The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1907-03-27

posed 10 emu our engagement Anu
| guess you are right. We do not
seem to care for each other as we
ought il we
You misunderstood me-" she said,
pale and with flashing eyes, and In
such struggle with her emotions
that she could say no more.
If / had not seen that only her pride
|. and her vanity were engaged in the
struggle and her heart not at all /
think l should have abandoned my
comfortable self-deception that my
own pride borbade discussion with
her As 1t was, I was able to say:
Don't try to spare me, Carlotta, I'm
glad you had the courage and the
good sense not to let US both drift
into irreyocable folly. / thank you"
| opened the door into the hall. Let
US talk no more about it. We could
say to each other only the things
that sting or the things that stab.
Let us be friends. You must give
me your friendship, at least" I took
her hand.
She looked strangely at me. You
want me to humble myself, to crawl
at your feet and beg your pardon"
said she between ner teeth. but
shan't'' She snatched away her hand
and threw back her head.
Il wish nothing but what is best for
Us both" said l. But let us not
talk of it now-when neither of us 10
calm
You don't care for mel" she
cried.
DO you love me?'' rejoined.
Her eyes shifted. I waited for her
reply, and when it did come, l said:
Let us go to breakfast"
I'll not go in just now she an
swered, in a quiet tone, sudden and
strange shift from that of the mo-
ment before. And she let me take her
hand, echoing my good-by, and made
no further attempt to detain me.
That was a gloomy breakfast de-
spite my efforts to make my own
seeming gocd-humor permeate to the
others. Mrs. Ramsay hid somber
face behind the coffee-urn; Ed ate flu
riously. noisily, choking every now
ton; his whole body was probably as
damp from his emotions as were his
eyes and his big friendly hand. The
breath. 1 was free.
But somehow freedom did not taste
as / had anticipated. Though | re-
minded myself that I had acted as
any man with pride and self-respect
would have acted in such delicate
circumstances, and though l knew that
Carlotta was no more in love with me
than l was with her, this end of our
engagement seemed even more humil-
iating to me than it's beginning had
seemed. 1t was one more instance
of that wretched fatality which has
pursued me through life, which has
made every one of my triumphs come
to me in mourning robes and with
gruesome face. In the glittering ar
ray of prizes" that tempts man to
make a beast and a fool of himself
in the gladiatorial show called Life,
the sorriest, the most ironic. is the
grand prize, Victory.
The parlor car was crowded: its
only untaken seat was in the smok.
ing compartment, which had four 9TH
er occupants, deep in a game of
poker. Three of them were types Of
commonplace, prosperous Americans;
and, therefore, interested me-espe-
cially as | was in the mood to well
come anything that would crowd to
the background my far from agree
able thoughts.
The others called him Doc" or
Woodruff. AS they played, they
drank from TASKS produced by each
in turn. Doc drank with the others,
and deeper than any of them. They
talked more and more, he less and
less, until finally he interrupted their
noisy volubility only when the game
compelled. 1 saw that he was one
of those men upon whom amiable con-
versation or liquor or any other relax
ing force has the reverse of the usual
effect. Instead of relaxing, he drew
himself together and concentrated
more obstinately upon his game
Luck, so far as the cards controlled
it, was rather against him, and the
other three players took turns at au.
dacious and by no means unskillful
play. I was soon admiring the way
he sized up" and met each in turn
Prudence did not make him timid
He advanced and retreated, "bluffed"
daring
At station perhaps so miles from
Chicago the other three left-and Doc
had $500 of their money.
| dropped into the seat opposite him
it was by the window-and amused
myself watching him, while waiting
for a chance to talk to him; for ]
saw that he was a superior person,
and. in those days, when l was in.
conspicuous and so was not compel.
ed constantly to be on guard, / never
missed a chance to benefit by such
exchanges of ideas.
He was apparently about 40 years
old. to strike a balance between the
youth of eyes. mouth. and contour, and
the age of deep lines and grayish,
thinning hair. He had large. frank
blue eyes, a large nose, a strong fore |
head and chin, grossly self-indulgent |
mouth-there was the weakness,
there, as usual! Evidently, the |