The herald., 1919-08-28

tnwardly boiling.
He drummcd the ground with his
foot and hummcd a little tune.
by the by, you fulfilled the prom,
Use You then gave? Have YOU become
tho great artiSt?"
when | married l found something
better in life"
you mean something easier You
thought you could rest ON your laurelS.
How do you SUPPOSE l spent the last
five years, I, who had no laurrIS to
rest on?"
Il understood you had gone to New
Guinea"
did you ever hear the purpose?'
NO; It was a queer place to go
to, whatever the reason"
an every way l had been a fail
ure," ne declared imprcsSivcIy. ~
was resolved to turn that failure into
triumph"
TO accomplish which you buried
yourself in a New Guinea swamp"
Eyes. l went to the only real teacher,
nature herself. Among the deep
morasses and cane-brakes of a rcek-
Ing tropical swamp sought for twelve
weary months, months of dirt, priva-
ton and disease, till from among the
acres of rushes l had selected one per-
feet reed.
Look at it. Notwithstanding it
H1nU fhranfrh II TO,
the five years of life which you have
consumed in Incidence"
Willing to humor him. l picked It
up. 1t seemed almost to vibrate in
my fingers. Blowing into It produced
no sound, hut a queer sensation passed
over me; it was As though | were Il
piece of STATE and someone had rub
bed me all over with crumpled paper.
81 haven't the knack of it," ! said,
dropping IT to the ground like a red
hot coal.
The reed gave forth a musical sigh
as it 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 concentration
Isabelle nodded eagerly, but In a
frightened manner; her hands we're
clenched tightly against the tendrils
OF the honeySuCkleS, as though she
were bracing herself for an ordeal.
l began to laugh nervouSly. Where
upon Adrian wheeled sharply on his
heel and faced Isabelle Again he
blew into the pipe; a low note, the
purr Of distant tuning fork, trem-
bled from the frail reed; it grew in
volume till it 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 I pressed the tips
OF my fingers against my eyelids to
clear my mental and physical vision.
When I 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
a whip forced me back to thought
and action. l called loudly for Isa-
belle; descended from the terrace;
plunged into the garden. Nothing
here but solid darkness, checkered
shade, and narrow strips of moonlight.
OF course, Isabelle. unable to en-
lure such an unnatural strain, had
slipped unobserved into the house and
vas probably resting In her own room.
In a leisurely saunter retraced my
'teps to the house, entered it by a side
loor, and halfway up the stairs gave
/ peculiar whistle. which had always
,een a private signal between Isabelle
Ind myself.
There was no reply. The house
'eemed very still.
repeated the whistle In a higher
,ey and followed 1t up with a thump
N the bedroom door.
Then from the west side Of the
louse 1 heard once more the sound Of
he hateful reed and that wonderful
medley of which Adrian Hope alone
vas the master.
/ rushed down the stairs and back
o the terrace again.
I ran down the drive into the road |
way and made for the spot. AS l ap- |
reached the sounds, they drew imper-
eptibly away from me. When /
cached the outside wall, the music
vas ascending the cliffs toward the
road Pacific.
started to climb the bluff; at every
tep the reed grew fainter and the
cean more insistent.
The reed l could no longer hear;
ut there, on the point Of the tallest
lift, one foot advanced to the edge
( the abyss, her hands stretched forth
4 an agony Of supplication, saw Isa-
ellie; saw the shine in her hair, the
olds of her frock, even the rings upon
er fingers. so clear, so sharp, so def
lite was the moonlight on that memo
able occasion.
"Oh, Adrian, take me! teach me
each me, tool"
The despair OF lifetime was con-
entrated in her voice. Her form still
baking with emotion.
/ saw her step forward, saw the
IL. elA 4