The Irish standard., 1913-08-30
BECAME MRS. WAYNE.
1.-THE Age Of chivaIry" and 1.-THE
Age Of Fable" Hand
in Hand.
BY JEAN .nlckERsoN.


When her duties as visiting aecre.
cary brought Anne Blair to fill a new
engagement, in Gregory Waynes big
house. she smiled delightedly a. the
task allotted to her.
Mr.. Wayne's lawyer, Amos Smyth,
had hired Anne through the recon.
mendation Of mutual friend. and now
he stood in the great Wayne library
looking down his long nose ut little
dark-eyed Anne.
/. We'll. Miss Blair" he said kindly,
you'll find lot to do here, and IL
you need an assistant in the work,
leave it to you to select one. What
ever you do will be satisfactory to me-
Mr.. Wayne is bringing home lot of
new bcoks-you understand he Is q
collector? He has sent ME list COM
piled from his catalogue, and the books
mentioned in this list are to be re.
moved from the shelves and placed in
the small study upstairs. You are to
recatalogue the shelves In this room
and rearrange the books according to
the plan he has sent for the purpose"
Mr.. Snyth laid a bundle of papers
on the table and ran his fingers
through his silvery hair.
quite job, eh?" he smiled down
at her.
II love work like that" said Anne
enthusiastically. "Just think of spend
ing days and days with these books!
It's privileged"
"Then you'll be quite contented here
alone. l have Instructed Mrs. Babb,
the bookkeeper, to prepare luncheon
for you every day and cup Of tea If
you care for 1t in the afternoon.
Sarah, one Of the housemaids, will
carry books to and fro for you-she is
stout and strong. Any other help you
may need is at your disposal"
THANK you, Mr.. Smyth, shall get
along splendidly. When did you say
Mr.. Wayne would be here?"
"In about six weeks time-he is
stopping In Paris at present"
Il shall be finished long before his
RETURN" said Anne, pulling off her
gloves. "I'm going to start right in"
I Good commended the lawyer, and
after shaking hands with Anne he
went away.
One rainy afternoon three weeks
later Anne was perched on the top Of
tall step-ladder in the Wayne H.
brary, her sunny head bent over a
great crimson leather bound volume in
her lap. 1t was COPY Of Bulf1nch's
age Of Fable" and in the charm Of
its vellum pages Anne quite forgot
that she was alone in the big house.
Mrs. Babb and Sarah had gone to q
funeral, and the other servants would
not return until their master made his
appearance. Outside on the avenue
there was the smooth rumble of
wheels on the wet asphalt and the &C.
casional clip-clop of horses hoofs. Elk
cept for these sounds there was dead
silence In the great stone mansion,
Below her the long room lay In rich
light and shadow. A small fire flick.
cred on the marble hearth. At the top
of the ladder Annes blue gown made
bright splash Of color, and the Grim
| son bow at her throat and the vol
ume in her lap with its gold-edged
pages, made it gay up there near the
ceiling.
| AS the afternoon passed the light
waned and Anne had stretched out
her hand to the electric chandelier
| close by when she was conscious of q
sound in the room. 49,,
Her heart beat little faster as she
looked down at the room which should
have been empty. OF course it might
be LIrs. Babb or Sarah, but these two
| servants would have knocked for ad-
mittance.. A vague Of terror took pos
session of her and held her speechless
I.for few moments.
Peering down, she made out mans
dark shape standing near the fire. His
back was toward her.
Anne could make out that the in
truder wore dark macintosh and q
small darp cap.
There was only one explanation of
his appearance. Some thief, learning
of Mr.. Wayne's early return home, had
resolved to help himself to some Of
the Observation-Disclosures treasures.
Why such a valuable collection of
books, pictures and porcelains should
be left unprotected, might be answered
by the fact that Gregory Wayne was
entirely impractical and had unbound.
ed faith in his fellowmen.
The room darkened until the only
visible light was that made by the
fire against which the mans still form
was silhouetted dimly. So
Anne's cramped limbs grew numb
and cold and she wished heartily that
she had not agreed to stay alone. AS
Mr.. Wayne's employee it was her duty
to protect his interests, and she looked
about her for some weapon Of defense
II she should be driven to extremity.
There was nothing save the heavy vol.
umes of Bulfnch-one In her lap and
- f>~I,, .sk1~