Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1915-04-29

1t seemed to Gafford that he had
never known what self-control meant
until he had looked into the cool,
blue eyes of Shiela McRae that night
and sworn to her to be man.
Something about her had stirred
him in unknown depths of his being,
and the thing she had walked refused
to die. Those first four days when
he had been shut in to fight with the
demon of habit had been only the
first step, as he had known ii must.
Fortune had favored his endeavor
since then in that events had crowd
ed one another's heels. Save for the
voyage from Nagasaki to Kobe, he
had been constantly in motion, fag-
ging himself to weariness which
compelled sleep. But the voyage had
shown him how weak he still re-
mained. His habit was merely a
scotched snake. 1t was not dead.
He had lain in his berth wide-eyed
and fought his battle, or paced the
floor of his room with clenched hands
and a sweat-soaked body which
trembled with desire and assaulted
the citadel of his will.
Insidiously it crept at times upon
him. Just when he felt the strong
est, and had for the time forgotten
the thing he combated, it would rear
its head and reduce him to a pitiful
thing which begged the surrender of
his mind. Today he knew, as he lay
and watched the house which held
her in bondage, that the face of
Shela, which had never left him,
had been the strongest element in
helping him to deny the inner voices
of desire.
at is fate" whispered Gafford to
thing, and they lie. Fate sent me
ready to save not only my country
ripe fate sent you to wake me up
way back in my lead that fate will
bring us still closer together after
this is over, and I've find mind to
help fate all l can" He grinned
like boy.
Suddenly his heart gripped, Down
in the space between the prison COM
pound and the plant, where the sun
through the smoke cast its red glare
even at noon, he saw two figures
moving. One in Uniform and one in
brown khaki one short and quick
of motion. the other tall, massive,
moving with long stride.
They came from the plant of the
bombs and approached the steps Of
the building where hung. the. flag,
turned and mounted, and were lost
to view. Gafford knew them for
Oshtu and Karlof, and he knew
that now the drama of cross pur-
poses between them had begun. Kar-
loft would deliver his spurious mes
sage and seek to fathom the mean
ing of Oshitu's dark face.
What would he learn, or would
the impassive little engineer be able
to disguise his emotions? 1t came
over GQflord, as he lay, that even
now fate was deciding for him and
Shiela. He found himself trembling
as he held the glasses before his
eyes.
What, he questioned, "would
fate decide? Would Karloff learn
and be convinced? He had said that
he believed in Gafford's integrity;
yet he had added that the supreme
test which was to determine his ac-
tions would be his learning that a
white woman was really detained in
Oshitu's house." That she was there
Gatford could not doubt. The mere
fact that Oshitu had brought back
a woman with him proved it, The
disguise of the geisha did not de-
ceive him for an instant, or even
raise a doubt. The engineer would
naturally adopt some such for TAX
ing her with him. What more nat
ural than that of one of the national
class of women whose life was that
of toys?
He gritted his teeth and shivered
What had the girl endured during
those days now past? How far had
she withstood the purposes OF
Oshitu? That the man was a beast
ne knew.