The Delta independent., 1912-05-31

ordered to the PhlnpplneS. lie ana MAT
iorie Newton decide to elope; but wreck
of taxicab prevents their seeing minister
on the way to the train.
CHAPTER II.-Transcontinental train
Is taking passengers. Porter has .
lively time with Englishman and Ira
Marjorie Hoped on, anu taaty' sat
down, Mallory with eyes and thoughts
on nothing but the watch he kept in
his hand
During this tense journey the girl
perfected her soul with graceful
martyrdom.
I'll go to the train with you, Har-
ry, and then you can send me home
in a taxicab."
Her neither lip trembled and her
eyes were filmed, but they were brave,
and her voice was SO tender that it
wooed his mind from his watch. He
gazed at her, and found her so dear,
SO devoted and so pitifully exquisite,
that he was almost overcome by an
impulse to gather her into his arms
there and then, Indifferent to the i'm
mediate passengers or to his far-on
military superiors. An hour ago they
were young lovers in all the Tilt and
thrill of elopement. She had chung to
him in the cleaning of their taxicab,
as it sped like a genie at their whim
to the place where the minister
would unite their hands and raise his
own in blessing. Thence the new
husband would have carried the new
wife away, his very own, soul and
n
then in their minds the future was an
unwaning honeymoon, the journey
across the continent, stroll along
lovers lane, the Pacific ocean a gar
den lake, and the Philippines a chain
of Fortunate Isles decreed especially
for their Eden. And then the taxi
cab encountered a lamppost. They
thought they had merely wrecked a
motor car-and 10, they had wrecked
a Paradise.
The railroad ceased to be lovers
lane and became lingering torment;
the ocean was a weltering Sahara.
of exile.
Mallory realized for the first time
what heavy burdens he had taken on
with his shoulder straps; what dis
NAL life of restrictions and hardships
an officers life is bound to be. 1t was
hard to obey the soulless machinery
of discipline, to be a brass-buttoned
slave. He felt all the hot, quick re-
sentiment that turns faithful soldier
into a deserter. But it takes time to
evolve a deserter, and Mallory had
only twenty minutes. The handouts
and legirons of discipline hobbled
him. He was only little cog in a
great clock, and the other wheels
were impinging on him and revolv-
ing in spite of himself.
In the close-packed seats where
they were jostled and stared at, the
soldier could not even attempt to ex-
plain to his fascinated bride the war
of motives in his breast. He could
not voice the passionate rebellion her
beauty had whipped up in his soul.
Perhaps if Romeo and Juliet had been
forced to say farewell on a Chicago
street car instead OF Veronese bal
cony, their language would have
lacked SAVIOR, too.
Perhaps young Mr.. Montague and
young Miss Capulet, instead Of wall
ing, mo, that is not the lark whose
notes do beat the vaulty heaven 30
high above our heads" would have
done no better than Mr.. Mallory and
Miss Newton. In any case, the best
these two could squeeze out was:
Its Just too bad, honey"
But / guess it can't be helped,
dear"
Its a mean old world, isn't it?"
awful"
And then they must pile out into
the street again so lost in woe that
they did not know how they were
trampled or elbowed. Marjorie's de.
spair was SO complete that it paralyzed
instinct She forgot Snoozleums! A
thoughtful passenger ran out and
tossed the basket into Mallory's arms
even as the car. moved on.
Fortune relented moment and
they found a taxicab waiting where
they had expected to find it. Once
more they were cosy in the flying
twilight, but their grief was their
only baggage, and the clasp OF theiI
hands talked all the talk there was.
Anxiety within anxiety tormenteo
them and they feared another wreck
But as they swooped down upon the
station, kind-faced tower clock
beamed the reinsurance that they
had three minutes to spare.
The taxicab drew up and halted
but they did not get out. They were
kissing good-byes, fervidly and nu
merously, while grinning station
porter winked at the winking chaur'
feur.
Marjorie simply could not have
done with farewells.
I'll go to the gate with you," she
said.
He told the chauffeur to wait and