Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-02-28
said the word deliberately, meeting his


eyes.
Again he thought of Chilcote but his
face paled.
81 saw It all. lived with IL all till
I grew hard and indifferent-till l ac-
quiesced 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 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 in1u-
ence; then, on that night
Eyes. On that nght?" 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 1t was impossl-
BILE to say, but her eyes had lost their
resolution. She stood hesitating for a
moment, then she turned and moved
to the mantelplece.
THAT night you found me changed"
I4odcr was inslStent.
"Changed-and vet 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.
II thought she began. 1T seem
ed Once more she paused, hamper
ed by her own uncertainty. her own
sense of puz2ling incongrulty, Il don't
know why I speak like this" she went
on Mt last, as if in justification of her
self, cor why l want to speak. But a
feeling-an extraordinary, incOmpre-
henSibe feeling seems to urge me Oh,
! The same feeling that came to Inc on
the day we had tea togcther-the feel
ing that made me-that almost made
me believe
"Belleve what?" The words escaped
him without volition.
At sound of his voice she turned.
"Believe that miracle happened" she
said; that you had found strength.
had freed yourself
From morphia"
From morphia."
In the silence that followed LoGer
lived through a century of suggestion
and indecision His first feeling was
for himself. but his first clear thought
was for Chilcote and their compact.
He stood. aphorically, on a stone
In the middle of Il stream. balancing
on one foot. then on the other: looking
to the right bank, then to the left. At
last, as it always did, inspiration came
to him slowly. He realized that by
one plunge he might save both Chill
cote and himself.
He crossed quickly to the fireplace
and stood by Eve. you We're right
/ In your belief" he said For all that
time, from the night you spoke to me
| of Frade to the day you had tea in
this room, never touched drug
She moved suddenly, and he saw her
| face. John" she said unsteadlly, you
II have known you to lie to me
about other things"
With hasty movement he averted
! his head. The doubt. the appeal in her
words, shocked him. The whole isola-
/ ton Of her life seemed summed up in
| the one short sentence. For the instant
! he forgot Chilcotc. With reaction OF
/ feeling lie turned to her again.
Look at mel" he said hrusquely.
She raised her eyes
DO you believe I'm speaking the
/ TRUTH
She searched his eyes intently. the
doubt and hesitancy still struggling IL
her face.
But the last three weeks" she said
reluctantly. How can you ask me tc
helieve?"
He had expected this and he met /,
steadily enough. Nevertheless hi,
courage faltered. To deceive this
woman, even to Justify himself had il
the last half hour become something
sacrlegious.
"The last three weeks must be
buried he said hurriedly. mo mar
could free himself suddenly from--fron
a vice" He broke off abruptly. He
hated Chilcote; he hated himself
Then Ewes face, raised in distressed
You have been silent and patient fol
years" he said suddenly. Can yor
be patient and silent little longer?'
He spoke without consideration. HI
was conscious of no selishness he
meath his words. In the first exercise
OF conscious strength the primitive de
sire to reduce all elements to his Owr
sovereignty submerged every othe
emotion. 81 can't enter into tn,
thing" he said; like you. l give n,
explanations. | can only tell you tina
on the day we talked together in thi
room ] was myself-n the full pos
session of my reason, the full knowl
edge of my own capacities. The maj
you have known in the last three
weeks. the man you have imagined il
the last four years, is a shadow. al
unrealty-a weakness in human form
There is new Chilcote-if you will
only see him."
Eve was trembling as he ceased he