The Dickson County herald. (Dickson, Tenn.) 1907-1979, 1922-12-01

| y<nfUr~d ap@a thih Ice 0urx 90 tsfcS
mo~s carefully. but tho insusrnAtAaa
ohsHin<d was infGitestaaazl slfbeuxA u
bore 10 scene extent en the probisTa
confroutfng hisa. The rolonsi innec~ns-
y lifted the ven slighfiy. p<rrnitttns
AsHA 20 ismrn that shsa w&A O. week -eDa
party. and that Miss Coolidge vas the
mistress Of ,hs place. her parents hav-
ing h@~n dead for TIVE years. perrivai
C,sol;dgs. her fathers hrvthss. and .
manufacture In tive city. was her
guardian. ard the affairs u the esssts
were not ss. sntirrly tssai6atsd he
pend this he apparently knsw moth.
Ing Of th. family history. which be
frl, at liberty to commaniease.
West was assigned 10 eaeoxt Miss
Willis q tail wiliowy bloods. and
| quite talksuse. into dinner. bot hsr
conversation ran largely to the the
airical offerings 10 ,o~n, and hs seand
II impossible to change her trend Of
thought iHto other ehapnslA Once the
smiling Natalie apl<aled TO him. 70.
mIiiariy calling hiR "MAtt" aercss the
table. and be responded With equal In.
timaey. yet he~ eyes svoii~i his and
n was plainly evident 10 his seif-coo.
scloaxasss. tina, her remark was
Taereiy part of the play. More and
more her actions mysfitiet and per
picked he could not discover the key
10 her hlldea motive, or guess st her
purpose 10 this masquerade. Nothing
remained ba, for him ~ 81 QaIetiy for
warf plating the part assigned She
eos,lly and deliberately defeated every
f'effprt ne "TRRste ~ vrs+ her -elswv. 'aS,s
W, tails was accomplished IN a man.
ner ~ as not 10 attract tho sii.ntinn
Of others, Even percfvsi Coolidge,
who. West felt. was watching thera
both shs~wdly, never suspected the
! asl,st game, " .hite ~and seek beanx.
played under bis very eyw~. A. the
evening progressed West became al.
lAtNA aNNaNNNfu tHAh S"hhAHr
pal ehject was to dec~ive this gentle
man that she really cared nothiag for
what the others might think. or say
II was all masterpiece ~ acting. -
exceedingly wetl done. as to nhaiiy
convince the young man that she was
grrstiy In earnest as TO Its success
She desired ferstvsi Coolidge tn have
ne lingering dauh, OF her rnsa cement
And. nndinx AL opportunity ~ Ell.
PLANTATION denied him. West Yielded 10
The Inevitable. and fof. ,Ae evening at
least. silently accepted bis fate.
Nor did circumstances favor him
when the company finally hruke M,
and retired for the Night He had
though, this moment might be propl.
tIaux but she calmly oatSenernlei
him again. suddenly bidding the mcn
remain and smoke as long AZ they
pleased. and disappearing herself up
the stairway With Miss willis West.
convinced that her retiremen, ~ns
finai. soon sought hts own room. II
was eleven o'clock of bright. nom.
l,ght night. and. feeling IN no degree
sleepy. he seated himself at the win
dow To nnish his cigar Again ard
again his mind reviewed the strange
events ~ the evening. unable 10 ar
rive at any definite conclusion. The
harder he sought TO islve Into the mys
terry. the more obscure I, h@csme.
He had. indeed. reached some con.
illusions already. These nigh, not he
eorr~ct yet they we're ALREADY I'm.
planted In his mind The CHESTS Of
the night were mere puppets. having
10 real connection with the game be-
Ing played. utterly ignorant Of ~hs,
yas getnx 90 hehihd ths scepess The ]
only one present having any rial part |
was frrcivsl C"o'ldg~. and Yves, had
taken an Instructive dislike to this
man. Oniy one explanation flashed |
into his mind TO seconnt for Mis- Coo
llaxe's unexpected announcement NJ |
m enkMxvm~ut' hesw~~n sh~rss--tsfS |
woaid excuse any future Intimacy: |
would enable them 10 meet alone fr~s-
ly without amusing ccmnrot This |
Appealed 10 him as the most reasonable !
explanation Of the asuat.ca. Rut h~-
yond this vague GoesA II was impcss.
bic TO de,vr
Tirsd by the nselesmr~s of such 1
thinking West finally sough, II. te,i. /
and must have slept. although s,arrviy
aware ,ha, h.. had closed bis eyes.
some slight noise aroused him, TIE
iear leading Into the bail. which he \
had fst'e.i 10 sn.k, stosst partially ajar.
and hts eres caught the vague glimpse
~ a a-n~ gliding swtf'lv through the
opening With cae bound hr vas upon 4
his feet. spriagins r~-SiessEy forward
The hall was dark. but scr patch m
m~nntight ut the further end Aeminst
this ne caught nm instant. fgttinr
glimpse NJ the intrvasr, II was A re-
man, YET ffrn "a MIS- eyes tiad niH \
this. abe ~Nefuet 10 vanish int thin 1
air--ths hall WIS empty
Vague srt ladsf!pct sS wRs that
fcssinr rgstnn tn tive moonlight. West .
fei; NO 9@pht as n the ideattty ct bis
yts.tr---the woman wss Natalie Cs~s
Nage HIS "a" riisep~e " h.v vanish,
tag figure sssgr~. bin ~ this fsct. aud
10 n IVY t.acx insrunttx ,rn>rAlaR. - 4