Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1913-06-21

married q man like this one. A pos
slbihty occurred 10 her. and the ghost
of smile moderated the interest IN
her face. They Nigh, be upon The
desert for weeks. Who knew what
might not happen 10 two such roman
tic siwp'etOns?
The butler and the first man lNho
was also the cook were imp~ccable
types Cf servants; so thought Beyn-
olds. They moved silently and an
ticiTated each want Reynolds deter
mined that very afternoon to drop
line TO Jones and compliment him
upon his good taste in the selection
OF his friends. a subsequent press Of
office work. however. drove the deter
mination out of his mind.
The instant his car carried him out
of sight, a strange scene was enacted.
The butler and the first man seized
the Major by the arms. and the three
executed a pascal Mrs. Chedsoye
eyed these manifestations OF Joy ston-
lily
Now then. what's been done?"
asked the Major. pulling down his
cuffs and shaking the wrinkles from
his sleeves.
Half done" cried the butler.
where's that wall-safe?" the Major
wanted to know.
Behind that sketch by Detaille"
And the butler, strange to say. pro
nounced it Det-i.
Can you open it?"
Tried. but failed. Wallace is the
man for that"
Hell be along in an hour or so"
Where's Ryanne?"
Don't know; don't care" The Ma
jor sketched the predicament OF their
fellow-cOnspirator.
The butler whistied. but caiiously.
One more or less didn't matter in such
an enterprise.
When Wallace arrived he applied
his talent ard acquired science to the
wall safe. and finally swung outward
the little steel door. The Major
pushed him aside and thrust hand
| into the metaled cavity, drawing out
an exquisite Indian casket Of rose
wood and mother-of-pearl. He opened
/ the lid and dipped hand within. En-
eralds. deep and light and shaded. cut
and uncut and engraved. fiawed and
/ almost perfect. He raised a handful
| and let them tinkle back into the
! casket. One hundred in all. beauties.
every one of them, and many famous.
And while he toyed with them.
pleased as a child would have been
over a handful of marbles. Mrs. Ched
| soye spread out the ancient Yhiordes
in the library. She stood upon the
! central pattern. musing. Her mood
was not one which she had called into
being; not often did she become ret
rospective; the past to her was al
ways like a page in a book, once fin
! ished. turned down. Her elbow In
one palm, her chin in the other, she
stared without seeing. 1t was this
| house, this home, ii was each sign or
riches without luxury or ostentation,
where money expressed itself by taste
and simplicity; a home such as she
had always wanted. And why. with
all her beauty and intellect, why had
she not come into possession? She
knew. Love that gives had never
been hers; hers had been the love
that receives, self-love. She had bar
tered her body once for riches and
had been fooled, and she never could
do II again. And the child
| Nth lnUn
gives.
The furry of snow outside in the
court she saw not. Her fancy re-
formed the pretty garden at Mentone,
inclosed by pink-washed walls. Many
a morning from her window she had
watched Fortune among the flowers,
going from one to the other. like
bee ora butterfly. She had watched
her grow, too, with that same detach-
ment a machinist feels as he puts to-
eether the invention of another man.
| Would she ever see her again? Her
shoulders moved ever so little. Prob
ably not. She had Numbered wilfully
She should have waited, thrown the
two together, Unanswered. And she
| had permitted tHls adventure W w
sess her! She might have stood with
in this house by right Of law, mother
hood, marriage. Ryanne was in love
with Fortune and Jones by this time
might be. The desert was a terribly
| lonely place.
She wished it might be Jones. And
Immediately retrospection died away
from her gaze and actualities re-
sumed their functions. The wish was
not without a phase of humor, formed
as it was upon this magic carpet: but
it nowise disturbed the gravity of her
expression.
CTO BE CONTINUED
! speaks of him as "one of the best and