FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100  
101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   >>   >|  
to the lawyer. In a whisper he said: "There is terrible news! I don't know how to break it to the poor woman----" Steell sprang forward. Anxiously he exclaimed: "Terrible news? Surely not----" The president nodded. "Yes--all lost, and the diamonds, too. A dispatch just received in London says that, according to a wireless relayed from Cape Town, the _Abyssinia_ caught fire twelve hours after sailing from that port and all on board perished. It is shocking, and the pecuniary loss to us disastrous. The stones were not insured. Hush! Here they come. Not a word!" "My God!" muttered the lawyer, as he fell back and turned away, so they might not see the effect which the shocking news had made on him. With an effort he managed to control himself. The two women entered the room joyfully. "Here it is!" cried Helen exultantly, as she brandished the missing telegram. "You see, he's just sailed, and all's well." The president said nothing, but, taking the dispatch from her hands, slowly read it. Nodding his head, he said slowly: "Yes--he's just sailed, and--all's well." "When do you think he'll be here?" questioned the young hostess, looking anxiously up into his face. The president shook his head. "That is hard to tell," he answered evasively. Mr. Steell had gone to the window, where he stood looking out, idly drumming his fingers on the pane. How was it possible to break such fearful tidings as that? What a horrible calamity! He wished himself a hundred miles away, yet some one must tell her. At that moment shrill cries arose in the street outside--the familiar, distressing, almost exultant cries of news-venders, glad of any calamity that puts a few nickels into their pockets. "_Ex-tra! Ex-tra! Special ex-tra!_" "What's that?" exclaimed Helen apprehensively. The sound of special editions always filled her with anxiety, especially since Kenneth's departure. "_Ex-tra! Ex-tra! Special edition! Ex-tra! Big steamer gone down. Great loss of life. Extra!_" Her face was pale, as she turned and looked at the others, who also stood in silence, listening to the hoarse accents of distress. "A steamer gone down!" she faltered. "Isn't that terrible? I wonder what steamer it was." Ray ran to the door. "I'll get a paper," she said. Before Mr. Parker or Mr. Steell could prevent her the young girl had opened the front door. Now there was no way of preventing Helen k
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100  
101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
president
 

steamer

 

Steell

 

terrible

 

shocking

 

turned

 

sailed

 
calamity
 

lawyer

 

Special


slowly

 

dispatch

 

exclaimed

 

exultant

 

nickels

 
venders
 

whisper

 
pockets
 
special
 

editions


apprehensively

 

forward

 

sprang

 

wished

 

hundred

 

horrible

 

fearful

 
tidings
 
Terrible
 
street

filled

 

familiar

 

Anxiously

 
shrill
 

moment

 

distressing

 
Before
 
Parker
 

faltered

 

preventing


prevent

 

opened

 
distress
 

accents

 

edition

 

departure

 

anxiety

 

Kenneth

 

silence

 

listening