Mexico Missouri message., 1913-02-13

't4i'htls udFt euutTtu UdftyTuoul 10
serve her
AS he withdrew we fell avidly upon
the contents Of the box. yet with small
hope Of finding what we sought; for
the letters It contained were all, ap-
parently, Of distant date; letters. for
tho most part. Of a private, personal
nature, carefully assorted. and ar
ranged In rcd.taped or elastic-banded
bundles.
It was no mere idle curiosity which
imDolled us 70 read many of them.
We we're In a position which may best
be described as anomalous. Though
Cameron was my dearest friend |
knew little OF his life prior to our
meeting. and Evelyn, his niece and
ward, was scarcely less uniformed
than myself. In the letters Just
brought TO light there might, we de-
cidod, be found some clue OF meal
culable service in the task now before
us And so we united the tapes and
stripped off the bands and set our.
selves to careful painstaking examina-
ton.
Seldom have engaged In a labor so
deadly uninteresting 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
n search-llght upon portions OF Cam
eron's career, barring good deeds and
follies alike, without discrimination.
It was only natural, | suppose. that
we should dig up a romance gem
OF luster shining amidst dun, sordid
surroundings. Evelyn and came up
on two OF its facets. simultaneously
and paused in our work to question It's
disposal. II seemed to us holy thing.
too sacred for strange touch, and,
even at the risk Of passing over what
might prove our one agent OF revela-
ton, we folded it away again with
sense Of guilt at having dared to lift
even the corner of the veil.
For a full hour l had scanned one
letter after another in absorbed in
tentness, but with small profit. Eve
lyn. 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.
"Addlson!" l cried, go sharply cut
ing the silence that the girl started.
Addison! Did you ever hear OF hlm?"
She gestured a negative. mot that
remember" she qualified. "Why?"
Because we must find him." de-
clared, a little excitedly, l imagine;
for the letter seemed wonderfully i'm
portant
Instantly she was all alert.
What is IT." she asked. springlng
up and coming to my side. what
have you found?"
Look" | commanded, the sheet OF
paper in one appraised hand finger
of my other hand pointing to a pas
cage. Look! In 1908, your uncle Rob-
ert was in Picking; and yet he gave
me his word that he had never visited
China"
Resting an arm on my shoulder and
bending forward she read for herself
"Just to think! We we're in Picking
together and neither Of us was aware
OF It until too late! What a foregath-
ering we missedl Even five minutes
chat would have been something; but
! no sooner saw you. than the crowd
on Legation street swallowed you up"
Have you read II all?"
Not to the end" told her. Just
tho tsginning and the signature
Come" / added, wen read 1t from
first 10 last, together"
It wac written from Cairo, and bore
date OF December Z. 1903.
My dear Cameron" II began. 81
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 ! passed each other as ships
in the night, cave 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 | 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 ! no sooner saw you, than |
the crowd on Legation street swal- |
lowed you up. Half an hour later |
was on the train for Tien-tsin."
The rest OF the letter was rather |
confusingly personal IN it's references
to mutual friends and interests. II |
was signed: Always with warm re-
gard, Addison"
DO you suppose that is his first /
name or his last?" Evelyn asked me |
as we came 10 it.
Il refuse TO suppose returned, |
smiling It's an even chance. What /