The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1914-07-03

they all departed-Mr. Field too for
he had never stayed in the manor
alone with Elzabeth-and only she
and Rustum and the servants were left
| there.
That night Elizabeth cried as she
slipped her coffee alone in the recep-
| ton room. She was crying because
! she realized that it is horribly lonely
for a woman whose husband is thou
sands of miles away She remembered
the early days of her marriage, when
| Captain Peter and she had been all in
all to each other And now he seemed
to have passed out of her life. He had
not written for whole month. Nobody
seemed to understand her-except
Philip Field
Rustum had gone to his quarters,
and Elizabeth sat quite alone until
Till she heard gentle tapping at
the French windows, and started up,
to see Philip Field standing upon the
lawn outside.
He opened the windows and came
| in, and he and Elizabeth stood staring
at each other And that was the
crucial moment. But Philip Field was
good at crucial moments. He advanced
two PAGES and clasped Elizabeth In
his arms.
Il have come back to you," he said
hoarsely. II love you, dear for ever
and always could not stay away
from you"
Elizabeth caught her breath. She
knew that she was powerless to resist
Philip Field The memory Of Captain
Peter had become very dim and dis
tant. -
81 love you," said Philip Field. "Tell
me you love me too, Elizabeth"
81 love you" murmured Elizabeth
and her head dropped from shame. q
love you, Philip" she said.
Crash!
Something had clattered on the
wooden flooring of the hall, with 9
sound that seemed to shake the manor
house. They started apart in terror
Then-because she was plucky-Eliza
beth ran out into the hall. Upon the
floor lay the rust-eaten crusadint
sword. There was nobody in sight.
Philip Field followed her, and thu
two stood staring at each other in ter
ror. Philip Field also knew the story
of the sword.
Something had fallen with it. 1t wa!
the section Of the paneling which hat
been set into the new wall a hundred
years before, when the manor was re
built. Elizabeth picked up the pane
mechanically and read the Inscription
softly, with dry throat:
When / hang here let peace abide
Ger manor hall and countryside,
But when nv blade slips from this wal
Guard thou the honor OF thy hall.
She handed it to Philip Field, an
he, too, read it. Then she went bac
into the reception room, and Phil
Field followed her. She turned an
faced him with white face and tren
: bling lips
Elizabeth What of it? What c
it," he cried
: "You must 60, Philip said Eliza
beth huskily.
81 cannot 60"
you must 60, Philip" repeate
Elizabeth inexorably, and opened tn
French windows.
He pleaded, but he might have bee
pleading with figure of stone. Pre-
emily he saw that all was over. Soft
he stepped out. He held his arms GU
Elizabeth"
Elizabeth shut the windows an
went out of the room. And that We
the last she ever saw of Philip Fiel
=, But, standing in the hall, she sa
something she had not perceived b
fore. The edge of the fallen panel Wa
> frayed, as though with a saw, ar
,. there was a tiny length of wire tn;
u had been snapped off in the fall.
y That wire had been pulled fro
- some other part of the house!
:, Suddenly the tears flooded her eye
! "Rustum!" she called loudly. "Ru
- tum!"
The turban of the butler appeare
through the door that led to the ser
. ants quarters.
"Rustum The sword has fallen!'
Rustum looked at her imperturbabl
u Il will replace it, memsahib," he a
p swered.
8 And suddenly Elizabeth flung h
y arms about the cid black mans net
u and kissed him on the cheek. And tn
10 was the first time Rustum was throw
into confusion.
He had letter on a tray. "F