The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-09-11

at him then, gravely and unquestion-
lngly. Apparently satisfied with the
inspection, she turned toward the house
holding in her right hand a nosegay.
He asked for one of the flowers as they
walked to the great portico which look
ed out upon five acres of lawn, and she
gave it to him unhesitatingly.
II am fond of these she said. "They
are like those we have at home.'
And homer" he asked.
rs in Pennsylvania, among hills such
as these
This acquaintanceship ripened rapid
ly. Matthews, with much leisure at
command, devoted himself to worming
his way into this young mind, unstain-
ed, innocent and candid. He found that
she had been primly taught. She did
not know the erotic fiction of the day.
! She had never seen a problem play.
To her, apparently, all men and women
We're pure. She had certain little house
~ duties to perform, and when these
were ended joined him unreservedly
and gladly in strolls among the neigh
boring hillocks, in lounges by the side
of a silvery stream that leaped down
ward toward the sea, in rambles among
the woods where the bluejays chatter
ed and fox squirrels sprang perilously
from swinging bough to Dough
| He was gravely courteous always.
| He was at something OF a disadvan-
| tage, too. Fine speeches and covert al
lusions were wasted on her because
she did not understand them. To any,
thing that was beyond her she an
swered "Yes?" or mop" in an interro-
| gative way. He was forced to reduce
himself to plain talk. He discovered
| also that the mind, though relatively
untutored, was still a feminine mind
| The atarno1 rnaftiQnatad xxrac
deep down, hidden almost always, but
still there. She had innocences which
confused him, subtleties which eluded
! him, contradictions which puzzled him.
reservations which defied him. He
| probed and probed, but got little for
| his pains except pique.
| When man 40 years old, man of
| the world, a man who knows all con-
tinents and nearly all peoples, feels
pique he becomes interested. Interest
where a woman is concerned is peril
| Gus. With Matthews a casual expert
4 ment changed to a mild pursuit, and
| the mild pursuit to the ardor of desire.
He began to see in Miss Madden graces
which she did not possess. He was an
| gered at himself and helpless. The
| sparks under the ashes in him stirred
and grew into tiny flames and then
burned The guests about the house
and semi plying glances. Their pity,
a smiling, half-contemptuous pity, was
| for the girl. Matthews was well known.
1t came toNan end, as all things must
end. They stood while a sinking sun
sent almost level shafts of light be-
tween the tall gray trunks. The tang
of winter was in the air. Against the
| red of the western sky wild ducks in
| V-shaped forma tions were travelling
1 A dead lnaWES
stirred and rustled. The distant noun
| tains were hazed in blue. He was say
| ing:
"And so 1 have told you that love
YOU. Men may have said this to you
before now but doubt it. At any rate
| no man could have said it and felt 1t
| more deeply. To me. dead tired of a
world of pretense and sham, of sin and
| the disgust which sin brings, you have
come as one from another sphere. /
have known no woman like you, and ]
| have loved no woman as 1 love you. In
| all earnestness and hope 1 ask you to
marry me-
She did not move from nor toward
| him. Her slight angular figure did not
| sway. He took the hand which hung by
| her side and she did not seek to re-
move it, In her fingers was no answer
: ing clasp. Then the looked up at him
and said, simply:
Mr.. Matthews, / did not know this
was coming-believe me, did not
have liked you, and, knowing you to
| be far wiser than I, have tried to learn
| from you. 1 cannot marry you for
many reasons. You are a man Of the
world, / am only a girl knowing moth
| ing of the world; your life has been
utterly different from mine, and I
could never understand it; you are
much older; while we have been to-
gether no thought of love has come to
me; 1 am sorry, but could not help
| this
He saw that the rejection was final
and did not attempt to detain her as
she left him, going slowly homeward
Matthews has foresworn expert
ments. His associates detect no change
in him. His front shows no scars.
Sometimes, for lack of a better thing
to talk about, he rails against women,
but only in listless clubmans sort of
way.