Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1907-01-31


heard it now for the first time and,
without being aware, answered to It.
aYes, / remember. she said.
ION that day you believed In me-
In his earnestness he no longer simu
lated Chilcote; he spoke with his own
steady reliance. He saw Eve stir.
unclasp and clasp her hands, but he
went steadily on. "On that day yon
saw me in new light. You acknowl-
edged me- He emphasized the slight
" peculiar word s'But since that
day''-his voice quickened--ssince that
day your feelings have changed, your
faith in me has fallen away" He
watched her closely, but she made no
sign, save to lean still nearer to the
fire. He crossed his arms over the
back Of her chair. you were justi-
fed he said suddenly. 1--WE not been
myself since that day." As be said
the words his GOODNESS forsook him
slightly. He loathed the necessary lie,
yet his egotism clamored for vindica-
ton "All men have their lapses," he
went on @There are times there are
days and weeks when when my
The word nerves. touched his tongue,
hung upon it, then died away I'M
spoken.
| Very quietly, almost without a
sound, Eve had risen and turned to-
ward him. She was standing very
straight, her face a little pale. the hand
that rested on the arm Of her chair
trembling slightly.
| "John,'' she said quickly, don't say
| that word! Don't say that hideous
| word nervesr don't feel that can
bear it tonight-not just tonight. Can
you understaudT
| Loder stepped back. Without COM
pretending, he felt suddenly and
strangely at loss. Something in her
face struck him silent and perplexed-
It seemed that without preparation he
had stepped upon dangerous ground
With an underlined apprehension, he
waited, looking at her.
s'I can't explain It," she went on with
| nervous haste 81 can't give any rea-
sons, but quite suddenly the the farce
has grown unbearable used not to
| think-used not even to care-but sud-
denly things have changed-0r have
changed" She paused, confused and
| distressed. "Why should it be? Why
should things changer She asked the
| question sharply, as if in appeal
| against her own incredulity.
LoGer turned aside. He was afraid
of the triumph, volcanic and irrepres-
| sible, that her admission reused.
.sWhy?" she said again.
He turned slowly back. "You forget
that I'm not a magician" he said
gently. 81 hardly know what you are
speaking of"
For a moment she was silent, out in
that moment her eyes spoke Pain,
distress, pride, all strove for express
sion; then at last her lips parted.
DO you say that in seriousness?" she
asked.
It was no moment for fencing, and
Loder knew it. In seriousness" he
replied shortly.
Then | shall speak seriously too"
Her voice shook slightly and the color
came back into her face, but the hand
on the arm of the chair ceased to trem-
BILE. For more than four years l
have known that you take drugs-for
more than four years have acquiesced
in your receptions. in your mean
! nesses''-
There was an instants silence. Then
I.oder stepped forward.
You knew-for four yearsY' he said,
livery slowly. For the first time that
night he remembered Chilcote and
forgot himself.
gesture, as if, in flinging of discre-
ton and silence, she appreciated to the
full the new relief of speech.
Eyes, / knew Perhaps | should have
spoken when first surprised the Sc
cret, but it's all so past that it's useless
to speculate now. 1t was fate, / sup
pose l was very young, you were
very unapproachable, and-and we had
no love to make the way easy" For
second her glance faltered and she
looked away "a woman's-a girls
/ disillusioning is very sad comedy-it
| should never have an audience" She
laughed a little bitterly as she looked
| back again II saw all the deceits, all
the subterfuges. all the lies" She
said the word deliberately, meeting his
! eyes.
Again he thought of Chilcote, but his
| face paled.
II saw it all. lived with it all till
| grew hard and Indifferent ! &C
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 influ-
ence; then, on that night
| Eyes. On that night?" Loder's voice
| was tense.