Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1919-11-18

on MS shoulder, then as gently with
drew It. and went out of the room.
BUT she did not go upstairs; he heard
me faint rustic of her dress in the
nan, and then the sound of her foot
steps In the reception ROOM" After
time, silence succeeded even these
silght tokens of her presence; where
upon George rose and went warily In
TO the hall, taking care to make no
noise, and he obtained an oblique view
OF ner through the open double doors
Oh the reception ROOM" She was sit
ting in the chair which he had occu-
pied so long; and she was looking
out of the window expectantly-a lit
tie troubled.
He went back to the library, waited
an 1nterminable half hour, then re-
turned noiselessly to the same position
in the hall, where he could see ner.
She was still sitting patiently by the
window.
Waiting for that man. was she7
Well, 1t might be quite long walt
And the grim George silently assembled
the stairs to his own room, and began
to pace his suffering floor.
He left his door open, however, and
when he heard the front door bell
ring. by and by. he went half way
down the stairs and stood 10 listen.
He was not much afraid that Nor
gan would return, but he wished to
make sure.
Mary appeared in the hall below
him, but, after glance toward the
front of the house, turned back, and
withdrew. Evidently Isabel had gone
to the door. Then a murmur was
heard, and George Amberson's voice,
quick and serious: 81 want to talk
to you, Isabel' and another
murmur; then Isabel and her brother
passed the foot of the broad, dark
stairway, but did not lock up. and
remained unconscious of the watchful
presence above them.
For time all that George could
hear was the indistinct sound of his
uncle's voice: what he was saying
could not be surmised, though the
| troubled brOtherlineSs of his tone was
evident. He seemed to be explaining
something at considerable length, and
there were moments when he paused.
and George guessed that his mother
was speaking, but her voice must have
been very low, for it was entirely in
audible to him.
Suddenly he did hear her. Through
the heavy doors her outcry came,
clear and loud:
"Oh, mop
1t was a cry of protest, as if some
| thing her brother told her must be I'M
true, or, if it were true, the fact he
stated must be undCne; and it was a
sound of sheer pain.
Another sound OF pain. close to
George, followed it; this was a vehe-
ment shifting which broke out just
above him, and, looking up, he saw
Fanny Minafer on the landing, lean
ing over the banisters and applying
her handkerchief to her eyes and
nose,
81 can guess what that was about. -
she whispered huskily. Hes just
told her what you did to Eugenep
George gave her a dark look over
| his shoulder. 'You go on back TO
your rooml" he said; and he began to
descend the stairs; but Fanny. guess
ing his purpose. rushed down and
caught his arm. OBTAINING him.
you're not going in there" she
whispered huskily: "YOu don't"
'Let go of mel"
But she chung to him savagely. mo.
you don't, George Minafer! You'll
keep away from there! You will"
'sYou let go Of
81 WON'T You come back here !
You'll come upstairs and let them
alone; that's what you'll do!" And
with such passionate determination
did she clutch and tug, never losing
a grip of him somewhere. though
George tried as much as he could.
without hurting her, to wrench away
/ with such utter forgetfulness of her
maiden dignity did she assault him,
that she forced him, stumbling up
ward, to the landing.
'Of all the ridiculous" he began
furiously; but she spared one hand
from its grasp of his sleeve and
clapped it over his mouth.
flush upl" Never for an instant in
this grotesque struggle did Fanny
raise her voice above husky whisper.
Hush upl It's indecent-like squab-
| bling outside the door of an operating
room Go on to the top of the stairs
go on!'
Ard when George had most unwill-
| ingly Obeyed, she planted herself In
his way, on the top step. ''There -
she said. 'The idea of your going in
there nowi never heard of such a
thingi" And with the sudden depart
shown so amazingly, she began to cry
again. 81 was an awful fool Do you
suppose / dreamed you'd go making
everything into such tragedy? Do
your"
81 don't care what you dreamed"
| George muttered.
But Fanny went On, always taking
care to keep her voice from getting
/ too loud, in spite of her most grievOus
agitation. do you dream 1 thought
you'd go making such fool of your
self at Mrs. Johnson's? Oh. saw her
| this morning She wouldn't talk to
me, but / met George Anderson on my
way back, and he told me what you'd
done over therel And do you dream /
| thought you'd do what you've done
here this afternoon to Eugene? Oh,
knew that, tool OF course he went
to George Anderson about it, and
that's why George is here. He's got
to tell Isabel the whole thing now.
and you warted to go in there inter-
fering-God knows what You stay
here and let her brother tell her; he's
got some consideration for heri"
Il suppose you think | haven't 81
George said. and at that Fanny laugh
ed witheringly.
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