The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-04-29
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Late in March Dan Appleton went to the front, taking with him his wife and bis sister, for whom O'Neil had thoughtful1y. prepared suitable living qEafters. The girls were as hungry as Dan to have a part in the deciding struggle, or at least to see it close at hand, for the spirit of those engaged in the work had entered them also. Life at Omar of late had been rather uneventful, and they looked forward with pleasure to a renewal of those companionable relations which had made the summer months so full of interest and delight But they were disa npointcd. Life at the end of the line they found to be a very grim, a vcry earnest. and in some respects an extremely disagreeable affair; the fev- erish, unceasing activity of their friends left no time for companionship or rec reation of any sort. More and more they, too, came to feel the sense of haste and strain pervading the whole army of workers, the weight of respon- sibility that bore upon the comma nder.
 Dan became almost stranger to them, and when they saw him he was obsessed by vital issues. Melen was gruT and irritable: Parker in his pre- occupation ignored everything but his duties. Of all their former comrades O.Eeil alone seemed aware of their presence. But behind his smile they gsssy the lurking worries; 9n his eyes was an abstraction they could not pen citrate, in his bearing the fatigue of a ram tried to the breaking point
 To Eliza there was a certain joy merely in being near the man she ;. loved, even though she could not help being hurt by his apparent indiner- enee- The long weeks without sight of him had deepened her feeling and she had turned for relief to the writing of her book-the natural outlet for her repressed emotions. Into it's pages she had poured all her passion, all her yearning, and she had written with an Intimate understanding of O'Neil's am- bitfons and aims which later gave the story it's unique success as an epic of financial romance.
 Hers was nature which could not be content with idleness. She took up the work that she and Natalie had be- gun, devoting herself unobtrusivelY yet effectively to making O,Nen comforta- ble. It was a labor of love, done with no expectation of reward; it thrilled her. filling her with mingled sadness and satisfaction But if Murray no-
 
 ings, which she sometimes doubted, be 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 unobservant masculine acceptance of things better and worse appealed to the woman in her. She slipped into O'Nei's quarters during his absence and slipped out again quietly. She learned to know his ways, his peculiar itfes. 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 Murray's shaving mirror as if it still preserved the image Of it's owners face, after which she eanished 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 iiu the midst of her task and, question ing her, read the truth from her b1ushes and her inceherent attempts at cxpla- nation
 "So you're the one who has been doing th1sP' he exclaimed in frank as- tonfshmenf And I've been tipping Benny for his thoughfulness all this timeI The rascal has made enough to retire rich
 .'He seemed not to understand, his duties very well, so took charge. But you had no business to catch mel" The flush died from Eliza's cheeks, and she faced him with thoroughly. ferni- nine indignation.
 "I can't let you go on with this," said Murray. "I ought to be doing something for you"
 But the girl fared up deiantly. ''I love 1t. I'll do it no matter if you lock me out I'm not on the payroll, you know, so you have no authority over me-none at aIY'
 His eyes roved around the room, and for the first time he fully took in the changes her hands had wrought
 My dear child. it's very nice to be spoiled this way and have everything neat and clean, but-it embarrasses me dreadfully to have you saddled with the sordid Wrork'-
 Tt isn't Sordld. and-what brought Hou home at this hour, anyhOw7' she