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<h2> CHAPTER XIV </h2>
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LUCY'S GHOST
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<p>Kenneth had sent word to Tom Gates, asking the young man to come to
Elmhurst, but it was not until two days after the lawn party that Tom
appeared and asked permission to see Mr. Forbes.</p>
<p>Beth and Louise were with Kenneth at the time, and were eager to remain
during the interview, so the young man was shown into the library.</p>
<p>Beth could scarcely recognize in him the calm and cheerful Tom Gates
they had visited in the county jail; for his face was drawn with care
and anxiety, eyes were bloodshot, and his former neat appearance was
changed to one careless and untidy.</p>
<p>Kenneth scrutinized him closely.</p>
<p>"What have you been up to, Tom?" he asked.</p>
<p>"I've been searching for Lucy, sir, night and day. I haven't slept a
wink since I heard the awful news of her sickness and escape. Where do
you think she can be, sir?"</p>
<p>His question was full of agonized entreaty, and his manner pitifully
appealing.</p>
<p>"I don't know," answered Kenneth. "Where have you searched?"</p>
<p>"Everywhere, sir, that she might be likely to go. I've inquired in every
town, and along every road leading out of the county. She didn't take a
train, because poor Lucy hadn't any money—and I've asked at all the
stations. And—and—along the river they say no girl answering her
description has been seen."</p>
<p>"It's strange," remarked Kenneth, thoughtfully, while the girls regarded
the youth with silent sympathy.</p>
<p>"If you knew Lucy, sir, you'd realize how strange it is," went on young
Gates, earnestly. "She was such a gentle, shrinking girl, as shy and
retiring as a child. And she never did a thing that would cause anyone
the least worry or unhappiness. But she was out of her head, sir, and
didn't know what she was about. That was the reason she went away. And
from the moment she left her home all trace of her was lost."</p>
<p>"One would think," observed Kenneth, "that a poor, demented girl,
wandering about the country, would be noticed by scores of people. Did
she take any clothing with her?"</p>
<p>"Only the dress she had on, sir, and not even a hat or a shawl."</p>
<p>"What was her dress like?" asked Beth, quickly.</p>
<p>"It was a light grey in color, and plainly made. She wore a white
collar, but that is all we can be certain she had on. You see her mother
is blind, and old Will doesn't observe very closely."</p>
<p>"Does Lucy resemble her mother?" inquired Beth.</p>
<p>"Very much, miss. She was a beautiful girl, everyone acknowledged. And
it's all my fault—all my fault. I thought to save her, and drove her
mad, instead!"</p>
<p>"You might have known that," declared Kenneth. "A girl of her character,
sensitive to a fault, would be greatly shocked to find the man she loved
a criminal."</p>
<p>"It was for her sake."</p>
<p>"That is a poor excuse. If you had waited Lucy would have proved her
innocence."</p>
<p>"They threatened to arrest her, sir. It would have killed her."</p>
<p>"They wouldn't dare arrest her on suspicion."</p>
<p>"The Squierses would dare do anything. You don't know old Mrs. Squiers."</p>
<p>"I know the law, sir, and in any event it was a foolish thing, as well
as criminal, to forge a check to get the money they demanded."</p>
<p>"You are right, sir," replied Tom Gates, despondently. "It was foolish
and criminal. I wouldn't mind my own punishment, but it drove my Lucy
mad."</p>
<p>"See here," said Kenneth, sternly, "you are getting morbid, young man,
and pretty soon you'll be mad yourself. If Lucy is found do you want her
to see you in this condition?"</p>
<p>"Can she be found, sir, do you think?"</p>
<p>"We are trying to find her," replied Kenneth. "You have failed, it
seems, and Will Rogers had failed. I've had one of the cleverest
detectives of Chicago trying to find her for the last three days."</p>
<p>"Oh, Kenneth!" exclaimed Beth. "I didn't know that. How good of you!"</p>
<p>"It must have been the detective that came to see Mrs. Rogers," said
Tom, musingly. "She told me a strange man had been there from Mr.
Forbes, to inquire all about Lucy."</p>
<p>"Yes; he makes a report to me every evening," remarked Kenneth; "and Mr.
Burke says this is the most mystifying case he has ever encountered. So
far there isn't a clew to follow. But you may rest assured that what any
man can do, Burke will do."</p>
<p>"I'm so grateful, sir!" said Tom.</p>
<p>"Then you must show it by being a man, and not by giving way to your
trouble in this foolish manner."</p>
<p>"I'll try, sir, now that there's something to hope for."</p>
<p>"There's a good deal to hope for. Despair won't help you. You must go to
work."</p>
<p>"I will. It won't be very easy to get work, for I've disgraced myself in
this neighborhood, and I can't leave here till something is known of
Lucy's fate. But I'll do something—any kind of work—if I can get it."</p>
<p>"I need someone to assist me in my correspondence," said Kenneth. "Would
you like to be my secretary?"</p>
<p>"Me, Mr. Forbes—me!"</p>
<p>"Yes, Tom. I'll pay you twenty dollars a week to start with, and more if
you serve me faithfully. And you'll board here, of course."</p>
<p>Then Tom Gates broke down and began to cry like a child, although he
tried hard to control himself.</p>
<p>"You—you must forgive me, Mr. Forbes," he said, penitently; "I—I've
been without sleep for so long that I haven't any nerves left."</p>
<p>"Then you must go to sleep now, and get a good rest." He turned to Beth.
