Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-10-15

"a ~ O. place like this was a retire
" - aged or a solace for the
~ but I'm changing my m
QN9 dead tired, John, and l w;
Usually, you know, you h
and struggle harder for peace than for any 9th
but here it awaits you. 1t reaches out invis
to welcome you it puts you to bed at nigh
you if you happen to be lying awake, and
about your harmless little tasks all day."
! John was silent, and because l knew what
meant l reached out my hand and grasped hi
3Don't you think it would be worth VIII
John? There's healing balm here, believe MT
been through deep waters, know; but there
about your sorrow that is not sweet and beau
left you with lovely ideal, at least. Some r
give half their lives for that, you know"
Broadheld turned his cadaverous face tOwa1
his austere eyes looked into mine you've
part of the story, Paul." he said. al have bee
something besides an ideal. I've been given
burden of revenge-an obligation, if l may
NONSENSE" l cried, suspecting my frien
bidness. "There's no such thing nowadays {
cation of revenge. Do you mean that the
was at fault, or the nurse negligent? l
Cicily's death was very sudden"
1Cicily,' said Broadfield simply, 3was mul
The words fell mournfully and with smold
sion on the gentle and perfumed silence, and
rest there a moment or two, searching in m.
for what l knew concerning Broadfeld's brie
life.
@Cicily was frail when you first knew hel
"You married her, frail as she was, cared fo
stantly, and kept her with you longer on
than your friends thought possible Where
did the murder come in, Man?"
Il can tell the story very quickly, if you
want to hear it."
want to hear it? Go on, 90 on"
CICILY was an orphan, as | think you
know, Paul, a delicate, sensitive girl,
with an ethereal face, less of the earth than
anyone | ever have seen. [ always felt like
taking off my shoes and leaving them without
her door. | think she gave everyone the
feeling that she was removed from the world
and the temptations of it. | married her
sooner than was wise, perhaps, considering
my prospects; but she really was most unfit
to meet the world alone However, soon
after we were married l was given the chair
of psychology at Hannibal, which was
much better thing than l had looked for.
So we went there and built little home on
the campus. There was quite group of
us young married instructors there, and all
manner of opportunity for pleasant social
relations; but soon found that Cicily was
too delicate to enjoy gathering of any sort.
An evening of general conversation would
keep her awake half the night, and if she
attempted to give dinner party or anything
by little she had to deny herself to people. l
had two fears,-one that she would be mis-
understood in Withdrawing from neighborly
exchanges of hospitality, and the other that
she would suffer from loneliness, neither
of them was realized. The women were
always sending her flowers or delicacies to
evince their good feeling, and Cicily, on her
part, took up with new friends-with friends
that did not require her to converse.
"()ur Dlace Swarrr1ad with hirdc co,,;r
rels. and Cicily somehow got the good will
of these little creatures. She never felt so
lang,lid that she refused an audience to them.
They would sit on her chair or pick up their
breakfast at her very feet. Everyone, with
one exception, loved my poor girl all the
more for her devotion to these little creatures;
but there was one woman on the campus who
seemed to have no sympathy with Cicily's
delicacy. She always wore the air, even when
she asked concerning Cicily's health of re-
gardne her illness as imaginary. used to
try to avoid meeting her. l so loathed the
har foo r,1a Oh, 1-oI C...1.