The bee., 1916-12-01
MORE THAN A HOME
BY EDITH KENYON.

MISS Lamont h0d endured for i've min
utes. 'You do not look like yourself
tonight" he pronounced medItatively.
A faint flush warmed her cheeks.
1T is your hair" he said again. 'YOu
haven't a crimp or curl. And that dark
gown, plain around the neck--you look
five years older. I don't like It ell
ther."
She spoke her answer firmly, al
though her redness deepened. II think
Mr.. Halden likes it." she said.
"Halden" he echoed. 'Lordi It is
for HaldenT"
II think" she answered, II ought to
dress to please Mr.. Halden II can.
He would not ike-his wife to look
so much younger than himself"
"His-wifep
"He has asked me to marry him, and
I have made up my mind that will"
"Do you care for hlm7" They had
scoffed humorously at love; they had
even proved to their own satisfaction
that there was in reality no such thing.
''No," she answered him, II am not
afraid to tell you, my friend-no, nor
ashamed. 1 am going to marry Mr..
Halden because II want a home. l
don't want this always" The room
was agreeable, but it was conspicu-
Ously a clearinghouse parlor.
Mrs. DentOn-you met her, you
knOw-has sent for me to come to Bos-
ton and take a position her husband
has waiting for me. 1t is better one,
and should have gone, but-Mr. Hal
den," she hesitated, ''had spoken"
"You mentioned that" he remarked
tartly.
He felt bafled. He suffered from an
unreasonable but burning spleen.
"But," he cried with energy, "Halden
If there must be a victim, why of all
men HaldenT
Because he wants to be the vic
tim," she returned.
"Probably he thinks he does. Most
men have spasms of mental alteration,
and this Is Halden's. Julia, you would
never take advantage Of it7 Julia, you
couldn't.
"Oh, you might not make him much
more miserable than any other woman
would. But, Julia, do you know how
Halden puts in his timer Why, loung-
ing around the club and absorbing the
news and refreshing liquids; going to
an occasional stag dinner, and getting
new cures for his gout-or neuralgia, is
it? That" Perry said, "ls what Hal
den does, and he's done it till it is a
habit with him, like eating and breath
ing. 1t would be smaller undertake
ing to throw a steam engine or its
track than to shunt Halden of his.
Aud what would it result for Halden
Miseryp
She threw back her head and
laughed.
"Don't laugh, 1 mean It," he said
sharply, and for a space his eyes looked
into hers. The long look burned its
way through the something that had
interposed ever between them-the
fiimsy barrier which their ignorance
and their heedlessness had reared.
; Julia" he faltered. The door bell
rang.
at is Mr.. Halden," she said, with
trembling lips. "Must you gOf
Nine days later, sitting in his ONCE
in the heavy gloom and the dullness
which for the past week had held him,
Perry received a letter. 1t was from
Julia Lamont, and 1t was brief.
T am going to Boston this after
noon. GOOd-by."
"Good-byP he muttered, fiercely
scowling. But all his apathy had fed
on the instant. She was going to Bos-
ton. What did that mean? He sprang
to his feet. She was going that af-
ternOOn. "She'n take the boat" he
hazarded. 1t was already past five. He
seized his hat and called a taxi which
drove him to West Warren street swift
ly. She was there.
II told you goOd-by in my note"
she remarked.
He saw with Joy that her hair was
wavy. "Where is HaldenT" he demand
ed.
"He is cruising around the lake with
Mr.. Crane" she answered. FL
thought over what you said, and
saw" she affirmed, not in humility,
but in rigOr of pride, "that 1t is true.
1t would have been a mistake: from
the first feared 1t. And-I almost think
he agreed with me, in his heart. SO,
after all, am not going to have
home. 1 am going to Boston" She
smiled bravely.
"Those are misstatements," he an
swered, "bOth."
"What do you meanT
"You will have a home, and you will
not go to Boston," he returned; though |
he spoke to the back Of her head, |
abruptly aVerted. "As reckon it, we
have been fools for four years, and
that is long enough. julia"
She faced him with valiant resist
ance. IL won't consider It," she de-
Iclared. ut is mental alteration. /
should be cruel to take advantage Of
.it-inhuman."
'NO, no; you are inhuman to confuse
me with Halden, that is all. What are
we dawdling here fort Gomez
II can't" she gasped, my trunk is
on the boat"
'No matter. 1t Is not your trunk"
IL. Na.aa