The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1907-04-12


i = al yes ,Tsi to exercise a ghOsi
! by sheer strength OF viii. but one has
also to eliminate the idea that gave II
existence. Lillian Astrupp. with her
manifested ~ .Gence ,and her ephemeral
interest. gave linn ~ real uneasiLess,
bet Chloe and Chilcote's pos .ble
sumT1e s-erc rtltters Of graver con
sideratio.. .l.G ere were times when
they i1lmeS VERY dark and sinister.
What If ~ t,-e very WoYent OF fuifll-
ment Dut invariably ne snapped tie
thread Of the suppOsitiOn and TUNED
with ferC er ardor to his work Of prep
ARA on.
Aud, SO the last morni. VI his pro-
batioh d6wned. and for tie h..t time
be breathed freely.
He rose early on the day that was to
witness his great effort and dressed
sloWly. 1t was "a splendid morning.
The spirit of the spring seemed en-
bodied in the air. in the pale blue SKY,
in the shafts of cool sunshine that
dan Ell from tie mirror to the dressing
table. from tie dressing table to the
pictures on the walls of Chilcote's vast
room. Inconsequently with its dancing
rose memory of the distant pasta
memory of long forgotten days when,
as a child, he had been hidden to watch
the same sun perform the same fan
tastic evolutiOns. The sight and the
thought stirred him curiously with an
unlocked for sense of. youth. lie drew
himself together with an added touch
of decision as he passed out into the
corridor, and as he walked downstairs
he whistled bar or two of an inspirit-
ing tune
In the morning room Eve was al
ready waiting She looked up, colored
and smiled as he entered Her face
looked very fresh and young, and she
wore gown of the same pale blue
that she had worn on his first coming.
She looked up from an open letter as
be came into the room, and the sun
that fell through the window caught
her in shaft of light, intensifying
her blue eyes, her blue gown and the
bunch of viOlets fastened in her belt.
To Loder, still under sthe influence of |
EARLY memories. she seemed the en-
1odiment of some youthful ideal-some- |
hing lost, sought for and found again. |
of his feeling for her al |
most came to him as he stood there |
ooking at her. 1t lowered about him, |
t tipped him, as it were, with its |
wings; then it rose again anu scared |
way. Men like him-men keen to |
,rasp an opening where their careers
re concerned and tenacious to hold it
When once grasped-are frequently the
asst to look into their own hearts. He
danced at Eve, he acknowledged the
tir of his feeling, but he made no
tempt to define it's cause. He could
than he could have told
be precise date upon which, coming
ownstairs at 8 o'clock, he had first
ound her waiting breakfast for him.
he time when all such Incidents were
D stand out, each to nicely in Its APP
ointed place, had not yet arrived. For
he moment his youth had returned to
i'm; he possessed the knowledge of
york done, the sense Of present COM
in world Of agreeable
1ings; above all, the steady, quiet con
iction of his own capacity. All these
lings came to him In the moment of
Is entering the room, greeting Eve
nd passing to the breakfast table;
len, while his eyes still rested con-
,ntedly on the pleasant array of china
nd silver, while his senses were still Q
i've to the fresh. earthly scent of I
YES violets. the blow so long dreaded r
so slow in coming-fell with accumu.
ted force. 4