HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1919-02-14, Page 60
The Indian Drum
Continued from Page 7
twenty years, if he had been willing
I should know; but henever did."
Sberril was silent a moment
"There are some things your father
did just before he disappeared that I
have not told you yet," he went on.
"The reason I have not told them is
that I have not yet fully decided in my
own mind what action they call from
me. I can assure yoiim, however, that
it would not help you now in any way
to know then."
He thought again; then glanced to
the key on the dresser and seemed to
recollect.
"That key," he said, "is one I made
your father give me some time ago;
he was at home alone so much that
I was afraid something might happen.
to hien there. He gave it me because
he knew I would not misuse it. I used
it, for the first time, three days ago,
when, after becoming certain some-
thing had gone wrong with him, I
went to the house to search for him;
soy daughter used it this morning
when she went there to wait for you.
Your father, of course, had la key to
the front door like this one; his ser-
vant has a key to the servant's en-
trance. I do not know of any other
keys."
"The servant is in charge there
now?" Alan asked.
°dust .now there is no one in the
house. The servant, after your
father disappeared, thought -that, if
he had merely gone away, he might
have gone back to his birthplace near
Manistique, and he went up there to
look for him. I had a wire from him
to -day that he had not found him and
was coming back?'
Sherrill waited a moment to see
whether there was anything more
Alan wanted to ask; then he went out,
CHAPTER IV
"Arrived. Safe; Well"
As the door closed behind Sherrill,
Alan went over to the dresser and
picked up the key which Sherrill had
left. It was, he saw, a flat key of a
sort common twenty years. before,
not of then more recent corrugated
shape, As he looked at it and then
away from it, ,thoughtfully turning it
over and over in his fingers, it brought
no sense of possession; to him. Sher-
rill had said the house was his, had
beeg.given him by his father; but the
fact could not actually make it his in
his realisation., He could not imagine
Himself owning such a house or what
he wijultl do with it if it were his. He
put the key, after a moment, on' the •
ring -frith two or three other keys he
had, ;' rid droped them into his pocket; 1
their_ e crossed to a chair and sat E
dow> i
und, as he tried now to disen-
;the events of the afternoon,
that ` om them, and especially from
his interview with Sherxill,_two
fat : tood out most clearly. The
firs, ' these related more _directly'to
his ' , er—to Benjamin Corvet. When
sue $ , : roan as Benjamin Corvet must
hav en, disappears --when, without
wa , : '� • and without leaving any ac-
eo • 1 f elf ` l"ie ` vaihiiliea =from a -
mo hosewho knew- him the per-
sonsgtinost closely interested pass
thio" three stages of anxiety. They
doubi' first :whether the . disappearance
is r4.1 and whether inquiry on: their
part :ilLne£ be resented; they waken
next :to realization' that 'the man act-
ually'gone, and that something must
be done; the third stage is open and
public inquiry. Whatever might- be
the nature of the information Sher-
rill was withholding from him Alan
saw that its effect on Sherrill had
been to shorten ver greatly Sher -
rill's time of doubt, as to Corvet's
actual disappearance The Sherrills
—particularly Sherrill ' himself --had
been in. the second stage of anxiety
when Alan came; they had been wait-
ing Alan's arrival in the belief that
Alan could give them this information
which would show ' them what must
be "done" about Corvet. Alan ' had
not been able to give them this inform-
mation; but his coming, and his inter-
view with Sherrill; had strongly in-
fluenced Sherrill's : attitude. Sherrill
had shrunk, still more definitely And
consciously; after that, rom prying
into the affairs of his friend; e$
now, strangely, almost withdrawn
himself from the inquiry, and had
given it over to Alan.
