Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-05-07

NuS quite pOSlllNelN IaeClnntinH.
ana that mask proved to be far from
| superhuous. for when she followed her
knock into the boudoir of her mistress
| she was thunderstruck to find nearly two
uozen people, men and women, gathered
| together there, sitting and standing
ABOUT In a silence which seemed curious.
~ constrained, taken in connection with
their festival attire. For they were ali
IN costume and, with the single excep.
uon OF Mrs. Gosnod, all masked
rms last was very brilliant in the bill.
iowy silken skirts. puffed sleeves, tight
podice and wide ruff OF Queen Elizabeth
ana carried off we'll the character of that
hot-tempered majesty, making no effort
10 disguise the fact that she was deeply
wounded and profoundly agltated.
She sat regally enthroned upon a
spindleshank chair that matched her es-
crltoire, and betrayed her impatient
humor by the quick tapping of one ex-
quisitely shod foot And the others
seemed to walt upon her pleasure in a
silence almost of subjugation-a nervous,
unnatural ominous hush
1t was broken on Sally's entrance by
the mistress of Gosnold House, who nod
ded without sign of recognition and
SAID In bleak manner thus far in Sally g
experience wholly foreign TO the nature
OF the speaker: Come In, please, shut the
door and find some place to sit down. Re-
tam your mask. There are two guests
wanting, and we must walt for them"
There were no chairs vacant and ma
Jority of the men were already standing,
but another (by whose unquestionably
authentic cowboy costume Sally was sure
she recognized Trego) rose and silently
surrendered to her his place
She accepted 1t with stined murmur
of thanks.
The slight stir occasloned by her addi-
tion to the company subsided, and the
sense of constraint became even more
marked. Nobody appeared to care to
know his neighbor there was no whis-
perlng. no murmurlng, even the indis-
pensable fidgeting was accomplished in
an apprehensive and apologetic manner.
few men breathed audibly, q few fans
stirred imperceptibly an atmosphere su-
percharged with radiations from so many
human bodies added to the natural heat
of summers evening; there were no
other sounds or movements of any con-
sequence. Sally became uncomfortably
susceptible to the undercurrent of high
nervous tension, conscious of a slight
dew on her hands and forehead, and sur
prisingiy conscious of the sonorous
humping of her heart. Unaccountably,
nobody else seemed to hear It,
Perhaps they were all listening to their
own hearts But why
She wasted few moments vainly scru-
tinizing the masks in her immediate
neighborhood. Their eyes cleaned uncan-
nily through the slits in the black silk,
and when she intercepted a direct glance
1t was hastily lowered or averted as
though there were something lndecorous
in acknowledging her bewidered appeal,
Again, perhaps they were as much puz-
zled by, her incognito as she was by
theirs.
Those small shapes of black. silk-cov-
cred cardboard proved singularly ef-
fective, even when they concealed no
more than the nose and the cheeks i'm
mediately beneath the eyes. She found
1t surprisingly difficult to fix an identlfi-
cation, even when satisfied she could not
be in error; but she was measurably sure
of Mrs Artemas beneath Diana's Greclan
draperies, of Trego in his Western guise,
of Mercedes Pride in the conventional
makeup of a witch.
The rest at once provoked and eluded
conjecture; she fancied she knew Lyttle-
ton in the doublet and hose of Sir Francis
Drake. but could not feel certain; divest-
ed of his peculiarly well-tailored PERSONAL
ity, he was aSstonishingly like half a
dozen other men among the guests
Presently Mrs. Gosnold's maid, Marie,
appeared in the doorway to the bedroom,
holding in her hand a number of envel-
opes, and at a nod from her mistress
began to thread the gathering, presenting
one envelope to each guest, together with
small pencil such as Is commonly at
tached to dance programs.
The incident provided a grateful inter-
ruption to q situation that was rapidly
assuming In Sally's esteem the grotesque-
ness of a dream. Remembering that this
was Gosnold House, the focal point of
Americas most self-contained summer
colony, and that all these subdued and in
articulate masqueraders were personages
daily exploited by the press as the bright
est stars in the social armament, the in
congruity of this dumb gathering seemed
as glaring as bizarre as anything her
fancy could conceive.
And when her envelope was handed her
and she had lifted the flap and withdrawn
an oblong correspondence card bearing
the monogram A-G and nothing else, the
final effect of meaningless mystery
seemed to have been consummated.
But this, as 1t happened, was coincident
with the arrival of the last two guests
one of whom was 1.-the and shapely
Harlequin in party-colored tights, and
the other a bewitchingly blond Columbine
and then the purpose of the meeting
was soon exposed.
With no more expression than she had
employed In the case of Sally, Mrs. Cos
mold saluted the last comers with re-
quest to enter and be seated, then directed
her maid to go out into the hall, close the
door and stand guard to prevent caves
dropping. When the door was closed she
plunged directly into prepared address.
1T owe every one an apology" she be-
gan with a fugitive. placating smile, FOR
all this inconvenience and nonsense-as II
must seem. But I'm sure you will bear
with me when you know the circum-
stances, which are extraordinary, and my
motive. quite a natural one.
1--WE are now" she pursued with a swift
glance that embraced the ROOM "just
%, including myself; that is to say. every
body who slept here last night and one
or two more. And your masks are a
sure screen for any betrayal of emotion
when 1 tell you why / have asked you
10 oblige me by meeting here, So please
retain them whatever happens"
She paused, made a little gesture of
Segregation. 'I would rather almost any
thing than be obliged to say what 1
must.
zone of u.s." she announced deliberate
w. sis a thief. These rooms were entered
some time last night, while 1 was asleep.
and all my personal Jewelry was stolen
please no one interrupt. / will answer
ali the natural questions before finish.
"The robbery was not difficult to ac-
,ornplish The island is we'll policed.
here has not been a burglary in its his
,ory. and 1 am careless old woman.
When 1 take my things on at night I