South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1919-04-13

4
Many yards OF underbrush sep
arated him from the little time-de-
vastated city Of the dead. but its
mere proximity forced on him, as
7 the old room had done, a feeling Of
a steady and intangible companion
ship.
He stepped from the fringe Of
I trees about the open space in the
center OF which the lake brooded
/ The water received with n destruc-
I tive indifference the fiuttering cares
ses Of the snowfiakes. Bobby paused
with a quick expectancy. He saw
nothing OF the woman who had
startled him that first evening, but
he heard from the thicket a sound
like muffled sobbing. and he re-
( sponded again TO the sense Of a ma
/ levolent regard.
He hid himself among the trees,
and in their shelter skirted the
lake. The sobbing had faded into
nothing. For a long time he heard
! only the whispers Of the snow and
the grief of the wind. When he
had rounded the lake and was some
beyond II, however, the
I moaning reached him again, and
through the fast-deepening twilight
he saw ndistinctly as he had be-
fore, a black feminine figure fit
ting among the trees in the direction
Of the lake Graham's theory lost
its value. 1t was impossible to
fancy the brilliant, colorful dancer
IN this black. shadowy thing. He
commenced to run in pursuit, call
ing out:
stop Who are you? why do
you cry through the woods?"
But the dusk was too thick, the
forest too eager The black figure
disappeared. In retrospect it was
again as unsubstantial as a phan-
tom. The flakes whispered mock
ingly. The wind was ironicaL
He found his pursuit had led him
back TO the end Of the lake nearest
the Cedars. He paused. His
triumph was not unmixed with fear
A black figure stood in the open
quite close TO him, gazing over the
stagnant water that was like a vel
for sinister things. He knew now
that the woman was flesh and blood
for she did not glide away, and the
snow made pallid scars on her black
cloak
He crept carefully forward unit
I he was close behind the black fig.
ure.
Now" he said. you'll tell me
who you are and why you CRY
? about the Cedars."
The woman swung around with 6
cry. He stepped back, abashed. no.
/ knowing what TO say, for there wa.
= still enough light to disclose to him
2 the troubled face of Katherine, and
f there were tears in her eyes as /,
p, she might recently have expressed al
audible grief.
E You frightened me, Bobby"
e Without calculations he spoke hi.
! swift thought:
Was it you ! saw here before
( But surely you didn't cry in the
house the other night and after.
5 ward when we followed Carlos!"
! The tranquil beauty Of her face
E was disturbed. When she answered
, her voice had lost something of its
music:
What do you mean?"
: 1T was you who cried just now
5 1t was you 1 saw running through
The woods?"
What do you mean?" she asked
: again. II have not run. IL an
] not your woman in black, if that's
, i rt,,4
up this cloak. You've seen it otter
enough before. And haven
t cried
she brushed the tears angrily
r from her eyes.
2 AT least 1 haven't cried so an,
4 one could hear me. 1 wanted 4
2 walk. I hoped I would find you.
e thought you had come this way, Is,
S / came, too. Why. Bobby. your,
S suspecting me Of something!"
But the problem OF the fugitiv,
o figure receded before the more in
innate one of his heart There wa
a thrill in her desire to find him il
. the solitude Of the forest.
[ Only the faintest gray survived
= in the sky above the trees. TIL
- shadows were thick about them
e The whispering snow urged him I,
= use this moment for his happiness
d II wasn't the thought of Graham
{ that held him back. Last night. un
n der an equal temptation, he Nigh
l. have spoken. Tonight a new ele
10 ment silenced him and bound hi
u eager hands. His awakening at tn
r. head of the stairs raised an obstacl
e to self-revelation around whic'
there seemed to eXEtano path
I'm sorry. Let Us so back" h
O said
e She looked at him inquiringly.
Y What is il, Bobby? You are NOR
= afraid today than YOU have eve
n been before. Has something hap
- pened I know nothing of"
He shook his head He couldn'
= increase her own trouble by tellin
! her of that
% The woods seemed TO receive a
ashy illumination from the passag
of the snowflakes. Katherine Wake
! a little faster.
: Don't be discouraged. Bobby,
! she begged him. Everything wi
: come out straight You must kee
- / fp1Hfvrr x-orrr-1oTe shot