of be-
;wilderment, which these days recurt
red with frequency. A sense Of time
was lacking; for luncheon hour came
and passed without her being definite.
sly aware Of It. This In itself was a
puzzle. a jaunt, such as she had ta'
ken that morning, always keened the
edge Of her appetite; and yet, there
was no craving whatever.
Where was her mother9 II she
would only come now, the cumulative
doubts of all these months should be
put into speech They had treated her
las one would treat child; 1t was
neither just nor reasonable If not aa
ia child, but as one they dared not
trust, then they were afraid Of her
But why? She pressed her hands to
gether, impotently. Ryanne, clever az
he was, had made slip or two which
he had sought to cover up with Jest.
Why should he confess himself to ba
a rogue unless his tongue had got the
better of his discretion? II he was q
rogue, why should her mother and her
uncle make use of him, II not for
,roguery's sake? They were fools, fools!
If they had but seen and understood
her as she was, she would have gone
to the bitter end with them, loyalty,
with sealed lips. But no; they had
chosen not to see; and in this had
morally betrayed her. All, 1t ranked,
and the injustice Of 1t grew from pain
to fury. At that moment, had she
known anything, she certainly would
have denounced them. Of what use
was loyalty, since none of them
sought it in her?
The Major was wiser than he knew
when he spoke OF the hundredth dam
ger, the danger unforeseen, the danger
against which they could make no
preparation. And he would have been
first to sense the irony Of it could he
have seen where this danger lay.
Why should they wish the pleasant
young man out Of the way? Why
should Ryanne wish TO inveigle him
into the hands Of this man Mahomed
WAS it merely self-preservation, or
something deeper, more sinister
Think! Why couldn't she think of
something? 1t was only little pleas
iure trip to Cairo, they had told her,
and when she had asked to go along,
they seemed willing enough. But they
had come to this hotel, when formerly
they had always put up at SheD,
heard's. And here again the question
why? Was 1t because Mr.. Jones was
Z staying here? She liked him. what lit.
tie she had seen of him. He was out
of an altogether different world than
that to which she was accustomed. He
was neither insanely mad over cards
nor q social idler. He was young
man with q real interest in life, 6
worker, Notwithstanding that he wa:
reputed to be Independently rich. Ant
her mother had once borrowed money
of him, never intending to pay 1t back
The shame of It! And why should she
approach him the very first day ant
recall the incident, if not with the vi
terror purpose of using him further
AS a ball strikes q wall only to ne
bound to the thrower, so it was witt
4 all these questions. There was neTe
any answer.
Tired out, mentally and physically
she laid her head upon the cool to-
of the stand. And in this position he