Sherrill had spoken of the possi-
bility that something might have j"hap-
pened" to Corvet;' but it was plein he
did not believe he had met with actual
violence. He had left it to Alan to
examine Corvet's house; but he had
not urged Alan to examine it at once;
he had left the time of the exam -
nation to be determined by Alan. This
showed clearly that Sherrill believed—
perhaps had sufficient reason for be-
lieving —that Corvet had simply "gone
away." The second of Alan's two
facts related even more closely and
personally to Alan himself. Curvet,
Sherrill had said, had married in'1889. ►
But Sherrill in long knowledge of his
friend, had shown firm conviction that
there had, been no mere vulgar liaison
in Corvet's life. Did this mean that
there might have been same previous '
marriage of Alan's father—some
marriage which had strangely over-
lapped and nullified his public, mar-
riage? In that case, Alan could. be, i
not only in fact but legally, Corvet's
son; and such things as this. Alan f
knew, : had sometimes happened, and ,
had happened by a strange combin-
ation of events, innocently for all
parties. Corvet's public separation
from his :wife, Sherrill had said, had
taken place in 1897, but the actual
separation between them might, pos-
sibly, have taken place , long before
that.
Alan resolved to hold these questions
in abeyance; he would not accept or
grant the stigma which his relation-
ship to Corvet seemed to attach to
himself until it , had been proved to;
him. He had, come to Chicago ex-
pecting, not to find that there- had
never been anything wrong, but to find
that the wrong had been • righted in.
some ' way at last. But what was
most plain of all to him,.. from what
Sherrill had „told :, him, Was that the
wrong :whatever- it `,might be—had
not been righted; it existed still.
• The afternoon had ehanged swiftly
.into night;. dusk had, been, gathering
during his:. last talk with Sherrill, so
that he hardly had been able to see
Sherrill's face,., anal: just° after Sherrill
had left him, hill dark had come. Alan
did not know .how long.- he;had been
sitting in the darkness thinking out
these things; but now a little -clock
'which °lac% n tieiqng.,steadilY.inthe
blackness tinkled si,o• Alan heard, a
-knock at hia'cloor,.aiid when it was re-•
peated, he called, "Come in."
,. U N 8
•
t gland .a'has .,2 �indredit of women ` i•
light. He crossed into the adjoining legal
where •emergent es arise.
employed :In ,the l+ trade. June
room • the room where Y g During the year ending ern
Alan vas a thong it, most bea sht What _ia . become of the 3oth evil service examinations for
000 women railroad employees is. m
dressing room, and there was. a bath 100,000 IS governent positions were taken by
°between. Presently the man reap- to be lift to the individual railroads 137,620 women as compared with
peered, and moved softly about the for action. 26,457 the.previous year.. This is an I
room, unpacking Alan's suitcase. He A Portland g (Ore.) hotel has two increase of 441 per cent. in the num-
hon Alan's other suit in the closet on Chinese girls in native costume an- bei of women applicants.
The lightwhb h, •came in from the
hall, as the door was opened, showed
a man servant. The man, after a
respectful inquiry, switched on the
Farms Wanted
for
Soldier Settlers
Powers are proposed to be granted at the
approaching session of Parliament to The Sol-
dier Settlement Board of Canada to purchase
lands to be resold to qualified returned sol-
diers settling on land. In the case of unde-
veloped lands the Board will be granted pow-
ers of forced purchase at prices judicially
determined.
To. enable soldiers to locate in. any ;r trict
in Ontario that they wish, tie Advisory Board
for the Province of Ontario desire to have
filed with them a full description and lowest
cash prices on a small number of select farms
in each district of the Province; available for
purchase.
The public are hereby informed 'that this
land is for returned soldiers, and no tende
to sell are requested except for land of good
quality and - location, and reasonable value,
making possible the success of the soldier As
a farmer. The purchase price in all cases will
be fixed by the Board after the land has bleu.
inspected a.d valued,
The information received will be -treat es
confidential. No commission will be charged
or paid. No offer to sell will be b on
the person offeringunless a sale is .decd
and no obligatiowill be on the Board .o
accept any mer.
