Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1910-01-12

rot more faithful. accoptant and de-
voted. Yet this was 4 very human
man in spite CT Ill tac3e things. u
man of splendid vigor and health with
all mans impulses, hopes, dreams
and aspirations. And he loved her.
He. too, sat upon the white sands
of the gemlike island and looked out
ing the distant shores and lands peo-
pied with strange creature: of history
and romance and he, too, wondered.
He had had no experience with men
and the world and he longed to get
away and to take her away.
She had long since discovered that
he was gentleman, an innate gentle
man; that he had been well born, and
she had seen to it herself that he had
been well bred Yet no mortal man
ever went through greater fires of
unknown and mysterious temptations
than he. He forced himself not to
speak words that l,lrned. He checked
the free course of thoughts that bub-
bled and seethed within his brain. and
the relationship between them re-
manned that of mistress and man,
teacher and taught. A,iend and friend.
1t was he who SO maintained it. though
of this she was unaware
And he. too, longeG for some hour
to come when he might with right and
decency and dignity speak the words
which some day he must speak or die.
He was not verseG III the ways OF
women. He had no store of knowl-
edge, no lesson of experience to fail
back upon. He knew but one woman.
He could not predicate from any petty
maxim, or from any ancient aphorism,
or from any worn out philosophy,
what she would or would not do under
certain conditions. Indeed, he only
thought that he loved her and he must
tell her or die in the concealment
And SO matters ran on and on. 1t
needed but Spark to ignite the pow
der, it would have seemed, and yet
a vast cataclysm of nature only
brought about the explosion. He had
never touched her except to take her
hand. Her person had been as in
violate TO him as il she had been a
been careful under no circumstances
to allow more than that Their hands
had clasped often. Indeed, with every
Good night" and Good morning" the
circuit OF touch was made and broken,
but that was ALL They usually parted
ut night on the sands where she had
. first been thrown ashore. He would
stand and watch her, as she glided
away from him in the darkness, toward
the cave that was her home. She
had impressed upon him how she
trusted him, the absolute assurance,
the entire confidence that she had
that he would respect the agreement
between them and he would have died
rather than have transgressed the law,
stepped over that imaginary barrier
as potent as the circle of Richelieu,
which kept them apart.
And yet she would never know
what horrible constraint he put upon
himself. How he stood with clenched
hands and Quivering BODY and stared
after her. long after she had gone, She
would never know how that intensity
of longing grew and grew until some
times he ltsthat he could not over.
master it. She would never know how
he plunged away staggering through
the woods and threw himself. down
upon the sands on his side of the.
island, disdajnipg even the, rude shell,
ter Of the cave which was his home.
and fought it out. Sometimes she
saw evidences of internal conflict in
bis soul the next morning. The calm