The Red Cloud chief., 1907-05-10

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was denied to Eve. for scarcely had the
words left his lips before the thought
that dominated him asserted its prior
claim. Blind to the incredulity in her
eyes. he drew her swiftly forward and
half impeliing. half supporting her
forced her to descend the stairs.
Never in after life could he obliteratc
the remembrance OF that descent.
Fear, such as he could never expert
ence in his own concerns. possessed
him. One desire ovcrrode all others.
the desire that Ewes reputation. which
he himself had so nearly imperiled.
should remain unimperilcd. In the
shadow of that urgent duty. the de
spair of the past hours. the appalling
fact so lately realized, the future. with
its possible trials. became dark to his
imagination. In his new victory over
self the question of her protection pre-
dominated.
Moving under his compulsion, he
guided her hastily and silently down
the deserted stairs, drawing n breath
of deep relief as one after another the
landings were successfully passed, and,
still actuated by the suppressed need
of haste, he passed through the loo
way that they had entered under such
different conditions only a few min
utes before.
To leave the quiet court. to gain the
strand. to hail a belated hanson. was
rhe work of a moment. By an odd con-
%trivance of circumstance the luck that
had attended every phase Of his dual
life was again eXerted in his behalf.
No one had noticed their entry into
Cliford's inn: no one was moved to
curiosity by their exit. With an invol-
untary thrill of feeling he gave express
sion II his relief.
Thank God it's Overt" he said as Il
cab drew up. You don't know what
the strain has been"
Moving as il in a dream, Eve stepped
into the cab. AS yet the terrible de-
nouement to their enterprise had made
no clear impression upon her mind.
For the moment all that she was con.
scious of, all that she instinctively ac-
knowledged. was the fact that Loder
was still beside her.
In quiet obedience she took her place,
drawing aside her skirts to make room
for him, and in the same subdued man
ner he stepped into the vehicle. Then,
With the strange sensation Of RELIEVING
their earlier drive, they were aware of
the frightened rein and of the horses
first forward movement.
For several seconds neither spoke.
lyun .h,tttnn ont oil ntl,np tlnttuhfa
sat close to Loder, clinging tenaciOusly
to the momentary comforting sense of
protection. Loder. striving to marshal
his ideas, hcsitated before the ordeal
of speech. At last. realizing his re-
sponslbillty, he turned to her slowly.
Eve" he said In q low voice and
with some hesitation, IL van you to
know that in all this-from the moment
l saw him-from the momen under
stood~I have had you in my thoughts
you and no one else"
She raised her eyes to his face.
DO you realize lie began, afresh.
'Do you know what this-this thing
rncaas?"
Still she remained silent.
st means that after tonight there
will be no such person In LOndOn as
John Loder. Tomorrow the man who
was known by that name will be found
In his rooms; his body will be removed,
and at the post norton examination 1t
will be stated that he died of an over
dose of Morphia. His charwoman will
identify him as n solitary man who liv-
ed respectfully for years and the sud-
denly went down hill with remarkable
speed. 1t will be quite n common case.
Nothing of interest will be found In his
rooms. No relation will claim his body.
After the usual time he will be given
the usual burial of his class. These de-
tails are horrible, but there are times
when we must look at the horrible side
of life, because life Is incomplete with
out 1t.
These things | speak of are the
things that will meet the casual eye,
but in our sight they will have a very
different meaning.
Eve" he said, more v~ehemently, "a
whole chapter In. my life has been clos
ed tonight, and my first instinct is to
shut the book and throw it away. But
I'm thinking of you. Remember. I'm
thinking of you. Whatever the trial,
whatever the difficulty, no harm shall
come to you. You have my word for
that.
eth return with you now to Gros-
yeppr square. I'll remain there till a