Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-22

phile. and he had just secured a quaint
old edition Of Horace that he wished 10
show me. After that he must recite 10
me one or two OF the odes in his sonorous
Latin. and then Mrs. Wharton. Mrs.
Guthrie and Alicia came into the room
They made no fuss over m because |
happened 10 be the chief Official OF the
state. but treated me merely as com
rade who had come in at the usual time.
There constraint. no excessive po-
! likeness. but an ease, lightneSs like that
of weli-ordered home, where everything
moves with peace and harmony. 1t was
! like a broad band of light suddenly shoot
| ing across the darkness OF my lonely life
and l basked In the glow.
You must stay to dinner. governor
said Mrs. Wharton. and she did not need
to ask "A second time.
The French have a phrase ZEN famille.
which We cannot adequately render. but II
was thus that | dined at Judge Wharton .
and l felt how deeply pleasant il is to h.
| In a house on terms of ease with cult
waited women who are all that is implied
in the old-fashioned use of the word la
dies" | shed the cloak of officialdom.
was not embarrassed in the presence OF
Alicia, fearing that the world would mis-
construe both, but I was just one OF
the family, an older brother perhaps who
| had returned from a brief absence.
The Whartons and Mrs. Guthrie carried
most of the table talk. Alicia and | join
! ing In now and then with an occasional
| continued After dinner We adjourned 10
| the great library, or sitting room, where
| the rudy light from the huge bed of
| Goals still glOwed over floors and walls,
and continued our desultory conversation.
| l fingered two or three hours filled with
the sense of home. and loath to give 1t up
! 1t was past II o'clock when at last
| forced myself to leave, and all Frankfort
seemed to be in bed when | walked
| through the lonely streets to the govern
or's mansion. which was my house. but
scarcely my home. A sleepy servant ad-
mitted me and another equally sleepy
turned up the lights in the little parlor
where | often sat.
| l. too, had an open fire and II. too, threw
! rudy shadows on the floors and the
walls. but the place seemed cold, never
theless I drew up chair before the
fire and sat down Then despite the fire
| | shivered. All about me reigned a dead
! ly silence. The sleepy servants the mas
ter home. had gone hastily 10 bed. Not
! the sound OF a footstep. not the sound or
! d voice anywhere. | looked out OF the
window and saw only cold moonlight
falling on cold walls, cold roofs and
cold earth. | turned back to the silence
and desolation of my room. / was the
| governor of the state, but l verify be-
| lieve that at that moment [ was the
| loneleSt man I'm 1t.
| | knew what | wanted. | wanted
wife, and l knew also that Alicia was not
| free and that / could never marry any
other woman. The old thought of a di-
vorce came TO my mind, but it quickly
passed. when [ remembered the Alicia or
the hills ] had met that afternoon.
should not, even indirectly. make any such
suggestion to her. and with sigh, L felt
how empty at times was my life, al
though governor of a great state before
was thirty.
(To be continued tomorrow