Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-01-17
THE ENEMY
by
George Randolph Chester and
Lillian Chester
Author of
"THE BALL OF FIRE" etc.
Copyright. 1915.
Hearst International Library.
Newspaper Rights.
International Feature Service.
(Continued)

not vet deeply enough Durleu' 50
brave little Tavy compressed ner lips,
and heaped more ashes upon IL, more
and more, working quite frantically'
as If in terror that it might burst
through the ashes before she had
heaped on enough. To have Billy
pop through the door! 1t was
startling thought, and no wonder her
heart had leaped. She could see MN
standing there, not as he had stood
on that awful night, but big ana nanu-
some, strong and yet tender, with the
love light in his eyes, and - more
ashes, little Tavy, more ashes, quick
ly. The lips compressed, and the llt-
tie hand which had been smoothing
the mouse-colored seam, fluttered up
and pressed upon the bosom for an
instant; and the mauve plumes nodded
and bobbed.
f, "Grand tableau," Geraldine ratified
on, BILLY pops in, 1 pop out, tears,
reconciliation, the fatted calf. He'll
be at our house for dinner tonight.
I'll bring him up"
mo" All buried now, buried away
down deep, and the voice was even
and firm. What wonderful patience
and capacity for suffering had these
women of Jean Stuart's strain! 1t
was bred in them; they had need of 1t,
God help them!
Some other night then" Geraldine
cheerfully urged. You're bound to
have him sooner or later. because
Billy is irresistible; and the Billy
habit grows on one. / couldn't do
without Billy if l wanted to-" The
mauve plumes should have been clip
ped. well, wait until some night
next week."
"Please don't Geraldine" Because
Tavy's heart was buried was no rea-
son why her susceptibility to pain
should be gone, and in her voice was
piteous intonation, which anything
but a mauve plume would have re-
spected. "You mustn't think of it.
know you mean well, but Billy
can't come"
I'm so sorry" cooed Geraldine.
"Billy will be broken-hearted when 1
tell him tonight that his good Sam
aritan failed"
Thereupon Billy's good Samaritan
dropped the entire subject, and chat
ted away about frills and furbelows,
and dances and theaters, and all such
agreeable topics, until it came time
to take Tavy home, with a splitting
headache.
AT dinner time, the mauve plumes
tucked away with Geraldine's other
familiars, Billy's good Samaritan ap-
peared before him radiant with SYM
pathy, il such a thing could be, and
cheerful with coincidence. To relieve
her ill tidings from any trace of SOM
berness. she had arrayed herself most
thoughtfully in a shimmering dinner
gown of canary, which turned the
golden brown of her hair to burnish-
ed copper. An airy butterfly of black
gauze peeped it's spreading wings
from behind her shoulders, and its
foolish long black tail floated deli
cately down around her, clinging as
If in caress. Her cheeks were fresh
and her eyes were sparkling as she
swept in, like a vision of sunglow, to
greet Billy in his favorite nook in the
billiard-room; but trace OF the
sparkle left her eyes as Billy advanc-
ed eagerly to meet her. He did not
notice the sunburst effect at all. He
had no heed for the black butterfly,
nor the FURNISHED copper hair, nor
the fresh cheeks, nor even the sparkl-
ing eyes,
did you see her!" he asked.
''Tavy, you mean?" she laughed. "I
had her out or a drive, Billy"
How is she? How did she look ?"
pretty well, I should say" Ger
aldine considered the matter critic
ally, with a pretty little pucker of
concentration in lips and brow. Her
hair was as black as ever, and she
was quite able to laugh, when l hold
her about Tommy's absurd fancy
dress breakfast
"Oh," observed Billy. He should
have been delighted that Tavy had
not worn herself to a shadow with
grief, but there was q selfish pang of
disappointment in the thought that
she had laughed. What did she say ?"
II don't like to tell you, Billy" Her
voice was full of sympathetic modu-
lation, low and gentle. and her brows
twitched ever so slightly as she felt
the vince in the big hand which lay
in hers. She slipped her arm in his
and strolled with him towards the
library.
ITS all off then. permanently" he
guessed, and his voice was funereal
in it's detection. II am not to see
her any more"
II wouldn't give up all hope even
yet" 1t was dim in the library, and
the dark walls We're half hidden in
the glow of a low, wide-spreading,
dull red lamp shade. She sat in one
of the big leather couches, and drew
Billy beside her. 1t was he who
reached for her hand this time, and
held to it.
II did the best I could for you,
Billy. / told her how sorry you were
and how broken-hearted, and after I
had pleaded with her, for half an
hour, to forgive you, asked for per-
mission to bring you up; but she said,
no, you cOulQ not come.
A sharp intake of the breath, and
the hand which held Geraldine's clos
ed with such convulsive strength that
she almost cried out with pain.
Poor little Tavy," she repeated.
"Of course it hurt her, Billy. No girl
likes to be humiliated; but, il / were
you, I'd let the matter rest a week
or two; then I'll go up again, if YOU
wish, and make another attempt"
will you!" The tone was as eager
as if it had been the first time he
had proposed to go. He had no pride,
none whatever!
"Of course I will, but I don't like
to. Frankly, Billy, I had all L could
to keep from saying what 1 Thought.
| don't care for people who are un-
forgiving to my friends. Let's don't
talk about 1t any more. Tell me
about your business"
He was heavily plodding through
the details of structural iron work.
when Three-B Benning Iounged into
the library and shook hands heartily.
There was no resentment in Three-B
Benning that Billy had once made a
fool of himself in this house, nor was
there any either in Mrs. Benning
when she presently Joined them, rustI
ing in her stiff silk, and beaming
in motherly affection. Billy had not
been with them much of late, and
they missed him. How good it was
To he among old fr;anae o-.l