Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-12-01

1T all seemed p~aradoxical. And yet
thought Of you. always Don't YOU see.
The situation was-impossible!
"YeS?"
She uttered the monosyllable gently.
Her ewes followed the p~hosphorous lights
that slipped through the black waves,
rolling back into the night behind them.
The ship throbbed like a human thing,
and she felt it's vibration go through her
body with a drowsy, sensuous content.
Her hands cleaned Whitley OF the arms
of the steamer chair in which she lay
prone, and the soft night wind lifted the
hair back from her face.
You must understand-now"
There was a shade of anxiety in his
voice as he leaned forward and looked
down into her eyes.
Nov? l am five years older. You
mean? Well. | understand. Yes-in Il
way. One learns many things in five
years.
And it was-for the best? You be-
lieve that?'
She rested her head bach on the cush-
ions and lifted her eyes to the stars that
1&wdered the velvety gloom above them.
"Quien sabe." She smiled drought
fully. 1T is written. h will be. Will
be. and all things are by fate"
She stirred restlessly. then turned to-
ward him and studied him critically.
"Wello' he asked.
lis it written in the stars. | Wonder''
she asked. reflectively. Are we kings
and queens on the ch~esshoard? Was IL
for the best? do not know. | was
married to a man 20 years my senior. \
perfectly amiable and absolutely irre~
proaahabIe commercial machine. he
was hazily conscious Of my existence at
odl periods when his stock quotations,
vould permit. Tha was all. | had the
tiesh-pots of Egypt. and, according 70
tha laws Of Moses and common sense, |
srau,8 have som down I'm my knees
HAHN ana given thanks But ! dldn 4. !
Know that HI il Hut only unorthodoN. bnt
execrable taste. 10 do that Which leaves
ones private life vulnerable to the vel
,av. journal reporter and artist. To-Day,
pa1la ana Francesca would be but 1920
fnr scare-heads and impossible cuts
Eat | loved yea. Nancy sald the
same to Sykes. But ii is very real, just
,he same. And l loved you-not MY
enough TO brave the flames of hell, put
Infinitely worse, the Comment ana cfltl-
r,sm of the great unwashed. And-you
ilinched.'
The Tranquil tones ceased for a mo-
n,ent, and she pulled the cushion more
comfortable under her cheek.
For your sake
The words came hoarsely.
Her eyebrows lifted, but she did not
speak.
Then suddenly he leaned forward and
caught her hands in a tense grasp
stared down into her face with hot eyes.
You ~would-you would have
Gone to YOU? Assuredly. You knew
that l would. But YOU feared the World
more than | feared-the other place, you
know. For my sake, you said. Well,
perhaps. No doubt you quite believed IL
was-for my sake. But is your genius
naturally so-disinterested"'
The black water rolled and lifted ana
feIl with a sharp hiss back into the
shadows, and she listened to its mufl1ed
music with a keen pleasure. She loved
the embarrassed strength of it. 1t was
sovereign in every mood. And it laid
the memories of its amounted centuries
on her restless spirit and she was stilied.
Here and there behind them the salon
incandescent lights cleaned. n measured
football came through the roar OF the
waves and the straining of the snip
passed, and died again, leaving only the
noises of the night, of the winds ana
waters. Then the lights went out and
the yaporous darkness gathered around
them and the stars seemed nearer.
He drew the white hands up to his
lips and held them there a long omen
You are not merciful in your analy-
SIS he said slowly. "And perhaps you
are right. But l do not think so. but
why dig over the bones CT the past:
Fate. Providence, God-What you Will
brought US together, out here on the
waters that you have always loved. Ana
there are no barriers. We are both free.
Today. when l saw the shore-line SINK
into the water. and turned and saw you
on the deck? Does it tell you nothing!'
She looked back into his eyes with 4
shade of amusement in her own.
You were always bored, you know
She laughed, a little. low laugh, then
pently released one hand from his and
drew the tips of her fingers down over
his face, Then she held his square chin
In her hand and regarded him sraVely.
You We're always bored-all your life.
1t was chronic. You We're delighted to
zee me? OF course. 1t was a sensation
And sensations are worth something III
this all too prosaic life of ours. Don't
you know, boredom is accountable for
far more thu is generally realized? II
the clergy would only give us a pallia-
tive, their efforts would be so much more
Fruitful. And l was equally delighted tc
see you. /, too, have learned TO value
sensations. And you look quite as YOU
did when I-er-ate of the ponegranate
There is a CLINT of silver around thu
temples-but it Is becoming. l could al
most think we We're back in that Other
era when we We're so tragic. We We're
tragic, We're we not? Life bored you 81
and ! was a new sensat.on-and | love
you with such feeling. And, after all, !
was pouring water upon sand. 1t wa
seeing with a ehtid's faith-Aseensio,