The Washington times., 1913-12-29
THEHOUR OF CONFLICT
By A. Hamilton Gibbs cRyssgh 1913 by Frank ,1unssz Co,
Chadla&So -
Copyright. 1913. by Frank A. Munsey Coz

II ooSSCcsAdAly hCPI thclr 1uCclHIoS
absolutely secret. They made a point of
arriving at the rendezvous from oppo-
site directions, and then not at the same
time, and they were never disturbed by
| any outside intrusion.
But. as 1t, happened, they made
great moistake. They had been seen, al
though not disturbed Marthe had de-
cided to carry on her investigations and,
at the cost Of several severe grumbl!ngs
from her father for not bringing home
a sufficient number Of francs, She was
rewarded after much impatient waiting
by the sight of them in each others
arms.
But, to her great chasrin, she was un-
hintng darkly to Leyden on the golf
links, for his clubs remained day after
day neglected in the club house.
! All the same, the impish caddie-gir
nodded her head sagely and kept the
matter to herself. She kept many Sc
crets from others, and this particular
one was far too good to tell Jeanne
or anybody else
| So she carried henceforth for any
other golfer who turned up. having de-
! cided that Leyden would no longer
time.
To Leyden's annoyance, he was no
longer alone at the cafe. There were
| other people staying at the Tardot-
| three Englishmen, who might have been
clerks on their yearly holiday They
We're typically suburban people whose
French was execrable and whose jovial-
They spent their days on the links, and
in the evenings. after dinner, disap-
peared into the town in an effort to
master the intricacies Of petits
Leyden kept out Of their way as much
as possible by coming down to break
fast after they had finished. and by
getting. through lunch at midday be
f0r hnI a..g-
round; They made one attempt at
friendliness by inviting him TO make
fourth at bridge, but he was SO offish
that after that they had left him alone
Everard was annoyed also to see that
the Hotel Imperial down the road was
DAILY sending its rumbling old bus to
the station and bringing fresh arrivals
He was afraid that somebody might
come who knew him He would then
be compelled to accept Invitations to
lunch and golf, and that was the last
thing he desired.
What was more, the sands began TO
be popular place. as the weather still
remained glorious and the three
suburbanites and many others of their
Kind took to bathing with great fervor.
This was intensely annoying, as 1t was
extremely possible that wandering par
ties might stumble upon Toinette and
himself on the dunes.
So they changed their place of meet
Ing and spent one glorious afternoon to-
sether In discovering a snug little cave
some hundreds Of yards along the
iikely to pick them out. 1t was an
ideal spot wherein two lovers could Sit
and talk. Deep sand covered the floor.
ana even at nigh tide the sea only came |
10 WITHIN twenty yards of the entrance.
To Toinette those days were one con
tinual heaven. She walked on air and
went about her duties in the morning
before getting out to meet Everard |
hn2 ~ 1A1
point with Joy and happiness In spare
moments which she snatched from the
duties of the menage she shut herself |
in her bed room and wrote him little |
In which. all unconsciously, she re- |
vealed her very soul.
These she did not drop into the letter
box. She posted them in her pocket. |
more together in the cave, played a |
charming game Of believe In |
which she became the sturdy facteur
wko tramped the countryside with his
stout stick and his bag slung over his |
shoulder. and the cave was transformed
into the Cafe Tardot, where she deIiv- |
cred the letters for the EngIishman and
had a little chat with madame
Everard entered into the game and
played the part OF madame so veil tbaf
Tcinette had difficulty in keeping m
her character as facteur. owing TO tho
shrieks of laughter into which he sent
her.
Then. finally. when the letters b.d
been satisfactorily delivered and the |
good facteur had received his Dourboire
Leyden dropped the part OF madame and |
became himself, and they sat down side
by side and read the letters together.
Eyerard insisted on giving the IIsnai
lovers receipt for each one, and die
tating his answers TO her to write in |
the sand while he guided her fingers
NeitIlfr or them ever mentioned the
subject OF narriage-Toinette because
she took II for granted that She would
be his wife in due course, Eye-ard he
cause he feared TO spoil everything by
worrying thoughts of tha future. They
both pursued the policy Of laisser-faire
ard read happiness in each other'seyes
At cdd moments, however, Eyerard
caught himself half wishing that the af-
fair had not gone beyond filtration.
As an adventure II would have been
lust as perfect. or very nearly so-and
woulc have hurt neither of them when
K ended.
When it ended! That, was the devil of
It II would have to end. That was
inevitable. He didn't know quite what
he should do when II was all over. she
was so perfect. SO glorious But She
good God! She was so much mora
violent in her emotions that Everard
dreaded to think how much it would
hurt her: II vas question which he
dared not face.
So he argued to himself fierceIy that
1t was absurd TO let things stop where
they were. There was to be the ter
rlble business Of parting for good-or so
II seemed-when he had to return to
England.
Why, therefore, should they not real
iZe their love to the very fullest extent?
As well be hanged for a sheep as a
lamb! And they loved each other pas-
sionately. Every kiss. every look. every
caress of her hand set his heart leapinp
and his blood coursinS. Why should