Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-05-15
CHAPTER ".
Two DAYS of Paradise.
By HAROLD MACGRATH

have been in any other man. There
was something so singulariy boyish
in his haste that she realized she
could not deal with him in an ordi-
nary fashion. She ought to be angry;
indeed, she wanted to be very angry
with him; but her lips curled, and
laughter hung upon them, undecided.
His advice to her to go home was
downright impudence; and yet, the
sight of the parrot cage, dangling at
his side, made it impossible for her to
take lasting offense. Once upon
time there had been a little boy who
played in her garden. When he was
cross he would take his playthings
and go home. The boy might easily
have been this man Warrington,
grown up.
OF course he would come and apol-
ogize to her for his rudeness. That
was one of the necessary laws Of con-
vention; and ten years spent in jun
giles and deserts and upon southern
seas could not possibly have robbed
him of the memory of these simple
ethics that he had observed in other
and better times. Perhaps he resent
ed her curiosity; perhaps her ques-
tions had been pressed too hard; and
perhaps he. had suddenly doubted her
genuine interest. At any rate, 1t was
a novel experience. And that bewil-
dering likeness!
cNl-- 90 ..ay~ gIHot IN
ed her book again. And as she read
her wonder grew. How trivial 1t was,
after all. The men and women she
had calmly and even gratefully &C
cepted as types were nothing more
than marionettes, which the author
behind the booth manipulated not
badly but perfunctorily. The direction
was exquisite: there was style; but
now as she read there was lacking
the one thing that stood for life,
blood. 1t did not pulsate in the veins
of these people. Until now she had
not recognized this fact, and she was
halfway through the book. She even
took the trouble to re-read the chap
ter she had thought peculiarly effec-
tive. There was the same lack Of
feeling. What had happened to her
since yesterday? To what cause
might be assigned this opposite angle
of vision, so clearly defined?
The book fell upon her knees. and
dreami!y she watched the perspective
open and divaricate. Full in her
face the south wind blew, now warm
ed by the sun and perfumed by un-
known spices She took in little
sharp breaths, but always the essence
escaped her The low banks with
their golden haze of dust. the cloud
less sky, the sad and lonely white
pagodas, charmed her; and the Ian
guor of the east crept stealthily into
her northern blood. She was not con-
scious of the subtle change; she only
knew that the world of yesterday was
unlike that of today.
Warrington, after depositing Rajah
in the stateroom, sought the bench on
the stern-deck. He filled his Guilty
with purser-loaned tobacco, and
roundly damned himself as a block
head. He had forgotten all the nice
ties of civilizations; he no longer knew
how to behave. What if she had been
curious? 1t was natural that she
should be. This was a strange world
to her, and II her youth rosal-tinted
il with romance, what right had ne TO
disillusion her? The first young wo-
man in all these years who had treat
ed him as an equal, and he had
straightway proceeded to lecture her
upon the evils of travelling alone in the
orient! Double-eyed ass! He had been
rude and impudent. He had seen oth-
er women travelling alone, but the
sight had not reused him as in the
present instance. In ten years ne hao
not said so much to all the women
he had met: and without seeming ef-
fort at all she had dragged forth some
of the half-lights of his past. This IL
itself amazed him; it proved that ne
was still weak enough to hunger for
human sympathy, and he Of all men
a fool as boy, a fool as man, and
without doubt would die fool He
was of half a mind to leave the boat
at Prone and take the train down
to Rangoon.
And yet he told her the truth. 1t
was not right that young and attrac-
tive woman should wander about in
the east. unattended save by mid
dle-aged companion. 1t would pro-
woke the devil in men who were not
wholly bad. Women had the fallible
idea that they could read human ma
ture. and never found out their mis-
take until after they were married.
He knew her kind. If she wanted to
walk through the baZaars in the
evening. she would do so. If a man
followed her she would ignore the fact.
II he caught up with her and spoke
she would continue on as If she had
not heard If a man touched her.
she would rely upon the fire of her
ewes. She would never call out for
help Some women were just that
silly.
He bit hard upon the stem of his
pipe. What was all this to him? why
should he bother his head about
woman he had known but few
hours? All. why lie to himself? He
knew what Elsa. usually quick and
receptive. did not know, that he was
not afraid of her. but terribly afraid
of himself For things ripen quickly
in the east. men and women. souls
and deeds And he was something
like the pariah-dog; spoken kindly
TO, it attached itself Immediately and
enduringly.
He struck the Guilty against his
boot-heel. Why not? 1t would be
only for two days. At Rangoon their
paths would separate; he would never
see her again. He got up. He would
go to her at once and apologize alb
jectly. And thus he surrendered to
the very devil he had but a moment
o1o oopa So yiporOuslv diScOunten-