Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-01

right The thing - posnoie-iVe proven ~
know a man so like me that you. even
you. could not tell US apart"
Eve was silent. stiil averting her face
In dire dificulty he labored on Eve.
serious thing-a terrible danger-a terrible
temptation. Those who have no experience
OF It cannot possibly gauge it's pitfalls
Again he paused but again the silent inquire
by the fireplace gave him no help.
Eve" he exclaimed. suddenly. III you
only knew. II you only guessed what I'm
trying to say" The perplexfty, the whole
harassed suffering of his mind showed in
the words Loder. the strong. the resource
ful. the eelf-contained. was palpabiy, pain
fully at loss. There was almost note
OF appeal in the vibration Of his voice
han. And Eve. ssandins by the mr. sep'ace.
ment Of comprehension all that had
held her silent. all the conflicting motives
that had forbidden speech. melted away
before the unconscious demand for help
Quietly and yet quickly she turned her
whole face transfigured by a light that
seemed to shine from within-something
singularly soft and tender.
There's no need to say anything, she
said. simply. because know"
1t came quietly. as most great revelations
come. Her voice was low and free from
any excitement, her face beautiful tn Its
complete Inconsistencies OF self. In that
supreme moment all her thought. all her
sympathy, was for the man-and his suf-
fering.
10 1SOQeT there was q space Oh lHCTSuu-
lily; then his brain slowly swung to reali-
ration. You known" he repeated, blank
ly. You know
Without answering she walked to a cabi-
net that stood In the window, unlocked
drawer and drew out several sheets of
fiimsy white paper, crumpled In places and
closely covered with writing. Without
word she carried them back and held them
out.
He took them in silence, scanned them.
then looked up.
In q long. worthless pause their eyes met.
It was as If each looked speechlessly into
the others heart, seeing the passions. the
contradictions, the shortcomings that went
to the making of beth. In that silence they
drew closer together than they could have
done through torrent of words. There
was no asking of forgiveness, no elaborate
confession on either side; In the deep elo-
quent pause they mutually saw and mu-
tually understood.
when came into the morning room to-
day." Eve said. at last. land saw Lillian
Astrupp reading that telegram, nothing
could have seemed further from me than
the thought that should follow her exam
pie 1t was not until afterward: not until
he came into the room; until l saw that
you, I believed, had fallen back again
from what I respected to what I-despised
that knew how human l really was. As
l watched them laugh and talk felt sud
denly that l was alone egain-terribly
alone. II think-I believe ! was jealous
in that moment" She hesitated.
''Eve!" he exclaimed.
But she broke in quickly on the word. II
felt different in that moment l didn't care
about honor-or things like honor. After
they had gone II seemed TO me that l had
missed something-something that they
possessed. Oh, you don't know what a
woman feels when she is jealous." Again
she paused. 1T was then that the telegram,
and the thought of Lillian's amused smile
as she had read 1t, came to my mind. Feel
ing l dd-acting on what felt-I cross
ed 10 the bureau and picked II up. In one
second l had seen enough to make ii i'm
possible to draw back. Oh, IL may have
been dishonorable, Ii may have been mean,
but I wonder If any woman in the world
would have done otherwisei ! crumpled up
the papers just as they were and carried
them to my own room.
From the first to the last word of Ewes
story Loder,s eyes never left her face. In
stantiy she had finished his voice
broke forth In irrepressble question.
In that wonderful space OF time he had
learned many things. All his deduc-
tons, all his apprehensions had been scat
tered and disproved He had seen the true
meaning of Lillian Astrupp's amused indif-
ference-the indifference of a variable,
fippant nature that, robbed of any real
weapon for mischief, soon tires of a game
that promises to be too arduous. He saw
all this and understood 1t with a rapidity
born of The moment nevertheless when
Eve ceased to speak the question that broke
from him was not connected with this great
discovery-was not even suggestive of IT.
II was something quite immaterial TO any
real issue, but something that overshadowed
every consideration in the world
Eve" he said. tell me your first
thought? Your first thought after the shock
and the surprise-when you remembered
me?"
There was fresh pause. but one of very
short duration; then Eve met his glance
fearlessy and frankly. The same pride and
dignity, the same indescribable tenderness
that had responded to his first appeal shone
in her face.
MY first thought was a great thankful
ness" she said, simply. "A thankfuiness
that you-that no man-could ever under
stand"
CTo be continued tomorrow.)