The Mask | Page 2

in
silence.
"Isn't that the very deuce!" he went on peevishly. "We've been trying
our utmost to keep it secret. Unless we're quick, there'll be a rush of
adventurers from all parts of the world before we can secure the options.
Happily the despatch is vague. They don't know all the facts. If they
did----" Lowering his voice and looking around cautiously to make sure
that the butler had left the room and no one was listening, he continued:
"Besides you know what I am to bring back. It couldn't be entrusted to
anyone else. Just think--a stone worth nearly a million dollars! I hope
no one will guess I have it in my possession. It must be brought safe to
New York. That's why it's so important that I go at once. Even by
catching the Mauretania to-morrow, I can't reach Cape Town for a
month, and every moment counts now."

As Helen was still silent he glanced across the table at her for the first
time. Her pallor and the drooping lines about her mouth told him
something was wrong. Instantly concerned, he asked:
"What's the matter, dear?"
"I'm horribly nervous."
"What about?"
"This trip of yours, of course."
"You ought to be used to them by this time. This isn't the first time I've
had to leave you since our marriage."
"I didn't mind the other trips so much. When you went to Mexico and
Alaska, it didn't seem so far away. But this journey to South Africa is
different. You are running a terrible risk carrying that diamond. I can't
shake off a horrible feeling that something dreadful will happen."
Surprised less at what she said than at her serious manner, he laid down
the newspaper, and, jumping up, went over to her. His wife sat
motionless, her lips trembling, her large eyes filled with tears. In spite
of a palpable effort at self-control, it was evident that she was laboring
under great nervous tension. Bending caressingly over her, he said
anxiously:
"Why Helen, old girl! What's the matter?"
She made no answer. Her head fell on his breast. For a moment she
could not speak. Her emotion seemed to choke her utterance, paralyze
her speech. He insisted:
"What is it, dearie?" he demanded.
"I'm so nervous about your going, I'm so afraid about your having the
diamond," she sobbed. Suddenly, as if unable longer to control herself,
she rose from the table and threw her arms around his neck.
Passionately she cried: "Oh, Kenneth, don't go! Don't go! I feel that

something will happen."
He laughed carelessly as he fondled her. More seriously he replied:
"I hope something does happen. That's what I'm going out there for.
Why, Helen dear, I don't think you quite realize what this trip means to
us. If the deal goes through, and we get full control of all that property,
we'll all be as rich as Croesus. Just think, dear, 300,000 square miles of
the most wonderful diamond producing country. In ten days they found
400 beautifully clear stones, some of them weighing over a hundred
carats. If the reports are true, we shall have a group of mines as
valuable as the famous De Beers group. Do you know what they have
produced to date in actual money?"
The young woman shook her head. Usually she was glad enough to
listen to her husband's business plans, but to-day they wearied her. Her
mind was too much preoccupied with something that concerned her far
more. The idea of this coming separation, the knowledge that he was
running a risk, had left her singularly depressed. She had tried to
remain calm and control her emotion, but the effort was beyond her.
The prospect of this separation, with its vague, undefined forebodings
of disaster, was simply intolerable. The tears she was unable to restrain
rolled silently down her cheeks.
He looked at her in surprise. Never had he seen her in this mood.
Approaching her more closely, he said kindly:
"That can't be the only reason, dear, what's the matter?"
She hesitated a moment before she answered:
"I'm very nervous to-day. I was dreadfully irritated last night at the
dinner. I wish I hadn't gone----"
"Who irritated you?"
"That man Signor Keralio. I simply can't tolerate the man. How I hate
him!"

"Why--what did he do?"
"He did nothing. He wouldn't dare--there. But I wouldn't care to be
alone with him. His eyes were enough. He imagines he is irresistible,
and that every woman is immoral. That is the kind of man he is. He
annoyed me all evening. There was no getting away from him."
Kenneth laughed and went back to finish his breakfast, quite indifferent
to what he had just heard. He knew his wife too well to be afraid of any