The Washington herald., 1913-10-19

fine and simple through it all :
and that meant nothing to you"
I'm sorrry,' the mother whispered
HE will have his way-and we ac-
cept, Some day shall. we tell her all ?"
| -Yes. But not now"
/ why not nowf The mother
stirred in the doorway.
She IS not so badly hurt, they say
And Harlan is trying to explain.
] herY
Curran stared at her, holding her
cool fingers for an instant, then look
ing in the half dark of the room.
Tell her he muttered. Then
drew back But sound from within
came to him. Aurelie's tired smile had
ended in sigh with HarIan's mur-
murings. The physicians had stood
! apart.
Curran went in. The mother In the
hall, coming nearer from the tele-
phone presently, heard a cry, then all
their voices low and awed.
But after a while Curran rose and
came out. The mother in the han saw
him pass, and the glitter Of tears was
on his cheeks. He found Janet in the
w:ndow-seat as he reached the door.
The mother heard his voice rise joy
fully.
'She said that dreams come true,
yanetl Yes-good dreams, child
dreams. like those that sent her out
TO find and love me. Oh. you should
have heard her say il, Janetl Father
the proudness of il on her lips
Janet went with him out into the
bleak night
Where are you going. Wiley?"
Il don't know. Yes-back to the
shop-my old shop. / though of leay-
ing-selling out, for no onell ever ur-
derstand But I'll stay-Pli fight it
out. Face it all with silence-the de-
feat and questions-and fight it out
for Aurelie's sake. It's safer-t's bet
ter for her, Janet
What an election dayp she whis-
pered. Il don't think half the county
vote was cast, Wiley. But there's the
Mercury-Journal carrier coming from
the interurban-snd the polls closed at
SIX"
He had no word as he watched her
buy paper from the boy. When she
turned, he had gone in the News Office
and was looking at the grimy old
press and the worn cases.
Come here, Wileyp
"Yes? He went over and looked
down with somber eyes to the sheet
she had spread upon his desk.
The Lindstrom story" had FIVE col
umns of the front. But across the
other two was this head:
~Concede Curran's Election
He looked up at Janet with NUT
ter: "Eleetions Didn't they see the
News last night?"
NO; Come out in the back yard,
Wiley
He followed to where she pointed
to the heap of burned paper halfway
along the path to his cottage.
For the first time in fifty years
there was no issue Of the News this
week. She was laughing at his be-
wilderment. Tomorrow, when the
excitement is over, people'l wonder
why-but they'll never know"
They-they elected meP
"Of course And the Tanner board
viii resign-every one of hem!-and
Thad, too, from the county chairman
shipl Oh, Wiley, we played more than
politics yesterday Ask HarlanT
He sat down. Harlan? It's up to
Harlan-eyerything is up to Harlan!
He'll protect my little girl-hen mar
~ her. Janet! How everything about
her caught appealed to that old
wandering romance IN me that never
could put byl Eh, I'm forty now-Tm
damned fool Well, its the long
straight road now-for me"
TO Washington, she murmured.
And always onl Oh, Wileyl I'm
proud that when the blow fell you
did not cringe nor whimper! You did
not run away-you came back here
tonight to work againE'
He looked at her with a trace of
his old humor tightening his sadness.
Because of you, Janet. And Harlan,
and few-just as you've always done.
Help-oh, how | need helpp He
buried his face in his arm upon the
desk: Il need you, Janet. can't do
without you-I never could, damn me
but / didn't know it Washington
] want you You
sent me there
i. She was laughing in a curious ab-
negation as she placed her hand down
to his head. ''You can't do without
me, Wiley! When your old boys ro-
nance was at its best, l knew you
needed me the worst. | saw It IN
your eyes-alwaysi The new efficient
woman-the helper. the companion"
''The near woman-the dear woman
81 he murmured.
They did not hold each other in
long embraces, gaze into each others
eyes, or murmur unutterable things.
They were man and woman, tried and
knowing. They would see each other
with magic clearness, love each what
the other loved, and work all their
lives long for that and for the anaz-
ing interest they had IN each other.
That would be living.
'Ehl Those youngsters cried
Wiley out of this fine understanding.
There's the problen-it's all before
them to work out. Ours IS quite done,
dearr
When they came back from Wash
ington at the end of Curran's second
term-where, by the way he achieved
a far better name as a humorist than
statesman-they drove up High
Street, and the thought was with them
both-how had the problem worked
its way out.
They saw Aurelie chasing her two
babies over the Van Hart lawn, try
ing to recapture them to place in the
carriage The lively, ingenious wife.
.sam "a Il