Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1935-08-16
CHAPTER v


Slowly the white pillars of the
Merwin mansion doomed like erect.
ghostly sentinels before her troubled
ewes as she fumbled in her purse for
a key. She was plunged deep in
thought when the door swung open,
flooding her beauty with soft yellow
light.
"Why, Ulysses!" she cried when the
door swung further back to reveal a
negro about whose head circled a
kinky halo of white. "Ulysses, you
shouldn't have stayed up for me. You
know this damp spring air is bad
for your rheumatism"
Ulysses parted purple lips into a
deliberate smile. "Well, Mis- Helena
he replied, 81 CANT low why, but
felt kinda Uneasy. Some little han't
toP me yo' wasn't happy" The an
Gent Negroes yellowish eyes keenly
appraised the slender girl framed in
the doorway. eyes," he added. can
1 reckon that little ha'nt didn't tell
me no lies"
Helena's laughter rang out, low and
sweet as the ringing of golden coin
dropped upon a marble floor.
'Oh, Pm all right" she smiled as
she swung the door shut. "You go to
bed this minute! The very idea of
your waiting up for me! How old do
you think 1 am? Sixteen?"
Sometimes, Miss Helena-and
sho1y wish yo' wuz."
She bestowed a farewell smile as
Ulysses, bent, but still vigorous
black goblin-like figure, vanished into
the depths of the house.
Helena suddenly shivered. The I'M
opened wing of the house across the
hall seemed chilly, vaguely forbidding,
almost funereal and the sheeted fur
niture vaguely resembled horde of
unhappy spirits. Then as her eyes
fell up the telephone she drew herself
up and into her mouth crept an ex-
preston which some of Oliver Mer-
wins business associates would have
instantly recognized.
81 will" she cried in quivering
tones that she barely ercognized as
her own. "Why not-?" Drawing
a deep breath she crossed the parquet
floor and picked up the instrument.
How cold it felt!
"Trimble 2231," she said, and as she
stood there with the sable cape sway
ing from her rounded shoulders, her
breast commenced to feel strangely
CONSTRUCTED while flood of vivid scar
let poured into her face and neck.
"I suppose Pm a FOOL" she mutter-
ed, while the purring of the telephone
announced that bell was ringing at
the other end of the wire. "But I've
the right to fight for-Peter, and in
such a fight, all's fair!"
Beneath her silken garments her
body felt suddenly as hot as though
she had just emerged from the steam
room of Turkish bath. Her breath
seemed stopped in her throbbing
throat. ~ '~2a@~ : ~
"Oh-oh, 1 can't" she. whispered
through stiffened lips and prepared
to put down the receiver, but her ear
caught a click and voice that sent
a wild, uncomfortable exhilaration
leaping through her being said: Hello
This is Mr.. Houghton."
For a moment Helena fought within
herself struggled to find her voice.
Wild-eyed she looked about conscious
of the calm, aloof regard of her an
cestors looking down on their descen-
dant from dull gold frames. What she
proposed to do was so utterly vital,
SO wildly quixotic, and so entirely in
defiance of the dictates of her nature
that in sudden panic her trembling
hand all but replaced the receiver.
Hello, hello?" tiny voice called
to her from the instrument. "Who is
it,"
ooh, l can't 3" she gasped aloud.
''It's too awful. II really can't"
"Hello!" A twist in infection
caught Helena's attention like call
to arms. That was Peters voice
speaking. Peter! Suddenly the panic
vanished and her purpose returned
doubly strong. The sable cape slipped
from her cleaning shoulders as she
unconsciously Strengthened small
curving lips that quivered little.
Hello? Peter? This is Helena.
Yes, Helena Merwin. Forgive me for
calling so late" She saw herself in
a mirror across the hall-acting, pos
ing before the telephone as though
Peter himself stood present. "No, no