Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1907-01-31
fContinued from sixth PACE. J

Ing that made me-that almost maze
me belieye'--
believe what?" The words escaped
him without volition.
At sound of his voice she turned.
believe that miracle happened" she
said; that you had found strength,
had freed yourself
"From morphia?"
"From morphia."
In the silence that followed Loder
lived through century of suggestion
and indecision. His first feeling was
for himself, but his first clear thought
was for Chilcote and their compact.
He stood, metaphorically, on stone
in the middle of a stream, balancing
on one foot, then on the other; looking
to the right bank, then to the left. AT
last, as it always did, inspiration came
to him slowly. He realized that by
one plunge he might save both Chill
cote and himself.
He crossed quickly to the fireplace
and stood by Eve s'You were right
in your belief" he said For all that
time, from the night you spoke to me
of F'raide to the day you had tea in
this room, never touched drug"
She moved suddenly, and he saw her
face. "John," she said unsteadily, syou
IL have known you to lie to me
about other things
With a hasty movement he ayerted
his head. The doubt. the appeal in her
,1.. 0I,A h no I1nl la a.
ton of her life seemed summed up in
the one short sentence. For the instant
he forgot Chilcote. With reaction Of
feeling he turned to her again.
.sLook at mer' he said brusquely.
She raised her eyes.
"Do you believe I'm speaking the
truth?''
She searched his eyes intently, the
doubt and hesitancy still struggling in
her face
.sBut the last three weeks?v she said
reluctantly How can you ask me to
believer"
He had expected this and he met it
steadily enough. Nevertheless his
courage faltered. To deceive this
woman, even to justify himself, had in
the last half hour become something
sacrilegious.
'"The last three weeks must be
Buried he said hurriedly. mo man
could free himself suddenly from-from
a vice lie broke off abruptly. He
hated Chilcote; he hated himself.
Then Ewes face, raised in distressed
appeal overshadowed all scruples.
'sYou have been silent and patient for
years." he said suddenly. Can you
be patient and silent little longer?"
He spoke without consideration. He
was conscious of no selfishness be-
meath his words. In the first exercise
of conscious strength the primitive de-
sire to reduce all elements to his own
sovereignty submerged every other
emotion. 81 can't enter into the
thing" he said. like you, | give no
explanations. | can only tell you that
on the day we talked together in this
room | was myself--in the full pos
session of my reason, the full knowl-
edge of my own capacities. The man
you have known in the last three
weeks. the man you have imagined in
the last four years, is shadow, an
unreality-a weakness in human form.
There is new Chilcote-if you will
only see him.
Eve was trembling as he ceased: her
face was flushed; there was a strange
brightness in her eyes. She was NOV
ed beyond herself.
"But the other you-the old you?"
"You must be patient" He looked
down into the fire. Times like the
last three weeks will come again
must come again; they are inevitable.
When they do come, you must shut
your eyes-you must blind yourself.
You must ignore them-and me- Is it
a compact? He still avoided her eyes.
She turned to him quietly. Yes
if you wish it." she said, below her
breath.
He was conscious of her glance, but
he dared not meet it. He felt sick at
the part he was playing, yet he held
to it tenaeiously.
81 wonder if you could do what few
men and fewer women are capable
off, he asked at last. Il wonder If
you could learn to live in the present?'
He lifted his head slowly and met her
eyes. "rThis is an-an experiment" he
went on. And, like all experiments,
1t has good phases and bad. When
the bad phases come round II want