Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1909-05-14
THE BIRTHMARK.
By ADAMS

my DEAR" said Sir Huntley Hur[
but soon after his marriage to his
American wife. why Is 1t that you,
who have very pretty round arms.
never show them uncoveredr'
II have two dresses made without
sleeves"
Eyes, but when you wear either OF
them | have noticed that you wear a
band of black velvet midway between
shoulder and elbow"
That's to make me display that an
cient buckle which belonged to your
grandmother"
Their eyes met There was distrust
In the husbands and fear In the wifeAs.
He had not only noticed what he had
referred to. but that robing or disrob-
ing his wife had never uncovered her
right arm above the elbow. They had
been married three months before he
had made this discovery.
Hunt. DEAR" she said, going to him
and endeavoring to caress away q
cloud resting upon his brow, Il will
confess that ! am hiding something
from you, a blemish"
"a blemish-a blemish on you'll Such
a thing can't be-
Nevertheless there Is something on
my arm that l wish to conceal from
you"
"a birthmarkr'
She hesitated, glanced out of a WIN
dow and finally answered:
"Yes.s
She lied, and he knew she lied. A
good woman or a good man may tell a
lie. The nan will tell 1t with all the
appearance OF a clear conscience. The
woman will spoil it by trying to soften
the deception or betray It In her look
Sir Huntiey arose and. without look
ing at his wife, went out to his club.
He had met her In England. fallen In
love with her and married her with
out visiting her native land or inqufr-
ing as to her antecedents. He knew
that she was but fairly educated. fair
ly refined and had no money. What
had fascinated him was an appear
ance OF sterling worth there was about
her. Somehow he had felt that she
was to be relied on under any strain
And now when It was too late he had
discovered that she was hiding some
thing from him and that she had lied
to him.
It was early morning when he re-
turned. His wife vas sleeping with q
troubled look on her face Her right
arm lay extended. Could he not lift
the sleeve and, without waking her,
get a view of what she was conceal
ing2 He advanced to do 30 and shrank
back. He was above possessing him
self Of what she would not willingly
give him Fol- a moment he hesitated,
then went to his wi room and to bed
A cloud hung yer the Hurlbuts.
Neither mentioned the secret, yet both
feft tnatH was turning their l6vU co
bitterness. There were no approaches,
no hot words. The husband was
scrupulously d~eferential. the wife ODE
dent to his slightest wish. attentive to
his slightest comfort Yet there was
an absence of that delightful inter
change of sympathy which had existed
up to the moment the husband had
discovered that his wife had a secret
which be was not permitted to share.
Meanwhile his Imagination was con-
turing all sorts of probabilities. She
might have been married before She
might have committed some sin of
which this SO called birthmark ives an
uneradicable token He thought Of
crossing the ocean to hunt mp her rec
ord. What-hunt a record he dreaded
to know! He thought Of leaving her,
losing himself in the wilds of some dis
tant continent This. too. he flung
away as impracticable. he could not
get on without her till be was assured
there was some crime connected with
her past, and to know Of that crime
would drive him mad.
One day while he was about to enter
his house something fitted before him
and fell on the walk, He picked 1t up.
1t was a clipping from a newspaper.
He glanced at 1t, then crumpled 1t in
his hand. intending to throw 1t away.
The door opened. and his wife met
him. with an anxious look on her face.
After a hasty greeting. such as passed
between them since the secret came.
she hurried out. and through a pane of
glass he saw her looking for some
thing. Then he knew the clipping had
blown from her window. He went up
to his room. locked himself In and
read under a date OF ten years past:
Yesterday the brave girl who pulled out
with a rope In the storm that wrecked the
Clara Jones submitted to have tattooed
upon her arm q memento OF her daring
exploit. Bill Peters. an expert in such
work. did the tattooing. and It was ex-
hibited last night at a reception given the
wearer at the Sailors Snug Harbor
Sir Huntley went downstairs and
met his wife, who was returning from
an unsuccessful hunt. He handed her
the paper.
Are you that girl?' he asked
YES" she said. paling.
why have you kept this from meR"