Ifapplication froma reined .0 tier be
receiv d tor a farm ihsted with The e= oard,: a
valuation for such_farin !nay be at once made
by the Board .and, if ,rov*1, lam ions
may .be entered into fo lie e a.rtd NO?
the. f, !iii ap rovel list is desj d' for. each
inlet of Ontario,
Address all Communications to
W. M. Jones
Provincial Super',irtor,
The Soldier Settlement Board
32 Adelaide Street East
Toronto, Ontario
N.B.-= Adiorwisem t approved—Ontario o Loa Advisory hoard
.ft. C. SCHOLPIELD, Chairman
is
•
hangers; he put the linen, except for swering galls and paging guests. It is cla�irned that 90 per cent of all
one shirt, in the dresser drawers, and 'Women now have a .voice in the 2!8 wain is claimed
enter industry marry and
he put Alan's few toilet things with, electoral votes -of `tile 22 states n get out of
the ivory -backed brushes and comb which: they may.,=vote: industry within seven yews'
and other articles on the • dressing Fourteen out of ..the 48 states have •The Duchess of Marlborough, who
was recently honored with election to
stand.: granted full suffrage, to .women. the London county council has the
Alan watched him queerly; no one A . woman testifying before the reputation of being one of the best
except himself ever had unpacked . United _$tates war labor boartelaim-
Alan's suitcase before; tile first- time ed that she had been employed in a golf players among English women
he had gone away to: college—it was Virginia factory , at wagesOne of of 11'/., ween Alexandria's most
a brand new suitcase then --"mother" cents an hour at the beginning, and Queen
fo - the peed possessions is a p eneil sketch
time, later received �10r per week r' t
hacl Packed it • after that first m ,
P � I
l
Ala had -:packed and, unpacked it. It same work that men doinig• similar of f`` a loafte Rin Fdo�.Ard h ,lip wAse
gave him. an odd feeling now to see work received $1S a week for oz vvaiest none` uy` an artist in
some one, else unpacking his things. In. Utah the employment of talo nParis, at whish their
t in.
The man, having finished and taken more than nine . hours aday or dining soon after their
everything out; continued to look in than -54 a week s ,herd
the suitcase for. something else. i
"I beg pardon, sir," he said finally,
"but I cannot find ,your buttons."
"I've got them on," Alan said. He
took them out. and gave them ,ta the
valet with a smile; it was good to
have something to smile at,, if it was
only the realization that he never
had thought before of any one's hav-
ing more than one set of buttons for
ordinary shirts. Alan wondered, with I
a sort of- trepidation, whether the man
would expect , to stay and help him
dress; but he only put the buttons
in the clean shirt and reopened the
dresser drawers and laid out ,a change
of things.
"Is there anything else, sir?' he
asked.
"Nothing, thank you," Alan said,
"I was to tell you, sir, Mr. Sherrill
is sorry he cannot be at home to dinner
to -night. M �: Sherrill and Miss
Sherrill will be here. Dinner is at
seven, sir."
Alan dressed slowly, -after the man
had gone; and at one minute before
seven he went down -stairs.
There was no one in the lower hall
and, after an instant of irresolution
and a glance into the empty •drawing
room; he turned into the small room
at the opposite side of the hall. A
handsome, stately, rather large wo-
man, whom he found there, introduced
herself to, him formally as Mrs. Sher-
rill.
He knew from. Sherrill's mention
a the year of their marriage that
Mrs. Sherrill's age must be.about
forty-five, but if he had not known
this, he would have thought her ten
years younger. In her dark eyes and
her carefully dressed, coal -black hair,
and in the contour of her youthful
looking, handsome face, he could not
find any such pronounced resemblance
to her daughter as he had seen in
Lawrence ' Sherrill. Her reserved,-
yet almost too casual acceptance . of
Alan's presence, told him that she
knew all the particulars about himself
Which Sherrill had been able to give;
and as Constance tame down the
stairs and joined them ,half a minute
Pater, Alan was certain that she also
kn w
rake
a :res xa
majesties
marriage,
women
more
to *be
e
Yet there was in her manner toward
Alan a difference . freerr that of•`; her
:mother --a differenee which , seelped
almost opposition. Not that ,Mrs
Sherrill's was unfriendly or critical;
rather, it was hind the sort of reserv-
ed kindness which told `Alan, almost
as plainly as words,` that she had Biot
been able to . hold so charitable ak con-
viction in regard to Corvet's relation -
Ship with Alan as her husband field,
but that she would be only -the more
considerate to Alan for that. It was
this kindness which Constance set
himself to oppose and which she
opposed as reservedly and as subtly
as it was expressed. .It gave Alan
a strange, exhilarating sensation to
realize that, as the three talked to-
gether, this girl was defending him.
