The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1936-07-02

Besides, what on earth could hap
pen in such a peaceful old place
as the mountain house? It's an
event if even a peddler finds his
way up there from the village"
She dropped light kiss on Han
nah's nose, and without waiting
for any more objections went
downstairs. ...,..
| AS she passed the library she
halted a minute and softly closed
the door which was half open.
She had been pretty hard on Nick.
And he had done so much. Why
couldn't she love him as she had
always hoped she would love the
man she married?
She let herself out into the gar
den and hurried to the garage.
Here she got her own little car
and soon was threading her way
through the traffic of the city,
headed for the road that ran
straight as an arrow toward the
mountains.
The way was too familiar to
make the trip at night seem an
undertaking. Hadn't she driven
it more times than she could re-
member when she and her father
had gone to the House of Long
Shadows to spend the weekend?
She settled down to a steady pace
which would bring her to her
destination long before midnight.
After half an hour the houses
began to thin out and small dry
farms took the place of suburbs.
The cool evening air of the open
country blew against her cheeks.
AS always, a tingle of anticipa-
ton ran through her when she en-
tered the foothills, with the high
peaks unched dimly behind them.
The mountains invariably held
that attraction for Cairo, no mat
ter how familiar she was with
them. For her, nothing could ever
take the place of their changing
moods. All the mad, cOlorful life
of the hard seekers for gold, their
tragedies and romances, successes
and failures, seemed embodied in
the towering snOwcapped crags
that Jagged against the skyline.
That was why going to the old
house in the mountains had al
ways been an adventure to the
girl. The House of Long Shad-
ows-the very name her uncle
had given his home made it a
house of dreams. Here she could
live again, in Imagination, the ex-
citing days when the little mining
town nearby had been a blaze of
hectic life. When fortunes were
won or lost in a night and the
haunting quest for gold turned
the heads of the steadiest of men.
Now the road began to wird
sharply upward, coiling about the
rugged side of the mountain.
Higher and higher went the car,
each succeeding loop in the road
lifting it above the plains below.
Soon the city became miniature,
twinkling fairyland, its streets
outlined in rows of tiny points Of
light. Claire never tired of this
picture. She threw back her head
and filled her lungs with the brac-
ing air, a sense of exhilaration
sweeping through her.
Unconsciously she pressed on
the accelerator. The car leaped
forward with a sudden squirt of
speed that sent the gravel flying
down the steep side of the noun
tain. Instantly she jerked back
from the danger of taking the
curves too fast. She knew only
too well how narrow the strip of
road was that lay between her
and a hurting death into the dark
depths below.
Now she was coming to the
narrow, twisting road that led
from the main highway up to the
House of Long Shadows. AS she
turned into it, another car passed
behind her, going along the main
road. In Just a few minutes she
would be at her destination. She
sat back in the seat and relaxed
her grip on the wheel.
There was a sudden grinding
crash as the car hit a huge log
that lay directly across the mar
row road. Instantly the lights
went out, and splintered glass
showered about her. The machine
lurched tipsily and stopped. Claire
fell Imply forward over the steer
ing wheel.
. Quick footsteps sounded dimly
behind her and the last thing she
knew she was being lifted IN a
mans arms.
(To be continued)