Evening star., 1923-12-12

you. which will he in less than twenty
minutes. Good-by"
The instrument clicked abruptly,
and, after hanging up the receiver.
in thought. Great tremors were
shaking her whole body, but into her
dry eyes feverish glitter had come
and "A furroW OF indecision grew and
deepened between. her brows. At last
she took the receiver down again and
called a number in New York city.
While she waited her gaze wandered
about the austere yet subtly luxurious
| library where she had seated herself
before the ancient mission table upon
which the telephone stood. The i'm
personal exactitude of the profess
sional interior decorator was every
where in evidence. And yet, the
humidor carelessly left omen before
her. displaying a certain brand OF cigar
with Familiarity fiamboyant label: :
the newspapers Of the previous even
ing. Crumplcd and cast aside: the
Cunningly concealed Ccllarette. with
it's doors now swinging idly ajar; the
goggles and motor gloves. forgotten
upon the top Of the bookcase where
their owner had placed them on en-
tering only a short twelve hours
earlier: all these trifing, silent wit
nesses 20 a living human presence
made the CHASTITY tableau in the patio
seom like the fgment Of a dlsordered
dream. Mrs cayley only set her lips
more firmly. and when a sleepy.
masculine voice came at last to her
ears in reply to her call. her own
tones were under the same iron con-
troll as before.
Mr.. Lane? This is Mrs Cayley
speaking. / have frlghtful news for
you and ] must toll YOU quickly. Joe
is dead"
sharp. inarticuiate cry answered
her as though she had struck the
than an unexpected physical blow and
she went on rapidly:
Carp found him this morning in
the patio. 1t must have happened
soon after you started back to town
last night. The authorities are on
their way here now and I thought, as
Jnu most intimate friend Of the fam
lily. you should be notified"
But good God! You don't mean
-, All traces OF sleep had van
ished from the voice now and IL was
strident with horror. He wasn't
murdered"
Mrs. Cayley fiinched a the word.
''lt may have been an accident OF
some kind. but his head has been ter
ribly crushed-r can't say any more,
No one knows-no one heard any
thing
Il understand. = God I've
never had such shock" There was
a pause and then the voice went on:
I'll be out, of course, just as quick
as the car can make il. but in the
m eentime, Isn't there something l can
do for you here in town? Joe's at
torneys ought to be notified imme-
miately."
Yes, viii you do that. please. Mr.
Lane2 Tell Mr. Newbury that, nat
urally, I am prostrated and you are
tanoe to get in touch with Joe's office.
too. as soon as IL opens. and have
William Dunn come down here by the
first train"
III leave word with my own sec
retary to have that attended to. and
thing ] can say to you now. Mrs
Cayley, but you know how this has
hit me! Joe-I can't realize II, My
God, It's like a nightmare" Lane
to pull himself together. and then
added: lust you try to keep your
nerve and carry on until I get there.
and-don't do any more talking than
you have to. We don't know what
this may mean for all Of us"
'T quite understand" Mrs. Cay
ley's tone had hardened perceptibiy.
Il think that / shall be able to bear
up, at least until you come. L was
sure that 1 could count on you"
To the end, Mrs. Cayleyi I'm going
to burn up the roads getting there
and every minute Is of value now.
50 unless there is anything else you
can suggest for me to attend to from
town here----!
Nothing 1 shall wait anxiousIy
for your coming. Good-by''
Mrs. Cayley replaced the receiver
and. rising. turned to find Lefty
standing in the doorway.
Did you call me. ma'am? Geoff
said he thought he heard you. and
was afraid maybe you were faint or
something" The woman's sharp fea-
lures were drawn, but a bright spot
of color glowed in each cheek and
her eyes were alight with suppressed
excitement.
81 didn't call, but I shall want you
to come and help me dress imme-
diately," Mrs. Cayley responded.
.'Where is Godfrey? DR.. Hood wishes
him to wait here without fail
II left him gettin' Henry to lie
down, because l heard 'Zeppa stirrin
around and I had to tell her what
what had happened She's havin' reg
ular Mysteries and won't be any use
in the kitchen, but I've put some cof-
fee on, ma'am, for you've got to keep
up your strength
Mrs Cayley dismissed the sugges
tion with a gesture Of repugnance.
but second thought made her
realize it's wisdom. and, telling Lefty
to bring a cup to her room. she
started UP the staircase. On the gal
Iery she encountered the mason
sauntering from the direction of
Henry Carp's room.