Rural Retreat times. [volume] (Rural Retreat, Va.) 1892-1918, 1915-06-15

Z -
IN less than three minutes he was
sound asleep. The woman gazed down
at him in wonder and envy If only
she could drop to sleep like that. Very
softly she pressed her lips to his hair.
At eleven o'clock the following
night the hall light in the Hargreave
house was turned off and the whole
interior became dark A shadow
crept through the lilac bushes with
out any more sound that a cat would
have made. Florence's window was
open, as the arch-conspirator had ex-
pected it would be. With a smalY
string and stone as a sling he sent
the letter whirling skillfully through
the air. 1t sailed into the girls room.
The man below heard no sound of the
stone hitting anything and concluded
that 1t had struck the bed.
He waited patiently. Presently a
! wavering light could be distinguished
over the sill of the window. The girl
was awake and had lit the candle.
This knowledge was sufficient for his
need. The tragic letter would do the
rest, that is, If the girl came from
the same pattern as her father and
mother-strong willed and adventu-
rous.
He tiptoed back to the lilacs, when
noise sent him close to the ground
Half a dozen feet away he saw a
shadow creeping along toward the
front door, Presently the shadow
stood up as If listening. He stopped
again and ran lightly to the steps, up
these to the door, which he Rugged.
Who was this? wondered Braine.
Patiently he waited, arranging his pos
ture SO that he could keep lookout
at the door. By and by the door
opened cautiously. A man holding
candle appeared. Braine vaguely
recognized Olga's description of the
butler. The man on the veranda sud-
denly blew out the light
Braine could hear the low murmur
versation lasted scarcely minute.
The door closed and the man ran
down the steps, across the lawn, with
Braine close at his heels.
"Just rloment, Mr.. Hargreave,"
he called ironically; Gust moment"
The man he addressed as Hargreave
turned with lightning rapidity and
struck. The blow caught Braine
above the ear, knocking him fiat.
When he regained his feet the rumble
80 al LII 10 kbo
story.
BY the dim light of her bedroom
| candle Florence read the note which
! had found entrance SO strangely and
| mysteriously into her room. Her ia,
/ Their! He lived, he needed her! Alive
J but in dread peril and only she could
save him! She longed to fly to him
! at once, then and there. How could
she wait till tomorrow night at eight?
Immediately she began to plan how to
| circumvent the watchful Jones and
the careful Susan. Her father! She
slept no more that night.
my Darling Daughter: I must see
you. Come at eight o'clock tomorrow
night to Is Grove street, third floor.
Confide in no one, or you seal my
death warrant.
Your unhappy FATHER"
What child would refuse to obey a
summons like this?
A light tap on the door started her
is anything the matter?' asked
the mild voice of Jones.
mo. l got up to get drink of
! water"
She heard his footsteps die away
| down the corridor. She thrust the
letter into the pocket of her dress,
! which lay neatly folded on the chair
! at the foot Of the bed, then climbed
back into the bed itself She must
not tell even Mr.. Norton.
Was the child spinning romance
! over the first young man she had ever
/ met? In her heart Of hearts the girl
did not know.
Her father!
1t was all so terribly and tragically
simple, to match woman's mind
against that of child. Both Norton
and the sober Jones had explicitly
warned ner never TO go anywhere,
receive telephone calls or letters, with
out first consulting one or the other
of them. And now she had planned
{. to deceive them, with all the cunning
of her sex.
/ The next morning at breakfast there
was nothing unusual either in her ap-
pearance or manners. Under the
shrewd scrutiny of Jones she was just
her everyday self, fine bit of acting
/ for one who had yet to see the stage.
But it is born in woman to act, as
/ it is born in man to fight, and Flor
/ ence was no exception to the rule.
She was going to save her father.
! She read with Susan, played the
piano, seWed little, laughed, hummed
and did a thousand and one things