Omaha daily bee., 1922-04-09

such u mess, Frankly. he didn't like n.
hurly and big faced as ha war. and nfty.ons
years old, the noiinn ~ dodsins about under
cover made him nervous For nineteen years
he had managed tho Marmion plantation
with honestly and success, but managed I, In
the open. where every man might serutinizs
every Transaction, Although deyotediy loyal
10 the ciaytons, seurry hated this mysterious
Homecoming. with all its subtsrfuses and
the unaasiness that followed. Yet. no matter
what his private feeling might he, he would
carry out orders TO the very letter. Now no
leaned against saping and listened,
Bart" the younger man gathered up his
bride, I'm riding toward the old Fearns
graveyard and shall return In perhaps an
hour by the lake read, Send a man to tho
forks II you think its dangerous for mo TO
come home"
AZ the boss WAS about TO ride scurry
stopped him and offered blue barrcled forty.
four. butt hrst.
"You forgot this" he said.
81 meant TO leave t."
up7 I'm afraid"
No Bart" Clayton pushed back the weap-
on. IF should run across the marshais
u
run tho risk OF killing one"
That's no." Bart admitted; "but ia hate
to see 'em get you. Better iemme so with
you"
" Thanks. old man" The horseman leaned
down and grasped his managers hand. 1--WE
got 10 chance this alone So long"
When Stuart Clayton declined the pistol
and rode away unarmed. II was not OF federal
A. l.. sNi.. III.
man. husband, who mus, In no event bs
harmed.
Matters were still progressing without .
hitch. At the minute when old Nat at Ben.
nlngton seemed just on tho brink Of persuad-
Ing Mrs. Razilly TO come and select her pup
young Clayton turned his back upon scurry
and rode away from Marmion. leaving his
manager in the underbrush.
Lake Marmion Is one Of those abandoned
coils which the Mississippi river casts aside
in its contortions through the valley. Placid
water reflects the messy boards OF many a
cypress, gives back the greenery Of cane
brakes, and duplicates. star for star the bril-.
liant southern nights. For a mile Clayton
followed road which skirts the lake. then
branches southwark toward Vicksburg, while
Its northern fork turns TO the left and runs
on past Bennington. Here he took the north
ern fork, then thought II wiser to leave the
highway and reach his objective by footpaths
through the woods.
This proved simple matter. Nobody had
seen him coming and few stragglers ever
ventured near the III reputed buryng ground.
He dismounted. hitched his sorrel, and sat ON
fallen tombstone waiting for old Nat.
In the vicisstudes of his active life young
Clayton had accomplished variety Of things,
"a
DONE But sitting and waiting was not head.
lined upon his catalogue Of virtues. Even
during few rare interludes Of tranquility
he found himself unable to lounge at ease
while his plans developed. Now he had
scarcely sat down before he sprang up, and
reseated himself only to rise again. He
strode to the north wall, he gazed toward
Bennington; he whirled to the south wall,
glanced in that direction. and strode back.
1t was solemn place to sit and think,
among the eternal shadows, side by side
with moldering monuments Of death. And
Clayton thought most solemnly Of his motive
for seeing Adelaide he must right himself
and set his honor clear. Both these ladies',
especially Miss Stark, must understand that
he thought of Adelaide as being free. Nor
could he permit Maj Stark to imagine that p
Clayton had pressed attentions upon a mar.
Much evil might be gossiped Of him when he
was gone, but this hideous thing should never
be said. II he failed to see Adelaide then he
would tell Miss Stark.
Meanwhile, where was old Nat? Why had
he not come? Clayton got up and listened;
then he sat down again and looked at his
watch-two rninutets and eleven seconds had
passed. Human nature could endure It no
longer. Even the most patient of Claytons,
whose sweetheart had just told him that she
was married. could not sit forever on a tomb
stone waiting for a lazy Negro to turn up.
This particular Clayton never waited for
things to turn up; he always snatched .
spade and began digging. His next recon-
noissance carried him beyond the north wan
ana out to the roadside along which he ex-
pected Uncle Nat. The Negro was not In
sight He must be coming just around tho
bend. so Clayton ventured farther to meet
him-taking care to meet no ono else
In the dusky stretch Of highway which he
could now see there appeared no duck lesged
patriarch, and Clayton chanced it to the
next bend. Then he kept adventuring and
CHANGING, going nearer ana nearer to BEN
nington.
His recolections Of Bennington house were
childlishly vivid to Stuart Clayton. During
his long exile In Central America there was
never time when the homesick boy could
not shut both eyes and see all things as they
used to be, the roadway, the bayou winding
through pasture, the clumpy hedge Of
cherokee roses, and the smooth cut lawn
which lay beyond; the broad steps. the white
pillars, the expanse Of gallery. Among these
familiar surroundings he might easily have
found his way III the dark.
By going through the pasture on his left
and following bayou he would come out
behind the cherokee hedge at the south side
Of the house; and he chose this route for his
approach. He climbed the fence ana kept
behind the hedge, precisely as old Nat had
done at the agile beginning OF his Departure;
except that Clayton travelled In the opposite
direction and stopped where Nat had started,
at the broken panel in the fence. faint
trai worn by Nat and the dogs had led him
there. Here he could see part OF the front
gallery, and II the devil had laid a trap to
snare lover 1t could not have been more
craftily set. In the house and about the
grounds nobody stirred; he saw no one ex.
cept DR.. Humphreys on the gallery, placidly
smoking his pipe.
As he approached under cover OF the hedge
Clayton did not observe Mrs. Razilly. After
her stormy interview with Florian the nut
tered creole had come out into the open, in
plain view, where no ridiculous husband