Evening star., 1928-10-29

IL magazine, smiled appreciative-
ly, and returned the periodical
with meticulous care to its place in the
row on the library table. There was
plenty of time to look at Mrs. Kane. He
knew the embarrassing effect of a
pause-already he had put Mrs. Kane
on the defensive by forcing her to open
= the conversation.
When at last he looked up his glance
was. casual, with no effect of scrutiny.
He saw before him a tall, heavy-boned
woman, whose hair, shinily black like
shoe polish, was drawn up from her
forehead in still sausage formation
the 'pompadour'' in. vogue 20 years ago.
dyed" DR.. Cavanaugh mwardly
bother to dye her hair? Not for beauty,
certainly"
Her skin showed network of tiny
blood vessels. Her cheeks and nose had
tight, red, shiny look, even as her hair
was tight, black and shiny. That nose
was the dominant feature heavy
beak overShadowing a sunken mouth.
False teeth" DR.. Cavanaugh con-
tinued his silent observations. And
put in far too late, after the gums had
Shrunken.''
Mrs Kane's dress, like her hair, fol-
lowed an extinct fashion. 1t touched
the ground with its dusty hem binding
of dingy black The collar and cuffs
were rumpled and showed a faint brown
line at the wrist and neck.
"A visit to the cleaners and the
laundry would seem to have been In
dicated-not at all the attire to be eX-
pected of a servant in millionaire's
home" With all this, DR.. Cavanaugh's
survey had been so brief and unobtru
Sive that Mrs. Kane was left with the
impression that 1t was she who stared.
1t was hard, belligerent stare, from
small but by no means dull, black eyes.
Il won't take up much of your time,
Mrs. Kane" DR.. Cavanaugh began
courteously. "But won't you sit down?"
I'm busy. Besides. prefer to stand"
started the idea, firmly fixed in the
cheaper sort of literature, that it was
the thing to prefer to stand" in the
presence of an enemy? Had it an an
thropological baSiS-readineSS to give
instant physical battle? DR.. Cavanaugh
decided to look it up some time. Mean
while it had its advantages. 1t showed
conclusively that Mrs. Kane was not
merely indulging her usual forbidding
manner, but regarded him definitely as
an antagonist.
duties would be considerably lightened
in your mistress absence" he remarked
Suavely.
MY duties concern myself. I believe
you had something to say to me-
DR.. Cavanaugh had some difficulty in
restraining his eyes from a fascinated
attention to Mrs. KaneS mouth. The
false teeth had, indeed, been installed
too late. When she spoke, the upper
set moved up and down beneath her
lip, like o. stage drop retreating and
nrYaa arinc hnhiY1T lifted rtlrfoir P1lf
her manipulation was expert. The teeth
moved with a gruesome independence,
but they never quite fell out, and whelI
she stopped speaking the clamp of her
jaws thrust them into place with a
slight click. The necessity of this con-
slant management gave her sentence a
clipped, jerky brevity.
Well, to ask you rather" DR.. Cava-
naugh amended, Perhaps you know
that Mr.. Ellsworth came to me for ad-
vice when Mrs. Ellsworth left?"
Mr.. Ellsworth didn't seem to bother
much until the police got busy" Mrs.
Kane remarked grinly.
''At your request, believe"
''He made me mad. I don't say had
ought to done it, if I'd stopped to think.
But when / asked him what he was
going to do he said, I druther not dis
cuss it, Mrs. Kane'S thin lips snapped
anu IlLLIlS6ll
waiting anxiouSly for the reaSsuring
click. He 'druther not indeed" The
voice rose harShly. Well. there's other
folks as has their drutherS, as well as
him. I've got my drutherS too, if you
want to knowi" AS If realizing that
she was opening too much of her mind
to this stranger, she stopped. Her whole
face seemed to shut down, to become an
expresSiOnlesS mask.
II think you did quite right, Mrs.
Kane. You showed excellent Judgment
The praise brought a momentary
fash from the small black eyes.
II don't know about that" she said
grudgingly Then the impulse to un-
load a piece of her mind" TO willing
listener became too strong. Fancy
losing lady like Miss O'Shay and pay
ing no more attention than If 1t was a
lost dog that you might inquire for at
the pound when you got around to i'll!
An insult to Miss O'Shay, it washer
that's had lords of Europe waiting at
the stage door for her, and princes
begging her to take their strings of
pearls, and risking what their king
dads would do, which would be a
plenty, IL they ever found out. Twist
them around her little finger, she
would, in them days"
You must have been with her for q
long time" DR.. Cavanaugh ventured,
in voice from which he banished all
undue curiosity.
But Mrs. Kane was instantly on
guard.
"Oh, you needn't think Miss O'Shay
was a has-been. She didn't have TO
take up with that millionaire whipper-
snapper because he was last chance,
not by any means! And why wouldn't
she leave him, if she had mind TO-
I'd like to know!"
"She did leave him, then?"
Il know nothing about it" The
click this time was clearly audible. With
amused admiration DR.. Cavanaugh rec
ognized its effectiveness as means oi
emphasis.
still he unused, "she might not
have meant to go. Did you ever notice
in Miss O'Shay-tactfully he avoided
the title Mrs. Ellsworth" toward which
Mrs. Kane had shown such marked
averSion-"any signs of eccentricity, oi
unstable mental balance?"
You mean, was she crazy?"
II should not put it SO strongly, but
that is the idea"
IF you doctors would learn to speak
plain English, maybe fewer of your pa
tientS would die. If Miss O'Shay was
crazy, I'd say it was her own business
"Yes, 1t might be-" DR.. Cavanaugh'i
tone was placating by the way, dc
you read the newspapers" He shifted
ground suddenly.
do read the newspapers! I've KEEP
Miss O'Shays scrap book of clippings
=snce-for years. And the books woulc
fill a shelf as long as that"-pointinl
to the bookcase behind hin1-"I'm tell
ing you"
Then you know" DR.. Cavanaughi
voice was still unhurried. but he wa
forcing the pace now, that an un
identified body has been found in tn,
tule marsh, and that have been asket
to aid in the attempt to identify it.
may be able to make that identification
complete If can secure hair belong