River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1916-02-17
az NAexsM TsaFca. Michael Lanyard

es &3a@&444 T&&YSa, MICnaSI Lanyard
and the Lane Wolf. Had any one OF
these names been uttered in his hear
ing just then 1t would have meant moth
ing-he was merely himself, shell OF
sensations inclosing dull embers Of VI
tally.
For several minutes he lay without
moving, curiously intrigued by this
| riddle of identity-it was but slowly
that his mind, like blind hand CROP
| ing through the arras of a darkened
chamber. picked up the filaments OF
memory.
But one by one the connections were
renewed, the circuits closed.
Singularly enough, in his under
standing, his first thought was of q
girl-still, presumably, asleep upstairs
in the studio, unconsciously his pris-
oner and hostage.
For he was no more as he had been.
| Wherein the difference lay he couldN'E
say, but that q difference existed he
was ersuaded-that he had changed,
that some strange reaction in the
| chemistry OF his nature had taken
| place while he slept 1t was as If sleep
had not only repaired the ravages or
fatigue upon the tissues of his brain
and body, but had mended the tissues
of his soul as we'll.
His thoughts were fluent in fresh
channels, his interests no longer the
interests of the Michael Lanyard he
had known, no longer selfcentered, the
interests of the absolute ego. He was
| concerned less for himself, even now,
when he should be most concerned
about himself, than for another, for
the girl Lucia Bannon, who was moth
ing to him, whom he had yet to know
for twenty-four hours, but mono the
less woman Of whom he could not
cease to think If he would. /
1t was her situation that perturbed
him, her predicament from which he
sought an outlet-never his own.
Yet his own was desperate enough.
Batfled and uneasy, he at length be-
thought him of his watch. But it's tes-
| timony seemed incredible-surely the
hour could not be five in the after
noon! Surely he could not have slept
so close upon a full round of the
clock!
And If 1t were so, what Of the girl9
Had she, too, so sorely needed sleep
that the brief November day had
dawned and wared without her knowl-
edge?
That question was one to agitate
him; he was up in an instant and crop
ing his way through the gloom
enshrouded bedchamber and dining
room to the staircase door in the re-
ception hall. He found this fast
enough, for It's key was safe in his
pocket, and, unlocking 1t quietly, he
shot the beam of his lamp up that
dark wall to the door at the top, which
was tight shut.
| For several moments he listened, but
there was never a sound to indicate
that he wasn't a lonely tenant of the
| little dwelling, then irresolutely he
| lifted foot to the first step-and
withdrew It, If she were still asleep,
why disturb her? he had much to do
in the way Of thinking things out, and
that was a process more easily per-
| formed in solitude.
Leaving the door ajar, he turned to
one of the front windows, parted It's
draperies, and peered out, over the
little garden and through the iron ribs
of the gate, to the street, where a
single gas lamp, glimmering within
dull, golden halo of mist, made Wis
ible the scant length of the Impasse
Stanislas, empty, rain-swept desolate.
Rain continued to fall with no hint
Of stopping.
Something in the dreary emptiness
Of that brief vista deepened the shad-
ow in his mood and knitted careworn
frown into his brows.
Abstractedly he sought the kitchen
and, making light, washed up at the
tap then foraged for breakfast. He
put the kettle on to boil, and lighting
cigarette, sat himself down beside
the table to watch the pot and cog1-
tate over his several problems.
In a fashion uncommOnly clear
headed, even for him, he assembled
all the facts bearing upon their posi-
ton, his and Lucia BannOn's, and dis
passionately pondered them.
But insensibly his thoughts reverted
to the exotic phase Of his awakening,
drifting into such introspection az he
seldom INDUCED, and led him by
strange ways to a revelation alto
gether unpresaged and resolve still
more revolutionary.
A look of wonder fickered in his
brooding eyes, and clipped between his
two fingers, his cigarette grew long
ash, let 1t fall, and burned down to
stump so short that the coal almost
scorched his flesh. He dropped 1t
and crushed out the fire with his heel
quite unwittingly.
Slowly but irresistibly his world was
turning over beneath his feet.
The sound Of football recalled him
as from an Unreasonable remove; ne
looked up to see the girl at pause upon
the threshold. He rose slowly, with