Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 85: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE GREAT OUTLAW. older woman’s face, she felt suddenly frightened. She saw something there, some mortal pain, and in the sunken dark eyes some immense passion unfulfilled. “Do I look strange to you, Miss Ham- ilton?” the deep, attractive voice asked. **T don’t mean only old—” ‘You look very ill,” said Midge. am so sorry.” “ That’s it—I am very ill, Miss Hamil- ton. I have known it some time. I saw a specialist in London, and another here this morning. I can’t live long. They can’t quite say, but six months—a little more, or less. It is one of those things that they can’t do anything for.” “Oh, how dreadful!” exclaimed Midge, trembling with awed sympathy. She rea- lized what she saw looking out of those sunken, dark-rimmed eyes—death. “ You are a sweet girl,” said Lady Lydd. “You have such brave eyes and such a tender mouth. I’m sure you are loyal. That’s why I have told you and not told Sir John. You see, I realize what you are to him—simply everything. There is noth- ing else in the world. This blow has killed him—all the real him. So I daren’t tell him, because he would build too much on it and would hate himself for it. He is so good, so kind. But I want you to know. You are so young—you might have turned your thoughts away from Sir John to oth- ers—if you hadn’t known that Sir John will be free in about six months.” Midge shuddered. ‘“‘ Oh, it is too dread- ful!” “TI know he will be sorry,” the low, beautiful voice went on. “And so will you. You must forgive me for telling you. I was so afraid for Sir John, because you are so young.” She looked into the girl’s distressed face, a flame in her sunken eyes. ‘You are so like a favorite pupil of mine. She was with me until she was seventeen. You look hardly older. She had just what I think you have—a big spirit in a little body.” She rose and held out her hand. “We shall not meet again. I am going on to Australia from England. I have to settle my affairs. There is not much time. Don’t let what I have said trouble you. Sat 875 Just remember that it is all going to ar- range itself. Sir John will not have very long to wait.” Midge wondered after her visitor had gone, why she should have said just those words— “ Sir John will not have very long to wait.” It was as if she didn’t count. Did those strange eyes see though her con- ventional mask and know that the death of Sir John’s wife would not bring liberty to her, but push her back into her cage and shut the door of it again? CHAPTER XV. A DESPERATE CHANCE, T was more than a fortnight later when Midge and Mrs. Inglis arrived in Banzat. They found great excitement prevailing. There had been a raid by hostile tribesmen on a station some forty miles to the north- east, and two officers had been murdered, as they drove over the pass on a tour of inspection, and their car smashed to pieces and burned. The murderers had not been found. It was believed that a certain Waziri chieftain was hiding them. In the raid a native woman, an ayah, and her little charge, a boy of eight, the son of an English army surgeon, had been carried away, and no trace of them could be found. Immense precautions were being taken. Sentries were doubled, and around Ban- zat was a ring of guards, fully armed. The weather was miraculous for the time of year, aS warm as summer at home, with glorious bright days, and at night dense white mists that made search operations very difficult and the escape of the ma- rauders correspondingly easy. At first Major Inglis did not want the women to stay; but Midge begged so hard to be allowed to that he gave way. To his kindly heart he knew that the girl would dread the gayety and gossip of Khargit, or any other larger and safer station. Elsie was no coward; fear would never drive her away from Banzat, though boredom might. So life began again, with its mixture of monotony and danger. The nice meals were served, the pleasant talks were re- oO comicbooks CO