The Elbert County tribune., 1913-01-17

dnced against another. Here was n
rare bit of Capo di Monte. there
piece of Seyres or Canton. Some
houses, with their treasures, look like
museums, but this one did not The
owner had not gone mad over one
subject; here was a sane and prudent
| collector. The great yellow Chinese
| carpet represented a fortune; she
knew enough about carpets to realize
this fact. Ivories. jades, lapis-lazuli.
the precious woods, priceless French
and Japanese tapestries, some fine
paintings and bronzes; the rooms
were full of unspoken romance and
adventure; echoed with war and trag-
edy. too. And Fortune might have
married man like this one. A pos
sibility occurred to her, and the ghost
of a smile moderated the interest in
her face. They might be upon the
desert for weeks. Who knew what
might not happen to two such roman
tic simpletons?
| The butler and the first man (who
was also the cook were impeccable
| types of servants; so thought Reyn-
olds. They moved silently and an
! ticipated each want. Reynolds deter
/ i1lUeu lndI very u uTOp u
line to Jones and compliment him
upon his good taste in the selection
of his friends. subsequent press of
Office work, however, drove the deter
mination out of his mind.
The instant his car carried him out
OF sight, strange scene was enacted.
| The butler and the first man seized
the Major by the arms. and the three
executed a pas-seul. 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
He'll 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 whistled, but callously.
One more or less 6idnt 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-o pearl He opened
the lid and dipped hand within. EN-
eralds, deep and light and shaded. cut
and uncut and engraved, flawed 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 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
respective; the past to her was al
ways ike pdSe III d DOOh, OuCe uu-
ished, turned down. Her elbow in
one palm, her chin in the other, she
stared without seeing. 1t was this
house, this home. it was each sign Of
riches without luxury or ostentation.
where money expressed itself by taste
and simplicity; 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 It again. And the child
was overfiowing with the love that
gives.
The furry of snow outside in the
court she saw not. Her fancy re-
formed the pretty garden at Mentone.
inclosed by plnk-washed walls. Many
a morning from her window she had
watched Fortune among the flowers.
going from one to the other, like
bee or a butterfly. She had watched
her grow, too, with that same detach-
ment machinist feels as he puts to-
gether the invention of another man.
Would she ever see her again? Her
shoulders moved ever SO little. Prob
ably not. She had blundered wilfully.
She should have waited, thrown the
two together, maneuvered. And she
had permitted this adventure to OBJ
sess her! She might have stood with
in this house by right of law, mother
hood. marriage Ryanne was in love
with EOrtupa and JOpoe bu fhfg time
might be. The desert was terribly