Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-08-18

| cles that began nowhere and ended at tn,
same place.
AT length. in spite Of her flow of volatile
spirits. Miss Hansborough seemed to fee
growing tension. She broke a red rose
bud and its spray of green from the cluster
before her. with nervous shake Of hel
| tanned fingers.
Jack" she said brightly. as If continu
Ing conversation that had been dropped
while she fastened the rosebud in hel
dark hair. when that Harvard game
Is played I shall wear bunch Of lnese az
pig pig as a plate-for Harvard, you know
| They're not exactly crimson, but"
That will be bully!" Jack commended
with over,earnestness. We'll all wea,
soup-plate bouquets of red roses"
She broke off a full-blown rose and
| waved 1t over her head.
And We'll 'Rah. rah, rah' for Fair Har.
ward until we're hoarse!'
| And If Harvard wins, we'll burn red fire
In the yard and paint the statue of old
added
IL we VIM Jack. you're no Harvard
Then I don't doubt" he cried. "we'l
| win: OF course we'll win"
All seemed relieved by this change In the
current Of talk. Having caught his cue
! and feeling more at his ease, Jack, with
Margaret. ratified on about the coming Har-
vard-Yale game. in which he was to have
| part. and in which all Of US were as
sumed to be intensely interested.
Having come into the dining room with
the talk of the valet in my ears and a
| sudden suspicion of him in my heart, this
suspicion had for time extended to Jack
Benson. But he. showing now the true
enthusiasm Of a youthful undergraduate,
did not fit my preconception Of a man act
Ing part. And all Of Benson's accessories
seemed too realistic, from the loving glow
and anxious attitude of Mrs Randolph and
the bright girlishness of Miss Hansborough
to the quiet Difference Of the soft-footed
hot
playing part, not these people, and my
embarrassment my sense Of guilt and con-
fusion, grew at the thought.
Yet now. as before, / seemed driven on.
in path had not chosen and whose end
could not foresee So while studied the
situation I continued to force myself to
talk. forced myself to eat. forced myself to
an interest in college games and college
gossip, and even into an unnatural and un-
felt gayety. I was aware that Mrs. Ran
dolph watched me closely, not as IL she
doubted me. but as with rapture tempered
by fears.
came to an end. 1t was not long, l sup
pose. and the conversation was as bright
and after the beginning, personally as COL
orless as the wit and high spirits Of Miss
Hansborough and Jack Benson could make
1t; yet 1t was to me interminable, and in
some respects painful; and l was glad to
rise from the table.
Benson was speaking to Miss Hans
borough when Mrs. Randolph linked her
arm lovingly in mire.
Were going right back to the old ways,
Julian she whispered. giving my arm a
passionate pressure. Shall we have some
music now or would you prefer to smoke
with Jack in the library?"
THE music" l answered, helplessly,
after a moment of hesitation.
Margaret plays and sings even better
than before, 1 Think she said.
She turned to Miss Hansborough.
Margaret. Julian thinks he would like to
hear you sing"
My head felt giddy as we went into the
music room, where Miss Hansborough
seated herself at the piano, with Jack BEN
son leaning over her and assisting her in
running through some sheets of music.
Rag time is my favorite." Benson an
nounced, youthfully, as he produced some
thing from the pile.
l sat with Mrs. Randolph near one of the
deep, mullioned windows. The curtains of
flmy lace served somewhat as a screen
Cor which l was not sorry. I began to feel
the need Of much more impenetrable
sion and guilt. Behind that screen Mrs
Randolph drew one of my hands into her
own warm. soft palms. and 1t seemed to
me that a threat of tears blurred her ewes
Yet for all that they held a look of con-
tentment
Adaptability to all sorts of singular situa
tons and circumstances l had thought one
of my strong points, yet here adaptablitv
and the seff-command necessary to play INV
part were both breaking down
Miss Hansborough ignored Benson,s inyi-
tation to rag time" struck a deep chord
from the plano and played q waltz.