The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1914-08-27

OF anguish. Yet she herself could mol
marry MIN. The barrier was impas-
sablei
She was still lying listlessly among
the cushions when n step sounded on
the porch and she heard Chilly Lusk's
voice In the hall. with heavy hands
Shirley put into place her disheveled
hair and rose to meet him.
I'm awfully selfish to come to-
night" he said awkwardly; mo doubt
you are tired out"
She dlsclaimed the WEAKNESS that
dragged upon her spirits like leaden
weights. and made him welcome with
her usual cordially. She was, In fact,
relieved at his coming. At Damory
court. the night OF the ball. when she
had come from the garden with her
lips thrilling from vallant's kiss. she
had suddenly met his look. II had
seemed to hold a startled realization
that she had remembered with a re-
morseful conjunction. Since that
night he had not been at Rosewood.
Ranston had lighted a pine-knot in
the fireplace. and the walls we're shud,
dering with crimson shadows. Her
hand was shielding her eyes, and as
she strove to I'LL the gaps in their
somewhat spasmodic conversation
with the trivial impersonal things that
belonged to their old intimacy. the
tiny pickering flames seemed to be
darting unfriendly fingers plucking at
her secret. Leaning from her nest OF
cushions she thrust the poker into
the glowing resinous mass TIL sparks
whizzed up tho chimney's black NAV
In a torrent.
How they hyi" she said hickey
Snyder calls It raising a blizzard in
Hades. | used to think they few up
to the sky and became the littlest
stars. What a pity we have to grow
up and learn so muchl I'd rather
have kept on. believing that when the
red leaves in the woods whirled about
In a circle the fairies we're dancing,
and that 1t was the gnomes who put
the cockle-burs In the hounds ears.
She had been talking at random,
gradually becoming shrinkingly con.
scious of his constrained and stun
bling manner. She had, however, but
half defined his errand when be came
to II ell In a burst.
II can't get to II, somehow, Shir
ley" he said with sudden desperation
but here 1t is. I've come to ask you
to marry me. Don't stop me-" he
went on hurriedly. lifting his hand
whatever you say, l must tell you
I've been trying to for months and
months!" Now that he had started
1t came with a boyish vehemence thai
both chilled and thrilled her. Ever
In her W desolation, and shrinking
almost u~nbearably from the avowal
the hope and brightness in his voice
touched her with pity. 1t seemed ia
her that life was a strange tumble OF
unacceptable and incomprehenslble
pain. And all the while, In the young
voice vibrant with feeling. her cring.
ing ear was catching imagined echoes
OF that other voice. grayer and more
self-contained. but shaken by the same
passion. In that iteration of Il love
you! | love you'll"
His answer came to him finally In
her silence. and he released her hands
which he had caught in his own. They
dropped. limp and unresponsive. In
her lap. Shirley" he said brokeniy
maybe o can't care for me-yet
But II you will marry me. I'LL be
content with SO little. till-you do"
She shook her head. her hair max
Ing dim flashes In the firelight. mo
Chilly" she said. 1T makes me