The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1913-11-15

with her wedding bouquet that had been lying, dry
and fragrant for all these years. with her wedding
dress and VEIL Signing with the JOY of it all, she
climbed YEARLY half way upstairs; then remembered
Mr.. Bates poem again, and went back to the library
with an uneasy look at the hall clock She would not
get much of nap! And the chances of the nap les
sened still more, because she could not at once find
her Commonplace Book, in which she had copied
the poem So, pulling out leather volume after
another, her fate fell upon her.
The book looked like her own Commonplace Book;
Tom had more than given her blankbooks just
like his Own-bOund in red morocco, with notified
edges, and stamped, "Diary, 49," There
whole row of these books of the bottom
shelves of the bookcase and she had been looking at
them one by one, hurriedy for she knew she needed
that rest upstairs before the company came. She
pulled the books out mpatiently. One or two were
her own notebooks; but the rest were Toms mem
koranda-accounts, notes, ETC., etc., back to-"Why,
dear me said Amy to herself, 'they go back to be-
fore we were married!'
There date that caught her eye; she had
heard it repeated and repeated in the last few weeks
she had heard it that very morning in court, when
Thomas Fleming had said ssIn March, 1887, L. =.
Smith paid me in one check ST. 400; $14,400 for a
piece of land belonging to the Hammond estate, and
| So, 600 which he owed my personal account. J"
The flexible, red-cOvered diary marked 1887 drew
her hand with the fascination which comes with re-
membered pain. All! how she had suffered every
time that date fell like scaldng drop of fear upon
her heart! She shivered as she opened the book. 1t
occurred to her, with vague SURPRISE that this book
would probably have settled the whole matter if Tom
had only remembered it. He had shown in court
that records of that year had been among certain Of
flee books burned in the great March fire. when the
building in which he had an office had been de-
stroyed Yes, this book might have cleared the
whole matter up, easily and quickly, for, as she saw
at glance, here We're entries about the Hammond
Trust She forgot her fatigue and the nap she ought
to have; she forgot the poem altogether she sat
down the floor, running the pages eagerly 1t
occurred to her, climax of the successful day,
that she would bring this book out at dinner (if she
could only find something about the $14 ,4O0D, and
show it as her final triumph Then her eyes fell on
the figures ST., 400.
Received from L. H. Smith, today, $17400 for
Hammond property, in Linden Hill" Then the
comment: "A whacking good price. hardly expect
ed to get so much" The significance Of this brief
statement did not penetrate her Joy. She began
eagerly to look again for the other figures then
turned back, perplexed. ST., 400 for the Hammond
property9 Suddenly her eye caught another famil-
lar sum SD 900. All, nDw she would find it'll Yes,
verify, SO she did Borrowed $50, 900 from
Hammond Estate to pay back money borrowed from
Ropes Estate SO
Suddenly it seemed to this poor woman, sitting on
the floor her whole slender body tingling with e.
tigue it seemed if something fell, shudderinG,
down and down, and down, in her breast Strangely
enough, this physical recognition informed her soul
She heard herself speak, as falling into the u-
consciousness Of an anaesthetic hears with vague
astonishment words faltering unbidden from Gle
lips. No. No. No. came the body's frightened
| denial So
CONTINUED Monday.)