The leader., 1904-11-26
..What e lacking,n he asked. hrletly.

said. There was tremble, almost q
sob In her voice.
ut is rather a cold-blooded way /
have" he said, impulsiyely, "but, Mel
lie, ! love you, earnestly and truly,
and with the love of a mature. earnest
manhood. know now. It is beyond
and above all that which has been in
the past"
She was visibly surprised, for
through all his pleadings that evening,
and since she had met him at Lake Ko-
nova, he had not told her such words.
Instantly her mind was in a turmoil.
She saw before her not only the man
she had once loved, but the man she
loved now with all her heart and her
great, responsive soul
And yet, now there seemed to be a
"but." She could not understand her
irresolution.
Both were still for long time. The
shadows of evening fell rapidly and
soon extended themselves over all the
great expanse of water, and into the
thickets and gullies along the shore.
From far across the lake cleaned many
cottage lights, like so many great stars
of night. Nothing but the solemn
Swish, Swish" of the waves broke
the stiffness, and even this was unno-
ticed by the man and the woman. Both
were thinking, thinking.
Suddenly they were aroused from
their reveries by the splash of oars but
a short distance out, and then voices,
sounding sweet and clear In the still
autumn evening, could be heard sing
ing, 'Home, Sweet Home"
The man muttered something to him
self as his absent gaze lingeringly
sought for the source of the song. 1t
was now too dark to distinguish OBJ
5ects on the lake; except, perhaps, a
moving bit of a shadow from which it
seemed, came the voices and the rhyth-
matte noise of the dipping oars.
What were you saying, Harry"
she asked hastily, yet softly.
This was the first time since they
had been youth and maiden that she
had called him Harry" 1t had always
been "Mr. Lloyd" A happy smile-suc-
ceeded his stern, almost sorrowful
mien, but was followed in moment
by the former look of contemplation
almost hard. She did not note the ex-
pressions, though eagerly looking to-
ward him. His face was not now avert
ed, but the deep shadows of evening
served him as a mask.
II was saying-nothing," he an
swered quickly.
please. don't let's be sad" she
pleaded. Even good friends must part,
you know" she added, as if trying to
make light of it all.
"Friends!" he said, turning to look
out into the darkness on the lake.
Something akin to fear, to inse-
curity oppressed her mind. "Once we
were young-foolish, just little boys
and girls" she said, just above whis-
per. "Then you became a man, and
was"
Don't Nellie" he said, rather alb
sently. She did not answer. 1t seemed
to her as if she were a girl again; and
she could not now shake from her the
return of the old, warm love for the
man. She tried and tried Even the
memory and the dim picture of the
little mounds in the old churchyard,
and all these meant and had meant,
which recalled with an effort and for
a purpose, did not aid her.
The crisis had passed. She could
have thrown herself into those arms
and rested there indefinitely.
Then she sobbed. The man heard it
not, for her sobs were well suppressed
And presently the man did hear them.
Far out in the blackness there was a
single, dim spot of light for him. In
this he saw, half-hidden in the twilight
of a yesterday, slight eminence in a
And, there, to the left Of
the path, bordered with grasses and
flowers, were two mounds-a tiny one
and another bit longer.
81 am sorry, Nellie" he said ten
derly, that 1 have hurt you. Forgive
me-" The man had decided.
The woman had yet to know, Both
saw by memory's eye the mounds in
the churchyard and the picture of
Home, Sweet Home" But the
thoughts encompassing the visions diff
fered now. To him the memory of
former years, when he had the baby
and it's mother, suddenly had become
so dear and precious that he would
never again tarnish them. Then, too,
he had the woman's answer-as he
saw the answer.
To her the vision of the past, with
only one single incident-she could
now call it an 'incident"-to interrupt
all the sweetness of it, was but the
for happy, long future.
LET us go back" he said. resolutely,
and arose to go.
The woman's eyes suddenly filled
with look suggestive of the eyes of
a frightened doe. Helplessly, forlornly.
she looked at the man, but could see
It was so dark everywhere.
Then, in the flash of moment. she
understood. She had been dashed
from an almost incredible height. But
she reached the level easily-her for
mer level. She came to his side and
they wandered slowly, with
out word, to the cottages beyond the
beach.
The waves out on the lake continued
restlessly in their melody: Swish
swish, swish-swish.
fectly easy to distinguish between hu-