The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1913-01-30
BILE

10 ner service. AS for Louis his re
spectful homage and fidelity were al
most pagan. = verify believe he would
willingly have suffered martyrdom tc
serve her.
AS he withdrew We fell avidly upon
the contents Of the box, yet with small
nope of finding what We sought; fol
the letters it contained were all, ap
parently, Of distant date; letters, fol
the most part, of a private. personal
nature, carefully assorted, and ar
ranged IN red-taped or elastic-banded
bundles.
1t was no mere idle curiosity which
jmpelled us to read many of them
We were In a position which may best
be described as anomalous. Though
Cameron was my dearest friend
knew little Of his life prior to ou1
meeting, and Evelyn, his niece and
ward. was scarcely less uniformed
than myself. In the letters just
brought to light there might, we de.
cided, be found some clue of meal.
! culable service in the task O before
us. And so we united the tapes and
stripped off the bands and set our.
selves to careful painstaking examina.
ton.
Seldom have l engaged In a labor 80
deadly embarrassing at one moment
and so keenly engrossing at the next.
There was correspondence here which
meant nothing to us whatever, and
there was correspondence which threw
a search-light upon portions of Cam
eron's career, barring good deeds and
follies alike, without discrimination.
1t was only natural, 1 suppose, that
we should dig up a romance-a gem
of luster shining amidst dun, sordid
surroundings. Evelyn and I came up.
on two of its facets, simultaneously,
and paused in our work to question its
disposal. 1t seemed to us a holy thing,
too sacred for a strange touch, and,
even at the risk of passing over what
ton, we folded it away again with a
sense of guilt at having dared to lift
even the corner of the veil.
For a full hour I had scanned one
letter after another in absorbed IN
tentness, but with small profit. Eve
Ign. across the table, had been quite
as busy. Rarely had we interrupted
our employment with exchange of
words. But now the writing which I
held provoked exclamation.
".Addison!" l cried, so sharply cut
ing the silence that the girl started.
Addison! Did you ever hear Of him"
She gestured a negative. mot that
remember" she qualified. "Why?"
Because we must find him." 1 de-
clared, a little excitedly, I imagine;
for the letter seemed wonderfully i'm
portant.
Instantly she was all alert.
What is it," she asked, %springing
up and coming to my side. What
have you found?"
Look" l commanded, the sheet Of
paper in one appraised hand, a finger
of my other hand pointing to a pas
sage. Look! In 1903, your uncle Rob-
ert was in Picking; and yet he gave
me his word that he had " visited
China"
Resting an arm on my shoulder and
bending forward she read for herself:
Gust to think! We were In Picking
together and neither Of us was aware
Of it until too late! What a foregath-
ering we missed! Even five minutes
chat would have been something; but
I no sooner saw you. than the crowd
on Legation street swallowed you up"
Have you read it all?"
mot to the end" I told her. "just
the beginning and the signature.
Come" I added, well read it from
first to last, together"
1t was written from Cairo, and bore
date Of December Z. 1903. .
my dear Cameron" it began, II
am wondering whether you are back
in New York again. However, you
will probably be there for Christmas
and therefore this letter will not long
await you. We have been making a
rather leisurely tour of the east. Ar
rived here two days ago and shall re-
main until some time in January"
The writer then gave a general out
line of his travels. you will prob
ably be surprised to learn that once
you and I passed each other as ships
in the night, saw only that We did not
even speak each other in passing" he
went on. 1T was my last day-indeed
my last hour-in northern China.
Otherwise I should have made search
for you. Just to think! We were in
Picking together. and neither Of us
was aware Of it until too late. What
a foregathering we missed! Even five
minutes chat would have been some
thing: but I no sooner saw you, than
the crowd on Legation street swal.
lowed you up. Half IN hour later
was on the train for Tien-tsin."
The rest Of the letter was rather
confusingly personal in its references
to mutual friends and interests. 1t
was signed: always with warm re.
gard, Addison"
do you suppose that 10 his first
name or his last?" Evelyn asked me
as we came to it.
II refuse to suppose" I returned.
smiling. tits an eve chance. What
70 vacro RI tho mint "a how 1ono Aan