The Mena weekly star., 1913-05-29
CHAPTER Xl.
Episodic.

rocess of the evolution of thought ,as denied her; she tried to think, but here was an appalling lack of continu. Nj of broken threads. It was like one i fhose circumferential railways; she .zyeled, but did not get anywhere. |sanne had told her too much for his "a sake, but too little for hers. She .k back in the carriage, inert and Mess, and indeterminedly likened er condition to driftwood in the ebb I'd flow of beachwaves. The color "a commotion of the streets were & longer absorbed; 1t was as if she |ere riding through emptiness, 6rough the unreality of dream. She Ias oppressed and stifled, too; harb. Fer of storms.
 Mechanically she dismissed the car. |aee at the hotel, mechanically she I6nt to her room, and in this semi oascious mood sat down in a chair, 11 there Georges wish found her, 1flely. Oh, there was one thing |2ar. clear as the sky outside. All |fe not right; something was wrong; ia this wrong upon one side con- 8rned her mother, her uncle and |7anne, and upon the other side, Mir. 0nes. Think and think as she might, er endeavors gave her no single illu. 1Ibation. Four blind walls surround d|her. The United Romance and Ad- enture company-there could not pos IHy be such a thing in existence; 1t |1s a jest of Ryanne's to cover up ohething far more serious.
 She pressed her eyes with a hand. 'hey ached duly, the dull pain of be. Nderment, which these days recur- a with frequency. A sense of time |as lacking; for luncheon hour came nd passed without her being definite aware of 1t. This in itself was a uzzle A jaunt, such as she had ta- &n that morning, always keened the 1ge of her appetite; and yet, there |as no craving whatever.
 Where was her mother? If she |0uld only come now, the cumulative oDbts of all these months should bo ii into speech. They had treated he. 1 one would treat a child; it Wa. Mther just nor reasonable. If not as |child, but as one they dared not F1st, then they were afraid of her |3t btr9 hn d., tn Hher, impotently. Ryanne, clever as Twas, had made q slip or two which 4 had sought to cover up with a jest hy should he confess himself to be Rogue unless his tongue had got the eter of his discretion? If he was a Eue, why should her mother and her 1cle make use of him, if not for Buery's sake? They were fools. fools! |&they had but seen and understood T as she was, she would have gone 2 the bitter end with them, loyally, fh sealed lips. But no; they had
 sen not to see; and in this had prally betrayed her. An, 1t ranked,
 the injustice of 1t grew from pain
 fury. At that moment, had she
 wn anything. she certainly would
 s denounced them. Of what use 4 loyalty, since none of them light 1t in her?
 4he Major was wiser than he knew Fen he spoke of the hundredth dan
 n the danger unforeseen, the danger *llnst which they could make no # #paration. And he would have been E to sense the irony of 1t could he
 e seen where this danger lay.
 my should they wish the pleasant Rhg man out of the way? Why HPuid Ryanne wish to inveigle him p the hands of this man Mahomed? :?
 It merely self-preservation, or pething deeper, more sinister?
 hE' Why couldn't she think of
 ethlng? It was only little pleas
 lfip 10 Cairo, they had told her,
 when she had asked to go along,
 seemed willing enough. But they
 come to this hotel, when formerly
 y had always put up at shep-
 ru s. And here again the question " Was 1t because MT. Jones was
 Ing here? She liked him, what lit
 she had seen of him. He was out
 ah altogether different world than
 to which she was accustomed. He
 neither insanely mad over cards
 social idler. He was 8 young
 With a real interest in life, a
 Aer, notwithstanding that he was
 u'eu 10 be independently rich. And
 mother had once borrowed money
 i'ui' never intending to pay 1t back.
 snaine of it! And why should she
 u"ch him the very first day and
 'l 'ne incident, if not with the ul-
 VI purpose of using him further?
 " oal strikes a wall only to re
 nu to the thrower, so it was with 'HeSe questions. There was never
 answer.
 Vu out mentally and physically,
 '''u her head upon the cool top
 ne stand. And in this position her
 'eF Who had returned to dress E 'ea' lound her. Believing Fortune
 De asleep, Mrs. Chedsoye dropped
 ~na o upon her shoulder.
 Ur'une raised her head.
 "ny, child, what Is the matter?"
 ao,ner asked. The face she saw
 no' tearstained; it was as cold
 rasslonless as that by which sculp-
 t,oe oep'esent their interpretations of
 ySr a1 Fortune spoke. in a tone
 e @u not reassure the other. "In
 sti s' place l have only one real
 Non to ask. It depends upon how
 ghter?" ' '
 Nalll my dapwA4o.eu nF-- rxI.-J