Jasper County Democrat, Volume 17, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 September 1914 — The Hollow of Her Hand [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The Hollow of Her Hand

by George Barr McCutcheon

Author of “GraustarkT ‘Hiixion Kfn^Tetc. iLumwiQNs mraEraTDCNG

SYNOPSIS. CHAPTER I—Challia Wrandall Is foun4 murdered In a road house near New York. Mrs. Wrandall Is summoned from the city and Identifies the body. A young woman who accompanied Wrandall to the Inn and subsequently disappeared Is buspected. Wrandall, It appears, had led a gay life and neglected his wife. Mrs. Wrandall starts back for New York In an auto during a blinding snow storm. CHAPTER n —On the way she meets a Young woman In the road who proves to be the woman who killed Wrandall. Feeling that the girl had done her a servioe lu ridding her of the man who, though she loved him deeply, had caused her great sorrow, Mrs. Wrandall determines to shield her and takes her to her own home. CHAPTER in —Mrs. Wrandall hears the story of Hetty Castleton's life, except that pdrtlon that relates to Wrandall. The story of the tragedy shs forbids ths girl ever to tell her. She offers Hetty a home, friendship and security from peril on account of the tragedy. / CHAPTER IV—Mrs. Sara Wrandall and Hetty attend the funeral of Chains Wrandall at the home of his parents. Sara had always been treated as an Interloper by the snobbish Wrandall family, but the tragedy seems to draw them closer together. > . A . ;• ' CHAPTER V-Sara Wrandall and Hetty return to New York after an absenoe of a year In Europe. Leslie Wrandall. brother of Challls, makes himself useful to Sara and becomes greatly interested In Hetty. CHAPTER Vl—Hetty fs greatly pained at Sara’s evident desire to encourage Leslie’s attentions. Sara sees In Leslie’s Infatuation possibility for revenge on the Wrandalls and reparation for the wrongs she suffered at the hands of Challls Wrandall by marrying his murderess into the family. w £P£. r> YER Vll—Leslie, in company friend, Brandon Booth, an artist visits Sara at her countrv place. confesses to Sara that he is madly In love with Hetty. CHAPTER Vlll—Sara arranges with Booth to paint a picture of Hetty. Booth has a haunting feeling that he has seen Hetty before. Looking through a portfolio of pictures by an unknown English artist he finds one of Hetty. He speaks to her about It Hetty declares It must be a picture of Hetty Glynn, an English actress, who resembles her very much. CHAPTER IX— Wrandall becomes Impatient and Jealous over the picture painting and declares he Is going to propose to Hetty at the first opportunity and have It over with. CHAPTER X—Much to his chagrin Leslie Is refused by Hetty. Sara, between whom and Hetty a strong mutual affection has grown up, tries to persuade the girl that she should not let the tragedy prevent her from marrying. CHAPTER XT—Booth and Hetty confess their love for each other, but the latter declares that she can never marry as there Is an Insurmountable barrier Irj the way. She promises that some day «he will tell her secret and that then Booth will not want to marry her. CHAPTER Xll—Hetty admits to Sara that she loves Booth. Sara declares that Hetty must marry who must be made to pay bis brother’s debt to the girl. Hetty again attempts Jo tell the real story of the tragedy and Sara threatens to stranele her if she says a word. Sara Insults Hetty hv revealing that all this time she has believed Hetty to have sinned 1n her relations with Challls Wrandall. Tn the end she realizes that Hetty is entirely Innocent. CHAPTER Xlll—Leslie again proposes to Hetty and is rejected. Hetty prepares to leave Sara, declaring that after what has happened she can remain no longer. Leslie’s rejection causes consternation in the Wrandall family. CHAPTER XlV—Hetty starts for Europe. Sara insists upon providing for her financially. At sea Hetty receives a message from Booth that he has started on a faster steamer and will be waiting for her on the other side. Booth meets her and accompanies her to Tjondon. In an attempt to escape from him Hetty starts for Paris, but finds Booth on the same boat.

