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41 V A ' CHICAGO LEDGER-I
Newman laughed again, but he said nothing as he the opening. ljor a moment she peered within, then
' took a cigarette from a silver case and lighted it. .she,stepped'across the threshold andapproacbed ‘
She watched him for an instant with thoughtful, the cofllnf Like marble,.Mprtimer lay in his un-
eyes. ' . comfortable bed';'he even held 'his breath,’-as he-
“Really," she went on, ,at,length,,“I mean it, Lon. wondered if the wild heating -of his heart would be-
You must go-at once. so soon after Jim-alter - tray him:l But it did not, and luckily Mrs. Mortimer
what has happened I shouldn't receive visitors at ‘did not touch her husband's corpse; if she had its
You know that yourself. We must wait at warmth would'have given away the secret: ,
least a decent interval. Then-perhaps?" ‘ In fact, the woman's visit was merely ,a perfunc-
“A decent interval. What do you call a. decent tory one.’ She had simply‘ looked in to see that
interval, Mona?" he asked, blowing ‘smoke rings, everything was all right before she retired for the
into the still air. “To me, all the time that passes night, and she did not remain over a coiiple of min-
away from you is endless; I have already waited utes. Convinced that’her husband was dead, she
ages. Now that Fortune has at last seen fit to smile, merely glanced at his still figure for asecond, let
now that Mortimer is dead. you talk or waiting. "her eyes rove casually around the room, and stepped
Bosh! Why can’t we go---'’ ; out into the hall‘ She never guessed that the form
“Ilush!" Mrs. lllortimerlooked up quickly. "You beneath the shrouding sheet, seemingly so still, was
mustn't say that, Lon. I won’t listen. It-some- being held motionless only by the exercise of all the
how it seems almost sacrilegious. It's true. I sup- will power its.prc-prietor pdssessed. For a. moment
pose, that you've waited long; but think of me. My Mortimer came perilously near sp'rin'ging,to his feet
position, Lon. some day you will come to me again, and facing her, but be conquered the desire, even
perhaps; but not now, not now.” ' as he had conquered his former impulse 'to‘ rush
“Very well, dear, if you must have it that way. I upon henwhen she was talking with Newman.
understand how you feel. You're uneasy tonight; ' ' ‘
that's natural. After tomorro'w-alter the funeral- FOR another hf?-een minutes. after she left him,”
you'll feel differently." - alone, the man lay perfectly‘ still. planning the"
“We must go away, Lon. I can't remain here." move he had in mind, and giving his wife time to
. “ofioursel” He smiled at her assuringly. “I can ’ get well beyond earshot. At last, satisfied that the
easily arrange my practice; perhaps we'll travel for coast was clear, he sprang to his feet and tore 03
a year. By that time everything will have blown
over. Time heals all wounds, you know, and in this. he dressed himself in an" old suit taken from the.
instance the Wound is not too deep. You have noth: ‘ back of his wardrobe‘-a suit which he had not worn
ing to regret, Mona. Life is before you-before us.’ for months, -and which, he felt sure, nobodyfwould
We'll spend it in a way that will make you happy.” zmiss-and pulled a soft felt hat well down over his
‘‘I hope so. But you mustn’t think of your prac-, -eyes. IIis.linen, he knew, would not betray him,
tice, Lon. We shall have plenty. I inherit every- “for he owned so,many articles of this'sort thata
thing under the willuyou know; only few more 0; yes‘,
a few thousands go to Phillip Mor- would never be re.
timer." - ’ marked upon.
“So I’ve heard. he ' had filled his
rich man himself. It's fortunate, how- pockets with cigars
ever, that there is a. will. Under our 3, n d cigarettes’ he
laws, if James had died intestate, you rolled the garments
would inherit nothing; Phillip would he had won; in the
get all. But we needn't consider that. coffin into 3, bumne,
Thank lleavcnl I have enough of my and, with this under’
own. ' You're right, Mona, I must go his arm, left the room
now. It is late-deuced late,” . for the last time.
Newman tossed his cigarette end into Rgachjng we lower
the grate, and they both rose to their 1100, wmmm mishap,
feet, moving aside a little so that they be turned mm the
were no longer visible thru the narrow iihrary, new be .19..
opening of the door. ' I -
Mortimer stood still for an instant. '
Ills face was ghastly. At first. unable
to believe the evidence of his own
senses, he had been like a man in a
trance; each second he had half ex-
pected to awake and find that it was
211,2: dream. Then, as full realization
of the periidy of his friend and the
woman he had loved and cherished
lame to him, he began to seethe with a‘
terrible rage, On the.verge of dashing
into the boudoir and confronting the
pair, he held himself back. After all,
even in this moment of stunning shock,
he was an eminently practical man; he
did noflose his head-he mastered his’
rage-and when he had done so, he be-
gan to smile-a cold, mirthlsss, terrible
smile. They'd play with him-make a
fool of him, would they?’ They thought
ll‘! was dead-gone-done with forever
-fit only to be cast aside like a. worn-
out shoe. Even before his body was
(Old, his wife had turned to another
Phillip is a very
liberately lighted a
shaded reading lamp.
and opened a little
safe which was set
-into the wall at the
end of one of the
man for comfort; already she was plan- bookcases. From (hig
ning what‘ she would do with the for- . he removed 3 con-
tune he had ‘left her. Planning was side:-able 3 u m 9:
she? :l2.niIz)ing!blle'd show her--he'd money, which, un.
