Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-10-06
Mary Roberts Rinehart 81
Thrilling Mystery of
t'The Curve of the Catenary"

lating himself that he'd escaped hara-
kiri.
1t had been pretty full morning.
I felt tired, can tell you. And, some
| how or other. 1 felt older. I'd never
had much responsibility. I suppose
| If you come right down to facts. I'd
pretty much played UP to that time
There's nothing like Jolt to stir a
fellow up, and I'd had sev,ral. left
the office, for one thing. I'd seen q
man die a sickening death. And I'd
| found out that I was tired of the girls
| l knew in society, and sick of the Lot
| tie Murray type, and that the sort d
| like to marry lived in white house
with flower-boxes and old furniture
and thought about as much of me as
she did of the office cat. Less. prob
ably. The cat was useful; l wasn't
Martin and 1 lunched together. We
| generally sit at table that holds 8
I dozen or SO and It's rather noisy
But neither of us was in form. and We
| sat alone in corner.
| Martin was gloomy. Usually he has
no nerves, but he hadn't slept any
more than 1 had, and he said things
at the mill were bad. The governor
was in rage. and he'd upset every
plan we'd made in the morning.
I'm sick of 1t, Ollie," he said
I've a notion to get out. The wa.
We've sche ned to land that shell or,
der. and now to have everything ballee
up-it gets my goat"
| What would you do?"
"Pd look around for a while. I've
saved something. I'd like to travel
| Then I'd come back and settle down.
| THAT sounds like marriage"
Il might do that. too"
| He looked at me steadily across
the table. I'm. not as clever as he is
but / didn't need an Interpreter to tel
me what that look meant. 1t meant
Miss Hazeltine, and a few other
things. 1t was not challenge. Don't
| make any mistake about that. 1t sim.
ply expressed a few of the things fef-
lows don't say to each other. Oh,
understood.
And when I looked at him I felt
he had right to try to look little
sense into me. He's fine-looking
man, Martin is. Besides he'd known
her and liked her, all the time 1 was
thinking OF her as an office fixture
lie had all the brains and looks
hadn't. All 1 had on him was fam.
ily, and l knew she didn't give O
whoop for my family. On the con.
But had a sort of sickening feel.
ing that Sis and l were rather gettine
ours. Poor Sis! She liked Martin
from the start. 1 knew that. And
he hated society and the sort of gir
SIS was-nice, you know, but frivol.
Gus. Not standing for anything" he
used to say. Poor Sis!
don't recall all that we talked
ABOUT at lunch. The fellows were
Inaklng an awful n2ise at the Ions
table, and kidding us to beat the hand
4 know that l tried to persuade Mar.
.in 10 SUCK by the works, at least un.
vi tne new order was off, and that he
WOULDN'T commit himself EvidentI,
the governor had been on blustel
tnat morning. Martin looked pale
ana ne mad set his jaw at an angle
that reminded me of the n. C.
J 10 nghten the tension L told hin
tne incident of the N. c. and what Ief
up 10 1t. He listened carefully.
got the spring and the glass out of m,
pocket and re-examined them. hu
on him. pi eSeioi
BE careful, Ollie" he said "Don.
IaiI over clew and sprain Won,
NINA. He picked up the spring anI
iooheo at 1t. You think she picsef
up something like this. Wei, gho
II she did? The explanation Of Mis-
Hazeltine being where you found he
is very simple. The old man is q sou
OF pseudoscientist, fond of wanSer
ing ABOUT at night making eynar;
ments. He'd been out last night a -,
she was looking for him." --'
In tree?"
Go Be Continued