CHAPTER XVI. Vivian Airs Her Opinions. Chief among Booth’s virtues was his undeviating loyalty to a set purpose. He went back to America with the firm intention to clear up the mystery surrounding Hetty Castleton, no!matter how irksome the delay in achieving his aim or how vigorous the methods he would have to employ. Sara Wrandall, to all purposes, held the key; his object in life now was to induce her to turn it in the lock and throw open the door so that he might enter in and become a sharer in the secrets beyond. A certain amount of optimistic courage attended him In hie campaign against what had been described to him as the impossible. He could see no clear reason why she should withhold the secret under the new conditions. when so much in the shape of happiness was at stake. It wae in this spirit of confidence that he prepared to confront her on his arrival i» New York, and it was the same unbounded faith in the belief that nothing evil could result from a perfectly just and honorable motive that gave him the needed courage. He stayed over night in New York, and the next morning saw him on his way to Southlook. There was sometiling truly ingenuous in hie desire to get to the bottom of the matter without fear or apprehension. At the very worst, he maintained, there could be nothing more reprehensible than a passing Infatuation, long since dispelled, or perhaps a mildly sinister episode in which virtue had been triumphant and vice defeated with unpleasant results to at least one person, and that person the husband of Sara Wrandall. Pal met him at th£ station and drove

him to the little cottage on tfio upper road. ’"Ye didn’t stay long,” said he reflectively, after he had put the bag up in front. He took up the reins. “Not very,” replied his master. After a dozen rods or more, Pat tried again. “Just siventeen days, I make it.” “Seems"’ longer.” “Perhaps you'll be after going hack oon.”

“Because you don’t seem to be takin* much interest in your eurroundin's here,” said Pat loftily. He delivered a smart smack on the crupper with his stubby whip, and pursed his lips for the companionship to be derived from whistling. “I suppose you know why I went to Europe,” said Booth, laying his hand affectionately on the man’s arm. “Sure I do,” said Pat, forgetting to whistle. “And wa6 it bad luck you had, sor?” “A temporary case of it, I’m afraid."

“Well,” said the Irishman, looking up at his employer with the most profound encouragement in his wink, “if it’s anny help to you, sor, I’ll say that I’ve never found bad luck to be anything but timporary. And, believe me, I’ve had plinty of it. Mary was dom near three years makin’ up her mind to say yis to me.” “And since then you’ve had no bad luck?” said Booth, with a smile. “Plinty of it, begob, but I’ve had some one besides meself to blame for It. There’s a lot in that, Mr. Brandon. Whin a man marries, he simply divides his luck into two parts, good and bad, and if he’s like most men he puts the bulk av the bad luck on his wife and kapes to himself all he can av the good for a rainy day. That’s what makes him a strong man and able to meet trouble when it comes. The beauty av the arrangement is that bad luck is only timporary and a woman enjoys talking about it, while good luck is wid us nine-tenths of the time, whether we know it or not, and we don’t have to talk about it.”

This was fine philosophy, but Booth discerned the underlying motive. “Have you been quarreling?” “I have ncft,” said Pat wrathfully. "But I won’t say as much for Mary. The point av me argument is that I have all the good luck in havin’ married her, and she claims to have had all the bad luck in marryin’ me. Still, as I said before, ’tis but timporary. The good luck lasts and the bad don’t. She’ll be after tellin’ me so before sundown. That’s like all women. You’ll find it out for yourself wan o’ these days, Mr. Brandon, and yell be dom proud ye’re a man and can enjoy your good luck when ye get it. The bad luck’s always failin’ behind ye, and ye can look forward to the good luck. So don’t be downhearted. She 11 take you, or me name’s not what it ought to be.” Booth was inclined to accept this unique discourse as a fair-weather sign. “Take these bags upstairs, Pat,”' said he on their arrival at the cottage, “and then come down and drive me over to Mrs. Wrandall’s.” “Will ye be after stayin’ for lunch with her, Mr. prandoh?” inquired Pat, climbing over the wheel. , "1 can’t answer that question now.” “Hiven help both av us if Mary’s good luncheon goes to waste,” said Pat ominously. “That-’s all I have to say. She’ll take it out av both hv us.” “Tell her I’ll be here for lunch,” said Booth, with alacrity. Prom which it may be perceived that master and man were of one mind wh’en it came to considering the importance of Mary Pat studied his watch for a moment with a calculating eye. “It’s half-past eliven now, sor,” he announced. “D’ye think ye can make It T

Booth reflected. "I think not,” he said. “I’ll have luncheon first.” Whereupon he leaped from the trap and Tent In to tell Mary how happy he was to be »here he could enjoy home cooking. :

