Evening star., 1918-07-07


into crime. Surely lunacy does not
show such self-restraint; nor does lun-
acyfawaken any such feelings of awe
as followed a prolonged scrutiny OF
herset hut determined features. Only
GRIEF Of the most intense and sacred
sheF presented, and as the man to
whom the tragedies OF life were of
daily occurrence took in this mys-
terry with all its incongruities he real
lied, not without a sense of profess
Before h as aair az Gaining for or h the
oldstine Judgment which. for forty or
moro years, had made his record ia
trd1olis.
She was seated with no one near her
butea young lady whom sympathetic
interest had drawn to her side. Mr..
Roberts stood in one of the windows.
and not far from him q man In the
museum uniform.
At the authoritative advance of the
old ddetective, the woman. whose eye
ns9had caught. attempted to struggle
meIt Of hopeless effort. and sank back
In her chair. There was no pretense
in this. Though gifted with a strong
frame. emotion had SO weakened her
that she was simply unable to stand.
Quite CONVINCED Of this, and affected
lofty patience. Mr.. Gryce prefaced his
QUESTIONS with an apology-auite an
unusual proceeding for him.
Whether or no she heard it, he could
not tell; but she was quite ready to
answer when he asked her name and
response to the latter query:
Iiive at the Calderon. q family ho-
tel in 67th street. My name"-here
she Spaused for a second to moisten
her lips-"is Taylor--Ermentrude
aysSr apsiix addss Nothing ing. heh s,seh she
every eye her way. Then more even
you will find the name on the
hoteps books"
Wife or widow%
widow"
= What aSvoice! how 1t reached every
heaft.r waking strange sympathies
there ! As the word fell, not a person
inseroom but stirred uneasily. Even
sheiherself started at its sound; and
moved. perhaps, by the depth of ST.
lence which followed, she added in
suppressed tones:
"A widow within the hour. That's
why you see me still In colors. but
That settled it. There was no mis-
taking her condition after an express
sion Of this kind. The curator and
Mr-Eryce exchanged glances, and Mr..
Roberts. stepping from his corner, be-
trayed the effect which her words had
produced on him, by whispering in
the hetective's ear: -
What you need is an alienist." -
HAD ahe heard? 1t would seem SO
from the quick way she reused and
exclaimed with indignant emphasis:
"You do not understand me! see
that l must drink my bitter cup to
hesdregs. This is what I mean: My
husband was living this morning-liv-
ingsup to the hour when the clock in
this building struck IL. l knew 1t
from the joyous hopes with which my
breast was filled. But with the stroke
ofsnoon the blow fell. was bending
abeve the poor child who had fallen
so suddenly at my feet. when the Wis
ion came, and I saw him gazing at me
from a distance SO remote--across a
desert so immeasurable-that nothing
but death could create such a remov-
al or make Of him the ghastiy silhou-
ette saw. He Is dead. At that mo-
What l am widow"
RAWLINGS? No, the calm certainty of
her tone. the grief, touching depths
SO pGpfound 1t had not need of words.
showed the confidence she felt in the
warning she believed herself to have
received Though probably not a sin
gledpefson present put any faith in
was general movement OF sympathy
which led Mr.. Gryce to pass the mat
ter by without any attempt at con-
troversy. and return to the question
in hand. With a decided modification
Of manner, he therefore asked her to
relate how she came to be kneeling
over the injured girl with her hand
upon the arrow.
"Let me have a moment in which to
recover myself" she prayed. covering
her eyes with her hand. Then, while
fer; I suffer-" and leaped to her
feet only - sink back again