The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1907-04-18

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no longer q bandage across his ewes
The reaction fared up like "a strin 81
lighted paper; then, like a strip Of
lighted paper, 1t dropped back to ashes.
He pushed the door open and SLOWLY
crossed the hail.
The mounting Of staircase is often
the index to mans state Of mind Az
Loder assembled the stairs of Chilcote,s
house his shoulders lacked their stiff
ness, his head was no longer erect. He
moved as though his feet were weight
ed. he had ceased to be the man Of
achievement whose smallest opinion
compels consideration. In the privacy
Of solitude he was the mere human f1ot
sam to which he had once compared
himself-the flotsam that, dreaming it
has found 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 CORR
dor to Ewes room. 1t was suggestive
Of his character that, having made his
decision, he did not daily over it's per
formance. Without waiting to knock.
he turned the handle and walked into
the ROOM
It looked precisely as it always look
ed, but to Loder the rich, subdued COL
Oring Of books and fowers-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
enormity of the task before him, made
| itself plain. Realization came to him
with vivid, overwhelming force and it
must be accounted to 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 a. beautiful gown, a
! long string of diaInonds was twisted
about her neck, and her soft, black
hair was coiled high after a foreign
fashion and held in place by large
| diamond comb. AS he entered she turn
ed hastily, almost nervously, 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 exclamation of alarm she
stepped forward.
What has happened?" she said
"You look like 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 tableau
as they stood there-he with his hard,
set face, she with her heightened COL
or, her inexplicably bright eyes. They
stood completely silent for a space
space that for Loder held no sugges-
ton of time. Then, finding the tension
unbearable, Eve spoke again. e..
''Has anything happened?" she ask
ed. IT'S 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 - the consideration - Of
himself. The sense of her question
reached him, but it's significance left
him untouched.
us anything wrong?' she reiterated
for the second time.
BY an effort he raised his eyes. No
man, he thought, since the beginning
of the world was ever set a task so
II Dot inf ,1~ 1,;o
lips parted.
"Everything in the world is wrong"
he said in a slow, hard voice.
Eve said nothing, but her color sud-
denly deepened.
Again Loder was unobservant, but
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
exaggerated, but their utterance, their
painfully brusque sincerity, precluded
| all suggestion of effect. Resolutely
holding her gaze, he repeated his ques-.
tion
'Tell me! Answer me! want to
know" -"
Ewes attitude was difficult to read.
She stood twisting the string of dia-
monds between her fingers.
"Tell me!' he said again.
She continued to look at him for
moment; then, as if some fresh i'm
pulse moved her, she turned away
from him toward the fire.
II cannot she said. 1--WE III
could not set myself to JUDICIARY
one" 5
Loder held himself rigidly in hand
Eve" he said quietly, II was at
the Arcadian tonight. The play was
Other Mems Shoes I suppose you've
read the book Other Mems ShoesY"
She was leaning on the mantelpiece,
and her face was invisible to him.
eyes, have read it," she said without
| 1ooLino ro11n6