The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1894-04-13


branches he seized the paddle viciously
and padded into a little inlet overhung
with shade,
Mrs. WarrerGon leaned over and laid
one hand tifnidly on the brown muscu-
lar n still grasping the paddle.
people are never cross in Arcadia"
she murmured-
II wish you'd DO in earnest" lie
broke out ~passionately, and not treat
me as if | were a boy. You're too con
foundedly cold blooded. Novel;
that doesn't sound pretty-but | mean
make believe you're human. You've al
ways kept me ut arms length-just far
enough so You could pull at my heart
strings when il amused you''-he broke
off suddenly-"I'm a brute"
mo, Strephon. you're a true hearted.
hot headed boy, flying off on a tangent
one day and ~repenting the next. said
Mrs. Warrenton gently.
"As it's, Phyllis, why don't you offer
to be a sister to me?" he suggested
whimsically, smiling. Would you
mind if | talked to you about myself a
little? Or maybe you won't care to hear.
But this is the last time we'll be in
Arcadia together, and though it will do
no good ! wanted you to understand.
IF I'd had a mother, maybe I'd be a
better man. | don't think you ever
knew how much you have done for me,
boy and man. loved you when you
were a slip of a girl in short dresses and
braids, and | said to myself: She is good
and pure. | will try to deserve her, and
then | Will win her
"But ! 4, Init win you. That was a
hard time with me. | was a little reck-
less afterward, and | drifted into the
fast sct for 4 time, but I had my art,
and that kept me from forgetting my
SELF entirely.
III have ON regularly TO you to be
leased and smiled at, and you have
never seemed 10 realize what your light
est look Or word was to me.
IL have been kept from the follies
and vices THAT have tempted me chiefly
by the thought, I will not deserve to
lose her respect.
Il used to dream Of a life with you
DIS Us INSPIRATION.
''And 50 as | find | can never love
any other woman, and that my love for
you might make me forget all things
else and make you hate me some day.
SO l have asked a nice little girl to mar
ry me. She does not want my love par
ticularly, but my income and position,
and her family and my family think it
a rnn1 raatph II 10 an nynarimaDt and
II am the most unhappy Of men"
There was a long silence when he had
finished speaking-a monotonous silence
punctuated with the regular plash OF
his paddle and echoes of laughter and
oar strokes from the rowers abroad on
the river.
He guided the BOAT about a shadowy
bit Of island and then padded slowly
along the homeward stretch Of waters.
you see, / am a mad fool, Phyllis"
he whispered, but you are SO cold, 50
calm, SO far above me, it surely could
not hurt you for mere pity to let INC
dream tonight"
"Strephon," she sighed and touched
his sleeve lightly with her finger tips.
wouldn't it be happiness if we could
be born again into another sort of world
out Of these social tangles and sordid
Hmitations-into q simpler, honester
world?
"We've lived too long in this arti-
fetal world and grown used to the pate
de foie gras, and theater parties, and the
symphony, and the society, and Paris
gowns, and English t~ailors, and summers
at Newport, and autumns at LenOx, and
the rest ever to go back to primeval Ar
cadia.
"But if we could, you and If we
could think maybe we could have
been old fashioned lovers too. But I'm
q woman of the world, and my heart is
hard maybe, and I'm frivolous maybe,
and I firted with you to pass the time
maybe-but, Strephon, you are a man
of the world, too, and 1 never thought
you had a heart"
The miles Of water were swept back
slowly by the paddle. The little bark
swept on with the tide; the boathouse
was in view in the shadows.
Suddenly he put down the paddle. He
leaned forward and CROPPED for her hands
with his, and as he clasped them the
trembling fingers closed on his with an
impulse Of strength seeking.
Bending closely, he saw her fac. -
eyes were wet with tears.
Forgive ne" he pleaded hoarsely;
forgive mel"
"There is 80 little love in this world
that we cannot afford to be thankless
for any that is offered. God knows the
heart aches for the lack of it, " she whis-
pered-
"Once, dear, once for all the years
that have beer, the years that will be.
Kiss me oncel"
She shook her head gently; her hands
slipped from his grasp.
1--WE have dreamed" she said gently
as they reached the shore.
Eyes, we have dreamed, = he repeat
ed-Kate Fields Washington