SHOW t (‘D1 031- Y Gad! known to his wife, he
Still smiling horribly, Mortimer ““"" “"'"i" . had happened to placg
there shortly before his illness, and a sealed en-
velope. -Placing these articles in his pockets, he
switched off the light and made his way to the back
of the house. Five minutes laterrhe stepped into ‘a
quiet side street and turned his face in the direction
at the city. ‘
turned and stole quickly and nolselessly back the
way he had come. Like a somber ghost in his gray
bathrobe, he hurried along the hall and did not
pause until he had reached his own room again.
Here, he quickly divested himself of the bathrobe
and hung it up in the closet; then he climbed back
into the collln and stretched himself out. lie meant (-
to run no risk of premature discovery. lie knew CllAPTEi't II,
that he had the remainder of the night ‘ahead of him, - THE DlSCOVlrillY. .
and he was waiting until the house was little! before ON THE next morning Mrs. Mortimer slept late;
he began to act. - lle did not have to wait long. 51,9 was by ham; ,, tardy rim,’ and on this par-
Perhaps a quarter of an hour after he reached the ticular morning she felt irritable and out of sorts.
room he heard a faint sound of fontfalls outside and Tho by no means nervous or in any sense delicate,
the door opened softly. Ills wife stood framed in she knew that the events of that day would try her
the scanty garments in which he was clothed. Then .
fortitude to the utmost, and she meant to obtain all
the preparation she could. The funeral of her late
husband, scheduled for 3 o'clock that afternoon,
would be a trying and unpleasant proceeding; under
the circumstances, Mrs- Mortimer most heartily
wished that she could keep away from it, but if she
did, she" knew what gossip would‘ say, and a horror
of gossip was her chief bugbear. Furthermore, al-
tho she tried not to admit it evento herself, she was
L ‘ onscience-stricken by her ‘behavior on
the previous night, which, if-to be just-not ex-
actly of her own seeking, she had not actually at-
tempted to avoid. For a long time she had guessed
the state, of Dr: Newman's feeling toward her, but
never until after her husband's death had she per-
mitted him to declare himself, or hinted that‘his feel-
.ing was reciprocal. Now that she had done‘so, she
‘could not help wondering if she had made is fool of
herself. >
‘She dressed and breakfasted in h'er;boudoir in a
very lelsupely fashion, and it was after 10 o'clock
before anything beyond her own thoughts came to
disturb her habitual serenity. At that hour she
’heardj,sounds yvhich informed her that the under-
taker's assistant had arrived, and was being con-
ducted to the death chamber by the butler. Since
all detail of the funeral had already been arranged
‘ by the dead man's brother, Phillip Mortimer, and Dr.
Newman, she had(no reason or desire to see the man,
and she had given orders that she herself should
not be disturbed until just before the hour set for
K‘ the funeral. '
She’ was surprised, therefore, when there was a
sound of hurried steps outside her‘ door, and some
one knocked hastily upon the door‘ itself. In re-
sponse to her rather sharp "Come in!" Prydor, the
butler,’ precipitated-himself into the room and stood
panting before her. x
For a little Mrs. Mortimer stared afthe servant in
astonishment, too profound for speech. Prydor had
been a fixture in the Mortimer household for years.
He was a man a little over middle age, tall and
somewhat pompous-looking’, with the upressionless
face of the well-trained servant; never before had
his mistress seen him show excitement of any kind-
That he was excited now, however, the most casual
observer could not have failed to note. His portly
figure shook all over. his eyes rolled, and he kept
[wetting his lips with his tongue. Every inch of him
spoke of fear, terrible fear, fear that was mingled
with consternation, fear that in some occult manner
instantly communicated itself to his mistress, and
ns'she stared at the ‘man Mrs. Mor-
timer’s cheeks blanched.
"Well," she demanded sharply, “What
is it, Prydor?”
Prydor swallowed hastily and made
a. desperate attempt to pull himself to-
.gether. “It's the mas‘ter,‘m'am," he
gulped in a hoarse voice that was total-
ly unlike his usual well-modulated
tones. “I-we-gu'e've just entered the
room. m'am. The undertakei:s man
has come, you know,“hnd the master.
m'am. lle’s gone!" ‘ V
"Gone!” Mrs. Mortimer sprang to her
feet and glared at. the butler with
widening eyes.‘ Tho his manner had
. already prepared her for something
startling, this news was beyond any‘
‘ thing of which she had dreamed.
"G039!" 5119 repeated. “What do you mean, Pry-
dori- Are you crazy?" ,
“N410. !1J’am." Prydor took the question literally’
and answered it in the same manner.
don't think so-I'm-I'm fairly done in, m’am, if
Y0iI'11 pardon the expression. But he's gone, m’aIn;
the coffin is empty," '
For a second or two longer Mrs. Mortimer con-
tinued to regard the servant incredulously; then she
“USN up her skirts in one hand and flew out of
the room and along the hall to her husband’s room-
PWNDB by the undertaker, who stood outside the
door fumbling with his hat and looking as mudl
llerturbed as a man of his somber calling can 1501!.
she darted into the chamber and peered into the
coffin. For an instant she stood thus, seeing noth-
ing but the white satin interior of the casket, totalli
unaware of anything, except that the dead’man had
V3'J‘5h‘-‘ti: then, with a low moan, she collapsed 85
5119 510051 Just crumpled down in her tracks and
l'0”<“l gently over on her side. For the first time in
her life Mrs. Mortimer had fainted.
F01” Perhaps a minute the undertakers assistant
gazed at her stupidly. seemingly unable to comvre‘
(Continued on Page H.)
“At least, I.‘
