Evening star., 1911-06-07
Miss Cary this morning. expect he will
be around soon-and II he fails, will I do

Miss Cary this morning. expect he will
be around soon-and II he fails, will do
instead?'
He looked at her with such a pleasant
frankness in his eyes that any awkward
ness she might have felt became impos-
him. grateful for the unchanged friend
ship which he had retained for her.
"Of course you will DOR she said. gay
1y. But must give him q few minutes
The colonel looked around. He had
come In five minutes before. hot and tired
from q long ride Of inspection. and his
family, knowing his small peculiarities.
had allowed him to get over his first ex-
.haustion undisturbed.
II shouldn't wait too long, little girl"
he said. smiling kindly II fancy Staf-
ford is not at all up to the mark. I told
him to take day Off II he wanted It,"
why. when did you see him?" his wife
asked.
This morning. Of course. at parade.
He struck me then as being rather pc
culiar."
"Il?" Lois exclaimed. with some alarm
She put her racquet on the table and
came and slipped her hand through the
ill.," she asked. earnestly.
Col. Carmichael shook his head.
NO" he said, mot exactly ILL.," He
laid his hand gently upon hers. so that
outside and see If he is coming" he went
on.
The old man-for sorrow and physical
weakness had made him older than his
years-led the way on to the veranda,
still holding Lois hand in his own. He
could not have explained the indefinable
force which drove him out Of his wife's
presence. His ear shrank from her hard,
matter-of-fact voice and undisturbed
optimism. She who had never had any
hut tho to ov,I n la
one. had no comprehension for the chang
ing shades Of his temper-would. indeed,
have rather scorned the necessity of un-
derstanding them. She did not believe in
what she called "vapors," and when they
ventured to cross her path she swept
them away again-or thought she did
with q none too Sparing brush.
Unfortunately. there are some char
acters who cannot overcome depression,
be it reasonable or unreasonable, simply
because some one else happens to be
cheerful. The source of their melancholy
lies too deep, and the more hidden it is,
the more inexplicable. the harder 1t is to
be overcome. 1t is as though chord in
their temperament is linked to the future,
and vtbrateS with painful presentiment
before that which Is to come. Col. Car
michael was one of these so-called sensi-
tive and moody people-quite unknown to
himself. When the cloud hung heavily
over his head, he said it was his liver or
Of solitude. thus escaping his wife's pitt
less condemnation. And on this after
noon, yielding to his instinct, he sought
to be alone with Lois. Lois never dis
turbed him or Jared on his worn-out
nerves. In spite of her energy and vigor
there was side Of her nature which re-
sponded absolutely to his own, and with
her he could always be sure Of a sympa-
thetic silence. or. what was still more, a
gentle sadness, which helped him more
than any overflow Of strident high spirits.
For some little time they stood together
arm-in-arm, looking over the garden. The
excuse that they were watching for Stat
ford was no more than an excuse. for
from their position the road was COM
pletely hidden by the high wall with
which the whole compound was surround
ed. Through the foliage of the trees the
outline of the old bungalow was family
visible, and thither their earnest contem-
plation was directed. For both OF them
1t was something more than q ruin, some
thing more than a relic out of the tragic
past. 1t had become, above all for the
colonel, a part OF their lives. a piece of
inanimate destiny to which they felt
themselves tied by all the bonds of pos
session. 1t was theirs, and they, in turn,
were possessed by the influence it exer-
cised over their lives. Their dear ones
had died within Its walls, and some in
tuition, feeling blindly through the light
less passages Of the future, told them
that its history was not yet ended.
(To be continued tomorrow)