The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-01-11


ing directly at her. then turned sharp
~, and, head erect. walked from the
room.
Before he had reached the outer door
the girl was at his side
why are you gcing?" she asked.
4 have nothing more to say"
.Nsthihgss',- ,-----------------=-- --------
Nothing at all"
She laughed happily to herself
But 1 have-much. Come back
They returned TO the little morning
room, Thorpes caulked boots gougins
out the little triangular burrows in the
hardwood floor. Neither noticed that.
What are you going TO do now she
catechised. facing him in the middle of
the room. A long tendril of her beau
tiful cOrn-silk hair fell across her eyes;
her rid lips parted in a faint wistfuI
smile; beneath the dra peries of her
loose gown the pure slender lines "a
her figure leaned toward him.
L am going back he replied pa
tiently.
I knew you would come" said she.
4 have been expecting you"
"Oh. Harry" she breathed. with a
sudden flash Of insight, you are a man
born to be much misunderstood"
He held himself rigid, but in his
veins was creeping a molten fire, and
the fire was beginning to glow DULY in
his eye. Her whole being called him.
His heart leaped, his breath came fast.
his eyes swan. He tried to steady
himself. and by an effort that left him
weak he succeeded. For a moment it
seemed to him that he was going to
faint
And still she stood there before him,
saying nothing, leaning slightly toward
him, her red lips half parted, her eyes
fixed almost wistfully on his face.
go away" he whispered hoarsely at
last. The voice was not his own. Go
away Go away!''
Suddenly she swayed to him.
oh, Harry, Harry she whispered,
must l tell you? Don't you see?"
The flood broke through him He
seized her hungrily. He crushed her
tc him until she gasped; he pressed his
lips against hers. until she all but cried
out with pain Of it; he ran his great
brown hands blindly through her hair
until it came down about them both
in d cloud of spun light.
Tell me-" he whispered. Tell mei'
"Oh. OH" she cried. Please! What
is it,"
Il do not believe it," he murmured
savagely.
She drew herself from him with gen
tie dignity.
I am not worthy to say il. she said
soberly. but l love you with all my
heart and soul!'
Then for the first and only time in
his life. Thorpe fell to weeping. while
she, understanding. stood by and COM
forted him.
The few moments of Thorpe's tears
eased the emotional strain under which,
perhaps uncOnsciously, he had been Ia
boring for nearly a year past. The
tenSeness of his nerves relaxed. He
savored deliberately the joy of lux
urious couch, rich hangings, polished
floor, subdued light. warmed atmos-
phere. He watched with sOul-deep
gratitude the soft girlish curves OF
Hilda's body the Doise of her flower
head, the piquant half-Wistful half
childish set of her red lips, the clear
staTlike glimmer of her dusky eyes. 1t
was all near to him; his.
kiss me, dear" she said.
She leaned her cheeks against her
hand, and her hand against his Shout
der.
Il have been reading a story lately"
said she, that has interested me very
much. 1t was about a man who re-
nounced all he held most dear to shield
a friend
Yes" said Thorpe
'Then he renounced all his most val
liable possessions because a poor, COM
mon man needed the sacrifice"
Sounds like a medieval story said
he with unconscious humor.
1t happened recently rejOined Hill
da, 4 read it in the papers,.
We'll he b1azed a good trail" was
Thorpe's signing comment. -Proba-
bly, he had his chance. We don't all
of us get that. Things go crooked
and get tangled up, SO we have TO do
the best we can. 1 don't believe I'd
have done it"
"Oh, you are deliciousl" she cried.
After a time she said very humbly.
4 want to beg your pardon for mis-
much suffering l was very stupid,
and didn't see why you could not do as
l wanted you to-
THAT is nothing to forgive. l acted
like a fool"
Il have known about you she went
on. 1t has all come out in the Tele-
gram. 1t has been very exciting Poor
boy. you look tired.
He Strengthened himself suddenly. 4
have fergotten-actually forgotten. he
cried, a little bitterly. Why, l am
pauper, a bankrupt, +"
Harry she interrupted gently, but
very firmly, you must not say what
you were going TO say 1 cannot al
low it. Money came between us be-
fore. 1t must not do so again. Am
not right, DEAR?
She smiled at him with the lips Of
child and the eyes of a woman
Yes" he agreed after a struggle,
you are right. But now I must begin
all over again 1t Will be a long time
before l shall be able to claim you.
have my way to make
Yes" she said automatically.
But YOU" he cried suddenly. The
papers remind me. How about that
Norton
What about him?' asked the girl.
astonished- He is very happily en-
gagged"
Thorpe's face slowly filled with blood
You'll break the engagement at once"
he commanded a little harshly.
Why should I break the engage
ment?' demanded HiIda, eying him
with some alarm.
You actually don't think he's en-
gagged to met" she burst out finally.
Isn't hep asked Thorpe
why, no. stupid He's engaged to
Elizabeth Carpenter, WalIaee's sister
Now where did you get that silly idea?"
i saw it in the paper
And you believe all you seei Why
didn't you ask Wallace-but of course
you wouldn't Harry. you are the
most incoherent dumb old brute l ever
sawl l could shake youi You need
wife to interpret things for you You
speak a different language from most
people" She said this between laugh
ing and crying; between sense of the
ridiculous uselessness of withholding a
single timely word, and a tender pa
thetic intuition of the suffering such
a nature must endure.
Suddenly she jumped to her feet with
an exclama ton.
~Oh, Harry, I'd forgotten utterly,''
she cried in laughing. CONSERVATION. Il
have luncheon here at half past onei
It's almost that now. [ must run and
df-ass Inst lnnl- -. ll..t-l