Evening star., 1918-08-25

Ing stone for what she had-certainly
expected to hnd there-a key to the
front door.
But her hand came away empty.
Surprised, for this was not her first
visit to this house (she had once
spent weeks there and knew the
habits Of Its mistress welD. she felt
again in the place where the key
should be. and where she had SO often
found It when her friend was out.
and presently she was In the road
again staring at the closed-up front.
AS she did so. these words left her
lips:
minute"
Tottering from fatigue. she caught
ct the trunk Of q great tree which
Why did 1t CULVER? Why did the
ground beneath her feet seem to rock
and all nature darken as with the
falling of pail. The storm was upon
her. 1t had rolled up with incredible
syar sss ses sa about SHOCK to ersss sss
realized her position. No shelter. and
the storm Of the season upon her!
What should she do? There was no
way of getting into the house at the
rear. for the bushes were too thick.
to the skin, perhaps smitten by the
next thunderbolt. But Antoinette
Duclos was no coward. so far as
physical Ills were concerned. She
drew herself up straight against
ssss ss.r 'h's than bad shelter 81 It wiss wss w: ss:
enemy at the door. She would be
calm, and she was fast growing so
when she suddenly became aware of q
man standing very near and hunting
her ss out .nar through the hm dusk; -. .,,.,
which rose in her throat did not pass
her lips. Her terror was unspeakable,
for she had heard no advance: indeed,
there was too much noise about her
for that. But 1t was the silent terror
Of despair. for she thought It was the
great effort at escape. But he soon
proved to her he was not. 1t was
Just the driver Of the stagecoach. re-
turned to see what had become Of her.
He had feared to fnd her stricken
down in the road. and when he saw
her clinging alone and in q maddened
way to this tree, he made no bones
Of speaking to her with all necessary
plainness. ..F
'T asked you II 1t was Missus
Brown you had come to see," he
called to her through the din. "And
YOU wouldn't answer"
why do You speak ike thst7 Has
anything happened to herf' ~,
:Don't you know?" -
mo. no-she was well when heard
from her last. and expecting me. or
80 she wrote 10 she-she----"
rus:as1 DssS m1:su, rn We buried her last
!. Why hnisAf She was lying out be-
fore him, straight and stark in. the
road. A bolt Of lightning which, at
that moment tore-its-way through the
heavens brought Into startling View
framed in a mass ofiron- gray locks
released by her fair. "a.
Good heaven!' burst from the lips
OF the frightened man as he stopped
to- to lift her. what am going to do
y The thunder, answered him, or:
rather, 1t robbed him for the mo-
ment of all thought. Peal after peal
ratified over the neighboring peaks,
rocking the air on the uplands and
flling his soul with dismay. But
when quiet had come again, hope re-
his ear:
"Can 1 get into the house? IL
could stay there tonight 1 could 60
Z, back tomorrow"
'Ill see that you get in. II I have
to break In a window" he answered.
But you're sure that you will not
be afraid to stay out this terrible
storm in house with no neighbors
within half a mile?"
II know the house. Il have been
here before. and II Elvira Brown
could face the storms Of forty years
from her solitary home. / can surely
face q single one without losing my
courage"
He said no more. but, approaching
the house, began to test such win
dows as he could reach. He finally
broke in q pane and released the
latch; after that, entrance was easy.
Yet after he had opened the way
for her and she had stepped into the
dim anterior. he felt 10th. to leave
her. Duty called him away. The pas
senger awaiting him up the road was
a man he could not afford to disap-
point. yet he stood there longer than
knob Of the door in hand. watching
her struggle with the lamp. which
she at last succeeded In lighting. As
the walls Of the hall and her anx-
iously bending figure burst into view
he uttered a quick "Good-bye!'
She turned, smiled and tried to
thank him, but the words failed to
leave her lips. A nearer and hercer
bolt had shot to earth at that instant.
striking q tree SO near that the noise
of Its fall mingled with the crash Of
the. heavens. When 1t had ceased he
had gone. He could not face the look
with which she met this new catas-
trophe.
That look never again left her.
When she saw herself in . glass, as