Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1907-02-21

knew when to be silent ana When &c
speak, when to merge her own individ-
uality and when to make 1t felt. In
these days Of stress and preparation he
came to her unconsciousiy for rest; he
treated her as he might have treated a
younger brother relying on her discre-
ton, turning to her as by right for
sympathy, comprehension and friend
ship. Sometimes as they sat silent in
the richly colored, homelike room Eve
would pause over her embroidery and
let her thoughts spin momentarily for
ward-spin toward the point where,
the brunt of his ordeal passed, he must
of necessity seek something beyond
mere rest. But there her thoughts
would inevitably break off and the
blood flame quickly into her cheek.
Meanwhile Loder worked persistent
". With each day that brought the
crisis of Trades scheme nearer his ac-
tivity increased--and with it an inten-
styling of the nervous strain. For II
he had his hours of exaltation he also
had his hours Of black apprehension.
It is all very well to exercise ghost
by sheer strength of will, but one has
also to eliminate the idea that gave it
existence. Lillian Astrupp, with her
unattested evidence and her ephemeral
interest. gave him no real uneasiness,
but Chilcote and Chilcote's possible
summons were matters of graver con-
sideration, and there were times when
they doomed very dark and sinister.
What if at the very moment of fulfill
ment- But invariably he snapped the
thread of the superstition and turned
with fercer ardor to his work of prep
aration.
And so the last morning Of his pro-
baton dawned, and for the first time
he breathed freely.
He rose early on the day that was to
witness his great effort and dressed
slowly. It was splendid morning.
The spirit of the spring seemed en-
bodied in the air, in the pale blue sky.
in the shafts of cool sunshine that
danced from the mirror to the dressing
table, from the dressing table to the
pictures on the walls of Chilcote's vast
room Inconsequently with its dancing
rose memory of the distant pasta
memory of long forgotten days when.
as child, he had been hidden to watch
the same sun perform the same fan
tastic evolutions. The sight and the
thought stirred him curiously with an
unlocked for sense of youth. He drew
himself together with an added touch
of decision as he passed out into the
corridor, and as he walked downstairs
he whistled bar or two of an inspirit-
ing tune.
In the morning room Eve was al
ready waiting. She looked up. colored
and smiled as he entered. Her face
looked very fresh and young, and she
wore a gown of the same pale blue
that she had worn on his first coming.
She looked up from an open letter as
he came into the room, and the sun
that fell through the window caught
her in shaft Of light, intensifying
her blue eyes. her blue gown and the
bunch of vioEets fasseae.i in her belt.
To Loder, still Gnler the influence OF
early memories. she seemed the en-
bodiment of some youthful ideal-some
thing lost, sought for and found again.
Realization of his feeling for her al
most came to him as he stood there
looking at her. Ii lowered about him,
it tipped him, as it were, with its
wings; then it rose again and scared
away. Men like him-men keen to
grasp an opening where their careers
are concerned and tenacious to hold it
when once grasped-are frequently the
last to look into their own hearts. He
glanced at Eve, he acknowledged the
stir of his feeling, but he made no
attempt to define its cause. He could
no more have given reason for his
sensations than he could have told
the precise date upon which, coming
downstairs at 8 o'clock, he had first
found her waiting breakfast for him
The time when all such incidents were
to stand out, each to a nicely in its ap.
pointed place, had not yet arrived. Fol
the moment his youth had returned to
him; he possessed the knowledge OF
work done, the sense of present com.
partnership in world of agreeable
things: above all, the steady, quiet con.
yiction of his own capacity. All these
things came to him in the moment OF
his entering the room, greeting Eve
and passing to the breakfast table;
then, while his eyes still rested con
tentedly on the pleasant array of china
and silver, while his senses were still
alive to the fresh, earthly scent OF
Ewes violets, the blow so long dreaded
so slow in coming-f fell with accumu-
lated force.
CHAPTER XIV.