Middletown transcript., 1909-05-22

01SbreSs6u.
He started, and when she qpes-
toned further, did not seem to
know that be had spoken.
At length they passed the
gorges, and Two days later came
to the village that was to be their
home. They parted from their
European companions, who were
going higher. to Chungking, and
took up their quarters in the
house provided for them. Ii
stood in compound on the ex-
treme edge of the village, a elus.
ter Of red-roofed houses separ.
ated BY narrow, insanitary
streets, crowded upon the black
mud of the shore. Here they be-
gan their work. The missionary
who had preceded them had left
some weeks before, bis health
having broken down, and there
was much to be done. The dis.
pensary was thrown open, and
Lyall busied himself in reaching
the souls of his charges through
their bodies. Edith did what
she could with the women and
children. But the work was
slow.
The sense OF isolation weighed
her down. She felt that she
could not have supported it save
for a new hope that she began to
whisper to herself-a hope dellc-
ious, but as yet too uncertain to
be spoken aloud even to her hus-
band. About him she now began
to be greatly troubled. While at
work he was happy. But at
other times he would stare about
the rooms with q panied express
sion, as though the lost memory
were struggling against the bars
of its prison, striving to return
and to take up its proper abode.
One evening she found him tap
ping at the wall. When question
ed, he muttered something about
setting the barometer. But
there was no barometer there;
and from that monentgshe fonm.
ed the incredible suspicion that
he was not living with her, but in
a past wherein she had no part
in which she but served to re-
mind him of one who had been
his wife, but who was now with
the, dead.
The thought pierced her keen
lily, but she fought against it, hop
ing for better times with the birth
of her child. Surely that would
reknit the bond of affection that
had bound them together. Yet
every day his fits of abstraction
became longer, his manner more
strange. He spent hours clean.
ing and polishing his revolver.
He merely shook his head when
she asked the reason. Day by
day she became more and more
filled with the conviction that the
story of her life was to end in
tragedy. But she was no fatalist,
| end end she she fought hard against the
feeling. She told herself that she
had so much to live for. She de.
termined to live. She resolved
that when the next junk called
she would send a message to.
Chungking, asking for relief and
a leave of absence for her hus-
band.
| One night she awoke from the
sleeping mattress that served her
| for bed to find him absent from
her side. She sat up and looked
about her. Beyond the window
the night was calm and the moon
light streamed upon the floor,
lighting the further room through
the open door. In that. room,
their living room, she could see
the figure of her husband going
to and fro withstealthy footsteps,
peering through the chinks Of the
shuttered windows and drawing
back again with nervous haste.
In quick alarm she rose and went
to him. AT her touch he turned
and gripped her wrist fast, his
eyes alight with insanity.
They are coming! They are
coming! he whispered. l hear
them whispering all about. They
will be upon Us soon.
Dearest, she cried, anxiously,
there is nothing no one. The
night is calm. There isn't q
sound.
/ Listen! he said sharply, re-
leasing her wrist and lifting up
his hand. In the silence that fol-
lowed she strained her ears to
bear what he spoke OF, but in
vain. Not even the gentlest
murmur Of the wind broke the.
i ,1oaoo r1f thn ,a;rrhh R.,t t,s1, e.