The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-11-07
CHAPTER XXI.

| thAH L Lii AAAll.
S she finished speaking Eve did
not lower her eyes. TO her
lh there was no suggestion of
| shame in her thoughts or her
| words, but to Loder, watching and lis
tening, there was q periIous meaning
/ contained In both
'"Thankfulness he repeated slowly.
From his newly stirred sense Of re-
| sponsiblity pity and sympathy were
| gradually rising. He had never seen
| Eve as he saw her now, and his vision
was all the clearer for the long OBJ
| livion. With poignant sense of CON-
| passion and remorse the knowledge
of her youth came to him-the youth
| that some women preserve in the
| midst of the world when circum-
| stances have permitted them to see
/ much, but to experience little.
'"Thankfulness 2" he said again in
| credulousIy.
| A slight smile touched her lips
| EYES," she answered softly-"thank-
| fulness that my trust had been rightly
| placed"
| She spoke simply and confidently. but
| the words struck Loder more sharply
| than any accusation. With a heavy
| sense of bitterness and remuneration he
| moved slowly forward.
| Eve" he said very gently. "you
| don't know what you say"
| She had lowered her eyes as he came
| toward her. Now she lifted them in a
swift upward glance For the first
| time since he had entered the room a
slight look of personal doubt and un-
To-,
she said I'll don't understand"
For a moment he answered nothing.
He had found his first explanation over
whelming. Now suddenly 1t seemed to
him that his present difficulty was more
impossible to surmount. 81 came here
tonight to tell you something" he be-
gan at last, but SO far 1 have only
said half
Half"
eyes, half" He repeated the word
quickly, avoiding the question in her
eyes. Then. conscious Of the need for
explanation, he plunged into rapid
speech.
"A fraud like mine," he said. "has
only one safeguard, one justification-a
boundless audacity. Once shake that
audacity and the whole motive power
crumbles It was to make the audacity
impossible-to tell you the truth and
make 1t impossible-that I came to-
night The fact that you already knew
made the telling easier, but it altered
nothing"
Eve raised her head, but he went
resolutely on.
Tonight" he said, 81 have seen into
my own life, into my own mind, and
my ideas have been very roughly shak
en- into new places.
1--WE never make so colossal a mis-
take as when we imagine that we know
ourselves. Months ago, when your
husband first proposed this scheme to
me, 1 was, according to my own con-
ception. a solitary being vastly i'll used
by fate, who, with a fine stoicism, was
leading a clean life. That was what
/ believed, but there, at the very out
set, 1 deceived myself. l was simply
a man who shut himself up because he
cherished a grudge against life and
who lived honestly because he had a
constitutional distaste for vice. My
first feeling when I saw your husband
was one of self righteous contempt
and that has been my attitude all
along. I have often marveled at the
flood OF intolerance that has rushed
over me at sight OF him-the violent
desire that has possessed me to look
away from his weakness and Danish
the knowledge of it-but now I under
stand.
Il know now what the feeling meant
The knowledge came to me tonight. 1t
meant that 1 turned away from his
something stirred in recognition of it.
Humanity is really much simpler than
we like to think, and human impulses
have an extraordinary fundamental
connection. Weakness is egotism, but
SO is strength. Chilcote has followed
his vice; have followed my ambition.
1t will take a higher judgment than
yours or mine to say which OF US has
been the more selfish man." He paus-
ed and looked at her.
She was watching him intently.
Some OF the meaning in his face had
found a panied, alarmed reflection in
her own. But the awe and wonder OF
the mornings discovery still colored.
her mind too yividly to allow Of other
considerations possessing their proper
value. The thrill Of exultation with
which the misgivings born Of Chilcote's
vice had dropped away from her men
tai image Of Loder was still TOO absorb
ing to be easily dominated. She loved,
and as if by a miracle her love had
been justified. For the moment the
justification was all suficing. Some
thing of confidence, something OF the
innocence that comes not from igno-
rance Of evil. but from a mind singu-
Iarly uncontaminated, blinded her to
the danger of her position.
Loder, waiting apprehensively for
some aid. some expression OF opinion,
became gradually conscious of this
lack of realization. Moved by fresh
impulse, he crossed the small space
that divided them and caught her
hands.
Eve" he said gently, II have been
trying to analyze myself and give you
the results. but shan't try any more
shall be quite plain with you.
From the first moment I took your
buShopd,s -oe ouohifiouS Y0u