Evening star., 1915-05-28

fascinating. more desirable. Then in
the beautiful gardens surrounding the
| Everleigh home he wooed and won.
The wedding was set for the autumn
During the summer Lane was very busy
| in his home city. With his few lucky
thousands he purchased one Of the most
desirable and most expensive building
| sites in Rosemount Hills There he
erected and furnished a bungalow, be-
| ileving implicitly. from the way busi
ness was running. that he would speed
| lily raise the mortgage he placed on it.
! They were welded in a manner befit-
! ting the standing of bride and groom,
| so Mrs. Everleigh declaimed, smiling in
slsterly fashion upon the groom Lane
WINGED. wishing devoutly the Ever
! ieighs were not so imbued with the
| idea that he was Il particularly desira-
| Bile parti He was sure he had not
| given that impression deliberately.
still memory unkindly recalled the in
flated manner in which he had dwelt
on the exclusiveness of Rosemount
| Hills and his property" and he felt a
bit small and mean However. he
salved his ruffled feelings by his de-
termination to make his status perfect
ly clear to Eleanor after their honey
moon.
| But that was a proceeding a clear
| understanding of his young wife's char
acter made him turn from timorously.
He discovered that she abhorred de-
celt; that, in equal measure, she loved
the things that were straight and true.
If he were to tell her that her pretty
home, with all it's handsome furnish
ings. her chic little runabout which
she so enjoyed. were mortgaged, would
her opinion of her husband be very
i fiattering? Furthermore, how would
she stand up under the shock of reve-
lation?
From such a contingency Lane turned
rebelliously. He would make good! He
did for a time. And he cleared off the
mortgage. deciding the property to
Eleanor. Then things went against
him. for months everything he touched
going to smash He grew reckless, and
life became gamble. his affairs going
from bad to worse. Yet when NJ and
Q. brought a crisis the home in Rose
mount Hills was still Eleanors.
rode along in the sweet spring even
ing. His mind dwelt on it, and the
throbbing in his head eased somewhat.
But when his home corner hove in
sight and the sickening knowledge
flashed over him that the time was at
| hand when hideous explanations must
| be made he groaned aloud and his head
became slow torture.
funny thing happened when he ap-
| preached the bungalow. He wasn't
sure which was his gate and which
was Sherwin's, his neighbor. He won
dered if the laugh which sounded SO
| loud and strange was his or Eleanor's.
| who had come to meet him. And what
he could get hold Of it and tell 1t right
away the frightful weight pressing
him down, stupefying him, binding
him, would be lifted.
He tried to make this clear to her at
the gate. but. looking queerly pale. she
led him up the walk into the reception
hall. He had planned the hall with a
great eye to detail, and had been very
an awful mess of tit was so fright
fully narrow. Why. they could scarce
ly move in it! Its walls seemed crush
ing them slowly. cruelty. Eleanor"
he called. frantically Eleanor" And
then he sank into the land of oblivion.
1t was the end of May when Lanes
troubles were blotted out by brain
fever. 1t was the end Of July when
in a hospital room he opened his eyes
with the light of reason in them and
too weary to wonder at the strange
ness of his surroundings. He had
been too near the borderland to won
der about anything.
For days he lay like a helpless in
fant. Then strength began to come
and memory began to tantalize. The
first day he sat at a window he asked
questions about the office.
"See here" Eleanor laughed, ''the
doctors have barred shop talk. You
must be satisfied with the knowledge
that everything is all right Her
eyes met his steadily. but he was not
satisfied.
Suddenly that night he remembered
everything. His white face was whittier
in the morning: his glance followed
Eleanor wistfully. He was quite
and he did not brighten when he was
permitted to walk along the corridor
leaning on Eleanors arm. Even when
his walk was extended to the grounds
surrounding the hospital his apathetic
attitude did not leave him.
Finally Eleanor said to his physi-
clan: THE time has come. doctor. Do
you think he is strong enough?"
Ten minutes later she said to her