The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-11-23

AS the window curtain huttered In
the summer breeze. she caught a
glimpse of a straight, sturdy figure,
moving with slow strides down the
avenue In the direction of the prom
ised meeting place. Dudley was
smoking a pipe, and his soft gray
felt hat was drawn down over his
eyes, the usual sullen preoccupation
of the young face, to which for days
she had been accustomed. having
given place. as she saw at a glance,
to something far more definite,
She watched him with touch of
remorse as he seated himself under
the clump of pine trees and struck
a match. When Dudley was worried
he always smoked, and she was only
too painfully conscious that he had
been both worrying and smoking
continuously of late. Already he
was looking quite pale and thin, and
a sudden wave Of pity swept her.
Then her eye again returned to the
letters. II only he could have writ
ten them. If only he could have low
ed her like that She smiled a little
sadly to herself at the incongruity.
Nothing could have offered a great
er contrast than did Dudley's blunt,
downright avowal and the passion
ate outpouring of the love-letters.
The two men we're as disslmilar as
puritan and pagan; yet in each there
was something that offered an ap-
peal. so that there were moments
when her decision wavered. And
there was a certain masterful ele-
,ment in Dudley's composition that at
times had well-nigh conquered She
had almost loved him. she confessed.
He was SO many of the things she
cared for in man. and he was
strong in spirit. in mind, and in
body She liked that quiet sober
way he had that increased his man
liness and seemed to Offset the diff
ference in age between them that
made her his senior by some four or
five years. She liked those splendid
shoulders of his. that smooth. firm
jaw, the fearless eyes with the hint,
yes, just hint, of poetic feeling.
But he had not been poetic. It ap-
peared, after all His love-making
had seemed so utterly commonplace,
and he had been, poor boy, so absurd
ly afraid of her. She had seen him
tremble and grow pale when she had
entered room Unexpectedly, and
though II had touched her, It would
have touched her far more had he
been able to translate his feeling in
to picturesque speech. She was of
the type of woman that demands the
rose. The more romantic wooing of
the youth of the letters was of kind
that pleased her, and a certain wild
strain In her blood responded to it.
It was difficult to refuse an answer
to that call. Her whole being, sud-
denly awakened as out of sleep. shiv-
cred and stirred in sort of anxious,
but delicious wonderment. uncertain
whence II had come, or whittier IL
might lead, yet mindful only of one
thing--its irresistible authority.
She glanced quickly at the clock. 1t
lacked Just ten minutes of the hour.
Down below Dudley was relighting his
pipe The boy was certainly bent on
killing himself, and she must put a
stop to that eternal smoking. She
would give herself one last test, and
then-then she would dress quickly
and go down to him, and she would
surely, surely tell him. But what?
He was leaving tonight for Tennes-
see on unexpected business that COM
PEELED his presence there. Would he
go as her accepted lover, or was she
TO send him away desolate? The let
ters seemed to offer a mute challenge
to her indecision. and as her eyes fell
upon them again she reached forth
hand and snatched up the last one,
In a spirit of sudden daring.
She opened II with trembling fin
gers, and as her glance hurried down
the page with the eagerness of first
reading, all at, once the ivory of her
skin was flushed from her throat to
brow and the beautiful dark head
bent low. She read:I5f us. 4oiias.a
my dearest, i wonder--if you could
know little. just little of the great
and unutterable joy have in daring
to worship you'll wonder what would
be your commands to me. And yet
II you wished me no longer to love
you, how could | obey? Day and
night dream of you, dear and once
only once-I held you in my arms.
We were together on a rocky, storm
driven beach, and in all the great uni
verse there was no one. positively no
one but you and me. could hear
the roar of the breakers and see the
wild stars as the hurrying clouds
swept past. You were standing a lit
tie apart from me, and above me. as
you must be always, dear, but sud
denly there seemed to come to you
some sort of need OF me when all at.
once II grew fearfully dark. You
gave little frightened cry and reach.
ed forth both your hands. turned
quickly, and as did so the wind
flung you, my darling, straight into
my arms! And I2knewY ais 1 held you
close for one instant that | WAS as