Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1907-02-28

It's not on your feet I'm standing"
Loder laughed. NO" he said. "And
don't change the position. II you were
an inch higher I should be blind as
well is crippled"
The other laughed. 1t was a pleasant
surprise to find Chilcote amiable under
discomfort. He looked round again in
slight curiosity.
Loder felt the scrutiny. To create a
diversion he looked out along the cor
ridor. II believe we are waiting for
something" he exclaimed. "What's
this" Then quite abruptly he ceased
to speak.
Anything interestingly" Eve touched
his arm.
He said nothing. He made no effort
to look round. His thought as we'll as
his speech was suddenly suspended.
The mar in front of him let his eye
glass fall from his eye, then screwed
it in again.
"Jove," he exclaimed, here comes
u s%orceress! It's like the progress of
a fairy princess. I believe this is the
meaning of our getting penned in
here" He chuckled delightedly.
Loder said nothing. He stared
straight on over the others head.
Along the corridor, agreeably con-
scious Of the hum of admiration she
aroused, came Lillian Astrupp, SUI
rounded by a little court. Her delicate
face was lit up; her eyes shone under
the faint CLEAN Of her hair; her gown
Of gold embroidery swept round her
gracefully. She was radiant and tri-
umphant, but she was also excited. The
excitement vas evident in her laugh, in
her gestures, in her eyes, as they turn
another.
Loder, gazing in s~tupefaction over
the other mans head, saw it-felt and
understood it with a mind that leaped
back over a space Of years. AS in a
shifting panorama he saw a night of
italian valley-a confusion from which
one face shone out with something of
the pale, alluring radiance that filtered
over the hillside from the crescent
moon. 1t passed across his conscious
ness slowly, but with a slow complete
ness, and in it's light the incidents of
the past hour stood out in a new as
pect. The echo of recollection stirred
by Lady Bramfells voice, the re-echo
of it in the sisters tones; his own
blindness, his own egregious assurance
all struck across his mind.
Meanwhile the party about Lillian
drew nearer. He felt with instructive
certainty that the supper room was it's
less, held by a species Of fatalism. He
watched her draw near with an un-
moved face, but in the brief space that
passed while she traversed the corridor
he gagged to the full the hold that the
new atmosphere, the new existence,
had gained over his mind. With an IN
looked for rush Of feeling he realized
how dearly he would part with it.
AS Lillian came closer the meaning
Of her n became clearer to him.
She talked necessarily, laughing now
and then, but her eyes were never
quiet. These skinned the length of the
corridor, then glanced over the heads
crowded in the doorway.
1ll have something quite sweet,
Godfrey" she was saying to the man
beside her as she came within hearing.
"You know what l like-a sort of snow
fake wrapped up in sugar." AS she
said the words her glance wandered.
Loder saw it rest uninterestedly on a
boy a yard or two in front of him, then
move to the man over whose head he
gazed, then lift itself inevitably to his
face.
The glance was quick and direct. He
saw the look Of recognition spring
across it; he saw her move forward
suddenly as the crowd in the corridor
parted to let her pass. Then he saw
what seemed to him a miracle.
Her whole expression altered, her lips
parted, and she colored with annoy
ance. She looked like a spoiled child
who, seeing a bonbon box, opens it
to find it empty.
AS the press about the doorway
melted to give her passage the red
haired man in front of Loder was the
first to take advantage Of the space.
glove, Lillian" he said, moving for
ward, you look as If you expected
Chilcote to be somebody else, and are
disappointed to find he's only himselfm
he laughed delightedly at his own
joke.
The words were exactly the tonic
Lillian needed. She smiled her usual
undisturbed smile as she turned her
eyes upon him.
my dear Leonard, you're using your
eyeglass. When that happens you're
never responsible for what you see.''
Her words came more slowly and with
a touch of languid amusement. Her
composure was suddenly restored.
Then for the first time Loder chang
ed his position. Moved by an impulse
he made no effort to dissect, he stepped
back to Ewes side and slipped his arm
through hers-successfully c%oncealing
his left hand.
The warmth of her skin through her
long glove thrilled him unexpectedly.