The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1907-05-10

l2tioas come. Her voice was low ant
free from any excitement, her fac'
beautiful In its complete unconscious
ness % self. In that supreme moment
all her thought. all her sympathy, was
for the man-and his suffering.
To LOder there was a space OF In
credulity: then his brain slowly swung
TO realization. You know he re
peated blankly. You knowg'
Without answering, she walked 10 a
cabinet that stood in the window, I'M
locked a drawer and drew out several
sheets Of fiimsy white paper. crumpled
in places and closely covered with
writing. Without a word she carried
them back and held them out
He took them in silence, scanned
them, then looked up.
In a long. worthless pause their eyes
met. 1t was as IL each looked speech
lessly into the others heart, seeing the
passions, the contradictions, the short
comings, that went to the making Of
both. In that silence they drew closer
together than they could have done
through a torrent of words There
was no asking of forgiveness, no elab-
crate confession. on either side. In the
= deep, eloquent pause they mutually
saw and mutually understood
when l came into the morning room
! today" Eve said at last, land saw LII
Ian Astrupp reading that telegram
nothing could have seemed farther
from me than the thought that should
'ollow her example. 1t was not until
arterward-not until-he came into the
room-until saw that you, as 1 be-
lieved, had fallen back again from
what respected to what I-despised--
that knew how human really was
AS l watched them laugh and talk /
felt suddenly that l was alone again
terribly alone. II think-I believe l
was Jealous In that moment She
hesitated.
Ever he exclaimed.
But she broke in quickly on the |
word. Il felt different in that moment |
l didn't care about honor or things like |
honor. After they had gone it seemed |
to me that l had missed something
something that they possessed Oh,
you don't know what a woman feels
when she is jealousr' Again she
paused. at was then that the tele-
gram and the thought of Lillians
amused smile as she had read it came
to my mind. Feeling as l did-acting
on what l felt crossed to the bureau
and picked it up. In one second had
seen enough to make it impossible to
draw back. oh, it may have been dis
honorable. it may have been mean, but
wonder if any woman In the worio
would have done otherwise! / crum-
pied 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. Instantly she had finished his
voice broke forth in irrepressible Ques-
ton. In that wonderful space of {
line he had learned many things. All
lis deductions, all his apprehensions,
lad been scattered and disproved. He t
lad seen the true meaning of Lillian /
Astrupp's amused indifference-th in r
Inference of a variable, fippant ma Il
ure that. robbed Of any real weapon t
or mischief, soon tires of game that
to be too arduous. He saw )
III this and understood it with o
apidity born of the moment; never Il
heless, when Eve ceased to speak the u
uestion that broke from him was not &
onnected with this great discovery \
was not even suggestive of it. 1t
vas something quite immaterial to y
ny real Issue, but something that q
every consideration in |
ne world
Eve" he said, "tell me your frs. al
first thought after the %
nook and the surprise-when you re- y
rendered me- %
There was a fresh pause, but one
very short duration; then Eve met :.
q glance fearlessly and frankly. The ~
me pride and dignity, the same In ~
tenderness that had re- u
onded to his first appeal, shone In "a
r face.
My first thought was great thank
lness,' she said simply "A thank -
mess that you-that no man-couh pr
er understand" "a
CHAPTER XXXII. NJ
4 S she finished speaking Eve did I'M
\ not lower her eyes. To her
vi there was no suggestion of sp
shame in her thoughts or her wi
rds, but to Loder, watching and lis sti
ling, there was perilous meaning Or,
ltained In both. III
ThankfulnessT he repeated slowly. thu
Dm his newly stirred sense Of re- fri
pity and sympathy were ser
lually rising. He had never seen q
e az he saw her now, and his vision en-,
s all the clearer for the long OBJ 1
ON. With a poignant sense of COM sut
sion and remorse, the knowledge mil
her youth came to him-the youth "
t some women preserve in the vii
LIST of the world when circum- "
noes have permitted them to see sta
ch, but to experience little. til