The Lamar register., 1920-05-12

Slu1liN 'tisT'Ai'f's - ''f''-H -
had been tos 'ed upward, hNianIly
she was upon her feet and h"t crossed
the room. hen head thrtS' o"t. The
light in the off had hera eSi!n'
guiShed. and ';'c night was block, 1T
she could mal;r o.t liInly TIE h@ur" ~
a man close IN asainSt the side al re
house. a mere hu'kin- shadow. At
the same instant he seemed to move
slightly. and some mis9l!" graZrd her
face and fell upon the door. striking
,hc rug with duh tl;ud. She drew
bacl, In alarm. yet Immediately
grnsprd the thought tiut this must 10
some secret message, some corlmuni-
cation from Westcott.
Drawing down the Torn curtain
she touched a match to IN" lamp and
sought the intruiing mis -iie. 1t had
rolled beneath the bcd-a small stone
With bit of paper securely attached.
The girl tore this open eagerly, her
eyes searching the few lines.
"Must See you tonight. Have
learned things. and am going away.
Go down back stairs. and meet me NJ
hig cottonwood behind hotel; don't
fail. j. W."
Her breath came fast as She read,
ana crunched the paper into the palm
Of her hand. She understood, and frlt
no hesitancy. Westcott had made dis
cnyeries so important he must com
municate them at once and there was
no other way. lie dare NOT come to
her openly at that hour. Well. she
was not afraid-not of Jim WestcOtt.
She paused In her hasty dressing. wen.
dering Mt herself. dlmly aware THAI
new feeling partly actuated her desire
10 meet the man again-a feeling thor
oughly alien to the CavendislI mys-
terry. She glanced into the cracked
mirror and laughed. half ashamed at
her eagerness. yet utterly unable TO
suppress the quickened beat OF her
pulse.
She was ready almost in minute.
and had blown out the lamp. She nl-
most held her breath as she opened
the door silently and crept out into
the hall Twenty feet down this pas
sage ended in door. This was un-
locked. and yielded easily to the grasp
of her hand. 1t opened upon mar
row platform and she ventured forth.
AT the bottom she was in gloom al
most impenetrable. but her feet felt
cinder path and against the slightly
lighter sky her eyes managed to dis
tingulsh the gaunt limbs of a tree not
far distant. the only one visible and
doubtless the cottonwood referred to
In the note.
Shrinking there In the black shadow
Of the building she realized suddenly
the terror of her Dosition-tbe intense
loneliness: the silence seemed to
smite her. Still IT was not far to the
tree. and surely there could be no dan
ger at this hour. II there had been
Westcott would never have asked her
to come. The very recurrence of his
name gave her strength and courage.
II was rough path, sandy, inter
spersed with small rocks. and led
down into a gully. The tree stood on
the opposite bank, which was so steep
she had to grasp Its outcropping roots
in order to pull herself up.
Even after gaining footing she saw
nothing of Westcott. heard no sound
Indicating his presence. Suddenly
something moved to her right, and she
shrnnk back against the tree. uncer-
tain if the shapeless thing approach
ing was man or beast. He was almost
upon her before she was sure; then
her lips gave utterance to a little sob
Of relief.
"Ohi You frightened me sol"
The man stopped. scarcely yard
away burly figure, but with face In.
dis;inguishable.
Sorry to do that" he said, "but no
noise. please"
She shrank back to the edge of the
bank. conscious of the grip OF a great
fear.
"You-you are not Mr.. Westcottr'
she choked. "who are you? What is
1t you want?"
you've been playin' In n game
what's none o. your business. Now
reckon it's the other party's turn to
throw some cards. Thought yer was
comm out yere ter meet up with Jim
Westcott, didn't yer2'
She made no answer, desperately
seeking some means of escape. the full
significance of her position clear be-
fore her.
Got a nice little note from Jim,"
the fellow went on. ''an' lost no time