, 1913-01-02
The Window
at the
White Cat
By MARY ROBERTS

tho Along a street in a broken taxical
md that all the buildings we're phar
macies and numbered eleven twenty
two.
After such a night l slept late. Edit
had gone out with Fred when | cam,
downstairs. | have a great admiration
for Edith. for her tolerance with M
uncertain hours. for her CHEEKY break
fast room and the smiling good natur,
of the servants she engages. I have {
theory that. show me a sullen servant
and | will show you n sullen mistress
although Edith herself disclaims al
responsibility and lays credit for the
smile with which Katie brings in my
eggs and coffee to largess on my part.
On that particular morning Katie
brought M a letter, and ! recognized
the cramped and rather uncertain
writing of Miss Jane Maitland.
Dear Mr.. K~nox-Sister Letitia wishes
me TO ask you II you can dine with lis
tonight informally. She has changed her
mind in regard to the Colored Orphans
home and would like to consult you about
It. Very truly yours,
SUSAN JANE MAITLAND.
II was SOLhAhOhpiuCc uOtt. 4
had had n like It after every board
meeting of the orphans home. Miss
Maitland being on principle an aggres-
sive minority; also. having consldera-
bic mind. changing ~ became almost
as ponderous an operation as moving
a barn.
| came across Miss James letter the
other day when | was gathering the
material for this narrative. and l sat
for a time with 1t In my hand think
Ing over again the chain of events In
which 1t had been. the first link, a Sc
ries Of strange happenings that began
with my acceptance of the Invitation,
and that led through ways as dark
and tricks as vain as Bret Harte's
Heather Chinee ever dreamed of to
the final scene at the White Cat.
With the letter l had filed away a
half dozen articles. and l ranged
them all on the desk in front Of me
the letter. the bit Of paper with elev.
en- twenty-five on 1t that Margery gave
me the ilrst time l saw her, a note.
book filed with jerky characters that
Hooked like Arabic and were newspa
per shorthand. a railroad schedule. 6
bullet. the latter slightly f1attened; Q
tube shaped piece of chalk. which J
put back in its box with a shuddei
md labeled Poison" and a small gold
buckle from a slipper, which lat
which | did not shudder.
l did not need to make the climaxes
bf my story. They lay before me.
At II o'clock Hunter called up. He
said he was going after the affair him.
self. but that 1t was hard to stick a
dip net into the political puddle with
out pulling ont a lot more than you
went after or than 1t vas healthy to
get. He wanted to know If I had
come across any more K. VS.. Where
upon l put away the notes ! had made
about Della and Mamie Brennan.
CHAPTER III.
Ninety eight Pearls.
n WENT to Bellwood that evening
1t was a suburban town a dozen
miles from the city. Street cars
had so far failed to spoil its
tree bordered streets. and it was ex.
elusive to the point of s%tagnation. The
Maitland place was at the head of the
main street. Miss Letitia. who was
seventy. had mad sufficient commercial
instinct some years before to cut hei
ancestral acres their ancestral acres,
Though Miss Jane hardly c~ounted-into
building lots. except perhaps an acre
which surrounded the house. Thus the
Maitland ladies' were reputed to be ex.
rremely wealthy. And as they never
spent any money. no doubt they were.
| had taken dinner at Bellwood be-
fore, and the memory was not hilari.
Gus. Miss Letitia was deaf. but chose
to ignore the fact. With superb indif.
ference she would break into the con.
,versation with some wholly alien re-
mark that necessitated a reassemblina
"f ones IDEAS. making the meal a Sc.
ries of mental gymnastics. Miss Jane,
Through long practice and because she
only skinned the surface of converse.
Fon, took her cerebral flights easily,
put ! am more unwieldy of mind.
Nor was Miss Letitia's dominance
wholly conversational. He sister Jane
was her creature. alternately snubbed
and bullied. To Miss Letitia. Jane. In
spite of her sixty-ive years, was still a
chlld, and sometimes a bad one. Miss
ILetltia gave her expurgated books to
read and forbade her to read divorce
court proceedings In the newspapers.
foor Miss Jane! She met me with
Inuttering cordially in the hall that
night safe in being herself for once
W'th the knowledge that Miss Letitia
always received me from a thronelike
In"rSehair sofa in the back parlor. She
wore a new lace cap and was twitter
fngly excited
our niece is here" she explained
S J. LOOK of my coat-everything was
ours with Jane: mime with Letitia
anu we are having an ice at dinner
,e"se say that ices are not Injurious