The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1907-03-29


my wife? know she win want 20
bear you home with US"
But Loder JOY In himself ind his
achievement Lad dropped from him,
He shrank Suddenly from Lady sarah's
congratulations and Ewes warm, silent
appreciation.
Thanks, sir" he said, but | don't
feel ft for society. A touch OF my
nerves. / suppose" He lughed short
". but do vou mind saying TO Eve
that hope / have satisfied her" He
added this as II in half reluctant after
thought
Then. with a short pressure Of
Fraide's hand, he turned, evading
the many groups that waited TO claim
him. and passed out OF the house alone.
Hailing cab. he drove to Grosyenor
square. All the exaltation Of an hour
ago had turned to ashes. His excite
ment had found its elimination in
sense OF futiiity and premonition.
He met no one in the hall or on the
stairs OF Ctilcote's house, and on enter
Ing the study he found that also de-
serted.
Greening had been among the most
Absorb ed of those who listened to
his speech. Passing at once into the
room, he crossed as If by instinct to
the desk, and there halted. On the top
of some unopened letters lay the sig
nificant yellow envelope Of a telegram;
the telegram that in an uniformed, sub
conscious way had sprung to his ex-
pectation on the moment of Fraide's
eongratulation.
Very quietly he picked it up, opened
and read it, and, with the automatic
caution that had become habitual, car
ried 1t across the room and dropped it /
In the fire. This done. he returned to
the desk, read the letters that awaited
Chilcote, and. scribbling the necessary
notes upon the margins, left them in
readiness for Greening. Then, moving
with the same quiet suppression, he
passed from the room. down the stairs
and out into the street by the way he
had come.
CHAPTER Xxx.
TIN the fifth day after the monen-
tous LIST of April on which he |
had recalled Loder and re-
sumed his own life Chilcote |
left his house and walked toward Bond
street. Though the morning was clear !
and the air almost warm for the time |
of year, he was buttoned into q long |
overcoat and was wearing a muller i
and a pair of doeskin gloves. AS he
passed along the street he kept close
to the house fronts to avoid the sun
that was everywhere stirring the win
ter bound town like a suffusion Of
young blood through old veins. He
avoided the warmth because in this
instance warmth meant light, but as
he moved he shivered slightly from
time to time with the haunting, perme-
ating cold that Of late had become his
persistent shadow.
He was i'll at ease as he hurried for
ward. With each succeeding day of
the old life the new annoyances, the
new obligations, became more hamper
ing Before his compact with Loder
this old life had been a net about his
feet. Now the meshes seemed to have
narrowed, the net itself to have spread
till it smothered his whole being His
own household, his own rooms even,
offered no sanctuary. The presence Of
another personality tinged the atmos-
Dhere. 1t was preposterous, but 1t was .
1ndeniable The lay figure that he had /
set in his place had proved to be flesh
and blood, had usurped his life, his
his very personality, by sheer
light of strength. AS he walked along :
Bond street in the first sunshine of the
rear, jostled by the well dressed crowd,
lie felt a pariah.
He revolted at the new order of
hings, but the revolt was silent one
he iron of expediency had entered into
lis soul. He dared not jeopardize Do-
lers position because he dared not dis
,ense with Loder. The door that
,uarded his vice drew him more re- =
istlessly with every indulgence, and :
Ioder's was the voice that called the a
open sesame" o
He walked on aimlessly. He had
zen but five days at home, and al 2
eady the quiet grass grown court of d
,lifford's inn, the bare staircase, the b
omfortless privacy Of Loder's rooms, Il
eemed haven of refuge. The speed
nth which this hunger had returned
frightened him.
He walked forward rapidly and with
ut encountering a check. Then sud-
emily the spell was broken. From the
owly moving, brilliantly dressed
lrong of people some one called him
Y his name, and, turning, he saw Lii
an Astrupp.
She was stepping from the door of
,weler's, and as he turned she paus
l, holding out her hand.
1.-THE very person would have wish L
! to seer she exclaimed. where
ave you been these hundred years?
We heard Of nobody but you since +
ou've turned politician and ceased to |
! mere member of parliament" She |
ughed softly. The laugh suited the (
yht spring air, as she herself suited r
- -. - At, l