The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1920-09-30

q iA'uS tuu' ! l~cICeiNeu III amusement
aud with a sense Of unwort,.i, pss and
mreliability. isohel was as whole.
some as the air. In the most pleasnn,
circumstances life was resumed At
Hartley house.
JED had not wholly lost his trucu.
ience and his occasional flashes Of
~mnlcvolrnce. hut he was suldued. !
thought he seemed furtive.
asked Mrs. Sidney If she had Oh.
served a change. She said 1t had not
occurred ~ her to think Of it as q
change. hut there had been u differ.
e1,ce for which she was grateful. She
remembered that when they were max.
ing their visit to Montevideo Jed had
gone down to the docks aud had come
back obviously disturbed. She had oh.
served the fact without giving much
thought to It. She was not sure bur
that there had been an amelioration Of
Jed since then. She had regarded the
event as insignificant. 1t might lave
had Il meaning, but If so, 1t was OBJ
Scu,pI.
Our days were Of pleasant routine,
hut nevertheless. for reasons which
| have tried 1" make percpptibie il
not explicit. the expectation was
touched by dread. We had. for sew
eral months. 10 outstanding incident
or disturbing happening. Mr. Sid
nry's health remained exceptionally
good. lie created a new interest in
his life: he had not forgotten his visit
to the rrnitentiary. and he WAS eager
to do what he could for the convicts.
Evidently he Thought Of his restrict.
cd lite as something moi wholly alien.
except for Its comforts. TO theirs. The
most That he could do was 10 send
hooks and occasionally to prepare n
Sunday afternoon program of music
to he given by u small orchestra which
lie h;h brought out from the city. He
never went hack TO the p~enitentinry,
but once q week Jed or | drove over.
ana 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 rot com
pletely used invited him to make full
use of It.
had imp'orod Mrs. Sidney to in
form ne instantly If he hccame OH
noN!ous again. | understood how i'm
p"rtant 1t WAS to protect Mr.. Sidney's
peace of mini. hut | thought | llnd the
upper. hand Of Jed although not nm
dc%r.Hnndins his case at all-,.ud could
manage him.
Isol'el, showing that she was mr.
sued by the ridiculous ambitions of
the man. found amusement in it.. I
found only moral nausea. could
sec Jed's arrogance arising again. and
twice a week | was awakened hy his
singing in the hallway as he game from
drinking in Mr.. Sidney's room. was
expecting something to happen: and
something did. but it was certainly
not what l expected. 1t opened up
Il cew phase Of the mystery.
One morning was waiting for Jed
to bring my coffee t the pleasant
room which he early in our arluninl-
anre had recommended. Not the lens;
curious thing about Jed was the fact
that he seldom in his sober moments
was anything but a perfect servant
when service was demanded. It did
not matter how serious and deadly tn.
issue might be between Jed and me MS
men,: when the matter lay helwecn
Jed and ms rs servant and served, Jed
was the servant. Therefore. no mar.
te- how things might stand with us
when, in the morning ut an early hour.
I went t" Tie room Jed originally s,lg.
gested. | expected him to ON with
my coffee. and he always did.
It was my habit to arise ut seven
O'Clock and he dressed and in this
room 10y half-past seven. | usually
read a book until Jed brought the cot.
\ fee and the morning paper. !, was a
Luxurious and restful experience ia
have this hour each day.
This morning in question | WAS read.
ing placidly when looking ont the win.
dow. ! was startled to see Il strange
figure Of q man m the lawn. lie was
N''"N W. Nv ouHS u''t"'St WY
window. and ! even could soc ,1mt he
q earrings. Tie had q handkerchief
around his neck. He WAS swarlhy and
hlack-huired. thought he was Span.
ish, md | thought he was n sailor
These were only Impressions. but the.
identified him for me later. lie wa.
passive and vas looking up at III.
house in TN interested but puzzles
fashion. harmIeSs'y, one would have
said. if the wholly uneXlerpd na,ur.
IF his presence had not been in it>elI
significant.
Men wearing earrings were not 81
common of sight az to allow one wear
ing them to he unn0ticed. Stranger.
Of n kind seldom came II way
Strangers of his kind were cxtruordi
nary. lie vas lnokin: np at the win
d"ws AS if he sought the answer Il
something that had interested If no
myStitied him. ! knew. In every in
stlnct. thar he had not come in b!