The Four Pools Mystery

ere just back from a tramp to the upper pasture-a full mile from the house. We were addressing ourselves with considerable zest to the frosted glasses that Solomon had just placed

d curls were almost of a color. I believe the little witch had chosen the two on purpose. In her dark habit and mannish hat, with sparkling chee

ountain dialect. "Ain't you-uns guine to ask me to

ound while the Colonel and I did the honors. It was the first time, I know, that Polly and Rad had met since t

f neighborly gossip with the Colonel and me-Rad was monosyllabic and remote-she arrived at her errand. Some friends from Savannah were stopping at the Hall on their way to the Virginia hot springs, and, as is usual, when strangers visit the valley, they were pla

pleased flush, and before she rode away, he had become his former cheerful self again. The Colonel also demurred on the ground that he was getting too old for such diversions, but Polly laid her hands upon his shoulders and coaxed him int

of life that vitalized the face of the portrait over the mantelpiece upstairs. The resemblance for a moment was almost startling; I believe the same th

the next morning. The real reason, I fancy, was that I too was suffering from a touch of Radnor's trouble; and, since I had no chance of winning her, it was the part of w

n crawling around on his hands and knees on the parlor floor, collect

asked a trifle sharply, thinking I had c

oking at me mournfully. "I specs ole Marsa been chastisin' youn

e, and Rad, after a gruff "good morning," sat staring at his plate in a dogged silence. Throughout the meal he scarcely so much as exchanged a glance with his father. I tried to talk as if I noticed nothing; and in the course of the somewhat one-sided conversation, happened to m

he Colonel walk over and l

your mind and go,

ever much the Colonel may have been to blame in their quarrel of the night before-and the French clock told its own story-still I could not help but feel that Rad should have borne with him

e Colonel. He was standing with folded arms before the picture, his eyes, gleaming from under beetling brows, were devouring it hungrily, line by line. His face was set rigidly with a look-whether of sorrow or loneliness or remorse, I do not know; but I d

nfluence for good or evil was already at an end; he could never change his character now, no matter how keenly he might realize his defects. Poor little Nannie's wilfulness was at la

myself pessimistically; underneath it was a cruel world. Before me in the garden path, a jubilant robin was pulling an unhappy angle worm from the ground, and a little farther on, under a blossoming apple tree, the

He and his father had evidently patched up some sort of a truce, but I soon saw that it was only a t

ants following in the buckboard with the luncheon. Mose, bare-feet, linsey-woolsey and all, was brought along to act as guide and he was fairly purring with contentment at the importance it gave him over the other negroes. It seems that he had been in the habit of finding his

its natural state. Each of us carried either candles or a torch, and the guides were supplied with calcium lights which they touched off at intervals whenever there was any special object of interest. This was the first cavern of any size that I had ever visited and I was so taken up with examining the rock forma

Mathers and casually asked if

And unless I am mistaken, Colonel Gaylord," she added, turning to my uncle, "he left my coa

ood cavalier in his own youth, and I do n

urned with a courtly bow, "and prove to you that the b

was only joking; I shouldn't think of letting you

incident was forgotten. We straggled back to the hotel in twos and three

athers, and then galloped ahead to join the other riders. I was surprised to see n

side. "You don't suppose," she asked quickly, "that the Colonel wa

the men

w to use it. I dare say, even if we did leav

probably feels that he has had enough frivolity for one

nsiderably to my peace of mind. I had felt vaguely uncomfortable over the matter all day, for I knew that the old man wa

to see if the Colonel were really there, as she could not help feeling anxious about him. I noticed with a smile that she made no comment on the younger man's defection, though I strongly suspected that she was no less interested in tha

from the valley turnpike, I saw the wagon coming with the two Mathers ne

called. "What's

m a powe'ful while, but it 'pears like he's 'vaporated. I reckon he's took to de w

the plantation with a growing feeling of uneasiness. Nothing had been seen of either th

ur ago an' stomp roun' like he mos' c

in the summer house with his elbows o

cried in alarm. "Has anyth

the sound of my voice, and

dazed way. "I left him in

h the rest of us, and Po

care of himself," said

y astonishment I found the stable-men gathered in a group about Rad's mare, Jennie Loo. She was dashed with

the horse?" I cried.

ned" that "Marse Rad"

his own Jennie Loo, he couldn't have cared more for her if she had been a human being. There was no mistaking it however. She w

on that a "debbil had done conjured him." I was inclined to agree. There seemed to be something in the air that I did not understand, and my anxiet

ountain road leading to Luray, but this time with a vague fear gripping at my heart. Why had Radnor acted so strangely, I a