Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1914-04-23
Absolutely nothing

Absolutely nothing"
The major cleared his throat 1T
was something he might naturally not
have made a record Of" he said. The
two had been friends, and tit was
a fatal encounter for the other. The
doctor and l were your fathers sec
onds."
There was a moments silence be-
fore Valiant spoke again. When he
did his voice was steady, though drops
had sprung to his forehead. Was
there any circumstance in that meet
ing that might be construed as re-
f1ecting on his-honor?"
Good God, moi" said the major ex-
plosively.
"On his bearing as a gentleman ]"
There was a hiatus this time in
which he could hear his heart beat.
In that single exclamation the major
seemed to have exhausted his vocabu-
larry. He was looking at the ground.
1t was the doctor who spoke at last,
In a silence that to the man in the
doorway weighed like a hundred at
mospheres.
MOI" he said bluntly. Certainly
not. What put that into your head?"
When he was alone in the library
Valiant opened the glass door and
took from the shelf the orocc
The old SILVER Of repugnance ran yer
him at the very touch of the leather.
In the farthest corner was a low com
mode. He set the case on this and
moved the big tapestry screen across
the angle, hiding it from view.
y =
In the great hall at Damory Court
the candles in their brass wall-sconces
blinked back from the polished par
quetry and the shining fre-dogs. fill
ing the rather solemn gloom with an
air of warmth and creature-comfort.
Leaning against the newel-post, Va
liant gazed about him. How different
it all looked from the night of his
coming!
He began to walk up and down the
floor, teasing pricks of restlessness
urging him. He opened the door and
passed into the unlighted dining-room.
On the sideboard set a silver loving
cup that had arrived the day before
in a huge box with his books and
knick-knacks. He had o it at polo.
He lifted it, lingering it's carved han
dies. He remembered that when that
particular score had been made, Kath-
arine Fargo had sat in n of the
drags at the side-line.
But the memory evoked no thrill.
Instead, the thought of her palely-cold,
passionless beauty called up another
mobile thoroughbred face instinct with
quick Hastings of mirth and hauteur.
Again he felt the fierce clutch of small
fingers, as they fought with his in that
: struggle for his life. Each line of
, that face stood before him-the arch
ing brows, the cameo-delicacy of pro
/ file, the magnolia skin and hair like a
brown-gold cloud across the SUM-.
He stepped down to the ~graveled
/ drive and followed it to the gate, then,
, bareheaded, took the Red Road
/ Along this highway he had ratified in
Uncle Jefferson's crazy hack-with
her red rose in his hand. The musky
: scent of the pressed leaves in the booi
in his pocket seemed to be all about
Q him.
The odor of living roses, in fact, wa
S in the air. 1t came on the scarce
S felt breeze, a heavy calling perfume
{ He walked on, keeping the road by thu
r misty infiltrating simmer of thu
e stars, with a sensation rather of Gid
}, ing than of walking. 1t occurred t.
n him that if, as scientists say, color
Il emit sound-tones, scents also shout
IS possess a music of their own: tn
k h~oneysuckle fragrance, maybe-soi
mellow f1uting as of diminutive wine
i. instruments; the far-faint sickly odo
of lilies-the upper register Of faer
a violins; this spicy breath of roses
blending, %throbbing chords like elf
echoes of an Italian harp. The fame
pleased him; he could imagine th
perfume no. in the air carried wit
1t an under-music, like a ghostly harI
ing.
he 1t came to him at the anne instaI
as that this was no mere fancy. Som
is where in the languorous night a hal
Mt was being played. He paused and II
tened ~intently, then went on towal
On the sound. The rose scent had grow
stronger; it was almost in that hea'
he air, as If he were breasting an etheri
he sea of altar. He felt as II he we
treading on a path of rose-leave
he down which the increasing melot
he flowed crimsonly to him, calling, ca
elk ing.
He stopped stock-still. He had be-
d" skirting a close-cropped hedge Of be
In This had ended abruptly and he W
al looking straight up a bar of gree
yellow radiance from a double doc
ter way. The latter opened on a por
ad and the light, flung across tn
drenched an arbor of climbing ros'