The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1917-08-30

his temper. the madness Of his passion
] for the girl. Talbot was uneasy.
Elinor had an unexpected visitor
that afternoon. It was the Bryant
woman.
White, but very dignifed. Elinor
came into the drawing room. But Mrs.
Bryant had not come about the pearl.
you must forgive a Sunday VISIT"
she said. "But I have taken Mr.. Bry-
ant to the country club, and I wanted
so much to come to see you"
Elinor's color returned.
ut Is very kind Of you to come"
Mrs. Bryant's small, birdlike eyes
darted i've the room. The house was
distinctly good form. Perhaps the girl
might be an acquisition to the social life
Of the village. After all, religion was
becoming very broad. Even the best
people
"The country club" said Mrs. Bry-
ant aloud, "is full Of disagreeable
memories to me just now. 1t was less
than a week ago that l was robbed"
"Ah!" said Elinor. "Robbedl How
Interesting"
"All my Jewels, everything I pos
sessed that was really worth WHILE"
but surely the police"
Mrs. Bryant flushed with anger.
"The police !" she said. 1T wouldn't
surprise me at all to discover that the
police are in with the thieves. Look
at the condition Of this countryl It
has been terror-ridden for the last two
or three years. You yourself are a
victim. Your poor fatherw
Actually she had detested old Hilary.
She sat forward on the edge of her
chair and spoke with great JUNCTION.
! "There is a band of organized, in
telligent bandits working in this neigh
borhood, Miss Kingston, a band Of MUIR
derers. In these days of feminism, 1t
wouldn't astonish me at all to discover
that som woman Is at the head of 1t.
The things that have been planned
have been so f1endishly clever"
Mrs. Bryant rose.
ut shows how demoralizing such
things are" she said. II assure you
that I new look at a woman's throat
these days without expecting to see
my pearl"
From that dangerous ground she
stepped quickly to the burning Of the
parish house, which she believed was
the work Of militant suffragettes.
1.-The dear rector is not q feminist"
h said. "His assistant, I fear, has q
strong tendency In that direction. But
he is a wonderful person, really. Just
imagine, seventy-eight thousand dol.
lars was collected in Saint Jude's
church this morning for rebuilding the
parish house,"
She turned at the doorway.
"He's single and very attractive,
my dear. The entire village Is trying
to marry him. There is talk Of the
doctors daughter, q common little
thing"
When she had gone, Elinor, a little
faint and dizzy, went out on the ter.
race. She realized that the barrier be-
tween Ward and herself was not only
Of his faith against her unbelief. There
was the insurmountable gulf between
his world and her world. She did not
fit into his life. Into his arm, perhaps;
into his life-never.
Walter would try to get the money.
She must get word to him somehow,
for If the Bryant pearl was recovered
and Boroday given his freedom, mon.
ey would not be an immediate neces-
sity.
She paced the terrace and tried to
think it out. For Talbot to go back
to the city, an hour; for the delivery Of
the special delivery, another hour.
Then the police would have to come
out by train or motor. With the best
Of luck, it would be four o'clock before
the pearl could be recovered.
There were a dozen possibilities;
the chief might be out of town; the
pearl might be recovered from the
box without his assistance. In that,
case he would not hold to his agree
ment with Boroday.
She tried to head Walter off, but she
could not locate him. At none Of his
various haunts could she find him by
telephone; he was not at the Dago's;;
at the taxicab office he was said to
be laid off for the day. AS the white
clouds Of the afternoon turned to
flame in the sunset, Elinor's face grew
set and hard.
Continued next weekly