The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-01-26
Tcepyrisht, 1910, b,
CContInued.)

NCOnL1nueorp
 "AIr. BrPftuIiiuu anu | have met be fore said Cathewe sOberIy-
 The two men bowed. Cathewe never gave his hand to any but his intimates But Laura. who was not aware of this ancient reserve. thought that both of them showed a lack Of warmth. And Fitzgerald. who was watching all cor nPr< now. was sure that the past of ai friend and Breitmann interlaced iB some way.
 ''S0. young man." said Mrs. Coldfie'u a handsome motherIy woman. ''you have had the impudPnce to let five years pass without darkening my doors What exca.se have yOuT'
 I'm guilty Of anything you say" Fitzgerald answered hunbly. What shall be my puniShmPnt?'
 You shall take Miss Laura in. ana I shalt sit at your left"
 "For my sins 1t shall be as you say But. really. ! have been so little in New York be added.
 "l forgive yOn simply because you have not made a failure Of your moth eris son. And you look like her too. ." It Is one of the privileges of old per sons to compare the young with this or that parent.
 ~You are fiatterinR me. Dad used to say that 1 was aS nomely as a hedge fence"
 'Sow you're fishing. and I'm too old . fish to rise to such cast"
 "I heard you sing in Paris a few yearS ago." said AI. Ferraud.
 '-Yes?" Hildegarde von Mitter won dered who this little man could be. And you sing no mOreT'
 'No. The bird has flown. Only the woman remains" They were at the table now. and she 0bsentIy plucked the flowers beside her plate.
 "Ah. to sing as you did and then to disappear. to vanish. You had no right to do 90. You belonged to the public.'' animatedly.
 The public is always selfish. It all ways demands more than any single person can give to 1t. Pardon?" she said as Cathewe leaned to speak to her. "l did not hear.''
 NJ Ferraud nibbIed his crisp celery. ''I asked what will you do," repeated Cathewe for her ear only.
 What do you meanT'
 Did you know that he was hereg'' "I should not have been seated at this table had known"
 Some day you are going to tell me all about it. he asserted. ''and you are going 10 smile when you answer me-
 Thank you. forgot. My dear friend. 1 am never going to tell you all about If. Why did you not come drStS" her voice vibrating.
 You still lore him"
 "That Is nOt kind.'' striving hard to keep the smile on her trembling lips "Oh. l beg of you. do not make this friendship impossible. 10 not rob me of the one man 1 trust.''
 Cathesve morioued aside the fish anc reached for his sauterne. ''I hav' loved you faithfully and Loyalty fol Sevcn years. have tried to win yoC by all those roads a man may honor lbIy tEaverSs in quest of the one wo- nan For seven years and for some hing like three l have stayed away Ut your command. Will you believe t? Sometimes my hands ache for his hroat- Smile: they are looking" It was a crooked smile. Why did Sver tell your
 
 part? It k the other part 1 wish to know. Till l learn what that is 1 shall never leave you. You will find that here is difference between love and mfatuation.'
 ''As l have never known infatuatio cannot tell the difference. Now. no more. unless you care to see me break down before them. For if you tell me
 
 have loved him eight" cruelty, for cathewe was pressing her cruelty.
 Devil take him. What do you find m the man2"
 ''What do you find in me7" her eyes hIled with anger.
 Forgive me. Hiidegurde. I am blind and mad tonight. l did not expect to and him here either" Breitmann had tried Intellectually to read their lips. SBe had given her word. and. once given, he knew of old that she never broke 1t. But he was keenIy alive that in some way he was the topic of the inaudible conversa- tion- AN he sHt here tonight he knew why he had never loved HiIdegarde. why. in fact. he had never loved any woman. The one great passion which comes in the span of life was centered n the girl beside him. dividing her mo- nents between him and Fitzgerald. Strange. but he had not known it till he saw the two women together. For once his nice calculations had ceased 70 run smoothly. There appeared now knot in the thread for which he saw no untying.
 You do not sing now?" asked Laura tcross the able.
 NO" Hildegarde answered, my 5oice is gone"
 ''Oh. 1 am so sorry"
 ''It does not matter. I can hum a little to myself. There Is yet some pleasure in that. But in opera. no. never again Has not Mrs. Coldfield told you: No: Imagine. One night In Dresden in the middle of the aria \ ny voice broke miseraDly. and 1 coulI not go on"
 And her heart nearly broke with