Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-08-18

The wise reader Will have antic1-
pated this. We shall not, therefore,
dwell upon the obvious cause of it, but
proceed at once to the less obvious eff
feet. joys love for the young fellow
had been essentially maternal senti-
nent; perhaps it would remain SO to
the end. That, however. had not been
made quite clear to the ardent lover.
1t seemed incredible that such
feeling should fail to evoke a re-
sponse.
Upon this point, though sorely ruz-
Eicd, Hugo was inclined . az - with
him. Burgess's tale of disasyar con
founded lin, because he had been as
confident rs the youth tn&t the prim-
rose pa.h led straight and shining to
the altar. Could Tisdaie-- :?
Tisdale? Burgess exploded. Tis-
dale was no more to be considered
than Tommy Bungay or Jimmie Pun
die: callow youths with absolutely
nothing in their nice-looking patcs out
the determination to hunt six days q
week, by Jove! and stroll over to the
Kennels on Sunday afternoon and
have a squint at the hounds! And any
fellow with an ounce of intelligence
could take lis oath that Joy Ven
nable would never fall in love with a
Bungay.
When he had proved this to his
own satisfaction Burgess paused.
Hugo put the question directly: Why
did Burgess assume so violently that
he had been supplanted? With a GER
tain embarrassment confession was
made. The furious youth had extract
ed, perhaps with brutality, the I'M
qualified admission. Hope had been
denied to him categorically, because
there was-another.
At this point Burgess broke down.
1t has been said that he was not
effeminate, but the feminism in his
character and temperament had been
manifested to Hugo within an hour of
their first meeting. Once before Char
teris had been confronted with a
similar emergency. Poor young Tres
siiian had eaten his leek with tears
which Hugo had tired to staunch with
words abominably trite and unavail-
Ing. Tressilian's passion, it is true,
had been of a scarlet complexion,
tainted from the first. This other was
the pure white flame.
Hugo laid kind hand upon the bent
head and waited. Something in his
touch may have Gained Burgess, for
presently he said: Something has
happened while I've been away You
must know whom she's met in the
last two months, what outsider,
mean"
"She has met nobody, not soul"
There was long pause. Burgess
stared steadily into eyes that met his
as steadily. And then illumination
came suddenly, with binding glare.
"By God, you're the mani"
Conviction is a state of mind diff
cult to resolve into it's elements. Often
1t is Of the slowest growth: mere
accretion Of innumerable layers, in
visible films upon our consciousness.
This may be termed the conviction
from within: the result Of time and
experience. The conviction from with
out, which is so stunning in it's eff
ever the other. Hugo, for instance,
who could have given score of rea-
sons for his belief that Joy loved
Burgess, knew instantly that his rea-
soning had been founded upon false
premise. joys voice, which had trem-
bled when she said: 81 should go
wild with misery if anything hap
pened to him." still echoed in his
ears. He could see her eyes softly
suffused with uncomfortable emotion,
and her f1nely-formed fingers clenched
with cruel apprehension. And, like a
flash, he remembered that SO she had
spoken and looked when her father
fell i'll.
ri? Impossible!"
Hugo answered swiftly, and yet he
knew that the impossible had come to
pass: Perhaps for the moment he
was dominated by that irresistible per-
sonal magnetism which made Burgess
such a force as public speaker The
vehement thrill in the young mans
voice, the poignant note of inevitable.
ness, the sense that this thing had
happened in obedience to some
strange and inexplicable law, the grim
irony of the situation, held Hugo in
letters But he repeated the word:
"Impossible!"
"And you told me you were engaged
to be marr1ed?"
"That is true"
The men looked at each other again
81 can't believe that Joy would
have cared for any man unless he had
shewn plainly that he cared for her
Still
Thank you, even for the doubt. II
this is true"
81 know it's true. One can't argue
about it, Sometimes there is an in
stinct greater than reason itself Why
shouldn't 1t be true? l was fool, an
idiot, to leave you with her. But you
behaved as if you wished to avoid
her."
81 did"
"And she kept out of your way. But
that epidemic-i It's clear enough
now. You played the hero. I heard
of that. And the intimacy grew ant
grew, while l was jabbering away lr
my FOOLS paradise!"
"If it is true" repeated Hugo, g!
swear that I never suspected it.
would have staked my life that you
had all her heart"
sit is yours-yours. And what are
you going to do?"
'You needn't worry. | have onl.
to tell her who am