The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-03-28

instead. l shall do my best And you won't grum-
BILE. You never do"
You never give the chance" said. Thank
you."
1T is who have to thank you," she insisted IT
Il do. you know
So it settled; and arranged to go first to
South Africa by the Union-Castle Line; and then
back to Marseilles by the East Coast route; and
then to take trip round the Mediterranean home.
Beatrice brought the chdren-Bob eight and
Elsa six-to Southampton to see me off. Ny
last recollection of her buttoning up Bobs
coat-there cold wind-and putting a wrap
over Elsa. and then standing with arm round
each. as the ship moved away
God bless them!" muttered. "Al three OF them!
If met woman like her!-Well now for life."
did not like to say romance; but that was what
l meant In plain English intended to marry again.
if found the right woman; the woman who is in all
my tales She is always the same-the lover and
comrade of the That is all that matters.
But it matters very much and I meant to make
quite that had found just this woman before
I married her. had made one mistake which had
imbittered the best years of my life and was de-
termined that would not make another was no
longer boy to be carried away by pretty face and
a touch of moonlight, l told myself l could weigh
a woman in the balance; and would-before 1 fell
too far in love with her.
In the earlier portion of the VOYAGE I weighed
Miss Marvain; the first really clever woman I had
ever met She had travelled much and read much
and thought much and colored it all with her origi
nal and kindly personality; she was good-looking
and good. humored. But she was-at any rate out
wardly-less softhearted than liked woman to
be; and she did not for music or for children
My idea of her received blow when she sang fat
at the second Sundays servce-Beatrce was de.
lightful singer and had rather spoiled me- The
ideal was killed when she shrugged her shoulders at
my playing SO much with the children on board
The second lady to be weighed Mrs Rich
ards; or rather think she weighed me. She was
a soft, smiling little widow, who loved to have the
babies round her, and stitch away at rag dolls and
dolls clothes for them. She played everyone's &C.
compartments, and though she always said that she
had no voice-and hadn't-she sang plaintiye songs
SO delightfully."- that you never thought about the
voice. only the singing. But when I asked her to
sing one song she put it aside, with sad little
smile.
THAT song is dead" she said with something
else in me.\ We became great friends-after that;
and told her more about myself than I had ever
told anybody-even the reason of my trayels-and
she looked at the stars-it a tropical night
and nodded.
you see," she said, clasping and unclaspins her
hands. Il am not good at expressing myself but
you Just love some one-or you don't don't think
1t is any looking for particular ideal Some
oay you may hnd some one perhaps and-she NAV
be quite different butshe will alter your ideal so
easily ack wasn't what expected before knew
MIN; or even when thought that I did-but-I
cannot make up stories like you can; and / expect
1t will sound ridiculous to you, but-but make up
one little story SO often. l think that Heaven ia
just-Just gate in a lane-where it begins: and I
find Jack waiting there; and he says-'You've been
confounded long time coming old girl; but knew
you'd come all right He'll never worry about nv
thinking OF anyone else. Never! And know he's
waiting there; fdgeting with his mustache as he al
ways did. If he was kept waiting"
She looked up at the stars and smiled and l knew
that had learned one lesson, at least, by coming
out of my study.
After that abandoned the deliberate ouest of
romance.
spent peasant week at Cape Town, at the
Queens Hotel-and began to wonder whether ro