Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-08-12
The Gates of Silence"
By Meta SmmInS, Author Qf "HH5hed U.b'

as Anthony harrington opened the side
/ door Of the house and pointed to the slop-
| ing thatch Of roof visible far down the
/ garden.
That is the studio" he said III you
| wish TO reach il youll get wet, am
/ afraId-if that matters"
1t did not matter in the least; the girl
/ felt she would rather walk miles IN the
downpour even across ground as sodden
/ and ralu-drenched as this garden that
| stretched before her, where the water lay
! heavily on thessurface OF the clay it had
/ beaten 20 paste. rather than remain in
that grim room with its odor Of stale
spirit and tobacco its air Of desolation.
! Il want 70 go 10 the studio" she said
and forced herself 10 smile. striving 10
act a though those last words Of his had
never been spoken, as though he had not
/ put her own formIess fears and suspicious
/ into shape
Without a word harrington plunged
down the single step that separated the
/ three foot wide hricked path which sur
| rounded the house He was hauess. IN
/ slippers down at heel Bettys eyes for
! the moment were held by the sight Of
/ that slouching, unsteady figure going be-
| fore her in the gray Norfolk suit that was
/ dirty rather than shabby.
/ Tony She repeated his name in her
! heart Ike a cry, Tony" She had not
realized before how dear he was to her
all the kindness he had shown to her in
the past Just for a moment her thoughts
flashed back TO that last interview with
her lover on as they both thought the
eve Of his death, and how he had urged
her to trust herself and her affairs to
| this man TO this awful wreck OF a
man. Rimington in his prison Of stone
walls. or this man in his prison Of the
spirit-who was the most to be pitied
for whom, in that moment, did her heart
| bleed most2 she asked herself
Almost as though something OF her
! thoughts had touched him, Darlington
slackened his pace and waited for her
at the edge Of a path in the wilderness of
neglected kitchen garden through which
they We're passing The barn he had
| converted into a studio doomed up near
them now, a long brown building with a
! matched roof on which gray and yellow
| lichen spread and tail tufts Of antlrrhi-
mum, bending under the weight of the
raindrops on their caps and bells
/ 81 meant to have asked you-if | don't
ask YOU now ! shah forget-have you any
news Of Rimh9ton2 How is his case
/ going? Is there anything fresh?"
There was something brutal in the
question. in the mans way of putting II.
! that hurt Betty as though he had struck
! her in the face, Yet, as she looked at
the haggard face beside her, at the
twitching, peering eyes, she could not be
angry. She could only feel great sor-
row rushing over her
Why no, Tony" she said There Is
] &c
now patience and hope"
And Faith
And faith" harrington said. with an
/ accent Of indescribabe bitterness IL
suppose you believe in the man. you poor
| little fool. In his goodness. in his mar
| tyrs heroism. Don't Be true to him,
II YOU Will but eXalt him to no altar In
| your heart Whatever he was. he'll be
a poor enough wretch when he gets out
| BE thankful II he is not worse
Tony, / hate to hear you speak so. "
she said, and tears were choking her
You're like all women-you hate to
! hear the truth" Huntington retorted. I'M
| locking the studio door with a KEY from
| his pocket The door opened into tiny
ante-room screened from the rest OF the
studio by thick curtain Darlington
! drew her inside, locking the door behind
| them. and stood for a moment wipng
wringing would have been the better
word-the rain from his thick hair, then
he drew aside the curtain and Betty en-
tered
The air struck warm and pleasant after
the damp Of the garden: a large stove
glowed ruby-red at one end of the long
room-that was her first Impression: the
next, of the neglect over everything
upturned rugs that covered the floor, the
dust that lay thickly on the polished sur
| faces of the furnture-for the room was
| comfortably and even beautifully fur
ntshed 1t was not for an instant that
! her eyes took in the significance of the
CanVases about the walls: when she did
/ so she felt shiver Of repugnance run
! over her They We're all studies of a
woman's head-sketches of expressions
each terrible and grotesque. and in every
/ case the model had been the sanchez
sister Edith
| harrington hardly appeared to notice
| her look or the effect of il upon her He
, had walked to the end of the studio. to
where, just below the little platform
whore the stove glowed red, stood an easel
with a picture on it, over which had been
! thrown a covering
This is great work. Betty" he said.
ITS not finished, but may heaven send
me light and strength till il is II win
make my poor name live. Though l
say IL myself is laundering good,
! Betty. II amazes me that l should have
/ mad the power, after ten years of mere
| prettiness. To so TO the naked soul of
! things like this. Look at it, Betty. Isn't
! IL worth even the moral degradation OF
! the excellent Mamma S disa pproha tiou2"
lie drew off the covering with a -four
! lsh, though Betty, her nerves strained 10
/ the breaking point, saw how his hand
| tremhled She could not have said why.
! nuL as She atnnL Lhnrn she raalizad Lha I