Middletown transcript., 1916-04-01

the girl STaSpoO MS arm WlIn OOlu
her hands and drew his attention to
her. Then she gave one sweep OF
her arm that embraced all the ruin
Of house and mill and fields. She
pointed to herself He understood:
these things were hers. Then she fold
ed her hands and with gesture of
surrender laid them In his.
1t was eloquent. There was no mis-
taking her meaning. Gerry was
touched. lie held both her claSpeh
hands In one of his and put his arm
around her shoulders. She fixed her
eyes on his face for the answer. Once
more Gerry's eyes wandered over all
that ruin. After all. be thought. why
not? Why not bury his own ruin here
In company? But she read no decision
in his face though she watched It long.
What she saw was debate and for the
time it satisfied her.
Gerry all that afternoon was very
silent and thoughtfuI-silent because
there was no one he could talk to.
Thought FIJI because the idea the girl
had put into his head WAS taking
shape. aided by long chain of cir
cunStanceS He looked back over his
covered trail. If he had been some
Shrewd fugitive from Justice he could
not have planned it better. His sud
den flight without visiting his home.
his failure to buy a ticket. the subOr-
oF
ance Of silence as to his presence or
destination. all that had been wiped
out by his cablegram to his mother.
But then fate had stepped in again
and once more blotted out the trail.
Some genius had heard his wish. Tha
old Gerry Lansing was dead. Even
from himself the old Gerry Lansing
had been torn away IN a chariot OF
fire.
In the cool of the evening he looked
about him. The tiny world into which
he had fallen was penuriouS but self
contained. Such fabrics as there were
were hOmeSpun from the bOIlS of a
scraggy patch Of cotton bushes. A
little oil III Il clay dish with Il twisted
wick Of cotton giving forth more
smoke than light seemed to tx him
in his setting of prehistoric man. The
rice. gathered from an enduring hot
tom. formed with manioc, the back
bone of the households SuStenance.
From the OutcrOps Of the abandoned
cane fields. with the assistance Of an
antediluvian hand-m mill and an equal !
ly antiquated iron pot. they made the
black Sirup that served for sugar. Salt. |
slightly alkaline. was plentiful A few
COWS and their progeny lived in the |
open and lived well. for. even untitled, |
the lands of the valley were rich An |
occasional member of the herd was car |
ried off to market by the old darky. |
The proceeds bought the very few con
tributiOns Of civilization necessary to
the upkeep of the lenten life.
Gerry decided. He looked at the
girl and she ran to him. He put his
arms around her and gazed with a
sort Of numbed emotion into her great
dark eyes. Those eyes were wells of
love. fidelity. but below all
that there were depths unmeaSured
and unmeasurlng that gave all and de-
manded all.
In the mind OF the husband who
believed himself deserted and betrayed
there no longer existed any barrier be-
tween him and this woman who had
come SO strangely into his life. Mar
riage with her was no wrong to Alix.
The last scruples of civilization and
Of law fell from him like a garment
thrown aside and he became the hns-
band OF the girl who had so innocently
wooed him.