The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-05-04

ing an intruders rush toward the
room where the pair were. Mrs.
Presley peered through the portieres
curiously. The newcomer was very
young and very breathless and very
dishevelad from his encounter with
the butler. who was hurriedly pursu-
ing, his hand outstretched as though
to grasp the intruder by the arm.
Dwight rose angrily.
Mirror reporter. Miss Ashton!
Charles Iced is a suicide after mis-
appropriating your fortune to prop
up the Titan Ship Company. Any
thing to say
With superb art. the girl half ross
from the divan. She reached out her
hands as though to support herself.
then sank gently back. staring in
credulously at the reporter The but
Ter had his hand upon the fellows
shoulder and David Wright seized the
other, huStlinS him toward the door,
She heard the slam of it. the protest
OF the indignant reporter, thus sum-
marily evicted
Mrs. Presley could not forego q
final glance Selma Ashton was
smiling. but her smile died away as,
patting his waistcoat which had be-
come disarranged in the struggle
Dwight re-entered the room and stood
looking down at her. The COM
panion could see the workings of his
face, could see the inquiry there
Selma did not look up at him, but
sat staring straight before her. hope
less despair upon her face. The mil
lionaire rested his hand upon her
shoulder. lightly. SO lightly il matched
the tenderness upon his face.
You did not know, Selma?" He
put the question softly. as though
fearful of asking but eager for. tho
answer. You did not know be-
fore"
The girl started erect from the
apathetic mood into which she had
seemingly fallen. Slowly. very slow
ly. with the outraged dignity of a
queen. she rose. facing the man. who
drew back before the hurt but angry
light in her eyes
Il understand-what you mean
she said quietly. but with a cutting
inCIsiveness that showed the depth of
her hurt. You mean-that-"Her
voice trembled. broke completely. as
she found herself unable to voice the
remainder of her sentence
The compan turned away. Then, as
by an afterthousht she approached the
table and spread out the suicides note
upon the table. folding it Carefully after
she had smoothed out the wrinkles that
had come from the crushing it had re-
Ceived.
There is no poison more subtle nor eff
fective than self-indulSencc Like mar
cotic,it grips the moral senses and sub
merges completely every feeling of OBJ
legation. But. as with all drugs there
are moments when the effect is bound
TO wear off and then all the spectral
horrors that cape and grin at the addict
have their hour.
Times there Were when this hour visited
Selma, driving her into receptions for
which she hated herself. but which caused
an intense. reasoning loathing to rise
within her against the price she had
paid whereby to drug herself. Not long
would she endure the horrors of these
wakeninss The subtle poison had already
made her moral fiber too weak for that
She could count upon her fingers the
hours of actual agoniZed remorse she had
endured
There was that terrible time when
David Dwight asked her to drink to their
future happiness. Clear as a deep-toned
bell. two words only of the marriage
ritual dinned at her ears, throbbed
at her stupetied brain. Until death.
until death-until death
She had closed her eyes tightly try
ing in that manner to drown out the
horrid sound. Fainter and fainter they
grew leaving the little whisper. of an
echo with her. Still she strained. despite
herself to catch what that whisper was,
though sh". better than any one else,
ALREADY knew. Until death-until death
Until DEATH