Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1919-09-12
sYLAND. FRIDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 70, 1919.

marks are hardly in good TASTE" said
lnwardly boiling.
He drummed the ground with his
foot and hummed little tune.
by the by, you fulfilled the prom
se you then gave2 Have you become
the great artist3"
"When I married I found something
better In life"
"You mean something easier. You
thought you could rest on your laurels.
How do you suppose spent the last
Ave years, l, who had no laurels to
rest on?"
81 understood you had gone to New
Guinea"
did you ever hear the purposeT
mo; 1t was queer place to go
to, whatever the reason"
"In every way I had been fall
are" he declared impresslvely. II
was resolved to turn that failure into
triumph"
ITO accomplish which you buried
yourself In a New Guinea swamp"
Eyes, went to the only real teacher,
nature herself. Among the deep
morasses and cane-brakes Of reek-
Ing tropical swamp sought for twelve
weary months, months of dirt, priva-
ton and disease, till from among tho
acres of rushes I had selected one per-
feet reed.
"Look at 1t, Marius-examlne It
blow through It'll For it represents
the FIVE years of life which you have
consumed In Incidence"
Willing to humor him, picked 1t
up. 1t seemed almost to vlbrate in
my fingers. Blowing into 1t produced
no sound, but queer sensation passed
over me; 1t was as though were
piece Of slate and someone had rub
bed me all over with crumpled paper
IL haven't the knack of It," l sald
dropping 1t to the ground like red
hot coal.
The reed gave forth musical sigh
as 1t struck the stones; Adrian caught
1t on the rebound and turned sudden
ly to Isabelle.
"Would you care to hear my one
little accomplishment, after five years
of the cruelest concentrations
Isabelle nodded eagerly, but In n
frightened manner; her hands were
clenched tightly against the tendrils
Of the honeysuckles, as though she
were bracing herself for an ordeal.
began to laugh nervously. Where
upon Adrian wheeled sharply on his
heel and faced Isabelle. Again he
blew into the pipe; low note, the
purr Of distant tunlngfork, trem-
bled from the frnll reed; It grew in
volume till 1t resembled broken mel
Ody.
At my cry he stepped lightly from
the terrace, descended into the garden,
and disappeared among the dark shrub
berries.
Faint and dizzy pressed the tips
Of my fingers against my eyellds to
clear my mental and physical vision.
When raised my head, the terrace
and porch were both deserted.
was alone. Only black shadows in
the garden, the sharp outline Of the
cliff, and an Unreasonable coldness
Of sky and ocean.
The surety that some Unforeseen
crisis was upon me, like the sting Of
whip forced me back to thought
and action. called loudly for Isa-
belle; descended from the terrece !;
plunged into the garden. Nothing
there but solid darkness, checkered
shade, and narrow strips Of moonlight
OF course, Isabelle, unable to en-
dure such an unnatural strain, had
slipped unobserved into the house and
was probably resting In her own room.
In leisurely sumter retraced my
steps to the house, entered 1t by side
door, and halfway up the stairs gave
a peculiar whistle, which had always
been n private signal between Isabelle
and myself.
There was no reply The house
seemed very still.
repeated the whistle In higher
key and followed 1t up with thump
on the bedroom door.
Then from the west side of the
house heard once more the sound Of
the hateful reed and that wonderful
medley Of which Adrian Hope alone
was the master.
rushed down the stairs and back
to the terrace again.
ran down the drive into the road
way and made for the spot. As I ap-
preached the sounds, they drew lmper-
ceptlbly away from me. When
reached the outside wall, the music
was ascending the cliffs toward the
broad Pacific.
started TO climb the BLUM; at every
step the reed grew fainter and the
ocean more inslstent.
The reed I could no longer hear;
but there, on the point Of the tallest
cliff, one foot advanced to the edge
Of the abyss, her hands stretched forth
In an agony Of supplication, saw Isa-
belle; saw the shine In her hair, the
folds Of her frock, even the rings upon
her fingers, so clear, so sharp, so def
mite was the moonlight on that memo
rable occasion.
"Oh, Adrian, take me teach me
teach me, tOop
The despair Of lifetime was con-
centrated In her voice. Her form still
shaking with emotion.
saw her step forward, saw the
white flash Of her dress, the downward
sweep OF her arms, and then-beyond
the cliff nothing but sky and sea.
A few seconds-they seemed n year
and ! was standing on the same spot
and gazing fearfully from the tall
cliff onto the jagged rocks and broken
waters n hundred feet below me.
The waves pounded the sands with
cold, mechanical precision far on In
a choppy sea fishing boat flashed an
intermittent sail wlsps OF fog were
blurring the horizon.
And over all spread the steely, clean.
cut brIlllance Of the desolate moon.
Phone main 1894.