Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1913-10-02


T fy her own curiosity now that she had
told him something about herself.
I Only a month or So"
4 think it's the queerest thing in
/ the world that we should meet mere
Of all places. What are you doing
here?"
And then Wright lied. He did not
/ have time to consider what might be
/ the ethics of the case He listened to
his heart, which may have made HIM a
! traitor to himself. and answered
promptly:
I've been doing some magazine
/ writing and an occasional bit OF news
+ paper and similar work"
Had he been asked he could not
have explained why he had not replied
/ just as promptly that he was the own
er of the Belmont News. What the
( real reason was he could not even ex-
/ plain TO himself. Earlier in the eve
ming he had talked glibly of aews-
/ paper and its duty, and here an hour
4 later he was denying his own under
| the fire Of a pair Of laughing eyes
I
! as vague as her notions of politics or
esoteric Buddhism, accepted his expIa-
nation IS adequate; especially since
she recalled that when in Europe he
had been writing some magazine ar
ticles about the tariff. Since she never
thought about the matter at all she
| never thought it strange that Belmont
should be the place for such labors.
Have you ever been to Locust
Lawn?" was her next question.
4 have that pleasure in store for
me-"
This pleased her Even before he
came there were many little things
she could do to make the house appear
to better advantage. Although he had
not yet made explanation of his fail
ure to come to Paris, she found her
self anxious to have him once more
on the old footing of intimate friend
ship.
Are you the same as in the mac
old, glad old Paris days?" he asked.
She parried the question with an
other
Are you?"
In some respects-only more so"
That's a riddle I hate riddles"
As he made no reply to this, she went
on after the pause of which he had not
taken advantage. I hope we meet
accidentally as often as you met our
party abroad"
Was it accident?" he made bold to
ask,
Wasn't it? You pretended it was"
Then the miscellaneous little spirit that
ruled her tongue forced her to say, q
don't blame you; I think Annabel
Hitchcock is a beautiful girl. We all
/ know you were crazy about her"
WAS u" Rising infection.
Weren't your" Also rising inflec-
ton.
I'll admit 1 followed your party"
he conceded.
Now we're getting at the truth of
the matter" she replied triumphantly.
She felt she was teasing him, and she
| enjoyed it. But why didn't you come
on to Paris as you promised us? I'd
like to know why we suddenly lost
you. Was it another girl even pre<tier
than Annabel?"
He did not join her when she
laughed at the picture she had painted.
All the light joyousness, the first
which had been his since he had come
to Belmont, died out of his face as he
answered:
After the Rhine I had hoped to
meet you in Paris again looked
forward to it as the beginning OF an
other happy time. And then, in Lon
don, / received a cable-my mother
was dying"
No" protested the girl, her eyes
wide with pity.
= had just time to catch the express
for Liverpool that would put me
aboard a liner an hour before she
I sailed. Miss Kerr, know 1 thought OF
Paris, but things all seemed blurred
TO me. and so the message had
planned to you-not to Miss Hitchcock
was never sent"
/ MY poor friend"
I reached America too late"
I'm so sorry,' she sighed.
He had told the whole story. There
/ was nothing more to say.
Both sat gazing into the open FIRE.
busy with the thoughts of life and
death At last Gloria said quietly
with no more movement than II her
thoughts had Of themselves become
+ vocal;
Tell me Of your mother. l never
knew my mother, and so envy you
You loved herr"
Il loved her." he began. OF his
/ own affairs he seldom spoke, yet here
was one who By her very presence
made him glad to tell his story, and
/ glad that it was a story he could tell
with pride. Son never loved mother
more. And never did a son owe a
mother more than l owed mine
! never knew my father. He was a goud
man, but not provident When he died,
mother found she had to support her
self and me, an only child. o Miss
| Kerr, if you knew the bitterness of
that struggle as 1 know it your heart
would ache, too. at thought OF it,"
He paused, but something clutched
at Gloria's throat. She could not
speak.
If mother could have a fault. It
was her pride of me. l suppose when
all the things she had planned for her
self came to naught at my fathers
death she conferred everything on me.
1t wasn't right, of course, because
wasn't worth it, but l tried, always
tried to be worthy Of that pride. And
! when she came to die-she wrote"
~~--~~.~~-~>-~~~-~Io-~O~-~-
we live in. That is to say, instead of
each clock trying in its own small