The Alto Herald (Alto, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, April 30, 1909 Page: 3 of 8
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SYNOPSIS.
Throe girls — Elizabeth, Oabrielle and
Ellse—started for Canada to spend the
summer there. On board steamer they
were frightened by an apparently dement-
ed stranger, who, finding a bag belonging
to one of them, took enjoyment in scru-
tinizing a photo of the trio. Ellso shared
her stateroom with a Mrs. Graham, also
bound for Canada. The young women on
a sightseeing tour met Mrs. Graham,
anxiously awaiting her husband, who had
A mania for sailing. They were intro-
duced to Lord Wilfrid and Lady Edith.
A cottage by the ocean was rented by
the trio for the summer. Elizabeth
learned that a friend of her father's was
to call. Two men called, one of them
being the queer-acting stranger on the
steamer. The girls were "not at home,"
but discovered by the cards left that one
of the men was KTIzabeth's father's
friend. The men proved to be John C.
make and Gordon Bennett. The party
•was told <if the search for smugglers in
the vicinity of the cottage. Ells- visited
Mrs. Graham to tlnd that her life was
not the happiest. She learned that tlie
Grahams and I.ady Edith were acquaint-
ed. A wisp of yellow luiir from Mr. Gra-
ham's pocket fell Into the hands of Ellse.
Mrs. Graham's hair was black. During
a sto" i the young women heard a crash
In tl:v basement of the cottage and a mo-
ment later Mary Anne, their woman serv-
ant, i-f ered, her arm bleeding. To as-
sure them there was no danger, Mary
Anno descended to the basement alone
and quieted their fears. I.ady Edith told
tile girls of a robbery of Jewels at the
lrotel. Tearing for the safety of her own
gems she left them in a saTe at the cot-
tage Mr. Gordon Bennett was properly
Introduced, explained his queer actions,
returned the lost bag anil told of mysteri-
ous doings of a year before connected
with t'i« cottage. Exploring the cellar,
one of the girls found a sphinx cuff-but-
ton the exact counterpart of which both
Gordon Bennett and Lady Edith were
found to possess, also. Ellse. alone, ex-
plored the cellar, overhearing a conver-
sation there between Mary Anne and a
man He proved to be her son, charged
with' murder. The young women agreed
to kwp the secret. Lady Edith told n
story "f a lost love In connection with
the sphinx key.
CHAPTER VIII.—Continued.
I could not think of anything to
say, for at critical momenta my vo-
cabulary nlways proves Inadequate,
so I merely trok her hand aud stroked
it gently.
'1 don't know why I have told you
this," she s&ld, "hut you have ail been
so good to us that we are no longer
strangers, nor even mere acquain-
tances' and my heart Is still so heavy
sometimes. We all have graves In
our hearts, wo women. Yours has not
como yet, and I hope It may be long
deferred; mlno is still green enough
to be painful when I visit it. For-
give me, dear; you look quite cad,
and, indeed, I am not worthy of so
much sympathy."
"You are very brave," I said, admlr-
Ingly.
"I do not show the white feather to
the world, that is all. But tell me
frfH'
about Mr. Ulake, whom I met hero the
other day. Who and what is he?"
I could tell her very little, for Mr,
Bennett had proved uncommunicative
about Ills friend, and beyond the fact
that he would be here for an indefinite
period I knew nothing.
"But do tell me," I remarked, as
she rose to go, "has Mrs. liundy hoard
anything about her jewels?"
"Not yet. Poor old soul, she Is
quite heart-broken. It Is generally
believed a detective Is In the hotel,
posing as a guest, but he does not
seem to bo making any progress. I
feel perfectly comfortable about my
few possessions, however, thanks to
your goodness."
She went away then, and I sat
alone in the hammock, thinking of the
two secrets I had learned that after-
noon, and watching the glow of the
setting sun, which turned some sails
pink and others pearly white, as the
boatloads of merrymakers sailed homo.
After a while Oabrielle and Eliza-
beth appeared, rather the worse for
wear, and inclined to be Indignant.
They had not enjoyed themselves; the
shops were no good whatever, Lady
Edith had been unable to go, awl there
had been some misunderstanding, for
Lord Wilfrid had not met them at the
time appointed.
Altogether, the day had been a fail-
ure, and It was not until a good din-
ner had calmed their aggrieved spirits
that 1 began to relate my own experi-
ences, giving the history of Mary
Anne with as much pathos as I coeld
manage.
"Of course," remarked Elizabeth,
"we ought to discharge her. It Is not
pleasant to think of a murderer being
concealed In the house."
