The Delta independent., 1916-04-14
CHAPTER XVII
The Abyss


~ ~
II was at early candle-lighting in
the evening of the day of renewed and
unbridled speculation in Mirapolis
front feet" that Brouillard, riding the
piebald range pony on which he had
been making an inspection round of
the nearer Buckskin ditchers' camps.
topped the hill in the new, high-pitched
road over the Chigringo shoulder and
looked down upon the valley electrics
Brouillard let the pony set it's own
pace on the down-hill lap to the finish,
freshened himself at his rooms in the
Niquoia building, and went to the
Metropole to eat his dinner with Muir
ray Grislow as his vis-a-vis. The buzz
zing throngs in the Metropole cafe and
lobby annoyed him. and even Grislow's
quiet sarcasm as applied to the days
bubble-blowing failed to clear the air.
At the club there was the same atmos-
phere Of unrest; an exacerbating over
charge of the suppressed activities i'm
patiently waiting for another day of
excitement and opportunity. Corner
lots and the astounding prices they
had commanded filled the air in the
lounge, the billiard room and the buff
fet, and after few minutes Brouillard
| turned his back on the hubbub and
sought the quiet of the darkened build
ing on the opposite side OK the street.
He was alone In his office on the
sixth floor and was trying, half absent
ly. to submerge himself In a sea of
desk work when as distinctly as II she
were present and at his elbow, he
heard, or seemed to hear, Amy Mas
singale say: Victor. you said you
would come II / needed you. / need
you now" Without a moments hesita-
ton he got up and made ready to go
out.
The Massingale town house was one
Of row of succeed villas fronting on
the main residence street, which be-
yond the city limits became the high
road to the Quadjenai bend and the
upper valley. Brouillard took a cab at
the Metropole, dismissed 1t at the villa
gate, and walked briskly up the path
to the house, which was dark save for
one lighted room on the second floor
the room in which Stephen Massingale
was recovering from the effects of Van
Bruce Cortwright's pistol shot.
Amy Massingale was on the porch
waiting for him, as he fully believed
until her greeting sufficiently proved
her surprise at seeing him.
You. Victor" she said, coming
quickly to meet him. Murray Girls.
low said you had gone down to the
Buckskin camps and wouldn't be back
for two or three days!"
| Il changed my mind and came back
! How is Steve this EVENING""
He is quite comfortable. more com
Portable than he has been at all since
the wound began to heal. have been
reading him to sleep. and when the
night nurse came I ran down to get a
breath of fresh air in the open.''
No. you didn't come down for that
reason" Brouillard amended gravely
You came to meet me-"
Did II" she asked. What makes
you think that?"
Il know what happened" said Brou
Hard, speaking as soberly as II he
were stating mathematical certainty
You left that room upstairs and came
to me. ! didn't see you, but | heard
you as plainly as / can hear you now
You spoke to me and called me by
name"
She shook her head. laughing lightly
You have been overweight about
something. or maybe you are just plain
tired"
You are standing me off," he de.
clared. You are in trouble of some
sort, and you are trying to hide 1t from
me-"
NO. not exactly trouble: only lit
: tie worry"
''All right. call 1t worry II you like
and share 1t with me. What IL it?'
Il think you know without being
told. / am afraid we have finally lost
the Little Susan That is one of the
worries and the other I've been trying
to call silly. ! don't know what has
become of father-as II he weren't old
enough to go and come without telling
me every move he makesi"
your father isn't at homer" gasped
Brouillard.
No; he hasn't been here since nine