The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-12-14
EVENING STORY
The Touch of a Baby Hand.
(By Susan E. Clagett.)


Madeline Grahame was worn out
mentally and physically. There was
nothing the matter with her except
strain from overwork and little nag
ging worry at the back of her brain
that she had ignored for many months,
but that lately had forced itself into
the foreground and compelled recognl-
ton. When she found she must take
it seriously she dropped her work and
sailed for Newfoundland.
The first two days out she had deck
and dining saloon to herself, and 1t
was not until the steamer reached
Halifax that the tables begin to I'LL.
Then, to her CONSERVATION, she saw
the man of all Others she did not wish
to see-the man, in fact, from whom
she was running away.
He was at dinner and his back was
toward her, so she slipped unseen from
the saloon to her chair on deck to race
her dilemma. There was no avoiding
him. That she fully realized, but be-
fore she could go further in . her
thought she heard him say:
Fright here, Steward, there seems
room for another chair" and chair and
rug and Peter Lansdale took posses
sion of the space beside her
There was an instant's silence as
eyes. and then he laughed.
Did you think 1 would not find you,
Madeline?"
Not after I knew you were on
board; before then, yes. You have
given me a surprise. Why did you
Gomez" She asked the question pleas
antly, but she was tingling with ILL
suppressed irritation that she could
barely control. The irritation was
against herself at the comfortable feel
ing that had come over her at the
sound of his voice. Peter LanSdale al
ways gave her this sense of security
and we'll being. Whether it was his
bigness, his forceful honesty, his genial
laugh or his confidence in himself that
inspired confidence in others, she
could not have told, but she felt his
influence.
She loved him. This she acknowl-
edged, but she felt that in marriage
she would sink her personality and
become, if not a nonenity, something
very near ii it. She had filled her
own particular place in the scheme of
things too long to give up her indie
pendence willingly for the seclusion of
a home. She was also afraid that in
an unguarded moment he would learn
how much he was to her. She faced
this thought now. For the moment
it had been forgotten in his presence,
but it returned with force as he said
slowly:
II had the feeling you were going
away and made it my business to find
out where. Don't blame your sister.
She was loyal TO your wish I should
not be told, but that small nephew of
yours took me into his confidence and
after a five minutes talk I broke every
speed law that has been enacted and
just made train connections. 1 reached
the pier as the gangplank was pulled
oh a-d Ivn1I hi nly
fair not to tell me you were going
away" he asked abruptly.
1T was a sudden decision" she re-
piled, rather tamely.
He did not seem to hear her. you
/ ask me why came. Because 1 knew
you could not get away from me; that
we would have ample time to thrash
out our differences; time for me to
convince you of the futility of your
present attitude. You have evaded me
long enough. Before we return !
think our understanding of each other
will be perfect
She turned upon him enraged. "You
will spoil my trip!"
NO" he answered gravely, ''but
you must know why 1 came. I will
not revert to this talk. 1t Is enough
for you to feel that I am here be-
cause of you"
Thereafter there was nothing per-
sonal in their conversation. So COM
pletely did he ignore their talk on
the first night out from Halifax that
even in the pleasure of his constant
companionship, she began to wonder
over his silence. Perhaps it was that
for which he was waiting, a growing
dependence that made him necessary
to her. Be that as it may. he kept 81
lent, and therefore kept her thinking
Near Cape Race the steamer ran
into a storm and from storm into
heavy, depressing fog that shut her
in completely. All of one night and
into the followi g day the siren and
foghorn rasped nerves already tense
Then, when the fog was thickest, a
horrible shiver ran the length of the
vessel. She had been rammed by a
steamer whose ghostly shape could be
seen family thru the thickness that
enveloped her.