Middletown transcript., 1916-01-29
CHAPTER xx-contlnued.

-1S-
Homeward again in the starlit night,
still in that whirl of exultation. 1t was
somewhat chillier now, and Allison
bundled her into the machine with
rough tenderness. She felt the thrill
Of him as he sat beside her, and the
firm strength with which he controlled
the swiftly speeding runabout, was
part her strength. They were kindred
spirits, these two, soaring above the
affairs of earth in the serene compla-
cency Of those who make triles Of
vastness itself. They did not talk
much, for they had not much to talk
about. The details of a scheme so
comprehensive as Allison's were not
things to be explained, they were
things to be seen in a vision. Once
she asked him about the bringing of
the foreign railroads into the cOmbina-
ton, and he told her that this would
only be accomplished by political up
heaval, which would take place next
month, and would probably involve the
whole of Europe. 1t was another de-
tail; and it seemed quite natural She
was so interested that he told her all
about his foreign visitors.
In the park, Allison stopped at the
little outlook house where they had
climbed on that snowy night, and they
stood there, with the stars above, the
trees below and the twinkling lights
stretching out to the horizon, all alone
oh hn nP ri
[ low sounded the clang of street cars,
and far off to the left, high in the air.
there cleaned the lights of a curving
L train. That was a part of Allison's
world which he had long since con.
quered. a part which he already held
in the hollow of his hand; and the fact
that every moving thing which clung
upon a track in all this vast pano-
rama was under his dominion, served
only to illustrate and make plain the
marvel of the accomplishment which
was now under way. Beyond that dim
horizon lay another and still another,
and in them all, wherever things
moved or were transported, the lift OF
Allison's finger was to start and stop
the wheels, to the uttermost confines
of the earth! Oh, it was wonderful
wonderful! And she was part of it!
1t was there that he proposed to her
It did not surprise her. She had
known it when they had entered the
park, and that this was the place.
He told her that all this empire was
being builded to lay at her feet, thai
she was the empress of it and he the
emperor, but that their joy was to bt
not in the sway, not in the scepter ant
crown, but in the doing, and in tht
having done, and in the conceivint
and having conceived.
Was this a cold painting of pomI
and glory and advantage and reward
He added to it the fire of lover, ant
to that the force and mastery ant
compulsion of his dynamic power. Sh'
felt again the potent thrill of him, ant
the might and sweep and drive of him
and with the hot, tumbling words o
love in her ears, and her senses a-reel
and her mind in it's whirling exulta
ton, she felt between them a sympc
thy and a union which it was not Il
human strength to deny! Something
held her back, something made he
withhold the word of promise, on tn
plea that she must have more time t
think, to consider, to straighten ou
the tangle of her mind; but she sui
fered him to sweep her in his arms
and rain hot kisses upon her face, an
to tell her, over and over and over an
over, that she belonged to him, fol
ever and forever!