The review. [volume] (High Point, N.C.) 1908-19??, 1920-09-16

70 con- sue to lean on me for sl1ppor.
lSa thillg hit perceived in Amusement
M VII - Sense of unworthinass and
ire lab iIy. IsoheI was as whole
seine as The air, In the most pleasant
ksyirk'EsisstWnces life was resumed at
lgliarttey h4sHse.
I Iedk nau not wholly lost his frucu-
/ fnee ard bis occasional flashes of
| ffatevplence. but he was subdued.
Thought he seemed furtive
4 asked Mrs. Sidney If she had OBJ
! served change. She said it had not
soeftslsed To- her TO think of it as a
| ehllAee, hilt there had been differ
enge for which she was grateful She
remembered tllat when they were MAX
ing their visit TO Montevideo Jed had
gone down to the docks and had come
back obviously disturbed. She had OBJ
served the fact without giving much
thought 70 IT. She was not sure but
that there had been an amelforation of
Jed since then She had regarded the
event as insignificant. It might lave
had meaning but if so, it was OBJ
scured.
Our days wefe Of pleasant routine,
but nevertheless. for reasons which
I have tried TO make rerceptfble if
not explicit. the expectation was
touched by dread. We had, for sew
eral months no outstanding incident
or disturbing happening. Mr.. Sid
ney's health remained exceptionally
good He created new interest in
his life: he had not forgotten his visit
to the penittntiary. end he was eager
to do what We could for the convicts.
Evidently he thought of his restrict
ed life rs samethiHg not wholly alien.
except tor It's comforts to theirs: The
most that he could do was to send
books and occasionally to prepare a
| Sunday afternoon program of music
to he given by small orchestra which
he had brought out from the city. He
never went back to the penitentiary,
| but once week Jed or drove over,
and he was Interested in our accounts.
Jed was beginning to wear off the
fine aspects of his good behavior
Some restless ambition tortured this
| man. and some power he had not COM
| pleteay nsed invited him to make full
use OF 1t.
| had impfored Mrs. Sidney to in
form me instantly If he became OBJ
| noxious again. l understood how i'm
! portant it was to protect Mr.. Sidney's
peace Of mind. but thought had the
upper hand of Jed-although not I'M
derstanding his case at aIl-and could
manage him.
| Isobei. Knowing that che was pur-
| sued by the ridiculous ambitions of
the man, found amusement in it. |
found only moral nausea. could
see Jed's arrogance arising again, and
| twice a week I was awakened by his
| singing in the hallway as he came from
drinking in Mr.. Sidney's ROOM was
expecting something to happen: and
something did, but it was certainly
not what I expected 1t opened up
new phase of the mystery.
One morning I was waiting for Jed
| to bring nay coffee to the pleasant
room which he early in our acqua int
| ance had recommended. Not the least
| curious thing about Jed was the fact
| that he seldom in his sober moments
was anything but perfect servant
IL IL
not ma tier how serious and deadly the
issue might be between Jed and me as
men; when the matter lay between
| Jed and me rs servant and served. Jed
| was the servant. Therefore, no mat.
| ter how things might stand with us
| when, in the morning at an early hour.
| l went to the room Jed originally Sug,
gested. I expected him to come with
my coffee. and he always did.
1t was my habit to arise at seven
o'clock and be dressed and in this
room by half-past seven. I usually
read book until Jed brought the cot.
fee and the morning paper. 1t was a
luxurious and restful' experience to
have this hour each day.
This morning in question Twas read
/ ing placidly when looking out the Win
dow. / was startled to see strange
| figure of man on the lawn. He was
close to the house, almost under my
window. and / even could see that he
wore earrings. He had handkerchief
around his neck. He was swarthy and
black haired. / thought he was Span
ish, and / thought he was sailor.
These were only Impressions. but they
identified him for me later He was
passive and was looking up at the
house in an interested but puzzled
fashion. harmlessly, one would have
said, If the wholly unexpected nature
of his presence had not been in itself
significant.
Men wearing earrings were not SO,
common of sight as to allow one wear
ing them to be unnoticed. Strangers
Of any kind seldom came our way.
Strangers of bis kind were extraordi-
nary. He was looking up at the VIM
dows as. lfr he sought the answer to
something that had interested if not
mystified him. / knew. in every in
stinct, that he had not come in by
ehaf1en hl1f hv dosipn