South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1913-12-23
SECOND YEAR OF
MARRIED LIFE.
By MABEL HERBERT URNER.

Helen gazed sleeplessly out of her
moonlit window. From below came
the faint striking of the dining room
clock. She counted on the slow reru-
lar strokes-twelve, it was midnight.
For three long hours she had lain
there tossing feverishly. Her head
ached, her eyes burned, and the throb-
bling pain in her heart seemed I'M
bearable.
To the telegram she had sent War
rem yesterday-there had been no re-
ply. All last night and all today she
had waited qufveringly for an answer
but none had come. What could
it mean? Surely he must be ill-very
i'll, or he would have answered.
How much longer could she stand
this suspense.
Through the open window came the
sounds of the crickets and tree frogs,
and the night air was softly fragrant.
She drew a kimona about her and
went over II knelt by the window.
The moonlight was almost as bright
as day.
There was a sudden rustic among
the lilac bushes under her window
and Rover sprang out and ran across
the yard.
Here Rover, Rover,' Helen called
so softly that it was hardly more than
a whisper. But Rover heard and
came running back under the window.
He looked up at her with eloquent
though he felt the witchery Of the
night and the moonlight, he lay down
and rolled over and over in the soft
/ grass. ..
N Night Walk i'm the Garden.
Yielding to a sudden impulse, Helen
4 al rawv "A hoo N~fnn ny - about hnrs CT
lently stole down stairs. unlocked the
front door, paused for a moment on
the vine-covered porch and then went
out into the yard.
Rover came bounding toward her.
"Hush-hush! No. no. you mustn't
bark" and Rover. seeming to under
stand. contented himself with a low
whine of delight as he leaped about
her.
Unheeding the dew-wet grass which
soon drenched her bedroom slippeds,
Helen walked slowly about the yard,
blindly seeking relief in motion from
her tortured thoughts.
What could IL mean? Why had he
not answered her telegram? Oh. why
had she come IN this trip? Surely
il would have been better to have
stayed and endured his oldness than
10 have come out here and suffered
this anxiety. Should she brow her
pride to the winds and go back to-
morrow?
And then came the thought so fear
full that she hid her face in her hands.
What IS she should not want her to
come back? Was thai what he was
trying TO show by his silence? oh,
no, no; she knew it could not be.
And vet. Just the thought had so
unnerved her that she sank down on
a bench under the lila bushes n
sobbed convulsively. Rover, with his
paws in her lap. gazed up at her with
eyes full of distress. She put her
arms about him and rested her cheek
against his head
"Oh. RoVer-Rover, what shall I
do? What shall / do?"
And Rover could only whine in an
swer.
At length she turned slowly back
TO the house. As she stole through
the dark hall, feeling her way along
the wall with her hand, she a%ccidently
touched the telephone, causing a faint
stir of the bell.
The Long Distance Telephone.
Tho telephone, The telephone, The
same telephone that was in their
apartments in New York. where War
rem was now sleeping. In a Few min
utes she could be talking with him
She was leaning heavily against the
wall. Why had she not thought OF
that? IN this way she could end her
suspense at once.
The cost But what difference
would that make il she could only
hear from him, II she could only
know what had happened.
Without stopping TO consider. just
following the wild impulse that led
her one. she felt for the receiver and
took il down.
Hello" gazing in the darkness be
fore her.
as this a long distance telephone?
Can I speak 10 New York from here? ,"
ITO New York;" the operators
voice answered sleepily. Yes. all the
phones are long distance"
How mach will il be?"