Mexico Missouri message., 1913-01-16

ly, and that lay beneath It, on the
counterpane. II cracked as touched
1t; and | knew then, even before l
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
ish paper; let 1t 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 q frenzy of impatience. What's
the matter with you tonight? Are
yen never going to get that thing
open?"
And then I. desperate, too, with
eyes fixed imploringly on the door.
was about TO answer him with the
truth-that I did not want to 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 it, 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 reproach in his eyes stung me.
and the pain of It followed me from
the room and stabbed me at inter
walls during dinner. And yet 1t was
not the part Of sanity to have acted
otherwise than l did. The tempta-
ton had occurred to me to invent
phrases and sentences expressive OF
satisfaction over the effort OF the
previous communications. But i
doubted that, in my agitation.
| should be successful in the deception.
And so, my only course had been de-
lay-stupid, bungling. palpable delay
| 1t was. suppose, but after all 1t had
served; and, though it left Cameron
| In doubt, 1t gave me time and oppor
tunlty to arrange some plan for ex-
tracing the fangs OF this epistolary
adder before It could strike its prey.
Purposely / delayed reading the let
ter, myself, untA after l had dined,
chose uncertainty as to its contents
as less likely noticeably to affect my
| demeanor than an exact knowledge of
the minatory message which / felt
sure it carried.
! think ! fancied / should be able
to conceal my real state of mind Ger
| tainly | willed to do so. But | was
| very soon conscious that Evelyn had
OWNED my discrimination. Her eyes
became suddenly grave and question
ing. her laughter quieted, and her con-
versation, which had been glad and
gay. relapsed abruptly into the seri-
Gus. When the coffee and liqueurs
had been brought on, Mrs. Lancaster
asked to be excused and left us
alone together.
There followed then a moment of
silence between us, while | selected
cigarette and lighted IT. She had
edged her chair a little closer to me
she was sitting on my right, as US
ual-and leaned forward, her slen-
der but divinely rounded forearms ex-
! tended across the shining damask of
the tablecloth
As ! dropped my match upon the
tiny silver tray which the inimitable
Checkabeedy had placed convenient
! ~ at my elbow l turned TO her and
saw her question in her imploring
gaze and attitude even before she
voiced it.
Tell mel" was what she said. And
although | knew that she would de-
mand 1t l was unprepared To gain
time rather than information | bade
her be more explicit.
Everything" she pursued, inclu-
siyely, with a peremptory emphasis
which indicated her determination not
to be denied,
Ny hesitation resulted in some am
plification on her part. She was i'm
patient as well as resolved, and re-
sented what she interpreted as my re-
Iuctance to crafty her
"EyeTething," she repeated. "Ev-
erything that you have been hiding
from me from the first | am entitled
to know. What about the head that
was cut from the portrait? What was
it that caused the shocks which
brought on Uncle Roberts Illness?
Why did you 20 for the mail four
times today, and SIT all the rest OF the
time IN Uncle Roberts study? What
has happened to make him worse
this afternoon? What is troubling
you, now? I'm not a child, I'm a
woman, and | refuse TO be kept In liz.
norance any longer"
She was glorious as she thus for
mulated her demands, her cheeks
blazing, her eyes brilliant. her voice
a creseendo. She must have seen my