The Argosy — page 279: what you’re looking at

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

260 The Mystery of Allan Grale. He twisted this intoathree cornered missive and handed it to the girl. “7 want Mr. Allan to have this directly he comes home, remember,” he said to her. “Very well, sir; thank you,” she answered. And then as she held the door for him to pass out, she ventured to ask ——— ‘“Ts Miss Maria quite well, sir?” “Ves, Susan,” Edgar answered, ‘she is quite well. But, of course, she has had much anxiety lately. Only we have great hopes of the General now.” “That is good news, sir,” said the girl. She held the door open till Edgar was far up the avenue, despite her former impatience. His pleasant manner had won upon her. ‘The Vivians do have a way with them that makes it a pleasure to serve them,” she reflected as she turned back into the house. And in her honest desire to carry out Edgar’s instructions, she did not leave his note on the card tray in the front hall. For Mr. Allan, in his comings and goings, did not always use the front door, but entered. the Moorland demesne by a side gate for convenience’ sake, and the house by a side door, which saved him walking round to the front. So Susan carried the note to his own room, and laid it on the toilet table in front of the glass. It was past three o’clock now, and dinner that evening was to be at six, as usual; he was not likely to come in long before that, and he would be sure to see it then. Turning from the room, Susan’s eye fell on a moveable calendar frame standing on the mantelshelf. It announced the day of the month as the twentieth. Susan paused a moment, nodding her head and repeating the figures, to fix them on her mind till she got down- stairs. There she painfully inserted them in a blank space she had left in the date of a letter, in writing which Edgar’s knock had interrupted her. The letter had been previously headed only by the day of the week, ‘‘’Tuesday.” Poor Susan wanted that letter to be as irreproachable as possible in every way. To her it was a very important document, being her first letter to her “young man,” who was no other than the son of Mrs. Massey. The young man had -long been employed at the Dering Railway Station, where, in the zealous discharge of his duties, he had met with a serious accident. After his recovery from it, he was appointed to a better post at a London terminus. A girl is not likely to forget the date she puts to her first love letter. Susan had good reasons afterwards for never forgetting that she had dated hers the twentieth of October. Edgar Vivian did not succeed in finding young Grale, and he turned his steps towards home. During his walk thither the aspect of every- thing changed. ‘The sun retired from the sky, which was speedily overspread by threatening clouds. As he drew near the gates, a few big drops of rain fell, and he only reached the Court in time to escape a heavy shower. It passed, and the sun came out again. ©) COUN NOOKS (EO) m