Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1914-10-30

cheerful word: no fear or collapse dis
turbed him.
Through watching him Mark wa
beset by new temptation. Wher
their turns were ended Roman anC
the men invariably locked to the near
est saloon and there drank repeatedly
whisky and brandy mostly--unti
vigor returned to their wornout bodies
II was false vigor. Mark knew, anC
short-lived. But there were times
when the thought OF the hour Of sur
cease from fatigue. of spirited outlook
lured him almost irresistibly
And one evening he followed Roman
and his companions to the bar.
Whisky" he ordered.
Roman put out a restraining hand
you better not drink" he counseled
gravely. Or only beer. .
Mark laughed recklessly and re
peated his order Thrice he drank
The weight dragging at his limbs
lifted. the misery ranking In his heart
dissolved. He was cheerful, talkative,
soon maudlin. Before he reached home
the whisky had possessed his unac-
customed brain; he was staggering,
drunk. Roman undresseG him and
put him to bed without supper But
he had had his period of forgetfulness.
The next day he paid-and the crav-
ing gnawed more sharply. That eve
ming Roman, understanding, avoided
the saloon and led Mark by straight
course homeward. Thereafter it was
his custom, until Mark saw the care
and forbade.
You needn't be afraid 1t costs too
much. Everything" he added vita a
bitterness for which Roman had not
the key, costs too much"
10? But you are tiredt. Unit you
are not strong. Wy do you not leaf
the york;"
Give up now, after holding on this
far! / guess you don't mean that
But some day I'll get where l want
III have life by the throat" II did
not seem melodramatic to him. Then
I'll make it pay for this-on its knees.
Roman shook his head gravely, as
at blasphemy.
You shouldt not say 20, Always
life ISIS the master. But you are tiredt."
And In the midst OF the ordeal by
fire he fought his first battle. At times
he was almost grateful for the physi-
cal WEAKNESS that distracted him from
the inner struggle.
He learned then how insensibIy
Unity had receded into the back
ground. She had become vague, of
little substance; she was a story he
had read q long time ago But she
was real. too, in that she was Il bit.
There was q memory that accused
a girl, for once warm and yielding,
in the last glory Of the sunset, cling
ing to him with the tremulous cry:
You won't forget me out there?" He
had made a vow. Within q
twelvemonth he had cIasped another.
That other was both real, intensely
real-and near. He tried to avoid
her; 1t was not easy.
Kazia went about, quieter than ever
what she felt too deep for words, too
solemn for laughter. She did not again
break into song. But no one seeing
her eyes could have doubted what had
come into her heart And she gave
to her lover with both hands, knowing
no thrift in love.
Her happiness awed. sometimes al
most frightened her, but she would not
question 1t. When her sixth sense
stirred, she shamed 1t into silence.
She saw in her lovers eyes trouble
that deepened as the days went by,
heard 1t in his voice. felt 1t when he
clasped her.
One evening-the last before the hot
wave broke: but he did not know that
-he dragged himself homeward, be-
lieving he had come to the end OF his
But suppose | haven't" he sighed.
Probably I'll Just go on and on-but
some day I'll DROP. wonder why
do It! ! wish the end would come
soon-now." He thought he meant
that
Even the bath brought no relief. He
sat dawn to supper against the very