The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1919-06-13

| I'm the presence or my wife, Sucn re-
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
ise you then gave? Have you become
the great artist?"
"When married / 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, 1, who had no laurels to
| rest on?"
Il understood you had gone to New
Guinea"
"Did you ever hear the purpose?"
mo; 1t was a queer place to 60
to, whatever the reason"
"In every way 1 had been a fail
ure," he declared impressively. ~
was resolved to turn that failure into
triumph
"To accomplish which you buried
yourself in New Guinea swamp"
"Yes, went to the only real teacher.
nature herself. Among the deep
morasses and cane-brakes of a reek-
ing tropical swamp sought for twelve
weary months, months of dirt, priva-
ton and disease, till from among the
acres Of rushes had selected one per-
feet reed.
"Look at it, Marius-examine it
blow through it! For 1t represents
the five years of life which you have
consumed In incidence"
Willing to humor him, I picked 1t
up. 1t seemed almost to vibrate In
my fingers. Blowing into 1t produced
no sound, but queer sensation passed
over me; it was as though l were q
piece Of slate and someone had rub
bed me all over with crumpled paper.
II haven't the knack of it," 1 said,
dropping it to the ground like red
hot coal.
The reed gave forth a musical sigh
as 1t struck the stones; Adrian caught
it on the rebound and turned sudden
ly to Isabelle.
little accomplishment after five years
of the cruelest concentrations"
Isabelle nodded eagerly, but in a
frightened manner; her hands were
clenched tightly against the tendrils
of the honeysuckles, as though she
were bracing herself for an ordeal.
1 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 tuning-fork, trem-
bled from the frail reed; 1t 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 1 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 unfOreseea
crisis was upon me, like the sting Of
a whip forced me back to thought
ana action. 1 called loudly for La
belle; descended from the terrace;
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 saunter / retraced my
steps to the house, entered it by side
door, and halfway up the stairs gave
a peculiar whistle, which had always
been a private signal between Isabelle
and myself.
seemed very still.
I repeated the whistle in a higher
key and followed it 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.
I ran down the drive into the road
way and made for the spot. AS 1 APP
preached the sounds, they drew imper-
ceptibly away from me. When l
reached the outside wall, the music
was ascending the cliffs toward the
broad Pacific.
started to climb the bluff at every
step the reed grew fainter and the
ocean more insistent.
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 duplication, / 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, tool"