Middletown transcript., 1906-12-08
ONE WAY OF LOVE
BY WILLIAM soIEoD RAINE

ANS-@-t - = -
laughter, Tassie Williams fed TO
the ine-embowered porch known
only to the elect. She was emf
nently creature OF moods, and
tonight her humor was especi-
ally alien.
The beauty Of the star-set sky
some chance word within, had
certainly aroused within her an
old spirit Of revolt against the
convention bound life she lived
and the circumscribed people
about her. She demanded pas
sionately that people should be
more worth while, that they
should not be alias like as peas
in a pod. OF the commonplace
she was aweary. Her world had
grown too small for her-too
tame. She longed to get near to
some fierce primal emotion OF
lifesomething that had real
tragedy in it. She told herself
that the butterflies she had just
left frittered away in banalities
their capacity for deep feeling.
s- =
Even Archie, to whom she had
pledged her troth, hid any ade-
quate expression Of his regard as
though it had been a vice, though
she knew how much he loved
her. Her mood was something
less than fair to Archie and his
friends, but Miss Tassie had
among other feminine charms a
capacity for injustice.
The night was lovely beyond
compare. Countless stars lit
the vault above, and the soft
shine of the moon came through
the foliage to the enchantment Of
the grounds below. Tassie
drank in the beauty of it all
with dreams far flung. A shadow
fell athwart the moonbeam In
front Of her, and the girl turned
u
reluctantly, chin still in hand, to
greet the dancer who had found
her out in her retreat.
But the man who stood before
her was no dancer. He was not
in evening dress, and he was un-
known to her. Moreover, there
was about him a certain tense
repression, a certain fierce light
Of desperation in his eyes, that
proclaimed him bent on no er-
rand of amusement. He wore
no hat, and the hair was closer
cropped than hair is wont to be.
Something menacing in his pres
ence sent o vague alarm filter
ing through the girl. Then, be-
meath the rough coat which he
wore, she saw the stripes of a
convict's suit. Wide eyed and
fearful, the girl got to her feet.
Don't call out the man ordered
curtly.
And even in the stress of her
excitement the girl noticed that
his voice was musical rather
than rough /; she noticed, too, the
hunted look in his reckless eyes
and the hard lines about his un-
gentle mouth. Yet, though his
manner was eloquent of despair
and Of a bitter hatred against his
kind, the girl felt no fear Of per-
sonal violence. There was about
him some quality which proclaim
ed the fallen gentleman, a mark |
no more to be eradicated than
that of Cain He might now be
social pariah, but once he had
been an-handed and of gentle |
: y
breeding. OF so much she was
sure.
She was a daring little soul, |
with a fine comprehension of the |
sportsman's attitude toward life.
It came to her with humorous
appreciation that her plant bad !
been answered with a prompti- |
tnde which reminded her Of the
good fairy in her childhood's
favorite reading. She had grum-
bled at the sameness of her rule |
bound life, and adventure had
Immediately come knocking at
her door. To deny admittancel
was TO label herself 4 quitter.
Perhaps this was why she would |
not abandon the newcomer with-
out giving him a hearing, and
perhaps there was also some
%
thing ID the incongruity Of his
youth and Of his desolatian that
made its appeal to her. The ob.
vions thing was to scream forl
help. It would have been the
recourse OF nine women ia ten,
but Tassie Williams was The
tenth She had il large degree
the gift Of efficient silence.
The man drew a long breath Of
relief. If you would sit down,
madam. he suggested. drawing a |