Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-03-28

1 SdtlOu VI Dlulh loss his IuCultleS nuu
been numbcd. In the quarter of an
hour that followed the rise Of the cur
tain he had sat staring at the stage,
seeing nothing, hearing nothing. filled
with the enormity of the void that sud
denly surrounded him. Then from
habit, from constitutional tendency. he
had begun slowly and perseverngly
TO draw first one thread and then an
other from the tanglc of his thoughts,
to forge with doubt and difficulty the
chain that was to draw him toward the
future.
1t was upon this same incomplete
md yet tenacious chain that his mind
worked as he trnversed the familiar
streets and ut last gained the house he
had so easily learned to call home.
AS he inserted the latchkcy and felt
It move smoothly in the lock a momen-
tary revolt against his own judgment,
his own censorship. swung him sharply
toward reaction. But It Is only the
blind who can walk without tremor
on the edge of an abyss. and there was
no longer bandnge across his eyes.
The reaction fared up like strip Of
lighted paper; then, like strip Of
lighted paper, 1t dropped back to ashes.
He pushed the door open and slowly
crossed the hall
The mounting Of a staircase Is often
the index to mans state of mind. AS
Loder assembled tie stairs of Chilcote's
house his shoulders lacked their stiff
ness. his head was no longer erect. lie
moved rs though his feet were weight
ed. He had ceased to he the man of
achievement whose smallest opinion
compels consideration. in the privacy
of solitude he was the mere human fiot
sam to which he had once compared
himself-the ilotSam that. dreaming it
has found a harbor. wakes TO find itself
the prey of the incoming tide.
He paused at the head Of the stairs to
rally his resolutions Then. still walk
ing heavily, he passed down the corri-
dor to EYES room. 1t was suggestive
Of his character that, having made his
decision, he did not daily over its per
Torrance. Without waiting to knock
he turned the handle and walked into
the room.
It looked precisely as II always look
ed. but to Lodcr the rich Suhdued col
oring Of books and flowcrs-the whole
air of culture and repose that the place
conveyed-seemed to hold a deeper
meaning than before. and it was on the
instant that his eyes, crossing the in
animate objects. rested on their owner
that the true force OF his position, the
cnormity OF the task before him. made
itself plain. Realization came to him
with vivid, overwhelming force. and It
must be accounted g. his credit in the
summing of his qualities that then, in
that moment Of trial the thought Of re-
treat. the thought Of yielding, did not
present itself
Eve was standing by the mantel-
piece. She wore beautiful gown. a
long string or diamonds was twisted
about her neck, and her soft. black
hair was coicd high after a foreign
fashion and held in place by n large
diamond comb. As he entered she turn
cd hastily, almost nervouslv, and look
ed at him with the rapid, searching
glance he had learned to expect from
her. Then almost directly her express
sion changed to one of quick concern.
With faint excarl tiop of alarm she
stepped forward, .
, What has happaped?" she said.
"You look like a ghost
Loder made no answer. Moving into
the room, he paused by the oak table
that stood between the fireplace and
the door.
They made an unconscious tnbleau
as they stood there Ae with his hard,
set face, she with her heightened col
, or. her ineXplicably bright eyes. They
stood completely silent for space
, a space that for Lodcr held no sugges-
ton of time. Then, finding the tension
unbearable, Eve spoke again.
Has anything happenedE' she ask
ed. as anything wrong"
Had he been less engroSSed the in
tensity of her concern might have
struck him, but in a mind so harassed
as his there was only room for one
consideration &c., the consideration of
himself The sense Of her question
reached him, but It's significance left
him untouched.
as anything wrongf" she reiterated
for the second time.
BY an effort he raised his eyes. Nc
man. he thought. since the beginning
: Of the world was ever set Il task Sc
.. cruel as his. Painfully and slowly his
lips parted
, "Everythng in the world is wrong,
he said in a slow, hard voice.
Eve said nothing but her color sud
denly deepened.
Again Loder was unObseryant, buI
, with the logged resolution that mark
ed him he forced himself to his task
=. You despise lies" he said at last
. "Tell me what you would think of &
man whose whole life was one elab
> Grated lie The words were slightly
y exaggerated, but their utterancc, theil
painfully brusque sincerity, precludeC
, all suggestion of effect Resolutels
. holding her gaze, he repeated his ques
y. ton.
+ Tell me! Answer me. | want t.
4 know"
f Ewes attitude was difficult to read
n She stood twisting the string Of dia
. mOnds between her fingers.