The Argosy — page 56: what you’re looking at

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

46 Featherston’s Story. Nancy had not appeared, Miss Preen ordered the fish in, remarking that Madame Cardiac must be keeping her sister to dinner. Afterwards Miss Preen set out for the casino, expecting she should meet them both there; for Lavinia and Nancy had intended to go. Madame Cardiac was not a subscriber, but she sometimes paid her ten sous and went in. It would be quite a pretty sight to-night—a children’s dance. Lavinia soon joined some friends there, but the others did not come. At eight o’clock she was in the Rue de la Pomme Cuite, ap- proaching Madame Cardiac’s. Pauline, in her short woollen petti- coats, and shoeless feet thrust into wooden sabots, was splashing buckets of water before the door to scrub the pavement, and keeping up a screaming chatter with the other servants in the street, who were doing the same, Saturday night fashion. Madame Cardiac was in the salon, sitting idle in the fading light ; her sewing lay on the table. Lavinia’s eyes went round the room, but she saw no one else in it. ‘* Mary, where is Nancy?” she asked, as Madame Cardiac rose to greet her with outstretched hands. ‘I’m sure I don’t know,” answered Madame Cardiac lightly. ‘* She has not been here. Did you think she had ?” ‘She dined here—did she not?” ‘What, Nancy? Oh,no. ITand Jules dined alone. He is out now, giving a French lesson. I have not seen Nancy since—let me see—since Thursday, I think ; the day before yesterday.” Lavinia Preen sat down, half-bewildered. She related the history of the evening. ‘*‘ It is elsewhere that Nancy is gone,” remarked Madame Cardiac. ‘‘ Flore must have misunderstood her.” Concluding that to be the case, and that Nancy might already be at home, Lavinia returned at once to the petite Maison Rouge, Mary Cardiac bearing her company in the sweet summer twilight. Lavinia opened the door with her latch-key. Flore had departed long before. There were three latch-keys to the house, Nancy possessing one of them. They looked into every room, and called out Nancy, Nancy. But she was not there. Nancy Preen had gone off with Captain Fennel by the six o’clock train, en route for Dover, there to be converted into Mrs. Fennel. And had Nancy foreseen the terrible events and final crime which this most disastrous step would bring about, she might have chosen, rather than take it, to run away to the Protestant’ cemetery outside the gates of Sainteville, there to lay herself down to die. JoHnny LUDLow. COMIC OOOKS.CO