"Will you see Martha," he asked, "and have her give Tom Gates a room?"</p>
<p>She went on her errand at once, and gradually the young man recovered
his composure.</p>
<p>"I can do typewriting and stenography, Mr. Forbes," he said, "and I can
keep accounts. I'll serve you faithfully, sir."</p>
<p>"We'll talk of all this by and by, Tom," replied Kenneth, kindly. "Just
now you must have some sleep and get your strength back. And don't worry
about Lucy. Burke will do everything that can be done, and I am
confident he will be able to trace the girl in time."</p>
<p>"Thank you, sir."</p>
<p>Then he followed the butler away to his room, and after the girls had
discussed him and expressed their sympathy for the unfortunate fellow,
they all turned their attention to the important matter of the campaign.
The debate with Hopkins was the thing that occupied them just now, and
when Patsy joined the group of workers they began to discuss some means
of scoring a decisive victory at the Fairview Opera House. The Honorable
Erastus still insisted upon making the anti-sign fight the prominent
issue of the campaign, and they must reply forcibly to the misleading
statements made in his last hand-bill.</p>
<p>Meantime Tom Gates was sunk in the deep sleep of physical exhaustion,
and the day wore away before he wakened. When at last he regained
consciousness he found the sun sinking in the west and feared he had
been guilty of indiscretion. He remembered that he was Mr. Forbes's
secretary now, and that Mr. Forbes might want him. He was not yet
thoroughly rested, but night was approaching and he reflected that he
could obtain all the sleep that he needed then.</p>
<p>So, greatly refreshed, and in a quieter mood than he had been for days,
the young man dressed and entered the hall to find his way downstairs.</p>
<p>It happened that Beth, whose room was near this rear corridor, had just
gone there to dress for dinner, and as she was closing her door she
heard a wild, impassioned cry:</p>
<p>"Lucy!"</p>
<p>Quickly she sprang out into the hall and turned the corner in time to
see a strange tableau.</p>
<p>Young Gates was standing with his arms outstretched toward Eliza
Parsons, who, a few paces away, had her back to the door of her own
chamber, from which she had evidently just stepped. She stood
motionless, looking curiously at the youth who confronted her.</p>
<p>"Lucy! don't you know me?" he asked, his voice trembling with emotion.</p>
<p>"To begin with," said the girl, composedly, "my name happens to be
Eliza. And as we've not been properly introduced I really don't see why
I should know you," she added, with a light laugh.</p>
<p>Tom Gates shrank away from her as if he had been struck.</p>
<p>"You can't be Lucy!" he murmured. "And yet—and yet—oh, you <i>must</i> be
Lucy! You must know me! Look at me, dear—I'm Tom. I'm your own Tom,
Lucy!"</p>
<p>"It's very gratifying, I'm sure, young man," said the girl, a touch of
scorn in her tones. "If you're my own Tom you'll perhaps stand out of my
way and let me go to my work."</p>
<p>Without another word he backed up again; the wall and permitted her to
sweep by him, which she did with a gesture of disdain.</p>
<p>When Eliza Parsons had disappeared down the back stairs Beth drew a long
breath and approached Tom Gates, who still stood by the wall staring at
the place where the girl had disappeared.</p>
<p>"I overheard," said Beth. "Tell me, Tom, is she really like Lucy?"</p>
<p>He looked at her with a dazed expression, as if he scarcely comprehended
her words.</p>
<p>"Could you have been mistaken?" persisted the questioner.</p>
<p>He passed his hand over his eyes and gave a shudder.</p>
<p>"Either it was Lucy or her ghost," he muttered.</p>
<p>"Eliza Parsons is no ghost," declared Beth. "She's one of the maids here
at Elmhurst, and you're quite likely to see her again."</p>
<p>"Has she been here long?" he asked, eagerly.</p>
<p>"No; only a few days."</p>
<p>"Oh!"</p>
<p>"When I first saw her I was struck by her resemblance to Mrs. Rogers,"
continued the girl.</p>
<p>"But she's so different," said Tom, choking back a sob. "Lucy couldn't
be so—so airy, so heartless. She isn't at all that style of a girl,
miss."</p>
<p>"She may be acting," suggested Beth.</p>
<p>But he shook his head gloomily.</p>
<p>"No; Lucy couldn't act that way. She's quick and impulsive, but she—she
couldn't act. And she wouldn't treat me that way, either, Miss Beth.
Lucy and I have been sweethearts for years, and I know every expression
of her dear face. But the look that this girl gave me was one that my
Lucy never could assume. I must have been mistaken. I—I'm sure I was
mistaken."</p>
<p>Beth sighed. She was disappointed.</p>
<p>"I suppose," continued Tom, "that I've thought of Lucy so long and so
much, lately, and worried so over her disappearance, that I'm not quite
myself, and imagined this girl was more like her than she really is.
What did you say her name was?"</p>
<p>"Eliza Parsons."</p>
<p>"Thank you. Can you tell me where I'll find Mr. Forbes?"</p>
<p>"He's getting ready for dinner, now, and won't need you at present."</p>
<p>"Then I'll go back to my room. It—it was a great shock to me, that
likeness, Miss DeGraf."</p>
<p>"I can well believe it," said Beth; and then she went to her own
apartment, greatly puzzled at a resemblance so strong that it had even
deceived Lucy Rogers's own sweetheart.</p>
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