The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1910-02-23
Ibid You Marry Him7" ! Demanded

come across the sands just then, I
think I would have strangled him with
my hands, out of pure hate.
did you marry him?" l demanded.
My voice sounded hoarse and strange
in my ears. That's all l want to
know. Did you marry hint"
No"
drew a long breath.
~You-cared about hint"
She hesitated.
NO." she said finally. II did not
care about him."
l sat down on the edge OF the boat
and mopped my hot face. I was heart
lily ashamed of myself, and mingled
with my abasement was. great re-
lief. If she had not married him, and
had not cared for him, nothing else
was of any Importance.
81 was sorry, of course, the moment
the train had started, but l had wired
l was coming, and 1 could not go
back, and then when I got there, the
place was charming. There were no
neighbors, but we fished and rode and
motored, and-it was moonlight, like
this"
i put my hand over both of hers,
clasped in her lap. 81 know" l &C
knowledged repentantly, "and-people
do queer things when it is moonlight.
The moon has got me tonight, Alison.
If am a lboor, remember that, won't
your"
Her fingers lay quiet under mine.
'"And SO" she went on with little
sigh, 'I-hegan to think perhaps /
cared. But all the time l felt that
| there was something not quite right.
i Now and then Mrs. Curtis would say
or do something that gave me a
/ queer start, as If she had dropped a
| mask for q moment. And there was
/ trouble with the servants; they were
| almost insolent. / couldn't under
4 stand. i don't know when 1t dawned
ON me that the old Baron Cavalcanti
had been right when he said they
1 were mot my kind of people. But
| wanted to get away, wanted it des-
| perately."
OF course, they were not your
kind" cried. "The man was mar
riedi The girl Jennie, housemaid,
was a spy in Mrs. Sullivan's employ
If he had pretended to marry you
would have killed him! Not only that
but the man he murdered, Harrington,
was his wife's father. And I'll sec
him hang by the neck yet if it takes
| every energy and every penny l pos
sess."
1 could have told her SO much more
gently, have broken the shock for
her; l have never been proud of that
evening on the sand. was alternate
" a boor and a ruffian-like a hurt
youngster who passes the blow that
has hurt him on to his playmate, that
both may bawl together. And now
Alison sat, white and cold, without
speech.
Married." she said finally, in q
small voice. why, I don't think it is
possible, is It? II was on my way
to Baltimore to marry him myself
when the wreck came"
But you said you don't care for
| ulms 1 pIOtCoICu, my hOoVy h"oSe
line mind unable to jump the gaps in
her story. And then, without the
slightest warning, realized that she
was crying. She shook of my hand
and fumbled for her handkerchief,
and failing to find it, she accepted the
one thrust int her wet fingers.
Then, little by little, she told me
from the handkerchief, sordid story
of . motor trip in the mountains with
out Mrs. Curtis. Of lost road and q
broken car, and rainy night when
they-she and Sullivan, tramped eter
nally and did not get home. And Of
Mrs. Curtis. when they got home al
dawn. suddenly grown conventional
%nd deeply shocked. OF her own
| proud. halfdisdaiaful consent t.
/ make possible the hackneyed com