, 1906-12-26
Two Liars Made One.
BY LEONARD w. coNANT.

bafo IN hlah a v @hS AASAN
beneath the long lashes. as though
she were trying to read something
In his gloomy face.
Beautiful cruise, this" he grunted
presently, making several vicious
lunges with the paddle
The day could not, be o per
feet" she replied. with that feminine
substitute for sweetness which sayors
so much of gall and wormwood.
He swept the canoe along with
strong, measured strokes for several
minutes, the strength of his strokes
being reflected in the savage frmness
of his lips.
IF you have become permanently
t~ongue-tied you may take me home"
she said, presently, pulling her shape,
ly hand out of the water, where 1t had
been trailing idly. Il will try to find
a deaf-mute to take me out next time
just for sociability's sake"
Silently he turned the bow Of the
craft toward the shore, then pausing
with the paddle resting across his
knees, he looked at her steadily and
said:
Look here, Ethel, what has hap
pened since Wednesday? For the past
three OF our days a stone wall seems
to have arisen between us. What is
1t? Tell me. For heavens sake, let
us have some sort of an understand
ing. If 1 have done anything to dis
please you, let me make amends.
Only tell me what it is all about"
'You seem to have something on
your mind yourself" she replied.
Nonsense" he replied, sternly. Il
am as | was a week ago, but / do not
seem to be able to get within gun,
shot of you. Now 1 demand to know
what is the matter"
ooh, do you, indeed?" she replied,
sweetly. quite dramatic, isn't it?"
He plunged the paddle into the wa
ter again sayagely.
There's that lovely new electric
launch Of O'Brien's just going in. ]
do wish you would take me down to
the Point in it. They are going to
have a lovely supper and a dance
there tonight"
He looked at her with mingled re
proach and dignity.
you know perfectly well that
o'Brien charges 81 an hour for the
launch" he replied, and that could
not afford to hire it for two hours
to say nothing about the eight or ten
it would take to go to the Point and
hold it over the dance. Besides, the
| supper tickets for tonight are SIS each
You forget that am only a lawyers
clerk, although you said you under
stood it perfectly when you accepted
my ring"
That's right" she replied, looking
him coolly in the face. Il did forget
and 1 beg your pardon"
81 see it all clearly now" he broke
out passionately. you are tired o.
being tied to q poor man and wan
your freedom. I was a fool to thinl
that a girl like you could be contentet
to be tied to a poor devil on a salary
of SIS a week and only the prospect
ahead of being admitted to the bal
after a time and then only a chance
| of establishing a practice" And he
dug the paddle into the water with 6
| vim that sent the little craft spinning
shoreward.
THAT is all very fine talk" she re
piled. What does it mean?"
1T means that l thought we coulG
get along very happily until 1 got my
admission by being frugal and youl
helping some at first, as you said yor
intended to, by sticking to your type
writing" he replied. But / perceive
that the glamor Of the world has pos
sessed you. Well, be 1t SC. God
knows 1t has been the dream of NY
life, but 1 "a see 1t is over now and
1 give you back your freedom" The
| paddle bent under the desperate en-
| ergy Of his strokes.
The girl looked him squarely in the
eye and a slight sheer played ovsr hel
mouth.
"You really should go on the stage
she replied, "and I would suggest
melodrama. l do think. however, thai
you should have given me credit for
more of a sense of perception than
you did"
He paused and glanced at her In
open-mouthed wonder.
What do you mean?" he asked.
Il see it all very plainly now" the
girl went on. You have had your
summers fun, and the summer being
about over. you now want to free
yourself OF the responsibilities OF a
seaside filtration and go back to the
city and brag about your little con
quest. Do you think it quite gener.
Gus, however, to throw the RESPONSE
bility of the parting on me? Possibly
you mean 1t to be a delicate way to
soothe my pride-but the work is too
coarse, sir. Well, l accept the situa.
ton and dismiss you and return you
your ring"
She made a motion to pull the sim.
pie gold band from her finger, but he
started forward and. being unable to
reach her, fairly thrust the end of the
paddle into her hands to prevent her
from completing the threat.
Wait" he commanded, imperious.
ly. This is no way to settle the des.
tiny Of two lives. Let us at least find
out what it is all about. 1t is worse
than foolish to take so radical a step
as you propose without a clear and
definite understanding"
So deadly cold was he and 30 domi-
nant was his tone and attitude that
the girl paused.
Il offer to release you from your