The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1915-12-16

months ago she began bringing him
home. In three months / saw how
the land lay. She was tired Of me.
tired of a forty-dollar husband. /
gave her her choice. It was Howe or
me. She-she cried, sir"
/ could make no answer to that.
either.
II drove her away. ! was too proud.
She said If aver / sent for her she'd
come back to me. But of course that
was Just talk. And then I resolved
that If there was anything between
her and that Howe fellow. I'd kill him.
That's what I'm here for.
II told you it was reading between
the lines, didn't /? Naturally, these
actor folk don't talk about the play
all the time they're acting. / take 1t
that it becomes a sort of second ma
ture t them. They can be killing
each other, and breaking jail, and
making love, and all the while they're
telling each other what a fine dinner
that was last night, and will the roads
be good for autoing next week?
II have a brother in the education
business. He has charge of an insti-
tuition for deaf and dumb children. l
went to him and asked him to teach
me the deaf-and-dumb language. He
didn't know why / wanted it, but he
taught it to me-"
Finger language?" I asked.
"No, sir. Progressive institutions
don't teach that any more. It's lip
reading. l took a job there as porter.
l knew I could always get a forty-dol-
lar Job when l wanted it. I'm a spe-
cialist in wool goods, and there's al
ways an opening for a low-priced man.
I took a job as porter in the institution
and worked there six weeks. At the
end Of that time l could read lip Ian
guage. Then / began watching the
films"
He turned on me fiercely and
grasped me by the arm.
1--we been watching her every night
since them" he said. 1--WE heard every
thing she's said to Howe. When h
had first left me of course they were
just friends. After a couple of months
the new plays were coming n and
she looked kind of sad. Once / heard
him tell her to cheer up. Well, she
looked grateful, sir-he was chasing
her round the block then, and she
looked grateful just for a second, when
he had her by the hair. That started
me thinking.
after that he began making love to
her. Never one instant did he stop.
And she didn't say much, just kept
quiet and went on with her work"
"Hush-sh!" exclaimed the audience.
The fo~rty-dollar man whispered:
This is a later play than the last.
The minute I hear her tell him she
loves him I'm going to find him and
kill him."
THE screen was working. A success
sion Of figures passed and repassed.
Julia Rome and John Howe occupied
the center most of the time. And now
the fascination of the game had begun
to take hold of me-. Instead of watch
ing the play watched the lips of the
characters. The words they spoke
and l discovered for the first time that
they really spoke-seemed quite di.
vorced from the parts that they were
playing. But, strive as hard as l
might, I could not understand a word.
The man at my side suddenly seized
me by the arm again.
did you hear? Did o hear?" he
whispered. Hes telling her that he
loves her. He's asking her to get a
divorce from me-"
/ stared at the screen. John Howe
was in the midst of a furious alterca-
ton with Julia Rome, who, posing as
his abandoned wife, was clinging to
him, begging him to take her back for
the sake of the children. He thrust
her from him and sent her staggering
across the room.
Hes saying that her love for me Is
dead and that he has loved her since
the first day they met" whispered my
companion, never relaxing his fierce
grasp upon my arm.
The pictures changed. I turned
and, though l could hardly see the face
of the forty-dollar man, / knew that
the crisis Of his life was at hand. /
heard him breathing hard through his
nostrils. And still his fingers gripped
my sleeve as IL they were steel claws.
Suddenly the grasp relaxed. The
man sank back in his place. I
watched him; he did not move a mus
Gle. And ] wondered at what decision
he had arrived. To tell the truth I
had not formed the highest impress
sion of Julia Rome. 1t did not seem
credible to me that a woman of such
rare talent and of such beauty would
be content with her husband in a little
leased two-family house somewhere in
the suburban region OF the metropolis.
The lights went up again. Now I
could see my companions face. He
was trembling. and perfectly white.
Did you hear? No, but Of course
you couldn't" he muttered. "She told
him-she told him that she had never
loved anyone but me. She said that
she never wanted IN aaa his facA