Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-20

at least, or 80 she had decided Tor
- she was miserable, more miserable
lEMEII than she had ever expected to be,
and not a sivery CLEAN could she sec
in the dark sky.
She had entered into the marriage contract
with such high hopes this was the end
actually obliged TO confess that her married life
had turned out failure.
Everything had gone along smoothly until the
climax came with q suddenness that was stun
ming The wooing had taken more than month,
the engagement had lasted about six months
yet the end of il had begun and ended in just
about ten minutes It was all over, there could
be no doubt of that Such words as he had spok-
en- could not be listened to again, she could not
for one moment think of allowing him the oppor-
tunity of talking to her in that same manner.
And she had said. Next time you dare TO
speak to me like this | shall leave your house
and you will never see again" That is Just
what little Evelyn Brenchley had said couple
of weeks ago, and she meant just what she had
said Her words and her fierce tone had fright
ened Paul good deal, but the worst Of it is
that big men never stay frightened very long,
and in fortnight the same bitter strife had been
renewed.
Paul had hurled harsh accusations and the
Young wife had left her home and husband, never
to return.
Twenty golden soveregns rested quietly in her
black travelling bag, and with her appetite dulled
by the terrible mseres she had undergone, she
felt that this sum would feed her for many long
and weary years until she became accustomed to
living without Paul
She young, pretty people said, and good
housekeeper. "Yes," she murmured between her
clenched teeth, "housekeeper. Who will drudge
for him now.
"Who will act as buffer between him and the
servants? Who will worry over the accounts
and order the dinner, and look into the dhst-bin
to see that no bread has been thrown away! Oh
what lifel what life!"
It was bitter cold but these surgng thoughts
warmed her like wne In the days mot very
far in the past) when she and Paul were happy
they had taken driving tour through Kent. 1t
was summer, just before the hopping. The week
spent in the soft sweet air was one to be remem
bered-a week of sunshine and shower, of gray
skies and golden, of burning sunsets and ruddy
moonrises, of smooth roads bordered by hedges
and fringed by dropping trees, and the fields OF
hoppoles, glorious in their tendris and clusters,
dressed if for masquerade in which all the
dancers were Bacchantes of the beer-vat
On one of these magic days, towards evening"
the Brenchleys had halted at wayside inn. The
sign swung free from its post, framed in cunning
scrolls of iron, and it bore the name of E'The
Hop-Pole." In the garden behind the house.
where the roses were overf1owing the wall and
the box sending out its evening fragrance,
the happy pair sat, eating Strawberries and drink
ing tea. Paul said he liked the place so much
that he thought they must come again. They
spent the night in rose-scented, dimity curtain
ed room. The night was lustrous with moonlight,
and the morning was vocal with backbirds.
Eleanor could remember the CLINT of a snowy
pigeon against the deep sky, the gloss of the fresh
ivy the mellow greens and yelows of the ancient
bricks of the garden wall; and she could remem-
Der Paul
1t was to this place that her mind turned when
the hot indignant moment of departure came. 1t
was not far to CO. and it was not likely that her
husband would think of seeking her there; and
80 it happened that she was walking, at dusk in
the month of December, over the frost-bound
roads of Kent. She ached and burned from head
to foot, but whether with heat or cold she could
not tell. The two miles from the station, where
no fly had been found, seemed endless Anger
and excitement, however, carried her onward like
swift-rolling Wheels and at length when the bag
had grown very heavy and the twenty sovereigns
in her pocket weighed like ton of buried treas
ure, she saw in the frosty dusk ray of red is
suing from window. Her heart leaped up to
meet the blessed light. Longing for warmth and
shelter fought with shame for her lonely condi-
ton, and it needed all the WEAKNESS of her body
to conquer the aertness of her fears.
She stole through the low archway which led
to the yard of the inn. Blurred with the coming
night and bleak with winter as it was she recog-
nzed the place No roses, no pigeons, no sum
mer airs-no Paul