The Winslow mail., 1910-01-22
Thus she had conc out Of bis

less IN Declarens' heart as he de-
;cended from the car which had
reached the end of the line He was
in tiny village, snuggled close to
The foothills. The rambling streets
we're unpaved; the little cottages
we're staggering under the climbing
Gower-laden vines; the air was heavy
with the orange flowers
Never in all The 10 years had any
woman come into his life VINO had
The power to touch his heart When
Selma left he had closed and barred
that door, and now he knew he had
lost the power to open it All he
had lost, all he had missed of the
best of life during those Is years
flooded across his very soul as he
walked on.
IT was as if the ossificatiou Of
years had been rudely torn from his
heart and it had been discovered
still throbbing, still alive beneath.
He had, indeed, been hard as she
had said, ambitious, merciless. He
had his money-and nothing else. A
haggardness oyerspread his face, the
keen, masklike countenance of the
man of affairs.
Ahead Of him bank of scarlet
poppies edged the path and attract
ed his eye. He paused as he came
abreast the cottage on the other side.
1t apparently was nothing more than
huge clambering vines Of pink roses.
Never in his life had Declarens seen
50 many or such perfect flowers. As
he drank them in Selma came from
the door and down to the gate.
He was not particularly surprised.
The almost narcotic day and his
state Of mind disposed of any ele-
ment of improbability. He stood as
child might have done as the wom-
an. tall, red-lipped as he recalled her
and with the same wonderful eyes,
came toward him. That she was
wide-eyed with incredulous amaze
ment did not strike him.
"At my very doorr he heard her
murmur, and then as she opened the
gate he stepped inside and sat be-
side her on the little porch. He
faced the mountains, calm, undis-
turbed as ever in the sunshine. His
eyes roamed over her face, as if they
had found the end of a weary quest,
"Frederick," she said at last
GLOW did you know-or didn't YOU
know was here? And you-you
are ILL.,"
The man shook off the spell that
held him. With a keen anguish he
realized that he was looking al
Selma, indeed, but likewise at the
wife Of Arthur Gore.
Nothing serious" he said. "Just
nerves. And | did not know--it
was Fate, l guess, that led me here.
You we're in my mind as I came"
There was a glow on the womanS
face. "Then," she breathed, ''then
you had not fargotten me?"
Declarens looked at her in sudden
self knowledge Never" he said as
if in amazement at the fact.
a sudden anger seized him that
she could play with him, yet it died
before the light in her face. His
pulses throbbed, and with an in
articulate cry he found himself
clasping her hands i'll his, carrying
them to his lips.
That he had no right gave him
certain desperation, and added to
that was the bewilderment Of finding
himself in the swirl of so many and
such intense emotions. He had for
gotten much indeed in those dead
ening Is years of struggle. Then a
black fact caught him by the throat.
'And Arthur? Your husband p
he heard himself ask. Over the
woman's face fled for an instant a
shadow of past sorrow.
':He died three years ago." she
said quietly. II staid on here be-
cause there seemed no place else to
go. He was very ill-for years"
Declarens' handclasp frightened in
understanding sympathy. 1t was
not the time to speak.
And yet he knew as they sat quiet
| ly talking, while the mountains grew
prav and their shadows deepened