The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1915-07-17
within these four walls" said ne
and his face was very white.
rs that your sentence2"

I
is that your sentence?"
Call it that If you like, Therese"
DO you mean that 1 am not TO
put foot outside Of these premises?"
she asked, wide-eyed. He nodded his
| head. MY keepers? Who are they
to be? The old men of the sea"
Your keeper viii be the thing you
call Love-" said he.
DO you expect me to submit TO
| this"
He held up his hand 'I expect you
to remain here until I return, Therese.
I did not intend to impose this condi-
ton upon you by word of mouth
was going away without word, but
you would have received from Mr..
Dawes a sealed envelope as soon as
| the ship sailed. It contains this YER
/ dict in writing He will hand it to YOU.
of course, but now that you know the
| contents it will not be necessary to
And when you do come back am
/ I to hope for something more than
your pardon and a reIease?" she cried,
with fine irony in her voice.
81 will not promise anything" said
| he, slowly.
! She drew a long breath and there
/ was the light of triumph in her eyes
| LAYING her slim hand on his arm, she
| said: I am content, James. l am sure
/ of you now. You will find me here
/ when you choose to come back, be it
I in one year or twenty. Now go. my
mani They are waiting for you. Be
! kind to them, poor souls, and tell them
all that you have just told me. 1t viii
! make them happy. They love me, you
see"
yes, they do love you said he, put
ting his hands upon her shoulders.
They smiled into each others eyes.
"Good-by, Therese. will return"
"GOOd-by, James. No, do not kiss
me. 1t would be mockery. Good luck
and-GOd speed you home again"
Their hands met in warm, firm clasp.
Il will go with you as far as the door
of my prison"
From the open door she smiled out
upon the young people in the motor
and waved her handkerchief in gay
! farewell Then she closed the door
| and walked slowly down the hallway
to the big library. She was alone in
! the house save for the servants The
old men had preceded the voyagers TO
| the pier. Standing in the center OF
the room, she surveyed this particular
/ cell in her prison with a sort of calm
| disdain
He has taken the only way to con-
quer himself" she unused, half aloud
He is a wise mana very wise man
I might have expected this of him"
She pulled the bell cord, and Jones,
who had Just re-entered the house,
came at once to the room.
Yes. madam"
when Mr.. Dawes and Mr.. Riggs re-
turn from the ship, tell them that /
shall expect them to have luncheon
with me. That's all. thank you"
Yes, madam
'By the way, Jones, you may always
set the table for three"
Jones blinked. It was a most IN
usual order. He had been trying to
screw up his courage to inquire what
| his mistress plans were for the i'm
| mediate future-whether she intended
to travel, should he dismiss the serT-
ants, would she spend the heated term
in the mountains, etc, etc. He, as
well as the rest of the servants, won
dered why the masters wife had been
left behind. Her instructions, there
| fore, to lay three places at the table
| took him completely by surprise
| knocked the breath out Of him." as
he expressed it to the cook a few min
| utes later She had never been known
to take a meal with the garruIous old
men. They bored her to distraction,
!,
to lay places for them always! 1t
was most extr'ordernary!
A cold, bIustery night in January,
six months after the beginning Of
| Yvonne's voluntary servitude in the
| prison to which her husband had COM
mitted her In the big library, before
a roaring fire sat the two old men,
very much as they had sat on the De-
cember night that heraIded the ap-
| proach of the new mistress of the
| house of Brood, except that on this
occasion they were eminently sober
On the corner of the table lay a long,
yellow envelope cablegram ad-
dressed to Mrs. James Brood.
Its been here for two hours and
she don't even think of opening it to
see what's inside" complained MI.
Riggs, but entirely without reproach.
Its her business, Joe," said Mr..
Dawes, pulling hard at his cigar.
Maybe some ones dead" said Mr..
Riggs, dolorousIy.
Like as not" said his friend, Put
what OF it?"
What Of it, you infernaI-but, ex-
cuse me, Danbury, won't say it It's
against the rules, God bless EN-. But
1 will say that if anybody else had
asked that question I'd say he was a
bIithering, unnatural fool II any
body's dead, she ought to know il"
But supposing nobody is dead, "
protested Mr.. Dawes
There's no use arguing with you"
Shell read it when she gets good
and ready At present she prefers to
read the letters that just came from
Freddy and Lyddy. What's a cable
gram compared TO the kind OF letters
they write? Answer me, Joe"
1 IfI-o