Not him alone, of course, or: him
chiefly. It was Benjamin Corvet, her
friend,. whom she was`defending prim-
arily; yet it was Alan too; and all
went on without a • word about Benja-
min Corvet or his affairs being spok-
en.
Dinner was announced, and they
want into the great dining -room,
where the table with its linen, silver,
and china gleamed under shaded lights.
The oldest and most dignified of the
three men servants who waited upon -
them in the dining -room Alan thought
must be a butler a species of crea-
ture of whom Alan had heard but
never seen;the other servants at least,
reeeived And handed things through
him, and took their orders from him.
As : the silent footed ' servants moved
about, and Alan kept up a somewhat
strained conversation with Mrs,: •Sher-
rill—a conversation in which no refer-
ence to his own affairs was yet Triad
—he wondered whether Constance and
her mother always dressed for dinner
in full evening dress as now, or
whether they were going out. A word
from Constance to her mother told'
him this latter was the case, and while
it did not give complete answer to
his internal query, it showed him
his first glimpse of social engage-
ments as a part of the ' business of
life. In spite of the fact that' Ben-
jamin Corvet, Sherrill's close friend,
had disappeared—or perhaps because
he had disappeared and, yet, it was
not publicly known—their and Sher -
rill's engagements had to be fulfilled,
(Continued Next • Weeek)
ACTIVITIES OF WOMEN
Ella' Estrada of Sacramento, Cal.,
cut and sold her hair to purchase a
Liberty bond.
Over 400,000 woolen are employed
in the British Government offices,
New York state has over 3,000,000
women over 21 years of age . eligible
to, vote.
At the close of the war,over 5,000,-
0.00 British. women were doing 1,701
afferent kinds of work previously
followed by glen.
Linna:Bre to and:._ Alicear-
land, factory ,inspectors .in
;plan to .,carry ; out aric coign
Against mndu trial concerns .1 . that
:state who persist in hiring -child labor.
Chinese girls wearing kimonos are
being employed to take charge of the
tea rooms in many of the larger New
York hotels.
Two States, by act of their legisla-
tures, Arkansas and Texas, have
granted women the right to vote in
,the primaries.
Miss Vida Lorenson is police ser-
geant of Forest River, Ill:
Strong pressure is being brought to
bear to have at least one woman on
the health board in Toronto, Ont.
Dr. Pang Yuen Tseo is the first Chi-
nese woman ambulance driver for an
American hospital.
..hours
were
FEBRUARY 14, 1919
The incom - ' rab1e Tea -Pot results
z • lefrom an
always �oh►t�;ina�►nuso>
has given it - a prestige possessed
by no -:other tea on sale.
out -draws and out -+lasses all other teas.
" no .Id
This i le-
s , _ . .
Idle -
BUG
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1'1�::vt• wrtti• tiiiuinly 1171<i ray c%iieiJIrr 31r.. fir',.. ;Tike, or Mev.
on hs --for which
•
Fl
"It
brough.
with
into shy
but it
young
thing
niatterj
in the
own th
very a+
ships;
be mor
but evj
lake ve
began
I first'
Alan
ert wo
"Coro
rill sai
Alan
the str
to hiin
first ti
that
too ink
doubt .i
prairie
t=lle ;
said.
"Ye
howevv
He he+
which
sailed
ing th
with ti
interes
I met
years,
Sbei
stant
ward:
onl7
"It11
of the
of Chi
o PG
sort,
man n
less li
timate
what t
he had
why
many
—at l
who
had iy
whole'
were
velopi
not at
sonal
time e
tiF.m 5
opene'
time
shac
there
about
as
who
sense:
- great:
any i.
tape
who
knew'
ticipa
"1
after
very
4,1
my r
TWAT
for
it w
me.
call
had
Cy.
good
blot
teae
had
a g.
ideal
the
him,
atio
ed I
and
A
if h
beli
aC