"Good gracious!" exclaimed Gabrl-
elle, In an alarmed voice. "What are
you thinking of? Think of her
waffles."
"Oh, I was not going to do It; I only
said that we ought to. She Is too
valuable to lose, especially if he real-
ly Is soing away."
So wo told Mary Anne that It was
all right, and wo would allow her son
to escape as ho had planned. 8he was
pathetically grateful, and promised
never to allow him on the premises
again, so we felt quite comfortable
about him; and, after all, why should
we Interfere with a fellow-creature
In his effort to preserve life, since
the life ho took could not be restored
by his capture?
INSTALLMENT 11.
But my last thought that night was
of Lady Edith and the luok in her
brown eyes as she held Hi" little key.
CHAPTER IX.
"My love Is like a red. red rose
That's newly blown In June;
My love is like a melody
That's sweetly played In tune."
It was a baritone voice, so clear, so
strong, and yet bo sweet that Involun-
tarily we stopped talking and listened
until the end of the verse.
"Where is it?" I questioned
"I think," said Gordon Bennett, "it
must come from a boat ; it will round
the point presently."
We were walking along the beach,
and had wandered farther than we In-
tended, almost to the point of the is-
land, in fact, and, quite tired out, I
had seated myself upon n rock to rest
a while before going back.
"I wish he would siny again," I re-
marked; "don't you?"
"Well, no," returned my compan-
ion; ','to be frank, I would rather have
your undivided attention."
"Why, please?"
"I suppose It Is because I was born
with a selfish disposition."
"Listen!" I exclaimed, as the song
began again, closer this time, with
every word distinct and clear.
"So fair Is she. my dearest dear,
So much in love am I.
That I would love lier nil my life
Till all the seas run dry
Till all the seas run drv. my doar,
And rocks melt wl' tlie sun—"
The boat was quite near now, and
tha song ceased abruptly as the singer
stood erect and waved his hat cheer-
fully; a white parasol in the stern also
beckoned Invitingly.
"Why," I said, "they are waving
at us."
"It Is Graham," 3aid Gordon Ben-
nett, briefly, "and your friend Lady
Edith."
"So It is." I was genuinely pleased,
for I could see they wanted us to join
them, and I was more than willing to
avoid the walk home.
"Get aboard," called M:\ Graham, as
the bow grated against a rock. "You
can do it, if you don't aiind stepping
from one rock to the other."
"Wo can do It easily " I replied, "If
Mr. Bennett will give me his hand to
steady me."
"Would you not rather walk homo?"
Mr. Bennett's voice was certainly
not encouraging, but I ignored It, for
1 wanted the sail.
"Come, Mr. Bennett." called Lady
Edith; "we have plen'.y of room. I
have been spending the morning with
Mrs. Graham, and we went out for a
sail just after lunch, but sho could not
bo persuaded to join ui."
"Oh!" I said, as I took Mr. Gra-
ham's outstretched hand and stepped
into (he boat, which wobblod unpleas-
antly. "It is awfully nice—after you
get In."
"It Is a bully day for a sail," be re-
turned, his face glowing with the
pleasure It had given him. "I only
wish you would tall; a bit to Mrs. Gra-
ham and get her to come out just
once. She has no Idea how fine It is.
"My wife," ho explained to Mr. Ben-
nett, who had followed me Into the
boat, "has an unaccountable aversion
to the water; and >*he will not trust
herself on it, even witlume."
"Indeed!" remarked Mr. Bennett,
dryly. "She must condemn herself
to a good many hours alone, for I no-
tice you are out constantly."
"Oh, yes; we agreed that I was to
go whenever I chose, she does not
wish to keep me at home, and we quite
understand each other on the subject."
"You were singing," I said, as the
sail filled aud the boat cut through the
water; "won't you please go on. I had
no idea you had such a lovely voice."
"Yes," said Lady Edith; "do sing
again, Mr. Graham. It was quite love-
ly, and you must not be selfish with
such a talent."
So Mr. Graham sang again, and we
listened entranced, for his voice was
very melodious, and he sang as the
birds do, with no apparent effort or
consciousness of his charm. Lady
Edith In the stern kept her face in
the shadow of her parasol and said but
little, yet I saw her eyes grow misty,
and remembered our conversation
about the little gold key. Was she
thinking of the mau she loved? I
wondered dreamily.
"I'll land you at your own dock,"
ho remarked, as ho steered for the
shore. "And I'm sure I am very grate-
ful for the nice things you say about
the songs. I sing because I like to
sing—just as I yield to every im-
pulse whenever I can get any pleasure
out of it. It seems the simplest thing
to do."
