Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-12-18

before he lifted his face.
But when the weakness of the dark
hours had yielded to the accustomed poise
of day, he nailed his heart again upon
the cross of his will He had given her
his entire and unqucstioning faith, and
all the time she had been something diff
ferent from what she had seemed. His
soul had knelt in homage before her as
an ideal. and all the time she was the
unknown coquette who had trified with
Warwick's faith and wrecked the life OF
that dear comrade.
However, to ease his heart. he filled out
a telegraph blank: May / Gomez This
he signed with his initials and locked into
a private drawer In his desk. Each
morning, when he came down to the Of
flee, he unlocked the drawer and looked
at the waiting message.
To-day? May l go today" it seemed
to ask, with a flutter of eagerness.
And with stern denial he answered:
mo. What you really stand for Is,
May l come and patch up a hollow pre-
tense between us in place Of the truth
that is gone? No, you shall not go-to-
day He snapped tte drawer shut and
took up his work.
Sometimes he looked at the calendar
and tried to multiply the strain Of the
weeks that had gone by the weeks.
months, years. that lay ahead. How long
could he keep 1t up?
Then one day a client asked him to look
after some matters in Richmond. The
name startled him. He said he would
think it over. but on the instant his I'M
leashed Imagination ran ahead of his
thoughts and pictured their possible meet
ing in a hundred different ways. Suppose
he should see her in a crowd-on the
street-at the theater-alone and face to
face?
Suppose. suppose, suppose! But, in any
case, what was there to say? Not to see
her. or to see her and speak as chance
acauaintances-eithcr would be intoler-
able. 1t would be better not to go to
Richmond.
But he took the first train possible.
And at the first possible moment he
walked up the street where Virginia lived,
and identified the house by its number.
He came to sudden stop on discovering
that it was closed and deserted. OF all
the possibilities he had canvassed in his
mind, that one had not occurred to him.
A passing letter carrier gave a direction
to his whirling thoughts
Give me the address. pleAses to which
letters for the Jackson family are for
warded.' he said. quickly. taking out his
pencil and memorandum book
And the man gave 1t before he had time
to remember the postal rules applicable
to such requests. The address was New
York hotel.
was not absolutely necessary that it
should be attended to at this particular
moment-but now that he was already
away from his oflice-in short. he found
himself on his way to New York before
he had quite formulated reasons for
going. A power outside of himself was
carrying him forward.
But in New York he found that they
had sailed the day before for Antwerp.
He told himself that settled the matter
Virginia had gone completely out OF his
life. He filed the days with a rush of
business and left himself no idle time for
brooding. It had. therefore. somewhat
the effect OF q surprise when he found
himself aboard the steamer that was sail
ing for Antwerp a week later. He old
himself that he had always intended to
run over for holiday when opportunity
offered. 1t by no means followed that
because he was going to Europe he would
encounter Virginia Jackson. He needed