The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1907-12-17
CHAPTER xxiV.-contlnued.

,,..,o barbor. l saw Mowbray Lang
,s.,s Incidence at anchor. l glanced
sOvard Steuben Point-where his
s,roins. the Vivians, lived-and
sSorgbi I recognized his launch at
Ut nier. We saluted the Incidence;
w. Incidence saluted us. My launch
sa. mined away and took me ashore.
strolled along the path that wound
md the base of the hill toward the
i'oDne1s. At the crossing of the path
down from the house, / paused and
,ngered on the glimpse of one OF the
corner towers of the great snowy
rolace. I was m%uttering something
Istaned to myself. 1t vas "Mul-
bolland. Mrs. Mulholland and the four
,tt,o Muhollands." And / felt like
laughing aloud, such a joke was it
that I should be envying a policeman
his potato patch and his fat wife and
his four brats, and that he should be
In a position TO pity me.
You may be imagining that, through
all Anita had been dominating my
mind. That is the way it is in the
romances; but not in life. No doubt
there are men who brood upon the
impossible, and moon and maunder
away their lives over the grave of a
dead love; no doubt there are people
who will say that, because l did not
shoot Langdon or her, or myself, or
dy to a desert or pose in the crowded
places of the world as the last scene
of a tragedy, ! therefore cared little
about her. L offer them this sugges-
lion: A man strong enough to give
a love worth a woman's while is
strong enough to live on without her
when he finds he may not live with
Der.
AS 1 stood there that summer day
looking toward the crest of the hill
at the mocking mausoleum of my dead
dream, l realized what the incessant
battle of the street had meant to me
There is peace for me only in the
storm" said l. But, thank God, there
is peace for me somewhere"
Through the foliage I had glimpses
Of some one coming slowly down the
zigzag path. Presently, at n of the
turnings halfway up the hill, appeared
Mowbray Langdon. What is he do
ing here" thought 1, scarcely able to
believe my eyes. Here of all places!"
And then I forgot the strangeness of
his being at Dawn Hill in the strange
ness of his expression. For it was ap-
parent, even at the distance which
separated us, that he was suffering
from some great and recent blow. He
looked old and %haggard; he walked
like a man who neither knows MOI
cares where he is going.
He had not seer me, and nv i'm.
pulse was to avoid him by continuing
on toward the kennels. l had no es
pecial feeling against him; l had moi
lost Anita because she cared for him
or he for her, but because she did not
care for me-simply that to meet
would be awkward, disagreeable for
us both. AT the Slight noise of my
movement to go on, he halted, glanced
round eagerly, as If he hoped the
sound had been made by some one he
wished to see. His glance fell on me
He stopped short, was for an instant
disconcerted; then his face lighted III
with devilsh Joy. "Youi" he cried
Just the mani" And he descended
more rapidly.
At first 1 could make nothing of this
remark. But as he drew nearer ant
nearer, and his ugly mood became
more apparent, l felt that he was look
ing w to provoking me into Civ
ing MIN a distraction from whatever
was tormenting him. l waited. A few
minutes and we we're face to face.
outWaruly calm, but my anger SLOWLY
nshtlng up as he deliberately applied
70 II the torch of his insolent eyes. He
was wearing his old familiar air o.
Syntcal assurance. Evidently, witt
- recovered fortune, he had recov
~ MS conviction of his great su
peilorlty to the rest of the human
.ace-the child had climbed back OF
L enair that made it tall and ha(
Lotsorten its tumble. And l was won
SeIing again that 1, so short a time
Nore' mad been crude enough to BIZ
"Soihated and fooled by those tawdr,
~ tlss and p~retenses. For the man
now saw him, was obviously shall
VAIN, a slave to those o
man-oithe-world" passions-ostenta
non and cynicism and skill at vices ole
mankind and tedious as a tread
,d' tne commonplace routine of the
and foolish and p~urposeless. 4
ieser' handsome fellow, but the NOR,
1bo aiul that he was by nature abov,
self. ne pro'teu MN
He fought hard to keep his eyes stead
gu nine; but they would waver ant
ou Not, however, before ] hat
tl aeep Down in them the begin
nss OF fear. You see, you wer,
'slaken,' said l.. You have nothinl
say TO me-or l to you"
4e knew had looked straight to tn,
.'om OF his real self, and had seer
has coward that is in every man VIII,
oeen bred to appearances only
Use his vanity, the towards sub
futute for courage
Aou think | am afraid of ,,ou - IA,