Middletown transcript., 1912-05-18

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helpless, rage as he might in one
moment, pray as he. did in another, no
light came into the whirling darkness
of his torn, tempest tossed, driven
soul. The irresistible impulse and the
lmmoVable body the philosophers puz-
Eled over were exemplified in him.
Whilst he almost hated the new wom-
an, whilst he almost loved the old,
yet that he did neither the one thing
nor the other absolutely was signi1-
cant.
Indeed he knew that he was glad
Enid Maitland had come into his life.
No life is complete until it is touched
by that divine fire which for lack Of
another name we call love. Because
we can experience that sensation we
are said to be made in Gods image.
The image is blurred as the animal
predominates, it is clearer as the spir-
itual has the ascendency.
The man raved in his mind. White
faced, stern, he walked up and down
he tossed his arms about him, he stop
ped, his eyes closed, he threw his
hands up toward God, his heart cried
out under the decorations of the blows
inflicted upon it. No fiagellant Of old
ever trembled beneath the body lash
as he under the spiritual punishment.
He prayed that he might die at the
same moment that he longed to live.
Il cd 90 -
the problem that would leave him with
untarnished honor and undiminished
self respect and fidelity, and yet give
him this woman, and in vain. He
strove to find way to reconcile the
past with the present, realizing as he
did so the futility Of such a PROPOSE
ton. One or the other must be SUI
preme, he must inexorably hold to his
ideas and his ideals, or he must ineY-
itably take the woman.
How frightful was the battle that
ragged within his bosom! Sometimes
in his despair he thought that he
would have been glad If he and she
had gone down together in the dark
waters before all this came upon him.
The floods Of which the heavens had
emptied themselves had borne her to
him. Oh If they had only swept him
out Of life with its trouble, its trials,
its anxieties, its obligations, it's impos-
sibilities. If they had gone together!
And then he knew that he was glad
even for the torture, because he had
seen her, because he had loved her,
and because she had loved him.
He marveled at himself curiously,
and in detached way. There was a
woman who loved him, who had con-
fessed 1t boldly and innocently, there
was none to say him nay. The woman
who stood between had been dead five
years. The world knew nothing, cared
nothing; they could go out together;
he could take her, she would come. On
the impulse he turned and ran to the
door and beat upon it. Her voice bade
him enter, and he came in.
Her heart yearned to him. She was
shocked, appalled, at the torture she
saw upon his face. Had he been laid
upon the rack. and every joint pulled
from Its sockets, he could not have
been more white and agonized.
Il give up" he cried. What are
honor and self respect to me? want
you. have put the past behind. You
love me, and l, am yours with every
fiber of my being. Great God! Let
US cast aside these foolish quixotic
scruples that have kept us apart. If
a mans thoughts declare his guilt,
am already disloyaI to the other wom-
an; deeply, entirely so. 1 have be-
trayed her, shamed her, abandoned
her. Let me have some reward for
what have gone through. You love
me; come to me-"
NO" answered the woman, and no
task ever laid upon her had been hard.
er than that. Il do love you. will
not deny it. Every part of ME re-
spends to your appeal. should be so
happy that cannot even think Of it. If
could put my hand in your own. if I
could lay my head upon your shout
der, If could feel your heart beat
against mine, if could give myself up
to you, would be so glad, so glad
But 1t cannot be, not now"
"Why not?" pleaded the man.
He was by her side, his arm went
around her. She did not resist ply
sically, 1t would have been useless.
She only laid her slender hand upon
his broad breast and threw her head
back and looked at him.
"See," she said, how helpless I am,
how weak in your hands Every voice
In my heart bids me give way. If you
insist can deny you nothing. am
helpless, alone, but 1t must not be-
know you better than you know
yourself You will not take advantage
Of affection SO unbounded, of weak
ness so pitiable"
Was it the wisdom of calculation, or
was it the wisdom Of instinct by which
she chose her course? Resistance
would have been unavailing, in weak
ness was her strength.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall
inherit the earthl Yes, that was true.
She knew It now, If never before. and
SO 0Id ne.
Slowly the man released her. She
did not even then draw away from
him. She stood with her hand still on
his breast. She could feel the beating
of his heart beneath her fingers.
Il am right" she said softly. 'It
kills me to deny you anything. My
hearts yearns toward you. Why should
deny it? It is my glory, not my
shame"
There is nothing above love like
ours" he pleaded, wondering what
marvellous mastery she exercised that
she stopped him by hands touch, a
whispered word, a faith.
mo; love is life, love is God, but
even God himself is under obligations
OF Righteousness. For me to come
to you now, to marry you now, to be
your wife, would be unhoIy. There
would not be that perfect confidence
between us that must endure in that
revelation. Your honor and mine, your
self respect and mine, would interpose
If / can't have you with clear con.
science, if you can't come to me in the
same way. we are better apart Al