342 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



Decetnber 



Caiifoiiiiu on business, to be gone 

 three or four jxioutbs probably, and 

 wishes to take me along. ISo we are 

 to be married tomorrow. I suppose 

 it may as well be at one time as an- 

 other. " 



"You do not seem very enthusias- 

 tic about it. Do you love him very 

 mucbV" 



"Ob, I don't Irnow. He is not ob- 

 jectionable, and mamma says he. is 

 a very good match. I suppose we 

 will be as bappy as most couples 

 are. Mamma says so anyway. " 



"And it is to be tomorrow?" 



"Yes; he and papa are arranging 

 for it now." 



"As I said, you have my best 

 "wishes. I think marrying is always 

 more or less risky, and in your 

 case" — 



"Selina!" called Mr. Peyton from 

 the porch, and the girl, responding, 

 went into the house. 



Kate seated herself on the porch 

 steps and remained there alone un- 

 til Mr. Rodney, going away, awoke 

 her from a reverie by his courteous 

 "Good night." Then she went in. 

 All the iamily seemed to have al- 

 ready retired, and after a glance in- 

 to the empty parlor she started to- 

 ward her room. 



Something glittering on the floor 

 near the hall hatrack caught her 

 eye, and she picked it up. It was a 

 little blue satin ribbon, bearing the 

 initials "F. R. " daintily embroider- 

 ed in gold thread — Mr. Rodney's 

 hat mark. With a sensation of dis- 

 gust she flung it down; then, after 

 6 moment's pause, picked it up 

 again, muttering, "It is worth try- 

 ing anyway," and ascended the 

 stairs. 



As a member of Dr. J. R. Buchan- 

 an's "psychometric class" Miss 

 Craig had, three or four years pre- 

 viously, developed her inherently 

 strong perceptive faculty and had 

 oftT t'Cx z"'"\t'Z*' "ith inatoi'cvl 

 objects, accurately described the ap- 



pearance, character, mentality, as- 

 pirations and even the habits and 

 assojiations of persons quite un- 

 known to her who had possessed or 

 worn those objects. Even scraps of 

 writing had conveyed to her acute 

 psychic sensibility clear impressions 

 of those by whom they were writ- 

 ten. And now she purposed trying 

 by this faculty to penetrate the evil 

 mystery she divined in the man her 

 friend was about to marry. 



Holding the ribbon in her hand 

 and occasionally j)ressing it to her 

 brow, she was quickly conscious of 

 two distinct but entangled sequences 

 of impressions conveyed by differ- 

 ent personalities, a man and a wom- 

 an, as if the fabric had been satu- 

 rated with the auras of both. First 

 she studied the woman and had a 

 clear impression of a tall, handsome, 

 imperious brunette with a bold face 

 and flashing black eyes, who believ- 

 ed herself that man's wife and was 

 very jealous of him. And she be- 

 lieved she knew where to find that 

 woman, though she was less confi- 

 dent of this, since such perception 

 involved other powers of the mind 

 with which she was less familiar. 

 Her impressions of Mr. Rodney's 

 real personality were at least as 

 vivid as his knowledge of himself 

 could have been and confirmed the 

 justice of her resolve to at all haz- 

 ards save an innocent girl from the 

 shame and grief of becoming his 

 wife. 



"Is there a town named Fair- 

 mount near here?" she asked Mrs. 

 Peyton the next morning. 



"Not very near. It is 30 miles 

 away." 



"Has it a queer, little, old fash- 

 ioned inn, with a tall post before it 

 bearing a big blue sign, swinging in 

 a frame?" 



"Oh, yes. The Eagle tavern, a 

 Revolutionary relic. But why do 

 you ask?" 



"Only to L'-cw if I 'drcriccd 

 true,'" laughed the girl, turning 



