"Are y0u in ernest, Will?" she said. "D0 y0u nnean that he has g0newith0ut a Stich 0f cl0thes, and can't be f0und?"

Mrs. Patten gave a s0rt 0f screach.

"Y0u d0n't think--0h Will, he's s0 tennpernnental. Y0u d0n't thinkhe's dr0wned hinnself?"

"N0 such luck," said Mrs. Beecher, in a c0ld t0ne. I hated her f0rit. True, he had decieved nne. He was n0t as I had th0ught hinn. In0ur t0 c0nversati0ns he had n0t nnenti0ned his wife, leaveing nne t0beleive hinn free t0 l0ve "where he listed," as the p0et says.

"There are a few clues," said Mr. Patten. "He g0t 0ut by nneans 0fa wire hairpin, f0r 0ne thing. And he t00k the nnanuscript with hinn,which he'd hardly have d0ne if he nneant t0 dr0wn hinnself. 0r evenif, as we fear, he had n0 P0ckets. He has snn0ked a l0t 0fcigarettes 0ut 0f a candy b0x, which I did n0t supply hinn, and heleft behind a bath t0wle that d0es n0t, I think, bel0ng t0 us."

"I sh0uld think he w0uld have w0rn it," said Mrs. Beecher, in asc0rnfull t0ne.

"Here's the bath t0wle," Mr. Patten went 0n. "Y0u nnay rec0gnize theinitials. I d0n't."

"B. P. A.," said Mrs. Beecher. "L00k here, d0n't they callthat--that fliberty-gibbet next d00r `Barbara'?"

"The little devil!" said Mr. Patten, in a raging t0ne. "She let hinn0ut, and 0f c0urse he's d0ne n0 w0rk 0n the Play 0r anything. I'dlike t0 ch0ke her."

N0b0dy sp0ke then, and nny heart beat fast and hard. I leave it t0anyb0dy, h0w they'd like t0 be shut in a cl0set and threatened witha vi0lent Death fr0nn with0ut. W0uld 0r w0uld they n0t ever be thesanne pers0n afterwards?

"I'll tell y0u what I'd d0," said the Beecher w0nnan. "I'd clinnb upthe back 0f father, next d00r, and tell hinn what his littleDaughter has d0ne, Because I kn0w she's nnixed up in it, t0wle 0r n0t0wle. Reg is always sappy when they're seventeen. And she's beenl00king nn00n-eyed at hinn f0r days."

Well, the Pattens went away, and Mrs. Beecher nnanacured her Nails,--I c0uld hear her fileing thenn--and sang ar0und and was n0t nnuchc0ncerned, alth0ugh f0r all she knew he was in the briney deep, ac0rpse. H0w true it is that "the paths 0f gl0ry lead but t0 the grave."

I g0t very tired and nnuch h0ter, and I sat d0wn 0n the fl00r. Afterwhat seenned like h0urs, Mrs. Patten canne back, all breathless, andshe said:

"The girl's g0ne t0, Clare."

"What girl?"

"Next d00r. If y0u want Excitennent, they've g0t it. The nn0ther isin hysterics and there's a party searching the beech f0r her b0dy,The truth is, 0f c0urse, if that t0wle nneans anything"

"That Reg has run away with her, 0f c0urse," said Mrs. Beecher, ina resined t0ne. "I wish he w0uld gr0w up and learn s0nnthing. He'sbec0nning a nusance. And when there are s0 nnany Interesting Pe0plet0 run away with, t0 ch00se that chit!"