The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1916-09-14
CHAPTER vi.
With No Goodbye.

CHAPTER vi.
With No Goodbye.
When Auntie George. at lunch
that day, asked Octavia IL she
were not feeling well, the niece
replied less amiably than usual:
"Of course / am! Why should you
ask such q question:"
That afternoon she went to the
little house of Sally Pindar.
Sally, this afternoon. was lying
upon a couch, with bandages
around her neck and hands. sui
fering more from shock than from
the serious burns. That the con-
versation should turn to her res
cuer was not surprising.
He lodged with us, as your
ladyship knows, perhaps"
After pause. Sally murmured,
"0f course one can never repay
such deed. But | shall never
forget. Already we miss him
very much"
HAS he left your"
Eyes, very suddenly. He must
have received bad news from
home, for he packed up last night.
And this morning he-he went"
Then the visitor departed.
The month of June and a part
of July Octavia spent in London.
Late in July. about a week aft.
er Octavia's return. a converse
tion occurred in the library be.
tween Lady Georgiana and the
old earl's fingers. $1,000
Said the lady, Il have never
seen Octavia so vivacious Il and
light-hearted." go
only at times" said the fin.
gers. There are other moments
when she is-different. Something
on her mind" 8h.. a
Again, in August. also in Octo-
Der, conversations, substantially
the same, were repeated. the
grandfather still in doubt.
On a certain November after
noon, with absent mind and Ian
guild step, Octavia entered 1 IA
miliar little room near the mali
hall of the castle.
1t was here that Octavia had al
ways kept her garden hat and has
ket. and the blue checked apron
AS she was looking, this after
noon, in a dim corner for a Ger
tain mantle, her eyes were drawn
to a piece of paper lying at tn,
bottom of the garden basket. III,
basket had not been used sine,
her last visit to the Old Hall. tina
final morning in the month o
June. She took out the paper ant
unfolded 1t, then moved to tn,
window for better light. Whel
she saw its contents she startet
slightly, and the color came t,
her cheeks-then left them ;
trifle paler. She was readin,
Ethan Lovejoy's letter - tn
wretched verse from Pandora
box. Again came a feeling of re
sentiment at the words:
Just our Kosyie Benche witt
moonlight,
And a garden breathing kisses.
But now, six months later. tn
resentment at their familiarit
was mingled with other emotions
As her eyes rested upon tn
written words, she began to NO
tice, after the first surprise o
her discovery, that the sheet O
note paper between her finger
was yellow with age; also tina
the ink had faded. She remem
bered now that when unfoldin
the note, months ago, she wa
struck by its apparent antiquity
Having doubts, she acted upo
a sudden resolve. She would in
vestigate Pandora's box. Import
ant discoveries might result.
Five minutes later. with tn
clumsy key of the Baronial Hal
in her hand, she entered the Gar
den of the Sleeping Beauty. There
to her surprise. she found tn
door of the Old Hall wide open
But the surprise was brief, TO
she remembered that this wa
Wednesday, the day when tourist
were admitted to the castle.
Slowly along the Hall Octavi
moved to the great window. an
dropped into her old seat. Their
with sigh, she leaned bac
against the wall and closed he
eyes. The silence invited dream,
Voices from the garden feache
her ears. She had forgotten tn
tourists. Glazing swiftly Sabou
her in the forlorn hope Of ESCAPE
she made a decision. antH
Along the length of the Hal
she hurried. Toward theIstatu
of Pandora. still holding her fate
full marble casket, she gave . pass
ing glance.
Across the farther end iof tn
Baronial Hall ran a heavily pan
eled oak partition. The uppe
panels in this Partition wet
open. like a church screen. givin
lookout from the gallery behint
Although Octavia had notISisite
this gallery in recent years, sh
remembered well the secret doc
that opened upon the narro'
stairs.
She pushed a little iron button
partly hidden between two mold
ings. Easily the door opened.
Since her last visit. a doEe
years ago. this gallery, lighted b
a row of narrow, Saxon windows
had become a refuge for discard
ed things.
Octayia started. For an instan
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