, 1915-10-07

and went with the memories 30 long
woven over by the shuttle OF time
evoked now by the touch of a key that
her hand still clenGhed tightly in its
palm.
There welled over her in q tide those
days of puzzle, the weeks of waiting
silence, the slow memorable months OF
heartache, the long years that had
d~eepened the mystery OF Beauty Vail
ants exile. In the first shock of the
news that Sassoon had fallen by his
hand, she had thought she could not
forgive him that broken faith. She
and his promise to her had not weighed
in the balance against the idea of
manly "honor!" But this bitterness
had at length slipped away. He will
write" she had told herself, and ex-
plain" But no word had come. Wits
pers had fitted to her-the tale of
Sassoon's Observation-Disclosures barbs
that chung to Beauty Valiant's name.
That these should rest unanswered
had filled her with resentment and
niger Slowly, but with deadly surety,
had grown the belief hat lie no longer
cared. In the end there had been left
her only pride-the pride that covers
its wound and smiles. And she had
hidden her wound with flowers. But
in the deepest we'll of her heart her
love for him had rested unchanged,
clear and defined as a moss in amber,
wrapped in that mystery of silence.
In the little haircloth trunk back in
her room lay an old scrap-book. 1t
held a few leaves torn from letters and
many newspaper clippings. From
these she had known of fis work, his
marriage, the great commercial sue
cess for which his name had stood
the name that from the day of his go
ing, she had so seldom taken upon her
lips. Some of them had dealt with
his habits and idiosyncrasies, hints of
ar altered personality, N a%loofness
or loneliness that had set him apart
and made him, in a way, a stranger to
those who should have known him
best. Thus her mind had come to
hold a double image; The grave man
these Swallowed forth, and the man
she had loved, whose youthful face was
in the locket she wore always on her
breast. 1t was this face that was
printed on her heart, and when John
Valiant had stood before her on the
porch at Rosewood, it had seemed to
have risen, instinct, from that old
grave.
He had not kept silence! He had
written! 1t pealed through her brain
like a mufiled bell. But Beauty Vail
- go. 1000 ,,4tH E-, ,rn,fA. l., tho
room near by lay that old companion
who would ave speak to her again,
the lifelong friend-who had really
failed her thirty years ago! . e.
and in a tin box a mile away lay q let
ter.
He won't rouse again." the doctor
had said, but a little later, as lie and
Valiant sat beside the couch, the major
opened his eyes suddenly.
Shirley" he whispered. where's
Shirley?"
She was sitting on the porch just
outside the open window, and when
she entered, tears we're on her face.
The doctor drew back silently; but
when Valiant would have done 80, the
major called him nearer.
mo, ne painted, L ike 10 see you
two together" His voice wac very
weak and tired.
AS she leaned and touched his hand
he smiled whimsically. Its mighty
curious" he said, but / can't get il
out of my head that its Beauty Vail
ant and Judith that I'm really talking
to. Foolish-isn't it?" But the idea
seemed to master him. and presently
he began to call Shirley by her moth
er's name. An odd y~outhfulness crept
into his eyes; a subtle p~aradoxica
boyishness. His cheek tinged will
color. The deep lines about his moutf
smoothed miraculously out.
Judith" he whispered. you
sure you told me the truth a while ago
when you said-you said"
Yes, yes." Shirley answered, put
ting her young arm under him, think
ing only to soothe the anxiety thai
seemed vaguely to thread some vague
hallucinatlon.
He smiled again. 1T makes Il
easier" he said. He looked at Valiant
his mind seeming to slip farther ant
farther away. Beauty" he gasped
you didn't go away after all. did you
! dreamed It'll reckon. tn be-alI
right with you both"
He sighed peacefully, and his eye