Evening star., 1923-12-20

inquirirgly. as IL anxious for COM
mendatton of his thoughtfulness, but
she shook her head.
There won't be any funeral cers-
mony here. I understand. Mr.. Benk-
ards body Is to be removed very
quietly" She paused. 1.-The notoriety
Mrs. Cayley has been much annoyed
already by reporters and curious
One o. them there reporter fellers
now" remarked Geohf Didn't git
nothin' out O. me-. though. ma'am;
tain't my business"
Il know Mrs. Cayley will appreciate
your not talking to any of them. The
local police lieutenant has been in
structed to keep them off the place.
Oh" Miss Sherwood caught herself
up with a little catch in her breath
and stood staring as though she could
scarcely believe her eyes. Geoff fol-
, lowed the direction Of her gaze and
| saw tall, athletic figure striding to-
| ward them across the lawn. He ap-
peared to be man in the early thir-
ties, and. although he was a stranger.
there seemed something familiar in
the smooth-shaven, clean-cut features
and eager, boyish blue eyes which
brought a vague impression to the
. stonemason's mind. 1t deepened to a
them, and he smiled to himself once
more. then turned and moved off out
Of sight
Adrian" Miss Sherwood exclaim-
ed. in a. low. agitated tone. II
thought you were in Canada"
II reached home last night. Georg-
cite told me of-of what had taken
place out here and I found her all
packed up and waiting. This morn
| ing We came out and opened UP the
| old manor house at the Corners.
You've never seen II, but Harper and
1
! know. until we went to college.
Georgette thought there might be for
malities connected with this horrible
affair which would make it necessary
for any one who had been in the
| house when it happened to remain in
| the neighborhood for q few days. at
least, and she won't hear of your stay
ing on here another hour" His voice
| was firm. but there was an unmista.k-
| ably revealing note of tenderness in
| 1t which told Its own story. Tive
como to take you home"
| Now? oh. Adrian. I couldn't! AS
the only outsider, the only guest at
the time, it is inevitable that I shall
| come in for a certain share of ques-
| tioning and notoriety. and ! cannot
drag your sister, in law into 1t, as
kind as she has been to me-" Real
distress made tho young woman's rich
( tones CULVER. IT must think of Mrs.
Cayley, too; she has only her daugh-
| ter, q mere girl. and could not leave
her alone in this terrible hour after
accepting her invitation to visit her
| here"
ct don't see why you didi' the man
| she had called Adrian exclaimed. i'm
pulsively. You're not an intimate
friend Of hers. My dear, Tn not crtti-
cizing your actions or your choice of
associates, but IL maddens me TO think
of your being connected, however re-
motely. with the hideous mess and
scandal this case is bound to be be-
| fore II Is settled"
That is ell the more reason why I
would not think OF going to Georgette
now. but l fail to see why you should
draw such a conclusion, Adrian. A
| a frightful tragedy has taken place.
| certainly, but why you think a hid
eous scandal must ensue-i?" She
spoke in warningly cold accents. but
her companion was too vehemently in
earnest to heed.
Because I know the mans reputa-
ton, I know what was whispered
about him on the street, what Is be-
| ing shouted now from the housetops,
Have you seen the papers this morn
ing? Do you know that one des-