Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1921-04-15
III. The CAPTIVE.

"hVh. 1itI iulnu WAS hhbtS VIZ -
make good her escape before morning.
The mere suggestion was appalling.
| She dared not dwell long upon the
| difficulties il presented lest resolu-
| ton weaken To her own knowledge
of her whereabouts, she was lost COM
| pletely-gong on Mario's information
zen miles from nowhere. But there
was a road; road must lead some
where. She was young and strong
enough to walk ten miles if she must,
farther at a pinch. And the occasion
was extreme: she dared not let her
self be deferred by any obstacle or
any danger, real or fanciful
She was too desperately in love :.
She could hear Mario in the living
room, pacing to and fro; she could
| picture to herself the man in the tor
ment of his sOlicitude for her. fretted
by justification and the feeling of
| Illustration She imagined that her
| pulses throhhed in time with those I'M
hasting. unresting footballs. The temp
tatiOn to 60 out to him and comfort
him was all but stronger than her
instinct for self-preservatiOn.
What did it matter whether Priscilla
Maine survived or persisted, so that
he We're not made unhappy?
After all, what did she care wheth-
er he loved her by this name or by
that. so that he loved her?
Leonora was no more Carnehans
confession had confirmed Priscilla $
| cairvoyant knowledge of her death
No harm would be done to any living
soul if she took his love for Leonora
and made it her own; Mario himself
would not be wronged; for the dead
could have loved him no better than
the living did and would and all his
sadness would become gladness and
his sufferings he assuaged.
Aware-though she denied it--of the
abyss that yawHed for her, she was
constrained by sheer might of will to
put away thoughts such as these.
She had needed to remind herseH
there could be no enduring happiness
in love that was won by fraud /. =,
With determination she attacked the
problem: How to escape?
Her bedchamber had three windows
and. aside from that which opened
on the living room. two doors. Of which
one gave access to the bathroom. the
other to Mario's room. which in turn
opened OH the living room again.
With infinite stealth she closed and
locked that door.
Two of the windows looked out on
the front of the bungalow. the third
on the side. All were fitted with wire
| screens to be raised and lowered like
ordinary glazed sashes. But the wood
had swollen since their installation;
she could not bulge any of them. And
when she thought of cutting the wire
out of the frame, she found no tool
better suited to her needs than a pair
of curved manicure scissors.
Her only Nay out. then. was through
the living room. And Mario was
there She would have TO he patient.
| If he felt as little disposed for bed
as she after her day-long sleep, she
would have long TO wait
She ransacked Leonora's slender
wardrobe without finding any cloth
ing more suitable for her flight than
the dress she had on. Apparently Leo
| nora had found time to do but little
shopping for herself. She had not
needed many things to wear so ar
| from civilization. Presumably she had
meant TO wait till their return TO
town
In the end Priscilla selected a long
motoring coat of darkish stuff rather
heavy, but not too heavy for night
in the hills. She found it not uncom-
Portable, indeed, when she sat down
to wait beside one Of the windows.
She had extinguished the candles
which seemed TO be the only means
of illumination the bungalow boosted.
The room was black, blacker far than
the night that giiTnmered beyond the
screens. A few stars were visible not
many, only enough--as the phrase runs
Ito make the darkness visible. In
the beginning Priscilla could dlstin-
| guish nothing but the stars. After
some time she was able to make out
] the profile of the surrounding forest,
dense against the sky. 1t was hours
| before she could see more
She sat quite still, in the lassltude
Of melancholy. lonely in the company
/ Of her thoughts.
Once Mario came to the door and
tapped softly, calling on Leonora by
/ her name.
Priscilla made no sound. He was
soon discouraged, and did not repeat
| the overture.
Shortly after one o'clock MAllo went
to his room, and for several minutes
/ candlelight shone at the bottom Of the
communicating door like the mntcd
rim Of a golden coin. When # went
| out she heard him close the door to
| the lsving-room. Whether he had re-
turned to the latter or had gone to
6cd. she could not guess. Though she
@ouehed. listening. frst at one door,