The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-09-26
THE MINNEAPOLIS JOURNAL

seemeu TO nef visible sign OF the
her heart, too, she set herself to re-.
verse and to forget the warning that
Sir James had given her-that as his
: strength began to return, so the
strength Of his craving would return.
On the first day or two of the voy-
age, 1t IS true. that had seemed to be
SO himself. but she had not then set
herself, as she did now, hour after hour,
to fight and vanquish any such tenden-
cy in him. With heart lifted high
With with hope and faith, she denied that.
good thing, it could not let itself be a
slave to an evil thing, for thus evil
thing unthinkable. No, the Strength
that was coming back to him.
slowl y indeed, meant so many
I ehorts, SO many repulses Of
z that mortal and earthly habit that had
become so intimate a guest Of his soul.
! That hideous, dwarfsh shape which he
! had admitted, with it's blear eyes, its
trembling hands, clothed in the shroud
and cerements of sensuality, was being
pushed and dragged out again. It was
: hard work. none knew that better than
she, but failure was impossible, and
well she knew that. When at last they
got it to the door Of his soul, and got
that door open so that the sunshine of
infinite Love poured in, with what cry
OF Joyful amazement would he see that
that dreadful figure that seemed now
SO real was nothing, that it had no real
the time, she knew; it was only in the
twilight of his soul that what was only
a shadow seemed to be real
Now and thsn, too, the real Thurso,
the kindly, courteous gentleman who
had been to her so well-ioved a brother.
hn
talk about old days before ever this
shadow blackened his path.
-, And they would live over again in
that light Of memory, which often lends
a viyidness to that which is remem-
bered which it did not have in life,
when Thurso shot three stays, or some
memorable morning by the river when
Maud killed six salmon before lunch
-, Oh, Thurso, and I should have killed
the seventh, do you remember, but [
let the line get round that rock in the
roaring pool and he broke me.''
nBy~ gosh, I remember he said.
"You nearly cried. Lord, what good
days they were! I was awfully happy
all that summer. I had hideous neu-
ralgia, | remember, and it rather
spoiled my pleasure, but it didn It spoil
ny Happiness. How do you explain
Why, nothing can spoil one IS happi-
ness She said, answering his question
without thought. "All happiness
But he got up suddenly. s
~ get the heartache to think of it
ALL he said.
She rose too.
"Ah, Thurso, it will come baek,''
He looked at her with sudden face
"And youe' he asked. and Lilys
How can either of you forget? It is
absurd to say that things can be the
same. Not. even God can put the
clock &c 6a back, and say it is yesterday"
rises again, and today becomes tomor-
row. sHeaviness may endure for a
] night, but joy cometh in the morn
The bitter mood was pouring in on
him again.
,.tAh, phrase!' he said. .. ..--
eyes, but a true one, 'she answered.
and it was seldom that he was even
able to think regretfully of the past.
For the most part he was suspicious and
= bitter, or silent, full only of the one
deadly desire. All day it was in his
mind, and at night he dreamed of it,
But as the days that must elapse be-
fore they reached New York began to
70 ~ ASchoiCu Wy AoulS, Ills despair ana ,
dispiritedness were sensibly lessened.
Maud noticed that, and sometimes he
spoke hopefully of the new cure that
was to be tried; yet as often as he did
this his voice rang as false as cracked
bell, and she knew it was not this that
! he looked forward to, but to escaping
from the prison Of ship, where his de-
sire was denied him, on to the compare
tive freedom Of dry land, where there
! were chemists, drug stores. \ Yet
with his returning strength his craving
] no longer seemed to grow proportions
ately. There was some check on it.
unanticipated by Sir James. He
wanted the drug; she knew that, and
] his brain, she felt sure, was scheming
!. to get it But the madness and raving
! Of desire had not appeared, and already
they were steaming slowly up to the
relentless city.
Thurso and she were standing on
deck together as they drew near, on
a morning of crystalline hri phtnass