A Spinner in the Sun

Pe

t quite still, determined not to open the door. Presently, she heard the sound of retreating footsteps, and was reas

done, leave the tray outside. I'll come and get it. I would

k, fried, in country fashion, two crisp, buttered rolls, and a pot of tea. Faint and sick of heart, she pushed it aside, then in simple justi

tor Dexter had left the place for good. She had heard of that, long ago, but, until now, no one had told

was in the bag at her belt. She perceived that the way of escape was closed to her. Broken in spirit though

tain income, paid regularly from two separate sources. One source had failed without warning, and her slender legacy was cut literally in two. Upon the remaining half she

e-only to find that Anthony Dexter had long since preceded her. A year afterward

efuge was denied her at the very moment of her greatest temptation to avail herself of it. Long hours of thought led her invariably to the one possible conclusion

ee from the insufferable bondage of earthly existence. Miss Evelina dreamed of peace as a prisoner in a dungeon may dream of green fields.

inextricably with the mustiness and the dust. The grey cobwebs swayed at the windows, sunset touching them to iridescence. C

em, shimmering in the sun-scarlet like the lips of a girl, pink as the flush of dawn

y stately blossoms as white as the blown snow. Her ragged garments touched the silken petals, her worn shoes crushed them, bud and blossom alike. Always, the numbing, slee

outspread arms. In her eyes was Lethe, in her hands was the gift of forgetfulness. She brought pardon for all that was past and to come, eternal healing, unfathomable oblivion. "Come,

Poppies pleaded with her thus. Now, at the hour when surrender meant the complete

e valley, but it was still late afternoon on the summit of the hill. Miss Evel

e made scant headway. Thorns pressed forward rudely as if to stab the intruder. Vines, closely

heir brilliant pageantry. In all the village there had been no such poppies as gr

lifted the vial high and emptied it. She held it steadily until the last drop was drained from it. The poppies had given it and to

ened her steps, but the dense undergrowth made walking diffi

ally, from sheer force of habit. Long ago, it had ceased to have any definite meaning for him. Once he had even stripped every whit

horse, and was swiftly out of sight. Against his better judgment, he was shaken in mind and body. Could he have seen a ghost? Nonsense! He was tired, he had overworked, he h

With the sure intuition of a woman, she knew who had driven by in the first darkness. That he should

ture. And a son. A straight, tall young fellow, doubtless, with eyes like his father's-eyes that a woman would trust, not dreaming of the false heart and craven soul. Why had she been b

for one who had done no wrong, what punishment would be meted out to a sinner by a God who was always kind? Mi

s not wholly untrue, took shape in her thought and said itself-aloud. Yet

chosen instrument? What if she had been sent here, after all the dead

of her own wrong? Her soul stirred in its despair as the dead might stir

"It showed me the truth. The fire was kind and God i

or half a lifetime. If he had forgotten, she would make him remember-ah, yes, he must remember before he could b

ina lighted her candl

he knelt before the chest, gasping, and thrust her questioning fingers down through the l

them were black. A slip of paper fluttered out as she opened the case, and she caught it as it fell. The paper was yellow and brittle and the ink had fad

ss Evelina, from betw

of the clasp was dull, but the diamond gleamed like the eye of some evil thing. She wound the ne

paper over it, and closed it with a snap. To-morrow-no, this very night, Anthony Dexter should ha

ngeance that she herself should, mutely, make him pay. She felt a new strength of

in the village, but the train upon which she had come was due shortly after midnight. She knew every step of

herself as a part of things, not set aside helplessly to suffer

en uses people to carry out His plans," the minister had said. At the time, it had not particularly impressed her, and she had never

ut, all unknowingly, she had entered upon a new phase. She had turned in the wind

went. The sound died into a distant rumble, then merged into the stillness of the night. Miss Evelina r

steep road, avoiding the sidewalk, for she remembered that Miss Mehitable's ears were keen. Past the crossroads, to the righ

of vengeance. Something outside her obsession had its clutch upon her a

crutinised the house for a possible light. She feared that some one might be stirring, late as it was, but the old housekeeper always

g the steps, she hesitated, baffled for the moment, then sank to her knees. Slowly she crept to the threshold, placed the jewel case so that it would fall inward when the door was opened, an

was only a few minutes. At last she reached home, utterly exhausted by the strain she had put upon herself. She

nd a necklace of discoloured pearls in the other. She poured the laudanum upon the earth and a great black poppy with a deadly fragrance sprang up at her f

into the house to escape from it, but the scent of it clu