The Florence daily tribune., 1899-03-25
TRIED TO ESCAPE.

come moments she had been listlcssly
watching the last of the baggage bun
died on 10 the boat by the burly freight
hundlcrs, and now she gave little sigh
of int,rmixed relief and suppressed ex
citcment us the big hawsors that held
the hngt to the wharf were loosencd and
flung into the water She waited until
the mon drew in the wet rope thon she
turned to the scenes about her W hat u
laby they seemed to lie pagsing
through Tugs, plothoats, ferries. al
seemed To he crossing and recrussing in
a most reckless manner ny the Priscilla
plowod along Independently ms if the
whole river were clear of Instructions.
The sun WAS Just setting, aud New
York. tall buildings shot skyward
black against the pink glow There
were familiar domes and spires hut she
turned hastily from them and clst a
glance at Liberty silent and impaasive
with her untretchcd arm.
A slight frown rose to her face as she
recalled that day they had landed there
from the yacht, and she bit her lips in
vexatiou at the reflection AT any
rate il is al right now. she said to
herself while peculiar light stole into
her eyes "This is the end of it all /
couldn't do better than to 80 at once
and not let him know where II VIII
save all frutless discussion. And and
| hate scene,
She stared STEADILY Mt tho buildings
ON Blackwell's island They were very
misty and indistiuct and she pissed her
hand rapidly over her eyes.
The deck was filing with passengers.
and she moved to n more retired spot
where She sat back and watched the
shore grow dark and the lights come
out one by one, She pushed up the veil
she had worn and looked about her 1t
was curious crowd, ii seemed to her
She had never travelled this way before
What mixture of reiincmeut and vul-
garityl There were man and WON
an cutting out OF some brown paper
bags, and just beyond them man and
wife apparently cf her own set
Well, she could go to her staterooni
early and SO be by herself She would
20 down TO dinner now, Aloner 1t gave
her II peculiar sensation to think ur it
Well, it was part Of the penalty of run
ming AWAY, rs il We're.
She rose to go
Am l just in time to take you
DOWN familiar voice said close be-
side her
Her hand graspcd the hack of the
camp chair. The motion, together with
a swayiug of the boat, made her stag
ger for II moment, but strong hand
hcly her firmly. "I'shaI be very glad
if you will go down with me, he re-
peatrd
She sat down again suddenly Did
you gel my noteY she demanded
"Of course, drawing chair and
speaking in low voice MS he read iust.
ed the wrap that had slipped from her
shoulders. But you didu SUPPOSE
would obey, did your" He smiled as
he spoke.
ut was horrid Of you . she replied.
giving her shoulders shrug So that the
wrap lousened again pnd fell to the
dcck, where it lay unheeded, perfect
ly horrid
He made no reply to the charge
lyon knew we cuuldn't keep On this
way. she continued in n grievcd voice.
1T WAS misunderstanding misunder
standing. all the time and of course
that WASH wasn't love She hesi-
tated and glanced quickly at the figure
beside her his eyes were ON TIE pass
ing landscape,
And didn't want any scene It's
horrid and common to make a scene.
She swallowed hastily And so wrote
the note and ended il all and iust came
away. so as to get rid of all this And
now you've followed me She spoke
Indignantly and beat tattoo ON the
deck with her foot
He looked at her gravely for an in
stant, then turned again to the darkness
outside Il don't think You can realize
what II is. he said, his eyes ON dis
tant revolving heacon. Ito ask man to
give up what is more than life To him.
The light from the powerful lens
blazed tull upon them. rested for
moment. aud then left them in darkness
once more.
Il couldn't give you up that way, "
he went on, his hand impulsively steal
ing ont and taking hers "For if | did
ii would be for all time. and so was
bound to make one more fight When
found that you We're gone Just rislled
the chance Of it being this way. because
You had always insisted ON never going
by this line and so, being woman.
thought you'd take it now +"
The hand in his made a feeble at
tempt to withdraw. but he held it close.
''li wasn't nice of You. she said
suddenly. as if a new Thought had struck
her rbecause I'm alone, you know.
and 1t any one we know should see us
together"
The darkness covered his smile Nice
women can travel alone. he replied.
but then thought that perhaps we
might turn this into sort of an antewed-
ding journey. you know. We can get