Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1912-02-01

have been oinerent. Instead, sne
amazed him with her simplicity and
wholesomeness, with her great store
of comradeliness. The latter was the
unexpected He had never looked
upon woman In that way. Woman.
the toy; woman, the harpy; woman,
the necessary wife and mother of the
races offspring-all this had been his
expectation and understanding OF
woman. But woman, the comrade and
playfellow and joyfellow-this was
what Dede had surprised him in. And
the more she became worth while, the
more ardently his love burned, un-
consciously shading his voice with
caresses, and with equal unconscious
ness flaring up signal fires in his eyes.
Nor was she blind to 1t, yet, like many
women before her. she thought to play
with the pretty fire and escape the
consequent conflagration."
winter will soon be coming on"
she said regretfully, and with provoca-
ton, one day, land then there won't
be any more riding"
''But I must see you in the winter
just the same" he cried hastily.
She shook her head.
'Tve been pretty good" he declared.
81 leave it to you II l haven't. It's
been pretty hard, too, / can tell you.
You just think it over. Not once have
/ said a word about love to you, and
me loving you all the time. That's
going some for a man that's used to
having his own way. I'm somewhat
of a rusher when 1t comes to travel
ing. reckon I'd rush God Almighty
IL it came to a race over the ice. And
yet | didn't rush you. / guess this
fact is an indication Of how much
do love you. OF course I want you to
marry me. Have | said word about
1t, though? Nary chirp, nary fiut-
ter. I've been quiet and good, though
it's almost made me sick at times, this
keeping quiet. haven't asked you to
marry me. I'm not asking you now.
Oh, not but what you satisfy me.
sure know you're the wife for me. But
how about myself? Do you know me
we'll enough to know your own mind?'
He shrugged his shoulders. II don't
know, and / amt going to take
chances on 1t now. You've got to
know for sure whether you think you
could get along with me or not, and
I'm playing a slow conservative game
I amt agoing to lose for overlooking
my hand"
This was love-making OF sort be-
yond Dede's experience. Nor had she
ever heard of anything like 1t.
so you see." he urged, "just for
square deal we've got to see some
more of each other this winter. Most
likely your mind amt made up yet"
But It is," she interrupted. Il
wouldn't dare permit myself to care for
you. Happiness, for me, would not lie
that way l like you, Mr.. Harnish,
and all that, but 1t can never be more
than that"
Its because you don't like my way
Of living" he charged, thinking In his
own mind of the sensational joy-rides
and general profligacy with which the
newspapers had credited him-think-
luk tulS, anu WohuCiihS "hCehCA Va
not, in maiden modesty, she would
disclaim knowledge Of 1t.
To his surprise, her answer was fiat
and uncompromising.
mo; don't"
81 know I've been brash on some OF
those rides that got into the papers"
he began his defence, "and that I've
been travelling with lively crowd"
II don't mean that" she said,
though l know about 1t, too, and
can't say that like It. But 1t Is your
life in general, your business. There
are women in the world who could
marry man like you and be happy,
but l couldn't And the more I cared
for such a man, the more unhappy
should be. You see. my unhappiness,
in turn, would tend to make him un-
happy. / should make a mistake, and
he would make an equal mistake.
though his would not be so hard on
him because he would still have his
business"
"Business!" Daylight gasped.
What's wrong with my business? I
play fair and square. There's moth
ing underhand about 1t. which can't
be said of most businesses, whether Of
the big corporations or of the cheat.
ing, lying, little corner-grocerymen. /
play the straight rules Of the game,
and ] don't have to lie or cheat or
break my word"
Don't you see," he went on, "the
whole game is a gamble. Everybody
CANDLES in one way or another. The
farmer CANDLES against the weather
and the market on his crops. So does
the United States Steel Corporation.
The business of lots of men Is straight
robbery of the poor people. But I've
never made that my business. You
know that. I've always gone after the
robbers"
II missed my point" she admitted.
wait minute"
And for space they rode in 81
lence.
II see 1t more clearly than can
state II, but it's something like this.
There Is legitimate work, and there's
work that-well, that isn't legitimate.
The farmer works the soil and pro-