The Washington times., 1913-08-16

1 only return it, He still cherished an
! ideal alteration for Kathleen kirk~ood.
| its livery of heart lightly. but he would
lot have been human If he had not
taken satisfaction in Ar!adne's growing
| beauty. He pictured her in the VlrglnaI
| " wkiteness of her bed chamber Whlch
| he himself had so fitted for her at her
request. He saw her standing under
/ the magnolia trees-at the gate waiting.
Deep down in Philips heart a change
! was working. Use. habit, custom sun
kept him true to the Northern girl.
! but Arfadne was dearer TO him than
! ever before. The long letters mailed
| with her kisses which she sent him by
| every available means were so passion
! ately sweet, the revelation of her heart
had been so frank and so innocent. that
nc man could fail to be affected by
| them At first she had prattled on the
pages like the child she was. but as she
grew older a certain sweet reserve crept
into her writing that Piqued MN
aroused his curiosity, stimulated his az
fection. She could not conceal her
| Gdoration for the man. yet she checked
herself when she began TO dwell upon
II. Her letters were full of stops, SEN
tences unended. phrases broken, with
tales begun that were not finished.
Ariadne was very real to Philip. and
Kathleen Kirkwood was only a memory.
a dream. II things should go on as they
had the real would oust theSremem-
, ter, as IL always does. the abstraction.
I'oor little Ariadne! How she tried 70
be worthy OF her husband and how
unworthy felt that man who could as
yet make no adequate return for that
devOtion! Ariadne was not happy in
the situation: neither was she salts
fed No one had dreamed the war
would last so long. Grafton was in
no hurry to claim his wife, she real
izeG painfully. He did not come so
often to See her as he might. Young
husbands would burst in upon other
sweep them to the hearts that beat
only for them in a whirlwind OF
kisses, linGer for a few hours and
ride away. Philip came so infrequent-
" and stayed so short a time. When
he was with her, although ne was
kindness and consideration itself,
there was something lacking. She
thrilled to the pressure of his lips.
but her own kisses evoked no re-
sponse. Yet Philip seemed devoted
enough, his letters were gentle, ten
der. but she missed something. Her
passion struck no spark of fire from
his heart. Poor Ariadne did not know
what was the matter. She fancied
that she herself was at fault in some
way. She would not see anything
wrong with her idol, and so she re-
doubled her efforts to please.
II "fS AOANili4S' ~ "dS pA1LNlr vi a.
ton strovc TO assume a virtue which
he could not exhibit. but his success
was not apparent BY and by a fear
began to possess him that some day
she would find out the truth. and
that would break her heart. In that
fear ne came less than ever to see
her. although he tried to make his
letters dOubly affeCtiOnate. Love that
H. strong as death Is effortless. and
the attempt was failure.
Yet Ariadne was not altogether un-
happy. SHE resOlutely dismissed he-
vague suspicious so far as she could.
She set herself to dispel her dissatis-
faction. She Chided herself for feel
ing that something was lacking in
k..r love story. and always she blamed
herself for an unwOrthiness which
did not permit her to measure up 10
the high stature in which she had
imagined him If she were different,
he would be also. Alas! love knows
no difference of that kind.
She wrote him daily letters, taking ad-
vantage of every opportunity to send
him a little bundle Of closely written
81 Gets. and she treasured the missives.
brief and infrequent but knd-always
that-Written on marches, by camp
fires. prayer on the eve of battle after
the lighting assurance that she received
from her husband. She had work to do.
There was plenty of work for the wOm-
en- Of Richmond in making clothing
for the soldiers. in knitting socks for
them, in making bandages for the
wounded And Ariadne kept Philip we'll
provided for. InConsCiousiy she felt
some of the brOoding care of "A mother
in her heart-that Child!-as she sewed
and stitched for the absent soldier.
There were other opportunities for serv-
ice, too, like the privilege OF assisting
the doctors and nurses in the hospitals
when some great battle strained the
resources of the proud little city be-
yond its capacity.
Indeed If II had not been for this Op
portunity to work she and many an
other woman In the South would have
died Of nervous anxiety. After every
action. with thousan nds of her sisters
how she scanned the papers for the
long lists of killed wounded. and miss-
ing, looking with a stopped heart for
the beloved name: She thanked God
night and morning that she had never
read her husbands name in the list of
heroes who had passed beyond, and
she remembered him with a fervOr and
fcrvency born Of love and faith and
prayed God TO watch over and care for
the one she loved best on earth. Nor
was her devotiOns selfish. for in her
petitions she included all the men and
women who in their several stations
with equal courage were lighting for
their country. Many soldier on the
field was nerved to higher deed at the
thought Of some woman at home who
held him in her heart and her hopes for
him-and one of them was PhiIiD.
News OF the battle of Gettysburg had
reaC he'd Richmond almost as soon az II
was begun. The old men and boys and