The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1913-01-24
CQoNaLGHZ ~. Il H1S2M2c s co

on guard in Cameron's study, waiting
and expectant.
But the day passed, It seemed
without the looked,for incident. Ev'
cry letter, by post or by hand, which
came that day, inside the CraghoiS
limits was by me personally inspect
ed. and amongst them all there was
no one which bore the fatntest re
semblance 10 those two baleful mis-
sives Of the two preceding four
teenths.
When / had made my last trip to
the post Office, finished my final In
spection, and was almost 1ubilant
over the significant cessation Of the
threats which, in their ultimate fulhl
ment at least. had brought my friend
SO close to dissolution. made haste
to carry to Cameron the glad news.
Oddly enough, his condition in the
past f~ortyeight hours had materially
improved, and as DR.. Massey attrib'
uted this, in part at least, to the tntiu'
enco oxerted by my brief visit, was
now permitted TO repeat the treat
ment at pleasure.
It wanted but a few minutes of
eight o'clock, and Checkabeedy
seized the occasion to inform me, as
passed through the hail, that din
ner had been waiting for nearly a
hslf.hour; q fact which | knew quite
as well as he, but when ! had chosen
to disregard in favor of more press
ing and important employment. New
ertbelegs | had dressed before going
for the last mail, and as a moment
would suffice to assure Cameron that
all was well, ! relieved the mlnd at
The distressed butler, by assuring him
that dinner should not wait over five
minutes longer. SO far as was con-
cerned.
A very light tap on the chamber
door was answered by Miss Collirs,
who came out into the passage and
closed the door behind her.
81 fear it Is not advisable for you
to see him, now, Mr.. Clyde" she
said. HE has suddenly had q return
Of some OF his worst symptoms, and
| am sure DR.. Massey would object
TO his being at all excited
But | shan't excite him." | cX
pained. Il have the very best Of rews
for him. 1t is his anxiety over a Ger.
tain matter, no doubt, which has
brought about the symptoms you
sneak of. ! know | a relieve his
mind. which | have reason to believe
has beer all day under an unusual
strain"
But still this etficient-looking,
Whitehead woman was not wholly
convinced.
at must be only for a minute then
she finally allowed. you can 20 In
alone. But at the end Of sixty sec
onds," she added, as she glanced at
the little gold watch she wore pinned
to her spotless waist, Il shall inter.
rupt you; and then you must leave"
Yielding, %perforcn, to her condition,
I entered. And as | did so. Cameron
half rose ON his elbow. regarding me
with what | thought was anxiety for
my report.
"It's all right" | said. quietly. "All
right. Not 30 much as a line from
the enemy. They have withdraw IN.
Just as +"
But lie interrupted me.
Here, quick!" he was saying. Take
thts!" And | saw then that one hand
was drawing something from beneath
his pillow. The next moment he had
| given me a long envelope of that thin,
waxy texture ! had learned to loathe.
For a heartbeat ! stood appalled,,
transHxed.
Quick" he insisted, excitedly.
"Opel It. Read 1t! She'll not leave
us long and | must know its con
tents"
But how" ! began. as | tore the
end Of the envelope.
God knows" he answered, before
7 had put my question into words. Il
had been doing; about an hour ago,
! stretched out my hand. unconscious
| ly, and that lay beneath 1t. on the
counterpart. It cracked as | touched
It; ard knew then, even before
| recognized the feel Of It,"
Sixty seconds! Was there ever such
an interminable period? Sixty long
| seconds before that door would open
with the interruption that would
spare me. ! fumbled with the devil
iah paper; let it slip through my
| fingers; tore a bit here and a bit
| there; finished the tearing; and then,
descending, began tearing the other
end. And still the seconds Jagged;
still the door remained stationary.
MY God, Clyde!" Cameron cried,
In a frenzy OF impotence. What's
the matter with you tonight? Are
you never going to get that thing
open?'
And then /. desperate, too. with
eyes fixed implorlngly on the door,
was about to answer him with the
t~ruth-that l did not want 10 open It;
| that | would not, could not read the
| contents: that he must wait and trust
me. absolutely-when, quite without
design on my part, the envelope fell
to the rug at my feet. And as /
stopped to recover 1t, | heard the door
knob turn.
When | regained the upright, Miss
| Collins was entering, and the letter
was in the pocket of my dinner jack
ct.
"And so you see, Cameron" | said.
speaking distinctly and with double
purpose, the nurse being In ear-shot.
everything is quite right. The mat
ter you spoke OF shall be attended to,
at once. and I'll report to you. to-
night--before ten o'clock, surely"
The r~eproach in his eyes stung me,
and the pain OF It followed me from