The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1916-07-29
A LETTER FROM ROME
MMM11nW - lpEpg~gA
~
y BY SUSAN {. cLAoETT. "

l.
see her and as he stood In her sittini
room he was fully alive to its homel,
bc0mfoft.. Manlike. he did not notic'
lts suggestion OF shabbinesa,
Heshad been in the country a weel
and had, as yet. found no opportunit.
for the question he had come to ask
AS he Waited for her he wondered
why.
( But he was determined to know to
night where he stood. Was it posi-
Bile she had changed? He squared his
shoulders and threw back his head
No. That was out OF the. question
Their correspondence had faltered 90
casionally, but had always been re
sumed, even after the two or. three
amazing letters he had received from
her several years before.
He put his hand in his pocket and
drew out well.worn letter and was
reading II as she came into the room
That was the first" he said. u
received 1t in Athens. The Others
reached me while l was In Cairo
There we're four in all, and they about
spoiled my trip. They were remark
able letters, Eleanor, remarkable from
the fact that they were written by so
cold woman as you. have read
them every day and every day have
wondered at the irAbeclle reply sent
you from Rome.
Whatever the reason, / have long
regretted that letter. and hope you
will believe me when / say II Is my
dearest hope that you will consent 70
be my wife"
She did not answer at once and her
reply was not direct when. 1t came.
II would like TO tell you a story,
Judge Norton" she said.
1T commenced a good many yearE
ago, this story Of man and woman
ran its way through friendship and
ended. as is usual in such cases, with
one OF them becoming somewhat more
than a friend. The man, it was. When
he was serious, she laughed. Not in.
ridicule, but because, although she
cared In way, 1t was not enough to
make marriage desirable. The man
went away, but their correspondence
did not take the place Of his COM
panionship and each time he returned
she felt she had grown a little nearer
TO him, but could not bring herself to
let him see what she knew he wished
to know, although he said little. I.
"The odd part OF the story, your
honor. is, the young woman never
thought the man might change. At
first she was sorry this was so, but
as her home life, always difficult, now
became intolerable, she turned to him,
never doubling an immediate re-
sponse. Made desperate by condi-
tions she could not bear. she asked.
him to come to her m
1T was a heart letter, but 1t brought
no reply. Many weeks later. she re-
ceived two or three lines. They told
her he was on fas way east.
She watched for him, but the days
passed without further word Then a
line came to her from his old home.
He had passed her by, the first time in
all the years of their friendship, and.
she was in trouble. Yet so dulled 'was
she by wretchedness that even then
she did not doubt him.
Their last evening together was a
nightmare for her to remember. Her
coldness had chilled him, else he
would have spoken. OF this she was
sure. She must tell him plainly she
cared. Then she committed the folly
of her life. She wrote to him. Not
one letter. but several. They were
all love letters. That much she knows.
What she said. she has mercifully for
gotten. Then one day came letter
from Rome. m
"She laughed when she read it.
What has come over. the mann she
asked herself When realization came
to her she was numbed, frozen by
what she had done. The thought that
she had told him she cared bit so
deeply into her pride there had to be
a reaction.
AS a judge. you yourself,' have
been called upon to decide nice ques-
lions. questions where the distinctions
are subtle. Was the woman in the
wrong? She thinks not. But she
can glimpse the mans amazement as
he read those letters; his feelings,
that even IL his actions were confirma-
tory until those last days, she had no
right to attach Importance to them
until he had said the words that
would support them.
HE has come back and now asks
N plain words what lie ASKED many
gears ago when they were youpg to-
he asked by implication
rear after year. She is no longer
1oung. She is alone. Her support
,omes from her own efforts and some
fmes she grows very tired. His Of
er means weehh, leisure. Her love
or him is dead. But she feels warm
VIII friendliness and
ompanionship take the place Of that
'ther feeling now thai she is past
'outh? Does he really care, or is his
esire for her merely pang OF con-
cience that he should have so hurt
err"
Long before she had finished Judge
'orfon had left his place before the
re and was walking slowly back and
orth the length OF the room. AS her
oice ceased he stepped before her.
Il show up pretty badly. Eleanor. I