, 1909-12-30

no otner ceremony tnan a clasp or une
hand and an ~unspoken, wordless
promise of trust, devotion. single
hearted alliance. publicly and before
God and man, without a thought for
the one and with no full realization
Of the thoughts of the other-at least
on her part-they had gone away to-
gether, hand in hand; he and she to-
gether. in love like any other pair
since Eve mated with Adam in the
dawn of the worlds first morning.
Yet there has never been an Eden
of which man has known without its
serpent. In the cabin of that gorgeous
yacht. Sathanas reared his head. The
first week or so of the adventure had
been filled with idyllic happiness. hap
piness so great that 1t was strong
enough to quiet certain low, still, small
voices of conscience which the woman
Of ancient prejudice to which her phil
osophy was as yet unequal.
However, such conditions did not
long persist. Her disciple was In
clined, presently she found to her sor-
row, to take a somewhat lower view
of the situation than suited her W
h~igh-souled views. The ardor of her
devotee cooled as his passion In
creased. Shut up In the narrow con
fines of a ship-great and splendid
though this yacht was beyond magma
tion-little characteristics heretofore
unsupported developed in the mere
rho aN,r,a 1f r,,a 1npa y,ng mt
SO smooth as the summer seas over
which they sailed. The air in which
they lived was ruffied by furries in
which experience would have found
presage for coming deeper storm. The
image that had feet of clay sought for
similar earthly alloy in the companion
Image which was made of pure gold
all through, n finding 1t not, re-
scented 1t desperately. The convert
having gained his desire, weakened in
his principles. There was no relaxa-
ton in his devotion, in his tenderness,
in anything outward and visible, but
the high philosophy which had made
the joint effort almost a self-sacriice
of demonstration was slowly vanish
ing from one heart while the other
chung the more tenaciously to 1t.
1t was the old, old story. In a little
the catspaw developed into the tenn
pest. When It appeared 1t came with
surprising swiftness. The woman
found that in neither abstract thought
nor mental speculation was there any
protection for her. There might be
no God in heaven. but there was a con
science in her breast. Finally she
broke away from the man so far as
she could dc so when they were both
in the same ship of which he was lord
and master. She would have nothing
more to do with him save that which
common decency and the bare civili-
ties { ife demanded of her. Denied
the PRIVILEGES upon which he had
counted, the man grew savag and
showed the cloven foot. The disagree
ment became a quarrel. The quarrel
ran through several phases. Ashamed
of himself he had recanted at first.
Then he had sworn again allegiance
to the %specious philosophy which she
now realized he had only professed,
consciously or unconsciously, hat he
might possess her. But she was not
deceived. mere was no truth IN MS
words; his asseverations carried no
conviction to her soul. Again he
stormed and ragged; once more he
apologized and appealed, but the
periods OF calm grew shorter and the
periods of storm grew longer and more
vehement. The woman alone was
steadfast. She was overwhelmed with
shame. the horror of the situation was
rising upon her.
She began to realize how helpless
she was. Under the inspiration of a
belief, which was as honest as 1t was
mistaken, she had put herself in the
power of this a Even if she were
ashore. there would be no one to
whom she could appeal, and here on
the ship she was helpless. Lingering
remains of better things had kept him
from the last resort of the tyrant-
Srcei-but how long these would be
operative In restraint she could not
tell. She fancied not for long. What