, 1915-09-23

- h20 - L114 IL OaL III WlAU6I
Come. on. now. we 90 upstairs soft
SOS not ter 'sturb Mis' Judith"
| In the s~ilvery-blue bedroom. she
derby unfastened the hooks Of the
heavy satin gown and coaxed her mis-.
tress to he on the sofa while she un.
pinned tho masses Of waving hair TIL
they hay IN q rich surge oyer the
cushion. Then she brought q brush
and crouching down beside her, began
with long gentle strokes to smooth out
the stfken threads, talking to her the
while In . SOFT grooming monotone.
| Under these ministrations Shirley
lay languid and, speechless. her eyes
closed. The fear that, had strscksn
her heart by turns seemed a cold hand
pressing upon its beating and an algid
vapor rising stealthily over It. But
her hands were hot and her eyelids
burned. Finally she. reused herself.
I Thank you. Emmaline." she said
I'm q tired voice, good night now; I'm
going to sleep. and you must 20 70
bed, too" eSu
But alone In the warm wan dark.
Shirley lay staring open-eyed at the
ceiling. slowlyethe terror, was seiztng
upon her. the dread. ~noiseless and in
tangible, folding her In the shadow, Of
its- numhing wings Was her, mother
the n v o whom that old duel had
been fought? She. remembered the
cape r5essaminss, r Was the date, Of,
that dueI-of the. death Of Sassoon-m5a
the anniversary her mother kept tire,
She sat up in bed. trembling Then
she rose. and opening the door, With,
caution, orept down the stair, sliding
her, hot hand before her along the
cool polished, banister. A she passed,
through the lower hall, . hound on the
porch, scenting her, stirred. thumped
his tail on the flooring, and, whined.
Cropping her way to the dining-room.
she, lighted q candle and passed
through corridor into q low-ceiling-
ed chamber employed as, q general re-
ceptacle-a giorihed garrett, a. Mrs.
Dandridge dubbed It. ID ITO
It. showed O strange assemblage!baA
rowaof chests. stored with 1T winter
clothing. gave forth q lean pungent
smell of cedar, andsat q side stood
an antique spinet sandha worn set OF
horsehair furniture. ] tsI
n Shirley had turned her miserable
eyes ON q bookshelf. along n wall.
The volumes II contained had been
her fathers, and among them stood
10 row of tones taller than their fels
lows-the bound numbers Of a county
beginning before the war.
The back of each was stamped with
the year. She wasadeciphering these
faded imprintsg b i'Thirty years ago."
she whispered; yes. here It H."
She set down the candle and
dragged out one of the huge leather
backs. Staggering under the weight,
she rested it's edge on the table and
began fsverishly to turn the pages, her
eye on the date line. She stopped
presently with q quick breath-she
had reached May 18th. The year was
that Of the duel: the date was the day
following the jessamine5 anniversary.
Fearfully her eye overran the columns.
Then suddenly she put her open
hand ON the page. as though to blot
out the words, every trace of color
stricken from cheek and brow. But
the line seemed to glow up through
the very flesh: "Died. May 18th; Ed
ward Sassoon. In his tw~enty-sixth
year." 6
= The book slipped to the floor with q
crash that echoed through the room
II was true, then! It was SEASONS
death that her mother mourned. The
man in whose arms she had stood
such-s little while ago by the old dial
Of Damory Court wal the son Of the
-.- 80 A.A r~lv.A hl- nd .
"oh, God" she whispered, ~3ust
whom I was 70 happy! Oh. mother.
motheri You loved him, and your
heart broke when he died. It was
Valiant who broke eit-valiant-val-
liant. His fathert" sAu
She slipped down-upon the bare
/, floor and crouched there ~ahudderfhg
and agonized, her disheveled hair wet
with tears. Was her love to be but
the thing Of an-hour. q single clasp
and then, forever. nothingf His IN
theirs iced was no his. fault. Yet
how could she love a man whose every
feature brought q pang to that mother
she loved more than iherselff 30,
over and over. tho wheel of her
thought turned In the same Sdesolate
groove, and over and over the parox-
ysms- Of grief and longing submerged
her. a7
iNoiselessly . she had descended,
she crept again MP the stair. As she
passed her mothers door, she paused
4 moment. and laying her arms out
across 1t. pressed her lips to the dark
grain of tho wood. q
10 a-
s7eoHAPTER xxvliL
4ss
Tho Awakening. - 8
"a nuug had passed the meridian