It was rather a dangerous theory, I
thought, although as I looked at Mr.
Graham's ruddy face and heard his
careless laugh I quite understood that
he would generally live up to what ho
said. And I had a quick recollection,
too, of the package Elizabeth had
opened; was that caused by a sudden
Impulse, I wondered, and had he ex-
tracted his full measure of satisfaction
out of It?
Lord Wilfrid was waiting on the
dock when we landed, his cap pulled
down over his eyes and his manner
the reverse of cordial.
"I have looked everywhere for you,
Edith," he said. "You did not tell we
you expected to go sailing. Did you
make up your party this morning?"
FUNCTION THAT IS EXCLUSIVE.
LY BRITISH.
Americans Seem Unable to Treat tha
Ceremony with Proper Respect—
Remember King George and
His Chumpishness.
Ho looked at Gordon Bennett as he; AT APTFRWOOW TF A
spoke, and paused for a reply. IGIVllV/VFli ILrt
"1't was quite unpremeditated," said
that gentleman. "In fact, your sister
and Mr. Graham were kind enough to
pick us up a good bit down the beach
and give us a lift home."
"Was any one else with you?"
"I took a short sail with Mr. Gra
ham, Wilfrid," said Lady Edith. "I I
am sorry if you have needed me, but I j
thought you Intended fishing this after- j
noon."
She looked steadily at him, and he
lowered his eyes Instinctively. But
his face, as he watched Mr. Graham
push off and sail away, was heavy and
lowering, and hla lingers twitched
nervously.
"Listen," I said. "Mr. Graham Is j
singing again."
He was standing by his sail now. the
light of the sun full upon him, appar- j
ently unconscious of the picture ho
made.
"And I will love you still, my dear,
When all the seas run dry—"
The words of the old song died
away, and I turned to my companions,
"Let us go home," I said; but. Lady
Edith and her brother had already
gono.
Watch your American at tea, for hU
behavior Is bound to be Individual.
There has never been anything In his
own experience quito like the com-
plete stoppage of toil and thought
which happens here under every roof,
domestic or commercial, at a fixed
time of every day in the year.
The only historic parallel to it i3
the working of the spell in the legend
j of the sleeping beauty when the cock
j was enchanted in the middle of his
! crowing and the cook in the middle of
! her roast.
In nurseries, in gaols, In the houses
j of parliament, in shops, mines, court-
j rooms, cab shelters, vestries, garri-
sons and along a thousand wharves
[ and jetties—wherever is the full play
i of human activity—suddenly arrives a
j moment, armed, as It would appear
I with plenary powers, and the habit-
able earth of Englishmen sits, crosses
Its legs, and drains more than once a
dark, strong fluid out of a cup.
This libation has nothing to do with
hunger—the overmeal would seem to
CHAPTER X.
If there are any who, like Mrs. Gra
ham, dislike salt air and object to the
constant Intrusion of the ocean, this
narrative will not Interest them.
Looking back upon it now, it seems
to mo that everything we did that
summer, indeed, almost, everything
we thought and said, was in
way connected with the sea. And per-
haps this is not so strange after all, j for he Is guilty of something more
since we looked out upon it from every ; glaring than Sabbath-breaking
some I be purely liturgical. Woe to the
stranger who looks lightly upon It,
window and its murmur was never
absent from our ears.
It was Oabrielle who originated the
plan of a supper on the rocks. Oabri-
elle was great in originating, but we
used to toll her she liked to watch
other people carry out her ideas. She
sat In the hammock and urged her
project, while her hair blew about her
ears and her book slipped unnoticed
from her lap.
"We will ask the Campbells to join
us," she said, "and Mr. Bennett and
Mr. Blake of course."
"And the Grahams," I added.
"If you like;" the tone was not en-
thusiastic. "I must say she gets on
my nerves; she Is so mysterious."
Gabrlella dislikes secrets unless sho
happens to be a party to them. She
now returned to the subject with re-
newed vigor.
"it is full moon, you know. Think of
the water dashing over the rocks, and
the fire we'll make out of driftwood."
"Spoons, forks and napkins for all
those people," ruminated Elizabeth,
"to say nothing of things to eat. It
will be a lot of trouble."
"No trouble at all. Just got Mary
Anne to put some things in baskets.
In fact " Gabrielle paused a moment
before breaking the news, "I have al-
ready asked Mr. Bennett; I met him in
the village when I went for the mall,
and it suddenly occurred to me it
would be nice to do this to-night."
Of course after this startling dis-
closure it was impossible to demur
further, and Elizabeth rose to the oc-
casion.
