The Press., 1906-05-23
DOTS AND SPACES
By SHERWOOD BOYD


 not to be seen.
 where's Margie?" he asked when all greetings had been exchanged and at last he was free to fall into steI with his father and go up the familiar street He tried to speak carelessly but his father caught the note of anx- iety in his tones and sighed.
 ''I think she did not know you were coming" he said gently. "She doesn't come over to the house as she used to- Perhaps the attraction was removed ' he added, with poor little attempt at a joke. But it was a jest of the voice, might break to this big boy, of whom he was so proud, the fact that his lit tie playmate had not only kept away from them, but that it was common re port that she was engaged to George Colson.
 q should think" said Truesdell, 'that she might have at least answered my letters. I telegraphed my address just before we sailed, and I wrote by almost every steamer"
 Marjorie has been away, Dick" ," said his father. Perhaps she did not get your letters"
 Nonsense. She must have had some of them," declared Dick. "There she is now" And before the father could lay a detaining hand upon his arm Dick Truesdell had dropped his bag and %hn cir
 He paused dumbly as the girl passed with a most chilling nod and then. with slow step, retraced his way. The elder man put out his hand, and Dick grasp ed it and wrung it with a grip that meant more than words. It was the way they had come away from his mothers grave, hand in hand, only now it was the old man who led his son, not the son consoling the father.
 Dick picked up his valise. and the two went up the street. They had al most reached the old home before the father spoke.
 q wanted to wait until we got home, Dick" he said, with a touch of wist- fulness in his tones. II thought Mar jorie was still away and that I could tell you better in the house. Marjorie ColsOn. She never comes near me now. have tried to find out what the trou- ble Is, but she only says that l should know as we'll as she"
 "It will come out all right" said the boy, with brave effort at cheerful ness. At any rate, we shan't let it spoil the homecoming, shall we?" He linked his arm affectionately through his fathers, and they turned in at the familiar gateway and went up the gravel walk to the house.
 That night as Dick stood before the mirror in his own little room the motto his mother had put over the glass when he had come home from college caught his eye. It was simply, Look before you leap" one of those printed texts for framing, but now it seemed almost like a message from the dead, and he put out the light and jumped into bed with a braver heart.
 'I shan't leap to the conclusion that I've lost Margie until I've looked into the thing" he said to himself, and the thought brought sleep to eyes that might not have closed save for that promise.
 But it was easier to declare than to execute, and it was almost a week be- fore Dick saw Marjorie. Letters had been returned unanswered, and on the few occasions he had seen her on the street she had been with friends. At last one afternoon as he was coming down the street she fairly ran into him in the growing dusk.
 She began to murmur an apology be- fore she saw who it was, and by that time Dick had her arm.
 'I want to know just what the trou- ble is," he said commandingly. If you don't love me I'll not bother you again, but If it's something that can be ex- plained let's have 1t over with. Per haps there Is an excuse"
 "Your affront was inexcusable," she said coldly. 'T desire no explanation"
 'I insist upon One," he said quietly, but with a new note of mastery in his voice. She recognized the tone and shivered little.
 Of course" she said, q can't run away from you if you insist upon hold ing on to me this way, but
 "T am glad to see you are convinced of that" he said softly. T am not go- or ever There is some mistake some where, and I'll have the truth"
 'There could be no mistake" she said. "The matter was entirely too clear to admit of explanation. don't see why you should be so anxious to be friends with me when you have Marie"
 'I don't want to be friends with you," he disclaimed. "I want to be your husband, and I don't remember any Marie that figures in this story"
 Doubtless you forget your travelling comDanion,' she retorted.
 You mean Marie German" he laughed. "I wonder who told you about that. Besides, she was Ben nett's friend. His sister used to go to school with her or something."
 ''Very ingenious" sneered Marjorie. "but I fail to see that that explains anything. The fact that she was an acquaintance of MT. Bennett does not excuse your going all over Europe with her."
 'Now you are wrong," he said even ly. We didn't go all over Europe to- gether. We did Switzerland and the Rhine; then they went to the south for the winter, and we went on to Den mark
 "WhO are they and 'weP" she de- manded. Tt is little puzzling to keep track of your conversation"
 We Bennett and myself; they the Germans and the Crofts. We ran into them in London"
 T am no child to be told tales," she said bitterly. ''I did hope that there might be some explanation I could ac- cept, but you have made 1t impossible After that telegram in which you de clare that you are going abroad with EEee, IL