Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1915-09-23

SoiiiiCIuCub Will luC liam illllt
laugh which he had come to know and
to seek to provoke. She was standing
against the opposite cell wall with her
shoulders squared and her hands be
hind her: the pose, whether intention
al or natural. was dramatically perfect
and altogether bewitching. Il was
born to be your fairy godmother, ]
think" she went on ~joyously. Tell
me; when you bought your ticket to
Wahaska that night in st. Louis, were
you meaning to come here to find
work."
NO" he admitted; 81 had money,
then"
What became of it,"
81 don't know. I suppose It was
stolen from me on the train. 1t was in
a package in one Of my suitcases; and
Doctor Farnham said"
81 know; also he told you that we
didn't find any money!"
yes; he told me that, too. We
agreed that somebody must have gone
through the grips on the train"
so you just let the money go?"
so l just let it CO."
She was laughing again and the be-
dazzling eyes were dancing with de.
light.
Il told you l was going to prove that
you are a philosopher" she exulted.
Sour old Diogenes himself couldn't
have been more superbly Indifferent to
the goods the gods provide, Open that
box on the table, please"
He did 1t half-absently; at the first
sight of the brown-paper packet with
in, the electric bulb suspended over
the table seemed to grow black and
the mahogany walls of the tiny room
to spin dizzily. Then, with a click
that he fancied he could hear, the buzz
zing mental machinery stopped and
reversed itself. A cold sweat. clammy
and sickening, started out or him
when he realized that the reversal had
made him once again the crafty, cor
nered criminal, ready to fight or fly
or to Stay, If a life stood in the way Of
escape. Without knowing what he did,
he closed the box and got upon his
feet, cycling her with a growing feroc-
ity that he could neither Danish nor
control.
81 see: you were a little beforehand
with the DOCTOR" he said, and he
strove to say it naturally; to keep the
malignant devil that was whispering
in his a from debating the tone as
well as the words.
Il was, indeed; several days before
she boosted, still joyously ex-
ultant.
"You-you opened the p~ackage?" he
went on. once more pushing the i'm
Fortunate devil aside.
Naturally. How else would | have
known that it was worth locking up?"
Her GOODNESS astounded him. If she
knew the whole truth-and the demon
at his ear was assuring him that she
must know it-she must also know
that she was confronting a great
peril; the peril Of n who voluntarily
shuts himself into a trap with the fear,
wild thing for which the
trap was baited and set. He was
steadying himself with a hand on the
table when he said: well, you opened
the package; what did you find out?'
what did l find out?" He heard her
h~alf.hesitant repetition Of his query,
and for one fitting instant he made
sure that he saw the fear of death in
the wide-open eyes that were lifted to
his. But the next instant the eyes
we're laughing at him, and she was
going on confidently. "Of course, as
soon as | united the string l saw 1t
was money-a lot Of money; and you
can imagine that l tied 1t up again,
quickly, and didn't lose any more time
than | could help in putting 1t away
in the safest place | could think of.
Every day since you began to get well.
I've been expecting you to say some
thing about It; but as long as you
wouldn't, I wouldn't"
Slowly the blood came back into the
saner channels. and the whispering
demon at his ear grew less a%rticulate.
He took the necessary forward step
and stood before her. And his answer
was no answer at all.
Miss Grierson-Margery-are you
me the truth?-all Of IT." he de-
handed, seeking to pinion the soul
which lay beyond the deepest depth
IF the limpid eyes.
Her laugh was as cheerful as a bird
song.
Telling you the truth? How could
you suspect me of such a thing! No,
ny good friend; no woman ever tells
, man the whole truth when she can
,elp it. | didn't find your money, and
didn't lock 1t up in poppa's vault: I
I'M merely playing a part in a deep
md diabolical plot to"
Griswold forgot that he was her poor
beneficiary; forgot that she had taken
lin in as her guest; forgot, in the
mad Joy of the re%actionary moment,
everything that he should have remem.
,ered-saw nothing, thought of moth.
ng save the flushed face with its glo-
,ious eyes and tempting lips: the eyes
md lips Of the daughter Of men.