The Washington herald., 1913-03-30
CHAPTER XII.
The New Bridge ut MidniRht.

II was almost time for summer va
cation. Like all Conscientious superin-
tendents OF public schools, Abbott
Ashton found the closing week cspe-
cially fatiguing. Examinations were
nerve-testing. and correction OF exam
ination papers called for late hours
over the lamp Al such times, when
most needing sleep. one sleeps least.
Ono strollS, at hours devoted by
| others TO slumbcr Abbott Ashton. for
instance. had fallen into the reprehen-
siblc habit of boiling from the board
! ing-house. after the last paper had
been graded, no matter how late the
night, and making his way rapidly
from town as if to bathe his soul in
country solitude Like all reprehen-
sible habits this one was presently to
revenge itself by getting the ''profes-
sor' into trouble.
One beautiful moonlight night. he
was nearing the suburbs. when he
made a discovery The discovery was
twofold; first. that the real cause of
his nightly wandcrings was not alto
gethcr WEAKNESS of mental toll; sec
ond. that he had, for some time. been
trying to escape from the thought of
Fran He had not known this. He
had simply run, asking no questions.
1t was when he suddenly discovered
Fran in the flesh, as she slipped along
a crooked alley, gliding in shadows,
that the cause of much slecplessness
was made tangible
Abbott was greatly disturbed. Why
should Fran be stealthily darting down
side alleys at midnight The wonder
suggested its corollary-why was he
running as from some intangible en-
emy, He realized that the Fran
thought had been working in the un-
derlayers of his mental processes all
the time his upper crust had busted
itself with rehearsals of BEYOND the
Alps lies Italy and the determination
of Hamlet's madness. But now was
no time for introspection. and he set
himself the task of solving the new
mystery. As Fran merged from the
mouth OF the alley, Abbott dived into
its-Sbe~slss>-hat when he reached the
next street, no Fran was to be seen.
Had she darted into one of the scat
tered cabins that composed the fringe
of Littleburg? At the mere thought,
he felt a nameless shrinking of the
heart. Surely not But could she pos
sibly. however feet OF foot. have
rounded the next corner before his
coming into the light? Abbott sped
along the street that he might know
the truth. though he realized that the
less he saw of Fran the better. How
ever. the thought of her being alone
in the outskirts OF the village. most
assuredly without her guardians
knowledge. seemed to call him to duty
Call or no call. he went
1t seemed to him long time before
he reached the corner. He darted
around it-yonder sped Fran like thin
shadow racing before the moon. She
had taken the direction of the open
fields. and so swiftly did she run. that
the sound of his pursuit never reached
her ears. She ran. Abbott ran. II
was like foot race without spectators.
At last she reached the bridge span
ming a ravine in whose far depths muir
INJURED little stream. The bridge was
upon which Abbott and Fran had stood
on the night of the tent meeting. Was
II possible that the superintendent of
HlStI uCtlOH Wd> ABOUT 10 venture sec
ond time across this ravine with the
same girl. under the same danger of
misunderstanding. revealed by similar
glory of moonlight: One may do even
that, when duty calls-for surely it
was duty to warn this imprudent
child to go home Conscience whispered
that it would not be enough simply to
warn: he should escort her to Hamil-
ton Gregory's very door. that he might
know she had been rescued from the
wide white night: and his conscience
was possibly upheld by the knowledge
that a sudden advent of Miss Sap
phira was morally impossible.
Fran's back had been toward him all
the time. She was still unaware of his
presence. as she paused in the middle
of the bridge, and with critical eye