Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1916-03-02

as Marcel Troyon. Michael Lanyard
and the Lone Wolf Had any one OF
these names been uttered in his hear
ing Just then II would have meant moth
ing-he was merely himself, a shell OF
sensations inclosing dull embers Of vi
tally.
For several minutes he lay without
moving, curiously intrigued by this
riddle of identity-it vas but slowly
that his mind. like a Blind hand crop
ing through the arras of a darkened
chamber, picked up the flaments OF
memory.
But n by one the connections we're
renewed, the circuits closed.
Singularly enough. in his under
standing, his first thought was Of a
girl-still, presumably, asleep upstairs
in the studio. unconsciously his pris-
oner and hostage.
For he was no more as he had been.
Wherein the difference lay he couldn't
say, but that a difference existed he
was persuaded-that he had changed.
that some strange reaction in the
chemistry of his nature had taken
place while he slept. 1t was as if sleep
had not only repaired the ravages of
fatigue upon the tissues of his brain
and body, but had mended the tissues
of his soul as well.
His thoughts were fluent in fresh
channels, his interests no longer the
interests of the Michael Lanyard he
had known, no longer self-centered, the
interests of the absolute ego. He was
concerned less for himself, even now,
when he should be most concerned
about himself, than for another, for
the girl Lucia Bannon, who was moth
ing to him, whom he had yet to know
for twenty-four hours, but none the
less a woma of whom he could not
cease to think if he would.
1t was her situation that ~perturbed
him, her p%redicament from which he
sought an outlet-never his own.
Yet his own was desperate enough.
Bafied and uneasy, he at length be-
thought him of his watch, But its tes
timony seemed incredible-surely the
hour could not be five in the after
noon! Surely he could not have slept
so close upon a full round Of the
clock!
And if it were so, what of the girl?
Had she, too, SO sorely needed sleep
that the brief November day had
dawned and waned without her knowl-
edge?
That question was one to agitate
him; he was up in an instant and crop
ing his way through the gloom
enshrouded bedchamber and dining
room to the staircase door in the re-
ception hall. He found this fast
enough, for it's key was safe in his
pocket, and, unlocking 1t quietly, he
shot the beam Of his lamp up that
dark wall to the door at the top, which
was tight shut.
For several moments he listened, but
there was never a sound to indicate
that he wasn't a lonely tenant of the
little dwelling, then ~irresolutely he
lifted a foot to the first step-and
withdrew it. If she we're still asleep
why disturb her? He had much to dc
in the way of thinking things out, and
that was a process more easily per
formed in solitude.
Leaving the door ajar, he turned tc
one of the front windows, parted its
draperies, and peered out, over the
little garden and through the iron ribs
of the gate, to the street, where 6
single gas lamp, glimmering within
a dull, golden halo Of mist, made Wis
ible the scant length Of the Impasst
Stanislas, empty, rain-swept, desolate
Rain continued to fall with no him
of stopping.
Something in the dreary emptiness
of that brief vista deepened the shad
ow in his mood and knitted a careworr
frown into his brows.
Abstractedly he sought the kitchen
and, making a light, washed up at thu
tap, then foraged for breakfast. HI
put the kettle on to boil, and, lighting
a cigarette, sat himself down besid'
the table to watch the pot and cogi
tate over his several problems.
In a fashion uncommonly clear
headed, even for him, he assembled
all the facts bearing upon their posi-
ton, his and Lucia Bannon's, and dis
p~assionately pondered them.
But insensibly his thoughts reverte'
to the exotic phase of his awakening
drifting into such introspection as h
seldom INDUCED, and led him b.
strange ways to a revelation alto
gether u~npresaged and a resolve stil
more revolutionary.
A look of wonder iickered in hi
brooding eyes,, and clipped between hi
two fingers, his cigarette g. ew a lon
ash, let it fall, and burned down to
stump so short that the coal almos
scorched his flesh. He dropped
and crushed out the fire with his het
quite unwittingly.
Slowly but irresistibly his world wa
: turning over beneath his feet.
! The sound of a football recalled hiI
, as from an unreasonable remove; b
looked up to see the girl at pause upo
the threshold. He rose slowly, wit
effort recollecting himself and ma
shaling his wits against the emergenc
l foreshadowed by her attitude.
Tense with indignation, quick wit
disdain, she demanded without an
preface whatever: why did you loo
me in?"
He stammered unhappily: Il be
i your pardon
4 "why did you lock me inF"
I'm sorry
But she interrupted him to STAN