Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-10-07
Initials Only y By Anna katherine Creme
Thrilling Mystery Story Of Modern Times

the sound Of Brotherson's heavy breath
ing. His own was silenced to a gasp.
What q treasure Of girl! How natural
her Indignation, What an instinct she
showed and what comprehension, This
high and mighty handling OF a most DIFF
hcult situation and a most difficult man,
had imposed on Brotherson, had almost
imposed upon himself Those letters so
beautiful, so spirituele! Yet, the odds
were that she had never read them, much
less distracted them. The mink! the
ready, resourceful, willy, daring mink,
But had she imposed on Brotherson2
As the silence continued Sweetwater
began to doubt He understood quite well
the Importance Of his neighbours first
movement We're he to tear those letters
into shreds, lie might be thus tempted
All depended on the strength Of his pres
ent mood and the real nature Of the secret
which lay buried in his heart
Was that heart as hinty it seemed
Was there no place for doubt or even for
curiosity. in it's impenetra BILE depths?
Seemingly, he had not moved foot or hand
since his unwelcome visitors had left
He was doubtless stil staring at the
scattered sheets lying before him; posi-
bly, battling with unaccustomed impulses
possibly weighing deeds and consequences
in those slow moving scales of his in
which no man could cast weight with
any certainty how far its even balance
would be disturbed
There was q SOUND as of settling coal
only at night would one expect to hear
so slight a sound as that in a tenement
fun of noisy children. But the moment
CHANGED TO he proptIous. and IT not only
attracted the attention Of Sweetwater on
his side OF the wall, but Il struck the ear
OF Bfptherson also With an ejaculation
as bitter as it was impatient. he reused
himself and gathered up the letters
Sweetwater could hear the successive
rustlings as he bundled them up in his
hand. Then came snolner suence-then
the lifting Of 4 stove lid.
SWeetwater had not been wrong in his
secret apprehension. His identification
with his unimpressiona neighbors
MOOD had shown him what to expect
These ietters-these innocent and pre-
cious outpourings of rare and womRnly
soul the only conceivable open sesame to
The hard locked ma lure he found himself
pitted against, would soon hc resolved
into vanishing puff Of smoke.
But the lid was thrust back, and the
letters remained in hand. Mortal strength
has it's limits Even Brotherson could
not shut down that lid on words which
might have been meant for him. harshly
"a he had repealed the idea
The pause which followed told little:
but when SweetWater heard the man
within move with characteristic energy 10
the door, turn the key and step back
again 60 his place at the Ia BILE. he knew
that the danger moment had passed and
that those letters were about TO be read
not casually, but seriously. as indeed
their contents merted
This caused Sweetwater to feel serious
himself Upon what result might he
calculate? What would happen to this
hardy soul, when the fact he 80 scorn-
fuzzy repudiated was borne in upon him
and he saw that the disdain which had
antaEonlzed him was a mere device--a
cloak 10 hide the secret heart OF love
and eager womanlv devotion" Her death
little IA Brotherson would believe II IN
until now-had been his personal loss
The greatest which can befall a man.
When he came to see thiS-when the moo
est ferVor of her unusual nature began
to dawn upon him in these self-revela-
tons, would the result be remorse. or lust
the deadening and hnal extinction Of
whatever tenderness he may have re-
tanned for her memory?
Impossible to tell The balance OF prob
- '' ""'e' 'V'"si'IHeu
ms ana ''unE' orea Mess TO his loop
no'e' al" "ou'u ne nave seen as well
"S ne"'u'
M', o'o'heFsoh read the hrst letter
| ''a"ulhs AS soon became public prop
! e'S, VIII give II mere Just as It after
Na'uS appeared III the columns Of the
| bLteuN Journals
beloNeo.
When / sit, as often do, in perfect
qu'e' unaer the stars and dream that
! you are looking ~ them too, not for hours
az J 90 ool for one fun moment in
which your thoughts are with me as
wholly as mine are with you, feel that
the bond between as, unseen by the
world ana POSSIBLY not wholly recognized
| bN ourselves, ~ instinct with the same
power winch INKS together the eterni-
TIES.
III seems TO have always been. to
nave known no beginning, only bud
dlhE an eulorescence, the visible product
OF hidden out always present reality. A
month ago and was ignorant even, OF
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