Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1936-12-19
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Irritation; 1 make rather a good
looking Wench."
He glanced round the room to
see that no tell-tale signs of his
alter ego were visible, and then
went down the stairs to the dining
room.
The heat wave that had covered
lEe country for week broke DUR
ing the night, and a steady, pitt
less doWnpour Of RAIN succeeded a
brilliant spell OF sunshine. 10 the
farmers it was a welcome change
out to Reid, watching from his cot
tage window, it presented a dreary
prospect. The cottage itself stood
almost on the boundary line be-
tween the estates of the Severinges
and that OF Colonel Graham, and
the Shooting was held in common
between the two. Neither house
was visible from the windows, a
thick wood hiding the Abbey and
a hump of the hill rising behind
and shutting out the view at the
back.
Reid had lived hard all his life,
and cooking his meager breakfast
was nothing to him. He washed
up the plate and cup and placed
them in a cupboard methooically.
The contact Of the last few days
had brought acquaintance if not
friends, people who had met him
as an equal and accepted him on
his face value. There had been no
false identity to maintain. Trag-
edy had brought them together Ia
a common bond where questions
were not asked, as in a more for
mai meeting. Stranger still, every
one seemed to want his help-fiat-
tering, of course, but embarrass-
ing. Colindale, Selden, and then
Sylvia, and even the naughty
Colonel had accepted him with an
easy tolerance. He had fitted SO
completely into his surroundings
that he could not help specializing
whether these surroundings were
not his heritage and right, had
fate dealt more kindly with him.
The nightmare of his youth, the
criminals who had taught him
crime, and the sordid squalor OF
the underworld had always been 70
him as an alien world to which he
was a stranger,
What would be the upshot?
Would the murderer be found and
he go off again on his shameful
existence without purpose or OBJ
ject until some slip placed him in
the grip of the law and he sank
deeper and deeper in the mire?
Up till now he had not cared or
even given a thought to the posi-
bility, but in his mind he saw the
people here reading in the paper
the story of his arrest and history
of crime: Colonel Graham openly
scor1ful, Colindale perhaps SYM
pathetic. Selden openly gloating,
perhaps having seen through him
from the start; and ther-Sylvia,
reading the shameful story and
perhaps crying little, murmur-
ing: And this was the man I
And but for an accident he
might even now be in gaol, wal
ng trial on a capital charge if ne
lad been caught in the chapel with
he murdered man.
He shuddered at the gloomy
,hought, and viewed the dripping
,rees with a curious feeling of de-
preston unusual to his buoyans
lature. And what was to be the
1ext move? For a moment a
strong temptation to turn his back
IN the place and try to forget ne
lad ever been here seized him; but
hen a bewildering force-the
'ame he had felt when sitting in
he courtyard the day before
Ieemed to grip him, compelling
lin against his will and judgment
o stay and see it through.
He was still graphing with tie
roblem when a tiInid tap came at
he. door For one moment his
eart gave bound as he thought
might be Sylvia: but the door
pened and a quiet voice saia'
May I come in?"
s.fT0 Re COufinued)