The Forrest City times., 1914-06-26


 And yet there was something in Sara that could crowd this adored one. this perfect one out Of his thoughts for the 1 time being He found it difficult to concentrate his thoughts on Hetty ! Castleton
 How white and i'll Sara had looked when she said good night to him at the door! The memory of her dark, 1 mysterious eyes haunted him; he could see them in the night about him. l They had been full of pain; there were 1 torrents of tears behind them. They had glistened as If furnished by the fires of fever
 i Even as he wrote his long. trium- 1 phant letter to Hetty Castleton, the picture of Sara Wrandall encroached upon his mental vision. He could not drive 1t out. He thought of her as she had appeared to him early in the spring; through all the varying stages of their growing intimacy; through the interesting days when he yainly tried | to translate her matchless beauty by means of wretched pigments; up to this present hour in which she was revealed, and yet not revealed, to him Her vivid face was always before him. between his eyes and the thin. white paper on which he scribbled so eager ly. Her feverish eyes were looking into his; she was reading what he i wrote before it appeared on the sur face of the sheet!
 His letter to Hetty was a triumph of skill and diplomacy, achieved after many attempts. He found it hard not to say too much. and quite as difhcult not to say too little He spent hours over this all-important missive. At last 1t was finished He read and re- read 1t, searching for the slightest 1 flaw: fatal word or suggestion that | might create in her mind the slightest doubt as to his sincerity. She was sure to read this letter great many times, and always with the view 10 finding something between the lines: such as pity, resignation, an enforced conception of loyalty, or even faith! i He meant that she should find noth- ing there but love. It was full of ten derness, full of hope, full of promise. He was coming to her with a stead fast, enduring love in his heart he wanted her now more than ever before.
 There was no mention of Challis Wrandall, and but once was Sara s name used. There was nothing in the letter that could have betrayed their joint secret to the most acute outsider, and yet she would under stand that he had wrung everything from Sara's lips. Her secret was his.
 He decided that 1t would not be safe to anticipate the letter by a cable gram. It was not likely that any mes sage he could send would have the desired effect. Instead of reassuring her, in all probability it would create fresh alarm.
 Sleep did not come to him until after three o'clock At two he got up and deliberately added a postscript to the letter he had written. It was in the nature of poignant plea for Sara Wrandall. Even as he penned these lines, he shuddered at the thought of what she had planned to do to Hetty Castleton, Staring hard at the black window before him, the pen still in his hand, he allowed his thoughts to dwell so intimately on the subject of his well-meant postscript that her ashen face with it's burning eyes seemed to take shape in the night beyond. It was a long time before he could get rid of the illusion. After wards he tried to conjure up Hetty's face and to drive out the likeness of the other woman, and found that he could not recall single feature in the face Of the girl he loved,
 When he reached Southlook in the morning. he found that nearly all of the doors and windows were boarded up. Wagons were standing in the stable yard, laden with trunks and crates. Servants without livery were scurrying about the halls There was an air of fnality about their move. ments.
 Yes. sir" said Watson, in reply to his question, we are in a rush Mrs. Wrandall expects to close the 'ouse this evening, sir We all go up this afternoon. l suppose you know sir, we ave taken a new apartment in town"
 "No!" exclaimed Booth.
 Yes, sir. we ave, sir. They've been decorating it for the pawst two weeks. Seems like she didn't care for the old one we 'ad As d matter of fact. didn't care much for 1t. either. She's taken one of them Inexpensive ones looking out over the park, sir 1 You know we used to look out over Madison avenue, sir. and God know it wasn't hinspirin Yes. sir, we 20 up this afternoon. Mrs. Wrapdall will be down in a second, thank you. sir"
 Booth actually was startled bv her l appearance when she entered the room a few minutes later. She looked l positively ill
 My dear Sara" he cried anxiously. this is too bad You are making yourself i'll Come, come. this won't do"