Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1912-05-17

Z
! ave all are" he admitted. Every
thing depends upon our power of con-
cealment.''
The service of dinner commenced
almost at once. There was something
Excessively peaceful in the scene The
tables were so agransed that one heard
nothing of the CHATTER of crOckery. The
murmur of voices came like pleasant
Iundernote They talked lightly for
some time of the English theaters. Of
1.-THE stage generally, some recent me-
moirs-anything that came into their
heads Then Julien was silent for sew
eral minutes He leaned slightly
across the table. Their own lamp was
/ lit now, and through the velvety dusk
her eyes seemed to glow with new
beauty.
Tell me- he begged, you spoke or
yourself a little time ago as though
you might have a personality at which
ought to have guessed. Are you a
woman of society, or an artist. or
merely an idler?"
IT have known something of society"
she replied. Il believe 1 may say that
I am something Of an artist 1t is
| very certain that 1 am not an idler.
/ Why ask me these questions? Let us
forget to be serious tonight. Let us
remember only that we are companions,
\ and that the hours, as they pass, are
pleasant"
1T is philosophy" he murmured,
/ (which brings it's own retribution."
She shrugged her shoulders.
"All happiness is lost" she declared,
''the moment you begin to try and define
it. 1t is a sensation, not a state of
being. Let us drift. The waters are not
dangerous for you or for me-
Her words chilled him with sudden
memory Then, in the act of helping
himself to wine. he paused. Someone
had taken the table nearest to them,
dimly visible through the laurel bushes.
He heard the voice of the man who had
been with Foster, giving the orders.
Listen
There was no need for him to have
spoken. Curiously enough, Madame
christopher seemed also to have recog-
nized the voice Her hand fell upon Ju-
liens. He looked at her in surprise. Her
cheeks were blanched, her eyes blazing.
You hear that voice?" she whispered.
/ Julien nodded.
1T is the voice of the only person in
the world" she continued, .'whom l alb
soluteIy hate"
You know whose it is. them"
"Of course" she replied.
80 do l." pc muttered. Il have never
seen the mah's face, but I know a little
about him."
She shiyered.
"Come, she said, ''let us have our
coffee later. We have finished dinner
and the moon is coming up. If we walk
to the bottom there, we shall see it
from the bend of the river, and we shall
escape from those men,"
He rose hastily to his feet She led the
way down the path. Here and there
"a A,kl
as they passed-little parties of two or
four, all very gay. Madsme breathed
more freely as they progressed. Pres
emily they passed through an iron gate
into a field, already half-mown. The
perfume Of the fresh-cut grass came to
them with en- almost overpowering
sweetness. Her hand fell upon his arm.
Forgive me-" she begged, Il am not
really a weak woman do not think
: that there is any other sound in life
which I hate so much as the sound Of
that voice"
They walked in silence along the mar
row path. Soon they reached the edge
of the river. A few steps further on
was a seat, of which they took posses
sion In the distance the gondola, on
fire now with lamps, was playing
waltz A hat flew for a moment about
their heads. Somewhere in the woods
long way down the river nightingale
was singing.
Il am not often so foolish" she muir
mured "Once-let me tell you this
once had a dear little friend. She was
very sweet, but a little too trusting, too
simple for the life here. She found a
lover She thought she had found the
happiness of her life. Poor child!i For
a month perhaps, she was happy Then
he forced her to give up her little home
and her savings and go upon the stage.
He preferred a mistress from the thea
tiers. She worked hard, but, sweetly
pretty though she was, she was not very
successful. Then she caught cold. She
began to lose her health-and she lost
her lover
Brute
1.-The child got worse" madame went
on Presently they told her that 1t
was consumption. She went to hos
pital, and she wrote a pathetic little
note to the man. He tore it up. There
had been an article in the papers few
weeks before proving that consumption
was among the diseases which were
more or less infectious. He sent her a
few brutal lines and a trihe of money,
with a warning that there was to be no
more He never went to see her. The
child grew worse. l used to sit with
her sometimes. 1 saw her look down
upon the river, almost as we are look
/ ing now, and her eyes would grow soft
and wet with tears. and she would tell
me in whispers of the evenings she had
spent with him, when the love had first
come, and how sweet and tender he
/ was There must be something wrong,
she was sure. He did not unerstand; he
did not know how i'll she really was. She
prayed for the sight of him. l put her
of with one excuse after another, but
one day the fear of death was in her
eyes, the terror came to her, she was
/ afraid. She was afraid of dying alone,
of going into a strange country no one
to hold her. 1 went to the man. !
| begged him to come and see her He
scoffed at me. If she had consumption
she was better dead. He would have
hirted with me if l had let him. can
hear his voice now-brutal, leerng,
hideous! IT was the voice of Sir Julien,
which we heard ten minutes ago, at the
| next table. DO you wonder that 1 hate
it?"
"And the little girl?" he asked.
when 1 returned without him." she
answered, "the little girl was dead
They were both silent, listening to
: the splash of the water and to the dis
/ tant music.
Life is like that" she went on. 1--WE
pass through it lightly enough, but
/ heaven only knows the number of little
: tragedies against which our skirts
4 must hr,,sb GomefirueS tbeV have i'm