The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1905-05-07

got"
"it was meIodrAma. wasn't itY sh,
said. He laughed, but she shook be-
head.
"purest comedy" be said ssyly, "sx
cept your part Of IT, You shouldn't hav
done H. This evening was not arrange,
10 honor Of visiting ladies' But 70,
mustn't think me q comedian. Truly,
didn't plan It Ny friend from 81,
Crossroads must be given the credit o.
devising the scene, though you divines
H."
ut was little too picturesque,
think. ! know about Six Crossroads
Please tell me what you mean to Do"
Nothing. What should IY
"You mean that you will keep on let
ting them shoot at you until they-until
you She struck the bench angriiy
with her hand.
There's no summer theater In Six
Crossroads There's not even a church.
Why shouldn't theyT' be asked grave.
~. During the long and tedious even
ings II cheers the poor Crossroader's
soul b drop over here and take shot
at me. II whiles away dull care FOR
him. and be has the additional exercise
Of running all the way home"
! "Ahr she cried Indignantly. They
told me you always answered like this. %
well, you see. the Crossroads efforts
have proved 20 thoroughly hygienic for
me. As patriot / have sometimes felt
extreme modification that such bad
markafhanship should exist In the coun-
ty. but l console myself with the
thought that their best shots are, un-
happily. In the penitentiary."
There are many left. Can't you un-
derstand that they win organize again
and come In a body. as they did before
you broke them up? And then, IL they
come op night when they know you
are wandering out OF town.
.'Yon have not had the advantage Of
On intimate study of the most exclusive
people OF the Crossroads. Miss Sher.
wood. There are about thirty gentle
men who remain In that nelghborhood
while their relatives scjourn under dis
cipiine. II you had the entree over
there, you would understand that these
thirty could not gather themselves into
a company and march the seven miles
without physical debate in the ranks.
They are not precisely anIable people.
even among themselves They would
quarrel and shoot one another to pieces
long before they got here"
"But they worked In q company
once"
Never for seven miles. Four miles |
was their radius. Five would see them
all dead"
She struck the bench again. "oh. you
laugh at me! You make Joke Of your
own life and death and laugh at every
thing. Have i've years Of PiattviIle
taught you to do thatr
Il laugh only at taking the poor
Crossroaders too seriously. don't laugh
1t your running into fire to help a fel.
ow mortal"
II knew there wasn't any risk. I
Knew he had to stop to load before he
Ihot again"
HE did shoot again. II had known
'ou before tonight, IT, His tone
and he spoke gravely. Il am
It your feet In worship of your divine
philanthropy. It's 50 much finer to risk
'our life for a stranger than for a
riend."
That is q mans point Of view, isn't
TT
"You risked yours for a man you had
ever seen before"
"oh, no. l saw you at the lecture.
card you introduce the Hon. Mr.. Hal
oway."
Then kdon't understand your wish
lg to save me-"
She smiled unwillingly and turned her
ray eyes upon him with troubled sun
iness, and under the sweetness Of her
agad he set q watch upon his lips,
lough he knew II would not avail him
ing. He had driyeled along respect.
bly, so far, he thought, but he had the I
,ntimental longings Of years, starved
expression. eliminating in his heart. :
he continued to look at him wlstfully, {
'archingly, gently. Then her eyes trav- .
ed over his big frame, from his s
loes "a patch Of moonlight fell on
lem; they were dusty; he drew them
lde- the bench with a shudder) 10 bis
cad shoulders Che shook the stoop out a
them). She stretched her small white Il
lnds toward him and looked at them b
contrast and broke into the most de- n
,lous low laughter In the world. AT /
is he knew the watch on his lips was n
Orthless 1t was question Of min e
es till he should present himself to
II eyes as a sentimental and suscep- e
,le imbecile. he knew II. He was In n
I'D spirits. b
Gould you realize that one Of your a
myers might be a shakingf" she n
ed. "Ts your seriousness lost artY" e.
er laughter ceased suddenly. "Ah. etC
/! understand Thlers said the II
ench laugh always in order not TO ia
'ep, haven't lived here Eve years. q
hould laugh, too, II were you"