Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-02-10
CHAPTER xxvt

~ RED HILL 1t was raining, not in Z
! ~ uownpour but In vast wells OF mis-
that swayed to the breeze, caressInE IN,
nils and hiding the valleys. II had been
raining for three DAYS.
Atter lunch Glenn nad gone to her room
hhu then had come down again and
| wandered from window to window, tan.
ping the panes, and with her forefnger
tracing the course OF the drops of water
hurrying down outside.
Sne went to the voranda at the bach
OF maple House. and searched the west
III vain for n gleam of sunlight, then sbe
came in again and sat down before her
iittle writing table in the corner of the
norary. She dropped the lid. On the
plotter lay an opened letter. She had
read 1t before. She picked 1t up and
read IL again. 81 do not WRITE" Il ran
to the Glen / met the other day ms
stepped out from j. Y.'s building. l dc
not Know her and she doesn't know me
l am AFRAID of her, not for what she
ls but Tor what she can steal from me.
l write to the little Clem-the Clem OF
the days that won't come back-the Clem
that has stood at my knee and clappod
her hands and wept at the same time over
the fate of Very Real Dragon That Was
Not. Dear Little Glen, what bewilder-
ing company you are keeping! What has
become of those lanky legs, those thin
bare arms and those founcy short skirts
that were so very much out of the way?
You have abandoned them. How could
you when you knew | loved them Just
so! And you are hiding in the vision
OF flesh and furs and broadcloth that
put me to rout in front of ]. Y.'s-thnt
tied my tongue and twisted 1t so that
when it got loose 1t said the things that
were furthest from my heart l know
you are there because the eyes that
looked oft at hpfnra fhpNy irlf InI
were your very own.
Glen, it's hard for me to spread nv
heart on paper. Warm words get chilled
in the tub of ink and belle themselves
There is only one way, and that is just
to tell you that in spite of how things
may look and seem my heart is warm.
Without understanding you can forgive
warm heart, can't you?
II told you I'd bring back my other
self and send him to you. failed. Not
because 1 didn't have him with me but
because I wanted to send him to you
without the rest of me and couldn't.
~ can't tell you why 1 couldn't You
must understand it without telling. I can
only say that even today men are tested
by fire. It's fire one can't smother-it
would only smolder on. One must let 1t
burn out. 1t burns out the half of a
man and some men don't know which
half is going to be burned out until it's
all over. 1t Is that way with me. My
soul is a furnace l couldn't bring it
too near for fear 1t would scorch you.
There, I have written too much. If you
find that the words are cold when they
get to you, warm them at the fire of
your child heart Alan"
The Clem that read this letter looked
very much a woman. She was 10. her hair
was coied up at the back of her neck.
and her frock when she stood up almost
hid her slim ankles. Aan's letter trou-
bled her and made her feel even older
than she was. 1t brought to her white
forehead n tiny frown. Clem was as
tanned as a long summer could brown
her. but above her brows the skin was
quite white because she had such lot OF
hair that there was always some of 1t
breaking loose to shade her forehead.
Suddenly the frown vanished. Clem's