Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-03-26
CHAPTER ".

CHAPTER ".
 THE FLESH-POTS OF EGYPT.
 The westward journey began at the
 appointed hour in the evening with the
 resourceful Ormsby in command; and
 when the outsetting, in which she had
 to sustain only the part of an obedient
 automaton, was fact accomplished
 Elinor settled back into the pillowed
 corner of her sleeping car section to
 enjoy the unwonted sensation of being
 the one cared for instead of the care-
 taker. r.
 Two sections away the inevitable
 newly married pair posed unconscious
 ly to point the moral for Miss Brent
 wood. She marked the eagerly antici- pative solicitude of the boyish groom, contrasting it now and then with
 Ormsby's less obtrusive attentions. It was all very absurd and sentimental, she thought; and yet she was not with out curious heart-stirring of envy provoked by the self-satisaed compla- cency of the bride.
 What had that chit of girl done to earn her immunity from self-defend- ings and the petty anxieties? Nothing. Elinor decided; at least, nothing more purposeful than the swimmer does when he lets himself drift with the current. None the less, the immunity was hers, undeniably, palpably For the first time in her life Miss Brent wood found herself looking, with a little shudder of withdrawal and dis may, down the possible vista-possible to every unmarried woman of 24- milestoned, by the unbroken years of spinsterhood and self-helpings.
 Was she strong enough to walk this hedged-up path alone?-single hearted enough to go on holding out against her mothers urgings, against Orms- by's masterful wooing, against her own unconquerable longing for a sure anchorage; all this that she might continue to preserve her independence and live the life which, despite it's drawbacks, was yet her own?
 She took up the magazine Ormsby had left on the seat beside her and sought to put away the disquieting thoughts. But they refused to be dis missed; and now among them rose up another, dating back to that ideal izing summer at the foot of Old Croydon, and having its genesis in a hard saying of her mothers.
 She closed her eyes, recalling the words and the occasion of them. You are wasting time and sentiment on this young upstart of country lawyer, Ellnor. So long as you were content to make it summer days had nothing to say; you are old enough and sensible enough to choose your own recreations. But in justice to yourself. no less than to him. you must let it end with our going home. You haven't money for two"
 Her eyes grew hot under the closed lids when she remembered. At the time the hard saying was evoked there was money enough for two, if David Kent would have shared 1t. But he had held his peace and gone away. and now there was not enough for two.
 Elinor faced her major weakness un- flinchingly. She was not a slave to the luxuries-the luxuries of the very rich. On the contrary, she had tried to make herself believe that hardness was a part of her creed. But latterly. she had been made to see that there was formidable array of things which she had been calling comforts; little luxuries which Brookes Ormsby's wife might reckon among the simplest of the daily life, but which David Rents wife might have to fore go; nay, things which Elinor Brent wood might presently have to forego. For she compelled herself to front the fact of the diminished patrimony So long as the modest Pacific dividends were forth coming. they could live comfortably and without pinching. But fail these
 No. I'm not great enough" she confessed. with a little shiver. "I should be utterly miserable. If I could afford to indulge in ideals it would be different: but I ean't-not when one word of mine will build a barrier so high that all the soul-kill- Ing little skimpings can never climb over it. And besides. owe something lo mother and Nell"
 It vas the final straw. When any xeakness of the human heart can find ] seeming virtue to go hand in hand with it, the battle is as good as lost; md at that moment Brookes Ormsby. ,lacidly reflling his pipe in the smok- ng room of the Pullman. vas by no means ia the hopeless case he was sometimes tempted to fancy himself
 As may be surmised. a diligent suit IT. old enough to plan thoughtfully. md yet young enough 10 simulate the youthful ardor of a lover whose hair las not begun to thin at the temples, rould lose no ground in a three days ourney and the opportunities it sf- orded.
 In Penslope's phrase. Elinor -suf- cred him enjoying her freedom rom care ike sleepy kitten. shut ing the door On the past and keep ng it shut until the night when their through sleeper vas coupled Co the xestern Pacific Flyer at A q T. June