The Chief Legatee

rescued waif of turbulent caprices and gipsy ways, and from this moment he began to believe in her too

of the house. In their midst walked a woman with a shawl or cape over her head-a fierce and wilful figure which shook off the hand kind Mrs. Deo laid on her arm,

he felt obliged to add, as the light fell broadly across her. "But not Georgian's

ealities by the shuffling of feet on the stairway and the raised tones of Mrs. Deo as she tried to make herself understood by her new and som

n't it possible for him to escape it again? He finally compromised matters by first flinging his door wide open and then retreating to the other end of the room where the shadows appeared heavy enough to hide him. From this point he cast a look down the hall which was in a direct line from his presen

s the p

yet made his heart stand still, as, with a sullen look at those about her, she rushed into the room prepared for her use and slammed the door behind her with a quick cry of mingled rage and relief. For with all these drawbacks of manner and appearance she was the living pict

her duty," he muttered. "I even feel

go down afterward, either. I'm going to stay right here. I've seen enough of people I don't know. And of my sister too. She was cross to me because I hated th

rt. For notwithstanding the coarseness of the expressions,

the crack thus made some whispered orders were given. These seemed to satisfy Mrs. Deo, for she called the maid to her and together they hurried down the hall to a rear staircase, c

t his presence under the same roof as herself. Yet he must see all, hear all that was possible to him. For this a continuance of the present conditions, an open door and no light, were positively requisite. But how avert the comment which this unusual state of things must awaken if noticed? But one expedient suggested itself. He would light a cigar and sit in the wi

ed. What would happen next? Would his wife reappear? No; supper was coming up. He could hear dishes rattling on the rear stairway, and in another mo

. I'll get i

d set i

Mrs. Ransom's

t eat. I'm too upset for much food. Tea," she whispered, "and some nic

ame up and was carried into Mrs. Ransom's room. The contrast in the way the two trays had been received struck him as showing the difference between the two w

and ink placed in the small reception-room. This recalled him to the real purpose of his wife's presence in the house, and also assured him that the opportunity would soon be given him for another gli

surely long past that time now. No, the clock in the office is striking; it is just nine. Would she re

manner he likes best. But he scarcely notes these changes in the interest he fee

ng for a minute or so in an attitude of marked anxiety. Then, with a gesture expressive of repugnance and alar

ssion she made; an impression which rendered this instant memorable to him and set his pulses beating to a tune quite new to them. What was she going to do? Sign away all her property? Beggar her heirs for-He could not say what. No; even such a resolution could not account for her remarkable expression of concentrated will. There was in her distracted mind something of more tragic import than this; and he dared not question what; dared not even approach this woman who, less than a week before, had linked herself to him for life. The uneasy light in those fixed and gleaming eyes betrayed a re

neck. But the roar of the waterfall rang too persistently in his ears and he hastily closed the window again. There was something in the incessant boom of that tumbling water which strangely disturbed

k, with Mrs. Deo chatting and smiling behind her, was natural enough, and though she did not speak herself, the tenor of the landlady's remarks was such as to show that they

the hall, Mrs. Deo g

that dreadful day of the schoolhouse

terror, and she almost threw her hand aga

whom she had placed on watch at the extreme end of the hall, she muttered some assurances as to this woman's faithfulness, and turned away with a cordia

so far as she was concerne