The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1913-01-25

1 'NtNIISu Jul my uduu,
~ and that lay beneath it, on the
| counterpane. 1t cracked as | touched
II; 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 it slip through my
| fingers; tore 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 frenzy of impatience. What's
| the matter with you tonight? Are
you 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 | 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
| NN''ti oAi my phit, 'hN ehNSi'PS iSi'
/ 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.
a, once, and III 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 it was
not the part OF sanity to have acted
| otherwise than l did The tempta-
| tion had occurred to me to invent
| phrases and sentences expressive of
satisfaction over the effort of the
previous communications. But l
doubted that, in my agitation. l
should be successful in the deception.
| And SO, my only course had been de-
lay-stupid. bungling, palpable delay
it was, suppose, but after all it had
served; and, though it left Cameron
in doubt, it gave me time and oppor-
| tunity 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, until after | had dined. I
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 1t carried
| i 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 dissimulation. 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
a 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
t,I, {,,;, III
Checkabeedy had placed convenient
ly at my elbow 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 it | was unprepared To gain
time rather than information | bade
her be more explicit.
Everything" she pursued, inclu-
4 sively, with a peremptory emphasis
which indicated her determination not
to be denied.
My 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-
luctance to crafty her.
Everything" she repeated. ''Ev.
erything that you have been hiding
fr0n me from the first. | am entitled
| to know. What about the head that
was cut from the portrait? What was
1t that caused the shocks which
brought on Uncle Roberts illness?
Why did you go for the mail fous
/ rit b, 80 tl<
time in Uncle Roberts study? What
has happened to make Elm worse
| this afternoon What is troubling
you. now? I'm not a child, I'm a
woman, and refuse to be kept In ig-
norance any longer"
She was glorious as she thus for
mulated her demands. her cheeks
| blazing. her ewes brilliant her voice