Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1907-04-04

loyment Of q man who knows himself
fully in his depth, while Eve slipped her
tea or stitched peacefully at q strip of
embroidery.
On these occasions she made a per
feet listener. Here IL there she en-
couraged him with an intelligent re-
mark, but she never interrupted. She
knew when to he silent and when to
speak, when to merge her w individ-
uality and when to make it felt. In
these days of stress and preparation he
came to her unconsciously for rest; he
treated her as he might have treated a
younger brother-relying or 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 fame quickly into her cheek.
Meanwhile Loder worked persistent
~. With each day that brought the
crisis Of Fraide's scheme nearer his ac-
tiyity increased-and with it an inten-
styling of the nervous strain. For if
he had his hours of exaltation he also
had his hours Of black apprehension.
1t is all very we'll to exercise q ghost
by sheer strength of will, but n has
also to eliminate the idea that gave it
existence. Lillian Astrupp, with her
unattested evidence and her ephemeral
interest, gave him no real %uneaslness,
but Chilcote and Chilcote's possible
| summons We're matters Of graver con
| sideration, and there were times when
they doomed very dark and sinister.
What If 1T the very moment of fulfill,
ment- But Invariably he snapped tho
thread of the %supposition and turned
with fiercer 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 OH the day that was to
witness his great effort and dressed
slowly. 1t was a 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 a memory Of the distant pasta
memory of long forgotten days when.
as a 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
be whistled a 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 Il shaft of light, intensifying
her blue eyes. her blue gown and the
bunch Of violets fastened in her belt.
To Loder, still under the influence of
early memories, she seemed the n
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. 1t 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 ii
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 nc
attempt to define it's cause. He could
no more have given reason for his
sensations than be could have tolC
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 APP
pointed place, had not vet arrived. Fol
the moment his youth had returned t.
him; he possessed the knowledge OF
work done, the sense of present com
partnership in a world of agreeable
things: above all, the steady, quiet con
viction 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-fell with accumu
lated force.