The Monmouth inquirer., 1925-04-09

aBut-er-wen, the fact ia, I thought
I heard you call Out
"Call outi"
~Yes-lndeed, I'm sure you did-at
least, that some one did, Murderi
Murderl Murderi' some n called,
an6-4t was awfully stupid Of me, Of
course, but | thought I saw that fellow
strike you"
She laughed merrily.
1T certainly was rather stupid.
Why, that was Jack-my lakeland
again she looked down and flushed
demurely. Il don't think he is likely
to strike meat any rate, not just yet,
o knowi"-this almost soto voce.
"But l wonder what you could have
heard and scent And you ran all the
way from the cliff to rescue me from
q horrible death? It was very, very
kind Of you, and | thank you very
much-quite as much as-as If you
had not been mistaken, you know"
"Oh, it is too generous Of 0 to
say that! 1t is so good of you to for
give me for-er-for this intrusion
upon you"
Not at all! 1t really was kind of
you, you know-perhaps more than
kindi"-and she raised her eyes, and
for a moment our chances met
/ started. What was 1t lurking In
those blue depths? Was it amuse-
ment? Was 1t mischief?
But the next moment the girl lower
ed her eyelids, and the flush in her
cheeks deepened a little. She did not
turn away, but stood there poking the
grass with her shoes. She made a
most charming picture. I moved to-
ward her.
But all the way home and for sew
eral days afterward / thought and
thought and thought Of this strange
little incident, and especially of the
mischievous CLEAN In those blue eyes,
and l wondered If / had been t4cked.
Had she been lying there laughing
under that Tam-o'shantcr ct my mad
race?
Well. the explanation Of it an came
a few days later.
Staying in the same clearinghouse
as myself was a pretty little girl with
whom / had become rather chumrny
IA fellow is apt to do so at these
times-and one day when ! was with
her she received a letter from a
friend Of hers who was staying in
Milton. saying that she was taking
part in some amateur theatricals to
be given in a public hall for the bene-
fit Of some local charity. She en-
closed some tickets.
My companion, of course, explained
1t all to me, and-naturally enough,
perhaps-we went.
1t was a rather poor show. The
amateurs had made a singular selec-
ton, for the piece was an O~ld-fashion-
sd lurid melodrama crammed with
Incident But my companions friend,
a miss Nora Payton,' according to
the programme, had q big part, aRd
was really good in it.
Gradually the plot was worked up,
and in due time the third act was
reached. Here We were evidently in
for something supremely sensational.
for the programme gave the scene
as: 4
'Tyight-on a lonely moor"
UpAwent the curtain and On came
my companions friend, 1mried and
frightened looking. A few rumina-
tive sentences-not remarkable for
their originality-were uttered, and
then a man entered, young and
heroic-looking.
VolubIe talking followed, at first
passionately loving, then ~passionately
angry. And then came this astonish-
ing incident.
The girl threw up her hands tragi.
cally. The man stepped back and
put his hand into the breast of his
coat.
Murder! Murder! Murder!"' the
girl shrieked. "Oh, he is going to
kill me!"-and her shrill voice echoed
back from the end of the room.
The man raised his hand above his
head and plunged a stiletto into the
breast Of the girl, who dropped in
stantly at his feet.
1t was exactly the scene that / had
witnessed from Hunton's Cliff.
What happened after this point in
the play | haven't the least idea, and
never had. The only things I remem-
Der are the %uproarious applause that
greeted the conclusion. a pair OF
laughing, mischievous eyes looking at
me over the footlights, and my COM
panion saying.
II must stay and speak to Nora and
congratulate her! Isn't she cfever?'
l was not loath to remain, and so
in due course | was introduced to
miss Payton' and her iance-"Mr.
Lugard-the horrid murderer"
Miss Payton gave no sign Of recog-
~nition, and the two girls chatted on.
"You did that murder scene just
splendidly, Moral"
did 1? Well, so we ought to have
done, for Jack and l have rehearsed
1t no end. Do you know, we actually
got up at fve-fve! one morning when
Jack had to go to Machiaas on bust
uouo ana rnhaarcad ~ IN a 1cnplv cn0t