Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-07-29
The Gates of Silence"
~ Meta Smmfn5, Antf0y Of "Hnshed Up"


house the day long? Where's your pride,
/ girl where's your PRIDE"
He lifted as he spoke the brass cake
stand SO roughly that one Of the plates
/ insecurely set slipped and its contents
/ fell scattering over the rug Sir George
swore and rang the bell Betty started
up. Just for moment the brutal injus
tice OF his words bad held her dumb; he
/ had never said so much to her before
since the day he had told her Of what he
had done-the public denial Of her en-
ga cement which he had inserted in the
papers But now she saw that evidently
he had been drinking, as he had slipped
into the habit Of doing these last weeks
not enough for a stranger to notice. per
haps, but sufficient to make him violent
and irritable and less master OF his tenn
per than ever,
Father, say nothing to Farchld when
she comes in. You mustn't swear at the
! servants It's horrible IL forbid it.
Sir George. utterly taken abacb by this
unexpected attitude on the part OF his
daughter. actually did stand silent when
the maid entered He stared at Betty
while she gave her orders his shifty eyes
| filled with amazement, his cheeks deepen
! ing from red to angry purple
But as the door closed behind the maid
| he found voice
you forbid?' he cried shrilly You?
! How dare you speak SO to your father
miss? Is 1t not enough that you have
brought public disgrace and shame on his
name without your adding insolence?'
Public disgrace and shame Bettys
sea grey eyes rested calmly on his face
but there was no calmness in her heart
1t beat furiously so furiously that in
stnctively she raised her hand to her
breast as though to still it. "Expain
Yourself please father she said quietly
That he should speak so TO her after
after-it was hard to keep silent, bitterly
hard AT that moment while injustice
choked her; while she thought of all that
had been sacrificed for this mans sake
for this mans honor Honor, At this
moment Betty Lumsden felt almost hatred
for her father
Betty's Defiance
Explain myself? Don't come your fine
tragedy airs over me, my girl mean
your shameless conduct in openly associa-
ing yourseIr with-witn feon
for her farther
Father" There was something in the
one sharply-uttered word that silenced
even this cholerc man, his nerves
twitching and upset his mental outlook
obscured by the fumes Of drink--of some
thing more deadly than drink.
How dare you speak so? You. of all
men YOU Her look. her voice, her sud
denly outfung hand, all cried aloud an &C
cusaton none the less terrible that it was
clothed in definite form of words.
sudden change came over Sir Georges
face It paled, and the immediate tran
sition from angry purple to notified
whiteness was startling. His eyes met
those of the girl, standing up there,
straight and slim in her white gown, with
| frightened stare.
Betty turned away quickly. There was
something In his aspect that she could not
bear to see; looking into that suddenly
whitened face, those sobered eyes, was
/ like looking into an open wound.
ION. I don't know" she said. ustlessly.
only please try not to speak so to me
again. ! can not bear it. You must
know and II YOU don't. tell YOU now
and beg YOU never TO forget it--that the
man YOU have spoken of as a felon is the
man | love An innocent mana man
/ Her voice broke. without another word
she turned and ran blindly out Of the
/ room Sir George Lumsden standing on
the hearthrug beside the untouched tea
table. stared after her as she went. his
Hips twitching under the thick white
moustache
What can she know he muttered to
| himself What can she know?
Upstairs in her bedroom Betty turned
| the KEY in the lock and flung herself face
downwards on the little white bed under
the picture of the Good Shepherd, whose
shelterlng arms and outstretched hand
] hoo ffe
abandonment
| 1t was IN so useless so utterly useless
the thing she had done, That the
burden Of her sobbng cry as she lay
there her face buried in the pillows.
What was to be the end of it? After
I all had her silence saved her father ma
teriallyo From public shame and expos
ure, perhaps. yes but at that moment the
girl was inclined to undervalue the pain
that public iufamy brought 1t was the
standing condemned at the tribunal OF
ones own conscience which mattered
which brought suffering and shame that
nothing could assuage.
Jack, oh, my dear, my dear, she
whispered her hands close against her
breast "Afterward, when there is per
feet understanding viii YOU know and
forgive
Her mind. utterly worn out by grief
and sufering. revolved aimlessly always
around this central thought of the silence
which Paul SAKE had enjoined on her
the silence he had rendered imperative
( 10y those words whispered TO her on the
day Of Rimingtons arrest in that spartan
~ furnished private office in Chichester
House where the great bouquet OF Ameri-
can Beauty roses had struck so incon-
gruous a note.
What an ugly coil the whole thing was,
Betty. too inexperienced in business toe
utterly a child in all matters concerning
the law could only listen horror stricken
while Paul SAKE had explained TO her the
net in which she was caught
Not herself alone, nor Jack Rimington
we're overshadowed by that death which
had come suddenly and unknown to the
Ugly money spider in Tempest street
Her own father Edith, her sister-these
two were involved as SAKE had shown
her with merciIess clearness
Lying there in the little blue and white
bedroom. she reconstructed the scene.
"l's IA hateful thing 10 have to tell You,