The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1911-05-25

ha6 guarding Ill lay. and I Aidnt
eees quarrslsoms aAy more. aoA
thsssht my big bro<Asr's hasa vesld
eeoa-vsl@UatseA sAl eoofostink
30 knov."
oAs ~as eufsoss - - Why - va.s'
- IL expaanatSoa. bst sAs sivs Il -
~ unhssitatiAOiy. Without The faiat.
- touch a soaus5y q smAassaas'
0aDA
Il can't rsmsobsr hack y ths
49, she cootiausl. when ! Aiaat %
AAn0s like tAA& 70 yos. Just - you
~ to me. ~ asltAs9 a - svsr
Vo0tsd an sxplanak3oa bseorA Are
yos uyins 70 make ~ your Mad -
1ioown ne, a ssosthinGr
He leaned back moodily ints ~
chair without answering her.
Afesr . little pssplexsA silsoos. -
sDoks again. Z Aidnt know thinss
wsrs going wrong with yos. / lAn't
svso suspect II until this mnsainG.
vAsn Uncle Jerry odd"
What" Tom interrupted. WHAT
1oss the governor know about ~
What did hs sAyr'
why. nothing. but that you vses
playing in rather hard luck, b
thought. and that was TO b nios to
you- Is the world going badly real
y bAdly-really badlyf"
yes" That curt monosyllable was
evidently all the answer he meant to
make. At that she gave up al At
tempt TO console him. dropped back
IN her chair and cuddlsd . little deep
& down under her bsa. skin. her face.
three-Quarters away from him. turned
toward that part Of the sky that was
already becoming glorious with the
0nts Of sunset.
you've never had any doubt at all.
have you. that really deserved the
job of being your big brother; that
l was that quite a. genuinely a. II
had been born that way?"
no" she said; "of course not. Tom,
dear. What put such an idea into
your headr''
He paled . little, and 1t was . min
ute or two before he could command
the words he wanted. to his lips. BE
cause Of my hopes. l suppose" he
said unsteadily: because had hoped.
absurdly enough. for the other an
swsr. You asked as joke . while
back II meant to disown you. Well.
I do. from that elationship-because
I'm not At for the Job; because-bs
cause-I'vs come to love you in the
other way"
She looked at him in perfectly blank
astooishmsnt He would not meet her
eyes. his own. their pupils almost
parallel. gased out, unssefng. beyond
her.
Slowly her color mounted until she
felt her whole face burning. Il didn't
know" shs said. ''Yoa shouldn't have
let me 20 ON thinking"
Il didn't know myself until today"
he Interrupted her stosmily: Il didn't
know knew. that u. But when saw
you put your hands on that villain
Caylsy. I wanted to kill him, and In
that same Hash l knew why I wanted
to-"
Turning suddenly to look at her, he
saw that she had buried her face in
her hands and was crying forlornly.
"oh. am . brute" he concluded. ito
have told you about It In this way"
What does the way matter! That's
not what makes It hard. It's loving
you 10 much. the way do, and having
to hurt you. It's having to lose my
brothsr-the only brother l ever had"
There was long, miserable silence
nff IN hA
II you do love me as much as that
the way you do. not the way l love
you. but love me any way-could you
could you-marry me Just the same1
I'd never have any thought in the
world but Of making you happy. And
I'd always be there; you could count
on me. you know"
"Don't!" she Interrupted curtly.
Don't talk like that, Tom" She shiv.
cred. and drew away from him with
little movement somewhere near
akin to disgust
He WINGED At 1t, and Redeemed.
Then. In . voice that sounded curious
ly thick to her. curiously unlike his
own, he asked question: IF had
tOlO yVu III kAlb uOutu AXO-tOlu
you how felt toward you. and asked
you, loving me the way you do, to
marry mo Just the same. would your
Oh. l suppose you would have re-
fused. But would you have shuddered
and shrunk away from ms-liks that"
Did shudder and shrink away?"
she asked. II didn't know It I
wasn't angry; I'm not now. But
but that was . terrible thing you
asked ot me-"
Would It have struck you - hor-
rble." he persisted. IF had asked II
q month ago1"
Perhaps not," she answered
thoughtfully. I've changed a good
deal in the last month-since we
sailed away from sAn Francisco and
left the world behind us-our world
and came out into this great white
empty one. don't know why that is."
II know" He was speaking with q
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