At four he was delivered at Sara’s door by the astute Patrick, announced by the sedate Watson and interrogated by the intelligent Murray, who seemed surprised to hear that he would not have anything cool to drink. Sara sent word that she would be down In fifteen minutes, but. as a matter of fact, appeared in less than three. She came directly to the point Well, she said, with her mysterious smile, she sent you back to me, I see. He was still clasping her hand. Have you heard from her?” he asked quickly. No. But I knew jsst what would happen, i told you it would prove to be a wild-goose chase. Where is she?” He sat down beside her on the cool, White covered couch. “In Switzerland. I put her on the train the night before I sailed. Yes, she did send me back to you. Now I'm here, 1 want the whole story, Sara. What is it that stands between us?” For au hour he pleaded with her, all to no purpose. She steadfastly refused to divulge the secret. Not even his blunt reference to Challis Wrandall’s connection with the affair found a vulnerable spot in her armor. ”1 shan’t give it up, Sara,” he said, at the end of his earnest harangue against the palpably unfair stand both she and Hetty were taking. “I mean to harass you, if you please, until I get what I’m after. It is of the nost vital importance to me. Quite as much so, I am sure, as it appears to be to you. If Hetty will say the word, I'll take her gladly, just as she is, without knowing what all this is about. But. you see, she won’t consent. There must be some way to override her. You both admit there is no legal barrier. You tell me today that there is no insanity in her family, and a lot of other things that I’ve been able to bring out by questioning, so I am more than ever certain that the obstacle is not so serious as you would have me believe. Therefore, I mean to pester you until you give in, my dear Sara.”

"Very well,” she said resignedly. ‘ When may I expect a renewal of the conflict?” "Would tomorrow be convenient?” he asked quaintly. She returned his smile. ’ Come to luncheon.” , "Have 1 your permission to start the portrait?" "Yes. As soon as you like.” He left her without feeling that he had gained an inch along the road to success. That night, iu the gloaming of his starlit porch, he smoked many a pipeful and derived therefrom a profound estimate of the value of tact and discretion as opposed to bold and impulsive measures in the handling of a determined woman. He would make haste slowly, as the saying goes. Many an unexpected victory is gained by dilatory tactics, provided the blow ie struck at the psychological moment of least resistance. The weeks slipped by. He was with her almost daily. Other people came to her house, some for rather protracted visits, others in quest of pillage at the nightly bridge table, but he was seldom mtesing. There were times when he thought he detected a tendency to waver, but each cunning attempt on his part to encourage' the impulse invariably brought a Certain mocking light into her eyes and he veered off in defeat. Something kept telling him, however, that the hour was bound to come when she would falter in her resolution; when frankness would meet frankness, and the the veil be lifted. There were no letters from Hetty, no word of any description. If Sara knew anything of the girl’s movements she did not take Booth into her confidence. Leslie Wrandall went abroad in August, ostensibly to attend the aviation meets in France and England. His mother and sister sailed in September, but not before the entire colony of which they were a part had begun to discuss Sara and Booth with a relish that was obviously distasteful to the Wrandalls. Where there is smoke there is fire, said all the gossips, and forthwith proceeded to carry faggots. ■"* A week or so before sailing, Mrs. Redmond Wrandall had Booth in for dinner. I think she said en famille. At any rate, Sara was not asked, which is proof enough that she was bent on making it a family affair. Aftef dinner, Booth sat in the screened upper balcony with Vivian. He liked her. She was a keqn-witted, plain-spoken young woman, wjth few false ideals and no subtlety. She was less snobbish than arrogant. Of all the Wrandalls, she was the least selfcentered. Leslie never quite understood her for the paradoxical reason that she thoroughly understood him. “You know, Brandon," she said, after a long silence between them, “they’ve been setting my cap for you for a long, long time.” She blew a thin stream of cigarette smoke toward the moon. ' . He started. It was a bolt from a clear skv. “The deuce!” “Yes,” she went on in the mo6t casual tone, “mother’s had her heart set on it for months. You were supposed to be mine at first sight, I believe. Please don't look so uneasy. I’m not going to propose to you.” She laurhed her little Ironic laugh. “So that is the way. things stood, eh?” he said, still a little amazed by her candor. (TO BE CONTINUED.)

“Why should you think that, Patrick?”