(TO II1C CONTINUED.)
UNABLE TO SEE THE FUTURE.
Short-Sighted English Statesman De-
nounced Penny Postage.
"Of ,11 the wild and visionary
schemes of which I have ever heard
or road it. is the most extraordinary."
That wan the official comment made
by Lord Lichfield, postmaster general
of England, on Rowland Hill's proposal
to establish a uniform postal rate of a
penny throughout tho United King-
dom. And that was at a time within
the memory of some men still living,
only 71 years ago. Despite Lord Lich-
field's condemnation of it, the scheme
was within three years an established
fact. And men who in their childhood
might have seen and read the first let-
ters ever sent from one part of Eng-
land to another for a penny may this
year see and read letters sent around
tho globe and practically to every part
cf the English-speaking world for tho
same small fee. The achievement will
bo not only a most impressive rebuke of
the short-sighted and timorous admin-
istrator of two generations ago, but
also an equally impressive demonstra-
tion of the constantly accelerating
progress of civilization.
Should he grin at it as a sort of
diurnal picnic, he must soon be
brought to recognize in it a sacrosanct
character, calling upon "all that a
man has of fortitude and delicacy."
While the clock hands hover be-
tween four and five is no time for a
detached expression on the face of
the outlander.
Secular antecedents could never ac-
count for the preternatural decency
and godly gloom of the spectacle as a
whole. Every clean-collared, meek-
eyed schoolboy who tiptoes about of-
fering the condiments which, in his
parent's judgment go with tea, every
unnatural schoolboy of them all be-
haves exactly as ho behaves in church
and as he behaves nowhere else but
here.
Strange that the student of com-
parative mythology has never turned
his attention to this ceremony! The
"first sprightly runnings" of it were
not tannin but idolatry, The very
word, tea, may have come into use
from the familiar Invocation by his
initial of Thoth or Tlior.
As for tho Americans, lot them rest
In their atheism. Tea Is a great sym-
bol, and their awe of tea Is not
marked; besides, it is connected with
the memory of a just revolt against
King George and his chumplshne33.
That wasteful transaction in Bos-
ton harbor in the year of grace 1775
takes on an added impiety at home
when it is considered that it was not
any common beverage, but the ono
unique and adored, which was thus
poured in disdain into the marine gut-
ters.
After such a national sacrilege and
the curse attendant upon it, can rebels
be expected to retain the virginal rap-
tures which tho subject inspires in
every true English bosom?—London
Sphere.
Ready for the Dollar.
Marjorie, aged eight, had not been
having very satisfactory reports from
school. Her father suid: "Marjorie,
for the first hundred you get I'll give
you a dollar." Time went on and the
reward could not be claimed. One
day the child was taken violently ill.
Her mother sent for the doctor. When
he had gono, Marjorie said: "Mamma,
am I very ill?"
"No, dear; your temperature is a
little over 100, but the doctor thinks
you will be all right In a (lay or so."
Smiles broko through Marjorie's
ears. •
"Now, mamma, I can have my dol-
lar. Papa said he would give It to me
if I could get 100 in anything."—-De-
lineator.
Revised Version.
Jack (proudly)—We learned a new
commandment In Sunday school to-
day.
Doting Parent—Yes, dearie, and
what was it?
Jack—Thou shalt not kick a ducta
ery.—National Homo Magazine.
Tho Revenue Process.
"Will you have any outings this
summer?"
"That will depend on whether I
have any innings tills spring."—Balti-
more American.
Woman's Handicap.
Miss Elder—Well, I maintain that
women can do anything that men can.
Mr. Gazzam—Oh, no. The auc-
tioneer's business is one women can-
not go into.
Miss Elder—Nonsense. She'd mako
every bit as good an auctioneer as a
man.
Mr. Gazzam—Well, just Imagine an
unmarried woman getting up before a
crowd and exclaiming: "Now, gen-
tlemen, all I want Is an offer!"
Her Intention.
Miss Meanly—It may not be your
Intention to offend, but doesn't it oc-
cur to you that your treatment of mo
is rather calculated to make us bad
friends?
Miss Cutting (coolly)—No; I had
the hope that it would make us good
enemies—Catholic Standard and
Times.
T rapped.
"Don't laugh, Mr. Brown. You never
seem to take mo seriously."
"Oh, I assure you I do, Miss Jane."
"Do you, Henry? Then you'd better
speak to papa at once."
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McClure & McClure. The Alto Herald (Alto, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, April 30, 1909, newspaper, April 30, 1909; Alto, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth214048/m1/3/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Stella Hill Memorial Library.