The Washington times., 1918-07-29

. There Is q gypsy enl 'anpment
Sust on the road on the o ther side
of Helm now," interrupted Esther'
who had gone back to b sd her
head was still paining her, but her
ewes Riittered brightly, and she was
too excited 10 follow q sus gestion.
which Lillian had made th u sne'
should attempt to get athtn 9 real
sleep II -,
sThat Is a curious coit1cIa nee,
said Lillian. but I don't. suppt Sc ltl
has any actual bearing up0nt thet
case. An meant to say was What's
there are still many herbs Of H1 len
we do not know the properties.t II
may be such a one that we have TOT
deal with. Whoever is playa tgt
these devilish tricks is hardly lih >
ly to have recourse to ordinal
methods. And I think"-she' heA
tated
~what7"
"That though the immediate ili-N
effects of using, this peculiar drug
may not be very noticeable the re-
suit may be a physical and mental
degeneration. You yourself describe
the dreams as evil, and you admit
that your health has lately been
bad. So what is one to think7 Only
that there is a desire to harm you
In q hendish manner by inducing a.
liking for drug which. for all wet
know. may be the very same that
u playing havoc with Harold"
Escape Seems ImPosudbIe.
You think THAR" Esther's eyes
were round with horror. "But how
can I escape? II these enemies OF
mine have decided upon my undo
ing. they will find me wherever
90. It seems so hopeless-so very
hopeless" Tears sprang to her
eyes, and she lay back wearily up
On her pillow. ~
Try and get little real sIeep,"
said Lillian soothingly. There Is
no danger OF anything further hap.
pening now. and 1 will leave the
window open just a little, 50 that
the air may be pure and wholesome.
What time does your maid call
you?" s--
AT half past eight" said Esther,
drying her eyes and closing them
obediently. breakfast is at 10.
What will you do, Lilian?
II shall dress and go out There
are two or three things that I
want to look into, We will meet
again At 10, Esther. She stopped
and kissed the white forehsad.
and God bring you safely through
your troubles"
As soon aS she was dressed LII
ian made her way downstairs, ap-
parently somewhat to the aston
ishment OF the housemaids -----r -
Are you going out, madam" ask
ed one of them civilly,. noticing
that Lillian was wearing her hat
Il will open the door for you"
Yes-into the garden. It's such
q nne morning that 1 had fancy
to take a walk before breakfast.
Thank you" She passed out OF the
hall and found herself on the broad
terrace that practically surrounded
the house.
It was LiIian's design to ex-
anime the windows of the rooms
that Harold Borradale had closed off
from the rest OF the house. When
looking out of the window OF Es-
theirs bedroom she had observed
very closely how they were stu
ated though she had asked no ques-
tionA Now she noticed that they
occupied the upper portions OF a
t~o-storied wing, the room on the
ground floor being a billiard room.
The room ended in a projected tur-
ret, which evidently contained the
staircase OF which Esther had
spoken It had a small door open
ing upon the curve Of the terrace,
and this, as Lillian proved for her
self, was firmly locked. or the
windows, excluding those of the
turret, there were four on each side.
The blinds OF all of them were
drawn, and the shutters to all ap-
pearance closed. The billiard room
was lofty and well appointed,
though now hardly ever used.
Lillian Encounters Stranger.
As there seemed nothing further
to be gained in this direction. and
as she had now examined the wing
from both sides, Lillian once more
made her way around the house.
purposinE TO take a walk toward
the village of Helm As she turned
Gne corner she partly coll:1ed with
q man who was standing in the
shadow close to the locked door.
He had not been there when she
passed the spot a few moments
earlier.
At frst she took him for the man
servant. Paul for he had the same
type OF face, the same swarthy
complexion and black beard. the
same glittering eyes and cruel
mouth. But his clothes were not
such as Paul could wear while in
the service Of Harold Barrodale.
This man had, in fact, every ap-
pearance OF being a gypsy.
He drew aside as Lillian passed
him. and she could see that he ap-
peared confused. He touched his
haiti was>an old, "wideawake"-
as IL with the idea Of giving her the
impression that he was perhaps a
gardener or in some way connected
with the establishment. Then he
withdrew out OF her sight around
the corner OF the house.
Lillian made no attempt to speak
70 him or TO follow him. She knew.
as well as il he had proclaimed
the fact, that he had come from the
turret
A gypsyI Esther had said that
there was a gypsy encampment just
beyond the village There seemed
no possible association between
such people and Harold Barrodale,
but at the same time the incident
was one TO be remembered. Had
she not this morning cited gypsies
as being folk who were often
strangely learned in the science OF
herbs?
Lilian's next action was 10
walk to the postofics- Helm and
A. - a.