The Caldwell watchman. (Columbia, La.) 1885-1946, 1915-06-11

ovo,.. ile mao not thought OF them
CO. III 'helr relation to completed
s s. OF happiness for hts father In
tials, ~00 '"e'n "S essen
H,' ne vas lonely. The house was
o. Oleak as the steppes of Siberia. He
lug, ,vnseo for companionshlp, friendship,
Aaaess-and suddenly In the midst
oi ~ all he ieaped to his feet.
I'm going out, gentlemen" he ex.
o,almed, breaking in upon an unappre.
otaeed tale that Nh Riggs was relat.
'ls at some length and with consider
awe hefceness in view Of the fact that
w. Dawes had pulled him up rather
snafply once or twice in a matter of
Inaccuracies, Excuse me, please"
ne left them gaping with astonish,
iieht and dashed out into the hall for
Ills coat and hat. Even then he had
III oennite notion as to what his next
n'ose would be, save that he was going
ou1-someWhere, anywhere. he did not
care.
somehow, as he rushed down the
'front.' steps with the cool night air
blowing in his face, there surged up
"lthm him a strong, overpowering
sense of tilal duty 1t was his duty to
MAKE the first advances. 1t was for
Alm 10 pave the way to peace and hap
plness. Something vague but disturb,
Ing tormented him with the fear that
MS father faced grave peril and that
MS own place was beside him and not
against him, as he had been In all
these lily directed years. He could
not put it away from him, this thought
mat his father was in danger-in dan
ger OF something that was not phys,
lcal, something from which, with all
his valor, he had no adequate form Of
defense.
At the corner he paused, checked by
an irresistible impulse to look back,
ward at the house he had just left. To
his surprise there was light in the
drawingro0m windows facing the
street. The shades in one of them
had been thrown wide open and a
stream of light fared out across the
sidewalk,
Framed In this oblong square OF
light stood the figure of man. Slowly,
as II drawn by force he could not
resist, the young man retraced his
steps until he stood directly In front
Of the window. A questioning smile
was on his lips. He was looking up
into Ranjab's shadowy, unsmiling face,
dimly visible In the glow from the
distant street lamp. For a long time
they stared at each other, no sign OF
recognition passing between them. The
Hindu's face was as rigid, as emotion
less as If carved out of stone; his
eyes we're unwaverlng. Frederic could
see them, even in the shadows. He
had the queer feeling that, though the
man gave no sign, he had something
he wanted to say to him. that he was
actually calling to him to come back
into the house.
4 undecided. the man outside tool
4Averal halting steps toward the door
way, his gaze still fixed on the face tr
the window. Then he broke the spell
1t was a notion On his part, he argued
II he had been wanted his fathers
servant would have beckoned to him
He would not have stood there like
a craven image, staring out into the
night. Having convinced himself o.
this, Frederic wheeled and swung of
up the street once more, walking rap
idly, as one who is pursued, Turning
he waved his hand at the man in ths
window. He received no response
Farther off he looked back once more
The Hindu still was there. Long aftel
he was out Of sight of the house hi
cast frequent chances over his shout
der as if still expecting to see thu
lighted window and it's occupant.
AS he made his way to Broadway
somewhat hazily bent on following tina
thoroughfare to the district where thu
night glittered and the stars wer'
shamed, he began turning over in hi
mind a queer notion that had just sug
gested itself to him, filtering through
the maze Of uncertainty in which HI
had been laundering 1t occurred Il
him that he had been mawkishly sen
timental in respect to his father. Hi
attitude had not changed-he was seri
ously impressed by the feelings tina
had mastered him-but he found him
self ridicuIing the idea that his fathe
stood in peril of any description. Ant
suddenly. out of no particular trend 0
thought, CROPPED the SLY, persistent sus
pfcton that he had not been altogethe
responsible for the sensations of al
hour ago. Some outside influence hat
nodded his emotions for him, som'
cunning brain had been doing hi
thinking for him.
Then came the sharp recollection
of that motionless, commanding figure
! in the lighted window, and his OWL
puzzling behavior on the sidewalk out
side. He recalled his impression tina
someone had called out to him JUS
before he turned to look up at thu