The Washington herald., 1921-10-02

The Fortune Hunter has crossed the
little room in q stride and was
standing over him with cienched
fists.
say any more and I'll break
every bone In your miserable body"
he said savagely. ''If I've got to
be hanged Ill be hanged for some-
thing worth whileiT
He stood there. shaking In every
limb. Then with q 'stified exlama-
tiin he turned and strobe out OF the
cottage. siamming the door behind
him.
Recsnesliatisn.
Anne came back 20 the drawing
room almost as soon ~ the Fortune
Hunter had left It; she looked quick
ly round.
"John--where IL her
Hes gone out" TOMMY answered
without looking up from his book.
"Gone out!" she echoed the words
with swift breathiessness. why
where has he goneT
MY dear girl! how do I know? I
saw him take his hat and coat Ind
60 out that's all know: he went
directly you did"
Anne stood for a moment, her
hands cfasped together.
He never told me he was going
out" she spoke the words in vol
unfairly. then stood, as Tommy
smiled unpleasantly.
You don't suppose NJ tells you
everything he's going to do. do your"
he said nastily.
Anne walked out of the room with
out answering. She was ashamed,
because lately her love for Tommy
seemed to have diminished.
The front door was half open, and
she went out on to the step.
1t was a chilly night. with the
where; II seemed unusually dark.
too, and the sky was full Of heavy
clouds.
Where had John gone? Her heart
was beating fast with apprehension.
Why had he not told her he was
going out! She ran upstairs and
took a long white wrap from the
wardrobe: her hands shook as she
fastened It. and II was in vain that
she tried to hell herself that her
fears were groundless.
What could have happened to him?
Where could he have gone. except
for stroll down the village? He
would be back directly, and then she
would be able to laugh at herself.
But her nerves felt torn and on edge.
and her nervous superstition OF the
afternoon came back to her afresn.
If a crow cav one. two. three!
Grief will quickly come to thee,'
The foolish rhyme had been in an
old book belonging to her nursery
days. together with a number of
other ancient superstitions. and she
had never thought of them until this
afternoon. when 1t had seemed sud
denly that a calamitous thing had
befallen her.
She ran downstairs again and past
the study door. She knew that
Geonry Foster was still there talk
ing to her uncle. and she hurried by
and out into the garden.
the soft lap-lap Of the river broke
the silence like an insidious' voice,
and Anne quickened her pace to
escape from It.
The garden gate stood open, and
she looked up and down the road
straining her eyes through the
darkness in a vain attempt to see.
Supposing he never came back
any more! A suffocating feelirg
rose in her throat and she wrung her
hands together. Supposing he had
walked out of her life as suddenly
and Unexpectedly as he had returned
to It. Panic closed about her heart.
She began to remember the many
hard things she had said to him,
and II seemed now that all along she
had been too critical. too impatient
He had suffered in the past more
cruelty than she, far more. because
he had paid a penalty which had
been undeserved. He was not guilty!
He had told her so with his own
lips and vet
could she believe 1t was the truth,