The Washington herald., 1914-11-29

tnoucSt Ieluctance and confusion. III
was dumfounded to be met with icy hor
ror and shuddering recoil. After tn
irst repulse the terror with which sh,
cringed away from his caresses en-
HANGED her the more.
i If Persis had married the man sh,
loved, the man whose touch was like :
flame, she would still have been terri,
he'd; but love would have hallowed the
conquest, changed fright into ecstasy
and glorihed surrender.
And now it was Enslee that recoiled
strangely smitten with an awe, a rev.
erence for her and her integrity. "You
are saint" he murmured, %an angel
and | am brute. You are too good
too wonderful"
Persis was startled at being treated
with reverence. 1t was perhaps the
first time she had ever been held sacred.
She accepted this tribute in lieu of the
others, and they left the hotel as they
had entered it, still bachelor and maid,
though they wore the same name
But she was alone upon the ocean
now, and she feared her husband more
than before. She found him somewhat
ridiculous in his uniform, with his
yachting cap a trifle topheavy for his
slim skull Yet he was the owner; his
flag and his club pennant were futter-
ing aloft. And Persis felt sure that he
had repented of his mercy and was
ashamed of his asceticism.
He ogled her as he paced the un-
stable deck, and found her more beau
tiful than ever, clad in a trim white
suit and curled up in her chair like
purring kitten, the sun sitting over her
through the awning like a golden pow
der. And he knew that she was his.
He paused at her side and mellowed
her cheek, pinched the lobe of her ear,
and pursed his lips to kiss her red lips.
She WINGED, then frowned, and shook
her head.
He grew fercely petulant, sardonic,
ugly, He whined and swore and NUT
tered. And, finally, to that mood she
yielded, feeling herself degraded be-
meath her own contempt.
Alismated and incompatible in every
degree. they glared at each other like
sick wretches in the same hospital
ward. The next evening as they sat at
table in the dining saloon it came over
her that for the rest of her days she
must see that unbeautiful face opposite
her. She felt an impulse to scream, to
run TO the railing and leap overheard,
to thwart that life sentence in any pos
Sible way.
She walked to a portfolio and stared
out at the dark waves shuffling past /
like Stampeding cattle The moon on
the sea spread a pathway OF dancing |
white tiles. She wanted to run away, !
to step forth on that fantastic pave I
ment and follow it out of the world.
1t came over Persis with maddening
vividness that she had made a ruin of
her happiness All the wealth was |
nothing but mockery. Even the hats !
and the multitudes of dresses were
wasted splendor, weapons of conquest
% be left in an armory.
The night grew more and more won
ierful The moon was like a white
face flung back with unappeased de-
,ire. The wind across the waves tug
yed amorously at her hair and whim-
,cred and caressed her. And she was
With Willie Enslee. the unlovable. the
lideously uninteresting, the intolerable.
She was handcuffed to Willie Enslee
or life.
The ache of longing that thrilled the
light world thrilled Enslee's heart, too
nd he crept close to her, his alteration.
lis wife. the only soul on earth he
eeply loved. He set his check against
erS and clenched her in his arms fierce
y. And Immediately he encountered
hat hopeless antipathy though all she
aid was family petulant Don't,
lease
1t struck him in the face like a lit
e fist He moved aloof from her in '
bject humiliation and thought hard, 7
ook out cigarette, tapped it on the I
ack OF his hand, puffed restlessly.
rev the cigarette over the rail, and t
lOment later took out another. There {
as no need for words. The air throb- f
ed with Persis' dctestation of the a
oyage The sailing master passed. il
Willie called to him: v
"Svendsen!'
Yes, SIR h
Put about and make for home" c
Il beg pardon, sir Il
You heard!
AYE, aye, sir" b
The commands were given in the
stance. a bell rang remotely in the a
lgine-room. and the stars wheeled i,
ross the sky as the yacht came round. a
The phosphorescent sea revealed the 81
axe they had plowed in a long straight G.
Irrow of white fire, and now there t.
as a sharp curve in the line. And ii
Iortly they were paralleling its dim S;
ing radiance.
They were bound for home. The
ere thought OF the word brought a tc
agic chuckle from EnSlee's heart. W
ONE was a word he could not hope {
use. Home was thing he must do
thout SC
Persis was sorry for her husband.
It Just a trif1e sorrier for Persis. She pl
laced herself with the thought that
was partly for Willie's own sake that id
e consented TO go back, since if she
lyed out in that solitude with him A
y longer she would go mad and lump bl
And he would not like that
the least. A bride in town would be liz
1rth two in the ocean. Besides, a vi
lcide on a honeymoon would be sure sil
cause fearful scandal. She could
agine the headlines. so
Willie was a darling to Weld so cas- ST
1t showed her how much he loved or
r-also how meekly he obeyed her. :
lat is always an important question Ia
settle. Perhaps it is what honey he
IONS are for-training-st in tn
ich husbands are broken to harness
taught to answer a mere chirrup Isl
saves the whip.
But the comfort Persis took in find be
that her husband was her messen- Fr
: hhOv ended ae tka,, -. -. A.. ii