Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-31

presence! In her secret neart or hearts
she admired him for his words: she felt
them at the moment sink into her MEM
DRY. and knew that she would never for
get the mastery of his face and bearing.
But the blindness of rage was upon
her. and it Is Of the essence of this
white-hot anger that it preys not on what
is basest in us. but on what is best When
It is at work all goes down before it.
Nothing IS spared. and in its evil path
high deeds or noble words or holy
thoughts are but as dust That Harold
felt deeply was her opportunity to wound
him more deeply than before.
Even here in the solitude which ! had
chosen as the battle-ground of my shame
YOU had need to come unasked. UNI
thought of. when even a lesser mind than
yours for you are fool. would have
thought to leave me alone. My shame
was my own. tell you. and I was learn
ing to take my punishment. My punish
ment. Ha-ha-ha. my punishment. Poor
creatures that we are. we think our pun
ishment Will be what we would like best
to suffer in silence. and not to have
spread abroad our shame'" How she
harped on that word though she knew
that every time she uttered il it cut to
the heart of the man who loved her.
And yet you come right on top of my
torture to torture me still more ilimit-
ably. You come. YOU who alone had the
power to intrude yourself on my grief
and sorrow: power given you by my
fathers kindness. You come to me with
out warning. considerably telling me that
you knew l would he here because I had
always come here when / had SDeen in
trouble. No-1 do you an injustice. In
trouble was not what you said. but that
had come when l had been in short
frocks. Short frocks. And you came to
tell me that you loved me. You thought
suppose. that as had refused one man
would jump at the next that came
along. I wanted a man. God! God: what
have done that such an affront should
come upon me? And come. too. from a
hand that should have protected me If
only in gratitude for my fathers kind
ness She was cycling him keenly. with
eyes that in her unfi :nching anger took
in everything with, the accuracy of sun
painting. She wanted to- wound, and she
succeeded.
But Harold. though the pain of death
was upon him. did not finch. He stood
before her like rock. in all his great
manhood: but a rock on whose summit
the waves had cast the wealth of their
foam for his face was az white as snow
She saw and understood. but in the mad
ness upon her she went on trying new
places and new ways to wound:
You thought. l suppose. that this poor.
neglected. despised. rejected woman. who
wanted so much to mary that she couldn't
wait for man 20 ask her. would hand
herself over to the first chance conner
who threw his handkerchief to her: would
hand over herself-and her fortune.
'Oh. Stephen. How can you say such
things-think such things?' The protest
broke from him with ID groan. His pain
seemed to inf1ame her still further; to
crafty her hate and to stimulate her mad
passion.
why did I ever see you at all? Why
did my father treat you as Il son. that
when you had grown and got strong on
his kindness you could thus insult his
daughter in the darkest hour of her pain
and her shame She almost chOked with
passion. All the trust and belief of her
life had been on rotten base! There
she could trust. In the pause he spoke:
was now nothing in the whole world that
Stephen, l never meant you harm.
Oh. don't speak such wild words. They
will come back to you with sorrow after
ward. l only meant to do you good.
wanted ~ Her anger broke out
afresh:
There. you speak it yourself. You only
wanted to do me good. l was so bad that
any kind of a husband : Oh. sbt out
of my sight. l wish to God ! had never
seen you! 1 hope to God may never see
you again. Go. Go. Co..
This was the end. To Harolds honest
mind such words would have been i'm
possible had not thoughts of truth lain
behind them. That Stephen-his Stephen.
whose image in his mind shut OUT every
other woman I'm the world. past. present
and future-should say such things 10
any one. that she should think sucn
things was to him a deadly blow. But
that she should say them to him, >
Ctterance. even the utterance which
speaks in the inmost soul. failed him. He
had in some way that he knew not hurt
wounded-killed Stephen. for the finer
part was gone from Stephen that he had
known and worshiped SO long. She wished
him gone: she wished she had never seen
him; she hoped to God never to see him
again. Life for him was over and done.
There could be no more happiness in the
world: no more wish to work, TO
live. -
He bowed gravely. and without word
turned and walked away
Stephen saw him go. his tall form NOV
ing among the tree trunks till finally 1t
was lost In their massing. She was so
filled with the tumult of her passion that
she looked. unmoved Even the sense OF
his going did not change her mood. She
ragged to and fro among the trees. her
movements getting quicker and quicker as
her excitement began to change from
mental to physical till the fury began to
exhaust itself. All at once she stopped.
al though arrested by physical barrier.
and with d moan sank down In helpless
heap on the cool moss
Harold went from the grove as one
seems to move in a dream. He wanted
10 get away quickly. silently unobserved.
With the instinct Of habitual thought his
mind turned London-ward. He met but
few persons. and those only cottlerS. lie
saluted them in his usual CHEEKY way. but
did not stop To speak with amy. He was
about to take single ticket TO London
when it struck him that this might look
odd. so he asked for return Then. his
mind being once more directed toward
concealment of purpose. he sent tele-
gram to his housekeeper telling her that
he was called away to London on busl-
ness. 1t was only when he was far on
his journey that he gave thought 10 ways
and means and took stock of his posses
sons. Before he took out his purse ana
pocketbook he made up his mind that he
would be content with what II was. no mat
ter how little. He had left Normanstand
and all belonging TO it for ever, and was
off to hide himself in whatever part or
the world would afford him the best op-
portunity- Life was over. There was
nothing 10 look forward TO: nothing TO
look back at. The present was living
pair, whose lightest element was despair.
AS however. he got further and further
away his practical mind began to work;
he thought over matters so as to ARA nRe
in his mind how best he could dispose OF
his affairs to cause as ilttle COM
ment as might be, and to save the posi-
bility OF worry or distress of any kind
to Stephen.
Even then in the midst of his agony OF
mind. his heart was with her: II was not
the least among his troubles that he
would have TO b. away from her when
perhaps she would need him most. And
yet whenever he would come to this point
in his endless chain of thought. h" would
have 10 sion for a while. overCOma with
such pain that lis power of thinking was
paraiyZed. He would never. could nerers
be of service to her agan. lie had gone
ont OF her life. as she had gene out o: his
10 ,e,t h.4