Putnam patriot., 1916-10-13

struggle. or at least to see it close at hand. for the spirit of those engaged in the worA had entered them also. Life al Omar of late had been rather uneventfui. and they looked forwarl with pleasure Co renewal of those conipauioIaiile relations which had made the summer munths 50 full of interest and delight. Bur they were disappointed. Life at the end of the line they found te be a very grim. t very earnest. and in some respects ail extremely disasreeabie aHajr: the fev eTiSil. uaceas0s activity of their friends left no tlhe fer couinaniuaShip or rec rc0toH of a44y Sart More and mnr, tncy. too. caIle ta, feel the sense u -haste and sg0u rervading the whole army of worScrs. tae welslt of resyou. ~iuliiN tas tast uFau fae eammanaef-
 I'au b5eatle al-o-t a strluger tc ihem- a-i i taes SN H.m he was ol~c> ed t Eaal tssucs Nollcu was greif rud rrftatle. lasSer m his pre. .i.caI }ssaIl izaaael ess=stasae ltgt his duties. af a taer former comrades Q Net ,i Ie Seo4eG aWafe 0f theii prescure Hct bca.4d hls smile the} saw the iGr6iB- worries. f his eyes W@S aa abstraction they could uo. poa. citrate. in h.S bcarilg the fatigue of d msn tried to the bgeasiag point.
 To Eliza there was as certain joy merely il feing near the man she loved. even though she could not he4n being hurt hy his apparent indifTer. ence. The long weeks without sight of him had Geepened her feeling and she had turned for relief to the writing of her hook-the natural outlet for her repressed emotions. Into it's pages she had poured all her passion. all her yearling. and she had wriASen with aH intimate understanding of 0'Neil's am oitions and aims which later gave the story it's unique success as an epic of financial romance
 Hers was nature which could not oe content with idleness She took up the work that she and Natalie had be- sun. devoting herself umobtrusivelS yet effectively to making 0'Neil comforta- ble. It was q labor of love. done with no expectation of reward; 1t thrilled Ser, filling her with mingled sadness md satis faction. But If Murray no ticed the improvement iii his surround ingS, which she sometimes doubted, he evidently attributed it to sudden ac- cess of zeal on the part of Ben, for he made no comment. Whether or not she wished him to see and understand she could hardly tell Somehow his unObserYant masculine acceptance of things better and worse appealed to the woman in her She slipped into 0'Neil's quarters during his absence and slipped out again quietly. She learned to know his ways, his peculiar ities. She found herself caressing and talking to his personal belongings as if they could hear and understand. She conducted long conversations with the objects on his bureau One morn ing Ben entered unexpectedly to sur prise her in the act of kissing Murrays shaving mirror as if It still preserved the image of it's owners face, after which she banished the cook boy ut terly and performed his duties with her own hands.
 Of course discovery was inevitable. At last O'Neil stumbled in upon her in the midst of her task and, question ing her. read the truth from her bushes and her ineoherent attempts at expla- nation.
 "So you're the one who has been doing this," he exclaimed in frank as- tonishmeut And I've been tipping Benny for his thoughtfulness all this time! The rascal has made enough to retire rich"
 He seemed not to understand his duties very well, so l took charge. But you had no business 10 catch men The flush died from Eliza's cheeks, and she faced him with thoroughly femi- nine indignation.
 T can't let you go on with this said Murray. 'I ought to be doing something for you
 But the girl Gared up defantly. q ,ove if. I'll do it no matter if you lock