The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1907-03-22

GAAN eA2AA~AH
II was a moment for fencing. an
Loder knew il. In seriousness" b
replied shortly.
Then / shall speak seriously. too.
her voice shook slightly and the colo
came back into her face, but the hanC
on the arm Of the chair ceased to trem
bic. For more than four years hav,
Known that you take drugs-for more
than four years l have acquiescet
IN your receptions, in your mean
uesses7-
There was an instant's silence. Then
Loder stepped forward.
You knew-fOr four years = he said,
very slowly. For the first time that
night he remembered Chilcote and
forgot himself
Eve lifted her head with a quick
gesture, as If. in finging of discre-
tion and silence. she appreciated TO the
full the new relief of speech.
Yes, | knew. Perhaps l should have
spoken when | first surprised the Sc
cret. but it's all so past that it's useless
TO speculate now. 1t was fate, sup
pose. l was very young, you were
very unapproachable, and-and we had
no love to make the way easy" For
second her glance faltered and she
looked away. "a woman's-a girls
disillusioning is very sad comedy-it
should never have an audience" She
laughed little bitterly as she looked
back again. Il saw all the deceits, all
the subterfuges, all the-hes." She
said the word deliberately, meeting his
eyes.
Again he thought of Chilcote, but his
face paled.
II saw it all. lived with 1t all till
I grew hard and indifferent-till l ac-
guessed in your nerves as readily as
the rest of the world that hadn't sus-
pected and didn't know" Again she
laughed nervously. And thought the
Indifference would last forever. If one
lives in a groove for years, one gets
frozen up. l never felt more frozen
than on the night Mr. Fraide spoke to
me of you-asked me to use my infiu-
ence: then, on that night
Eyes. On that night?' Loder's voice
was tense.
But her excitement had suddenly fall
en-. Whether his glance had quelled it |
or whether the force of her feelings |
had worked itself out it was impossi- I
BILE to say, but her eyes had lost their
resolution. She stood hesitating for a
moment, then she turned and moved
to the mantelpiece.
"That night you found me changedw
Loder was insistent.
"Changed-and yet not changed"
She spoke reluctantly, with averted
head.
And what did you Think"
Again she was silent Then again a
faint excitement tinged her cheeks.
Il thought she began. 1T seem
ed Once more she paused, hamper
ed by her own uncertainty, her own
sense OF pulling incongruity Il don't I
know why speak like this" she went
on at last. as if in justification of her '
self, "or why l want to speak. But a
feeling-an extraordinary. incompre- I
hensible feeling seems to urge me on,
The same feeling that came to me on t
the day we had tea together-the feel c
ing that made me-that almost made 8
me believe z
Believe what?" The words escaped
him without volition. 5
At sound of his voice she turned. Ii
Believe that a miracle happened" she Ii
said; that you had found strength,
had freed yourself" b
From morphia" d
"From morphia." 8
In the silence that followed Loder d
lived through century of suggestion Il
and INDIGESTION. His first feeling was ir
FOR himself but his first clear thought p
was for Chilcote and their compact %
He stood, metaphorcally, on stone ii
n the middle of stream, balancing b,
III one foot, then on the other; looking bt
% the right bank, then to the left. At eN
asst, as it always did, inspiration came
o him slowly. He realized that by hi
me plunge lie might save both Chill ID
,Ote and himself. "
He crossed quickly to the fireplace
md stood by Eve. you were right II
II your DellCl, ne Sdlu. rUF All ludI ne
ime, from the night you spoke to me
# Fraide to the day you had tea in eli
his room, ] never touched drug"
She moved suddenly. and he saw her
ace. "John," she said unsteadily, you II
il have known you to lie to me
bout other things"
With hasty movement he averted ~
Is head. The doubt, the appeal in her az
'ords, shocked him. The whole isola- 10
on of her life seemed summed up in sp'
lie one short sentence. For the instant Ne
e forgot Chilcote. With reaction of "
ceiling be turned to her again. ne
Look at mer' he said brusquely. to
She raised her eyes. the
do you believe I'm speaking the the
nth" thr
She searched his eyes intently, the na'
oubt and hesltancy still struggling in VIII
or face get
But the last three weeks?" she said his
'luctantly How can you ask me to ,ot
AIiavoy,