Middletown transcript., 1916-12-16
CHAPTER VII.

tel. The novelty of the experience had
made her eyes shine like stars. She
saw only the magnolia tree shaped like
heart, the terrace edged with low
Shrubbery, and beyond the faint gleam
that was the river. The unshaded glare
of the lights behind her in the house
was eclipsed by the crescent edge OF
the rising moon. Dinner was over. Sid
ney was experiencing the rare treat
Of after-dlnner coffee.
LIE MOyne, grave and contained, sat
across from her. To give so much
pleasure, and so easily! How young
she was, and radiant! No wonder the
boy was mad about her. She fairly
held out her arms to life.
All, that was too bad! Another
table was being brought; they were not
to be alone. But what reused In him
violent resentment only appealed to
Sidneys curiosity.
CarlOtta Harrison came out alone.
Although the tapping of her heels was
dulled by the grass, although she had
exchanged her cap for the black hat,
Sidney knew her at once. A sort of
thrill ran over her 1t was the pretty
nurse from Doctor Wilson's office. Was
it pOssible-but of course not! The
book of rules stated explicitly that such
| things were forbidden.
Don't turn around" she said swift
! ly. 1T is the Miss Harrison l told you
about. She is looking at us"
CarlOtta's eyes were blinded for
moment by the glare of the house
lights. Then she sat up, her eyes on
LIE MOyne's grave profile turned to-
ward the valley. Lucky for her that
Wilson had stopped in the bar, that
Sidney's instructive good manners for
bade her staring, that only the edge Of
| the summer moon shOne through the
| trees. She went white and clutched
the edge of the table, with her eyes
closed. That gave her quick brain a
chance. 1t was madness, June mad
ness. She was always seeing him, even
in her dreams. This man was older,
much older. She looked again.
She had not been mistaken. Here,
and after all these months! K. LIE
MOyne, quite unconscious of her pres
ence, looked down into the valley.
Wilson appeared on the wooden
porch above the terrace, and Stood his
eyes searching the half-light for her,
If he came down to her, the man at the
next table might turn, would see her
She rose and went swiftly back to-
ward the hotel. All the gayety was
gone out of the evening for her, but
she forced a lightness she did not feel:
at is so dark and depressing out
there-it makes me sad"
"Surely you do not want to dine in
the house,"
do you mindT'
tFYour wish is my law-tOnight," he
said softly.
After all, the evening was a disap-
pOintment to him. The spOntaneity had
gone out of it, for some reason. The
girl who had thrilled to his glance
those two mornings in his Office, whose
somber eyes had met his, fire for fire.
across the operating room, was not
playing up. She sat back in her chair,
eating little, starting at every step. Her
eyes, which by every rule of the game
should have been gazing into his, were
fixed on the oilclOth-covered passage
outside the door.
II think, after all, you are fright
ened!
Terribly"
"a little danger adds to the zest of
things. You know what Nietzsche saws
about that"
81 am not fond of Nietzsche." Then.
with an effort: "What does he saw"
1.-two things are wanted by the
true man-danger and play. Therefore
he seeketh woman as the most dan
gerOus of toys"
"WOmen are dangerous only when
you think of them as toys. When a
man finds that woman can reason
do anything but feel-he regards her
as a menace. But the reasoning wOm-
an is really less dangerous than the
other sort"
This was more like the real thing.
To talk careful distractions like this.
with beneath each abstraction its con-
cealed personal application, to talk of
woman and look in her eyes, to, discuss
new philosophers with their freedoms
to discard old creeds and old morali-
ties-that was his game. Wilson be.
came content, interested again. The girl
was Undetermined. She CHALLENGED
his philosophy and gave him a chance
to defend it. With the conviction. as
their meal went on, that LIE MOvne
and his companion must surely have
gone, she gained ease.
1t was only by Wild driving that she
got back to the hospital by ten O'Clock.
Wilson left her at the corner. well
content with himself. AS he drove up
the Street he glanced across at the
Page house. Sidney was there on the
doorstep, talking to a tall man who
stood below and looked up at her.
Wilson settled his tie, in the darkness.
Sidney was a mighty pretty girl. The
June night was in his blood. He was
sorry he had not kissed Carlotta good
night. He rather thought, now he
looked back, she had expected it.
AS he got out Of his car at the curb,
q young man who had been standing In