The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1897-06-30
lCONrINUEDl

Her head was bent. her veil was over
her eyes the mir was full of snow and
the confusing dazzle Of street lights it
was impossible that she should know
who this man was, and yet she dill know
at once, and she even fancied that she
had anticipated the meeting II moment
before it occurred. And. first, II great
wave Of joy seemed to swell and muir
mur in her heart, and then she called 10
mind all manner of unwelcome and
crippling considerations. and drew her
self together in Il defensive attitude.
Physically she stopped, breathing quick
ly, and removing one hand from her
muff to keep down her veil. She
thought he would perhaps not recognize
her. But II man can recognize the
woman he loves by n glimpse of the
movement of her shoulder far off in II
crowd-nay, by the toss of the feather
in her hat The magic of love consists
mainly in its stimulating us to use our
senses: and then we are surprised to die
cover what marvellous capacity and
keenncas those senses have. Tho heaven
Il intelligence of angels can only be the
result of the depth and ardor of their
power to love.
"Mademoiselle"-he bc. .;an. and stop
ped, for lie had never called her by her
real name. and though he knew now
what ii wat t had no personal associa-
ton with her in h. mind. 81 was go
ing to find you.N he continued.
IL was not lost. SO you have returned.
Mr.. Bellingham;'
II must speak to you, Miss Ran
dolph!'
'Is it necessary on this corner? 4
singer must be careful of her throat.
You know"
Take my arm. I'll get hack for
you"
"Thapk you; am doing very we'll
She walked Oh and be walked beside
her. The facilities for conversation
were certainly not good, even had the
readiness been there, He was six or
seven inches taller than she. and he was
obliged to stoop and speak loud in order
to insure her hearing him, while he was
in danger OF missing or misinterpreting
the mufiled murmur of her replies. But
ther was in Bcllingham great deal of
constancy and concentration OF purpose.
IL don't expect You to forgive me-
he said. "Only understand that l can
never forgive myself. Such a blunder
should have been impossible to II man
who felt toward you as did. If had
been worth your caring for should not
have made it."
at was natural; you couia not have
done anything else; do not blame
you" said Beatrix through her veil
Geoffrey did not wholly catch her words
he understood her to say that such II
nistake was only to be expected of him.
and his face fell. She perceived the
change in him. and faltered out. IL
mean that | dc forgive you!" But a
Fifth avenue stage, rafting by just then.
drowned this sentence altogether.
IL don't mean to prosecute you," he
remarked, speaking in monotonous
tone. us they walked onward side by side.
IL didn't return from Europe for that;
merely wanted you to know. used to
think that, whatever happened, | could
always think and act like man who
believed in goodness and-purity. But
| failed Mt the important moment, and
yon may be right-it was only natural in
me. For a long time-many years-be-
fore met you had nothing to do with
women. and thought as little rs possible
about them. You seemed to me, when
first saw you, everything that ! most
wanted, and, at the same time. every
thing that most disliked. Ii was the
contradiction between what | felt you
were and what thought you were.
That began with oar first evening and
went on exaggerating itself until the
end. That's my story, Miss Randolph.
After all it's only a long way of saying, i
made mistake and beg your pardon"
BeatriS heard all this, and the more
she heard the more tormented she felt
and the faster she tried to walk; but the
sidewalks We're slippery, and at last in
crossing the street her foot slipped, and
she would have fallen if Geoffrey had
not caught her arm. She stopped, press
ing her hands, which We're clasped in.
side her muff, against her heart, and
glancing this way and that, like bird
that knows not which way to fly. She
was in just such half frantic, half
hopeless mood as often prompts women
to acts whichappear-and perhaps really
are-insane. She knew that on the pass
ing moment depended probably the fail
ure or success, the happiness or tlisery,
of her whole future life. She knew that
everything was going topsy-turvy, alb
surdly and gratuitously wrong. And
she felt paralyzed-wholly unable to ut
ter word to set everything right. A
word would have done it. What pre-
vented her? In part, perhaps, the very
urgency of her desire. which tripped up
its performance.