Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-09-10
s'But am right in the midst OF tho

"But I am right in the midst OF the
run. can't leave the business"
ooh, business! Do you care more for
business than for me? don't think
you realize how terribly hard for me
all this has been-I'm still frightened.
shall die Of nervousness without
some on to talk to-"
tits quite impossible! IL don't
want to 60 back now"
Indeed? And no doubt it was inn
possible for you to come out here last
night for the same reason"
ut was The fish struck in and l
could not leave"
"It was that woman who kept you!"
cried Mildred. ut is because OF her
! that you refuse to leave this country"
please don't he said, quietly. II
have never thought OF her In that
way"
"Then come away from this wretch
ed place. detest the whole country
the fisheries, the people, everything.
/ This isn't your proper sphere. Why
not come away, now, at once, and be-
gin something new, something worth
while?"
DO you realize the hopes, the heart
aches, the vital effort have put into
this enterprise?" he questioned.
| But she only said
| II don't like it. It isn't nice bust
ness. Let father take the plant over
If you need money, have plenty"
Watt" he interrupted sharply.
"Sit down, want to talk to you" He
drew the wrap closer about her should
ers and led her to deck-chair. The
change in him was becoming more ap.
parent. He knew now that he had
never felt the same since his first
meeting with Mildred upon the arrival
of The Grande Dame. Even then she
had repealed him by her lack Of SYM
pathy. She had shown no understand
| ing of his efforts. and now she revealed
as complete failure to grasp his code
of honor 1t never occurred to her that
any loyalty of man to man could offset
her simple will. She did not see that
his desertion of George would be moth
ing short Of treachery.
It seemed to him all at once that
they had little in common. She was
wrapped completely in the web of her
own desires; she would make her
prejudices a law for him. Above all,
she could not respond to the exulta-
ton Of his success. She had no con-
ception of the pride of accomplish
ment that is the wine of every true
mans life. He had waged bitter
fight that had Slapped his very soul. he
had made and won the struggle that
a man makes once in lifetime, and
now, Just when he had proved him.
self strong and fair in the sight OF
his fellows, she asked him to forego 1t
ALL Engrossed in her own egotism, she
required of him a greater sacrifice
than any he had made. Now that he
had shown his strength, she wanted
to load him down with golden letters
to make him dependent. Was 1t
because she feared another girl? She
had tried to help him, he knew-in her
way-and the thought of it touched
him. That was like the Mildred he had
always known-to act fearlessly. heed
less OF what her father might do or
say. Somehow h had never felt more
convinced of the sincerity Of her love,
but he found himself thinking of 1t as
Of something of the past. After all,
what she had done had been little. con-
sidering her power. She had given
carelessly out Of her abundance. while
Cherry He saw 1t all now, and sud
den sense of loyalty and devotion to
the girl who had really shared his
struggles swept over him like warm
| tide. It was most unlike his distant
worship Of Mildred. She had been his
dream but the other was bone of his
bone and flesh of his flesh.
| For long time the two sat talking
while these thoughts took gradual
form in the young mans mind, and
although the deck was deserted, Miss
Wayland had no need now to curb her
once headstrong wooer.
He could not put into words the
change that was working in him: but
she saw It. and. grasping its meaning
at last, she began to battle like moth
er for her child. His awakening had
been slow. and hers was even slower;
but once she found her power over him
waning, her sense of loss grew and
grew as he failed to answer to her
lfs1f-spoken appeal.
womanlike, she capitulated at last.
What matter If he stayed here where
his hopes were conferred? This life in
the north had claimed him. and she
wcnld wait until he came for her. But
still he did not resnond. and it was not
/ long until she had persuaded herself
that his battle with the wilderness
had nut red blood into his veins, and
his conduct had been no worse than
that Of other men Finally she tried to
voice these thoughts. but she only
led him to a stiff denial Of the charges
she wished to forgive. AS she saw him
slipping further away from her. she
summoned all her arts to rekindle the
flame which had burned so steadily:
and when these failed. she surrendered
everv preindice. It was his love she
wanted. All else was secondary. At
last she knew herself. She could have
cried at the sudden realization that he
had not kissed her since their parting
in Chicago; and when she saw he had
Fpo will to do so, the memory Of his
last embrace arose to torture her. She
was almost glad when a launch bring.
ing her father came from the shore,
and the old man Joined them.
! The two men bore themselves with
unbending Formally. unable as yet
to forget their mutual wrongs. The In.
terruption gave Boyd the opportunity
he had not been brave enough to make
and he babe them both goodbye; for